Storing More than Firearms in Your Gun Safe

Everything is increasingly going digital. That includes personal photos, online banking, taxes, and document storage. But anything can happen, which is why it can be a good idea to store some of those important documents, as well as other valuables, in your home’s gun safe. Here’s how and what to store alongside your ammunition and firearms.

Start with the Right Gun Safe

Storing paper documents, gold, silver, photos, and other items is easy to do in a gun safe. But if you don’t already have a fireproof gun safe, here are some tips on how to pick the right gun safe for your needs. We’ve also put together some gun safe basics for beginners.  

Make Sure the Gun Safe is Fireproof and Possibly Waterproof

Some gun safes are solely designed to keep people from easily accessing your firearms. Others are designed to do that job as well as preserve those firearms for future generations. If your gun safe is fireproof for 30 to 60 minutes at 1,200 degrees, your documents will be protected from fire for a short amount of time. However, keep in mind that paper will ignite at 424º F.

A Liberty Safe Cool Pocket can help protect documents from fire and heat damage by keeping your items 50º F cooler than the temperature inside the safe.

Water is another concern. Unless you opted for a safe with all the bells and whistles, your safe might not offer much water resistance. Thankfully, there are still ways to protect your documents from moisture inside a fireproof safe, including zip-lock bags.

What to Store in Your Gun Safe

Deciding what to store in your gun safe often comes down to the amount of space you have left after storing ammunition and firearms. If you have room, here are some items you might consider storing.

Legal and Financial/Business Documents: These include passports, wills, trusts, deeds, contracts, medical information, birth certificates, and Social Security cards.

Collectables, Valuables, and Heirlooms: Coins, stamps, currency, family photos, jewelry, genealogy information, as well as small sentimental items such as baby clothes and more can safely be stored in a gun safe. Preserve clothing in air-tight bags to keep them safe from the lead in ammunition.

 
Computer Equipment and Backups: Using the cloud as a backup is great, but many experts suggest keeping a personal backup on a separate hard drive. This can contain family photos, videos, and other digital documents. Additionally, you could consider leaving your laptop in your safe over long weekends or anytime you’re away from home.

Get Gun Safe Answers at Coastal

Your West Coast-owned and operated Coastal can help you find the perfect gun safe to store firearms as well as other valuables. Already have a gun safe? Tell us what you plan to store and we’ll show you some of the best options.