I am looking into getting a small media safe for my more expensive graded cards and a couple binders. I know Scott and Gary and others do a safety deposit box but I’m not near that level yet. For now I’d like to get something in the couple hundred dollar range that with stand a fire while keeping the inside temperature stable enough not to damage the psa cases. Anyone have experience or recommendations in this field? Other suggestions beside this option? Thanks.
I recommend if you use a fire proof safe to store your cards in an air tight container. I’ve been doing that since I had issues with caused by humidity in some fire proof safes which ended up causing damage to some graded comics I had stored.
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There’s a member who did some research on what temperature PSA cards can stand. To fireproof your cards, the temperature in the safe can’t exceed around 160 degrees F. Can anyone link the past article?
This media safe is $550 and is very small, but would properly protect your cards from a fire: link. Larger media safes are going to cost you thousands.
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media safe thread by @silversnorlax204
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I was reading about that. I was wondering if the majority or all fireproof safes do that? Defiantly good to know. Would a dehumidifier work well enough to solve that problem?
Very helpful information. Crazy how expensive it is for the size. Thank you for the link and reply.
I use a fire/water proof safe and it works great! I use reusable silica desiccant packs to absorb moisture in my safe and I reactivate them often! Just put them in the oven at 280 degrees for 2 hours to reactivate them. I highly recommend, but you must use silica packs because moisture can’t escape from a air tight safe. Sentry safe is a great brand!
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@zacheggers what’s the fireproof rating?
The owners manual says “Subjected to temperatures up to 1700°F for a duration of one hour, the safe interior will remain below 350°F
“One hour fire protection of CDs, DVDs, memory sticks and USB drives up to 1700°F. This product is not intended to protect computer floppy or cartridges, tapes, audio or video cassettes, or photo negatives.
@zacheggers if the safe reaches 350 F, the cards will be destroyed.
Here is what happens at 200 F for 5 mins and this happens at 350 F for 10 mins. Unfortunately, an expensive media safe is needed to protect against fire.
@charizandrew thanks for pointing that out. I definitely need to figure something else out I guess. What is your opinion on safety deposit boxes? I keep my high end stuff in my safety deposit box (4 feet off the ground in a bank vault)
I don’t know if the inside of the safe would reach that temperature unless it was located in the area where the fire originated. At least that’s my understanding on what I’ve read. Odds are that the fire would be put out within an hour if you’re not in the middle of nowhere.
I wonder how effective it would be to have a media safe inside of a gun safe. I like looking at the cards too much to store in a safety deposit box, haha.
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Hey guys,
Just finding this thread now. I actually offer free consultations on security and safes if anyone here is interested, feel free PM me and I can set up a time to chat with you. Be it email, phone, skype, or just messaging on here, whatever is easier.
This is a subject that is getting more and more attention these days and there is a ton of confusion regarding the topic and i would be happy to help you out so you don’t buy something that is expensive and ineffective.
Happy to help!
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Here are the new safety deposit box rules at Bank of America.
Each renter must be signed in first on a computer with their ID and box key.
Only box owner is allowed inside (no children or Scott anymore lol)
Employee must use your key to open your box.
After use, you lock your box up and exit.
Very secure system.
SDB insurance for me is 2,000.00 for 500,000.00 coverage.
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Every thing is the same at my bank, with my safety deposit box, except it is not insured like yours. The lady at the bank really stressed to me that my SDB is not insured by the FDIC, but the money in my accounts is.
I pay $35 dollars a year for my xl SDB. I made sure I got a box that was several feet of the ground, Incase my bank were to flood (very unlikely according to them)
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I bought a safe but I ended up being too paranoid (rightly or wrongly) about long term moisture affecting my cards.