Air Vent Secret Compartment provides obscurity
The "Air Vent Secret Compartment" is just that, slipping into walls with 16-inch or greater stud spacing. A small latch hidden inside the louvers opens the front.
It's clever, but less so if the vent cover doesn't match the ones in your home. Also, it's a shame it doesn't have a safe or lock integrated inside, but I suppose you could also place a smaller lock box on its shelves. The Vent Compartment is sold by HiddenSafes.com for $275, shipped. (They've other types of safes, as well.)
Product Page [HiddenSafes.com via Oh Gizmo via BallerHouse.com]
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A thief would simply steal any lockbox small enough to fit inside that, toss it in a bag, and worry about opening it later.
Inventive, though.
I have one of those. I keep my trophy case in it with all of my blood samples.
Or you could just hide things in an existing vent at no extra cost, a la No Country for Old Men.
I hate you, Deadmeat - you beat me to the 'Dexter' reference. :(
Security through obscurity hardly ever works. If you think something like this will keep your valuables safe you might as well use the coffee can buried in the yard method.
@ CastanhasDoPara:
With the Dexter and No Country for Old Men references above, you'd think the coffee can method would work better as I haven't seen that used in pop culture recently.
For the most part, the average scumbag thief is trying to get in and out as fast as possible. So, they will be trying to find valuables quickly. As well, you have to be aware that what is valuable to you, may not be to the thief...as they will want to convert it to cash, trade it for drugs, or use it themselves. The other thing is "use frequency". If you have a valuable thing that you use daily, you won't want to store it anywhere awkward. Any frequently accessed storage place begins to look like it's used...and is thus obvious to thieves.
Solving this problem for valuable, frequently used stuff is difficult.
If you used this 'vent safe' daily, you'd end up scratching it, getting it dirty, and so forth. Or worse, leave the damn thing open. I think the vent might work, but only if you rarely go into it. If it's really valuable, rent a box at the bank. No question about it.
One thing that I've learned from experience is, if you have any lockable drawers, leave them unlocked or leave the key in the lock. Otherwise you can add a busted drawer to your list of losses when there's a break-in.
$275?? I could make one in an afternoon for $30.
the lurch speaks truth. I've had someone break into my house exactly once, and we could trace the path they took through the house--turned up mattresses, opened drawers, etc. The cop who took the report figured that they were looking for guns, liquor, and/or cash, and their focus on those three things was strong enough that they went right past an Apple laptop that retailed at about $1000.