When to Consider TL 30 Safes

There are many kinds of safes, offering protection from attempts to open them using mechanical or hand tools, blowtorching, or hammering. Some of the most common
safes in are those rated as TL30 or those designed to be tool-resistant for up 30 minutes. TL 30 safes offer good enough protection against hand mechanical or electrical tools used in lock picking or forcibly opening a safe through the door or the walls. In general terms, they provide moderate protection. They can resist grinders, power saws, carbide drills, cutting wheels, and various devices that apply pressure. However, you may want to know when these safes will be enough and when you may need to consider something more secure.

If you need a safe for your home or small office, those under class TL 30 are usually enough . These safes are usually combination locked safes (mechanical). Some security experts opine that these safes are good for securing items valued at a quarter of a million dollars to half a million dollars. Those that offer tool-resistance protection on all 6 sides (x6) are preferred for storing more valuable items but they are more expensive. By the way, if you see a safe classified as TL 30, it usually means that its 30-minute tool-resistance feature only applies to the door as opposed to TL30x6 safes that guarantee tool resistance on all 6 sides. Still, you can make a TL30 as good as a TL30x6 by having it embedded on your wall or floor.

Consider TL 30 if you are securing documents, a minimal amount of cash, jewelry, data storage media (flash, DVDs, or hard drives), and other important items. Bear in mind, though, that not every TL 30 is alike. If you want to safekeep documents on your TL 30 unit, you may want to look for something that offers fire and water protection. This type of safe should provide enough time for you to retrieve your documents in good form within at least an hour. The fire and water protection will not be absolute so you still have to expeditiously take the safe away from the burning or flooded building.

It’s also worth emphasizing that safes in the TL 30 class with fire protection should not be equated to torch-resistant units (TR). The fire protection feature is only aimed at temperature control, to prevent the items inside the safe from excessively heating up and burning or melting. Torch resistance (TR) infers the ability of the safe to withstand the damage of a blowtorch up to a certain period of time.

For moderate home and office protection needs, getting a TL 30 type of safe should already be enough. You can store up to half a million dollars worth of items in them. You can find different designs and sizes to suit your needs and preferences. Be sure to spend some time researching the different options you have so you can do comparisons and choose the safe that matches your needs and is offered at a price you can afford.