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I own a fire safe but only for fire security, not theft. My sister went through a house fire, and it's one of the few things I won't be without (which also includes apartment insurance).

Ditto. I own one for fire security and it contains insurance documents, my passport, birth and marriage certificates, etc. Those things are a huge pain to replace (and I will never get another original birth certificate unless I go back in time to be reborn). It is heavy, but has a handle in case I need to run out of the house with it, unlocks with a key and I got it at Target for under $50. I have no idea if it's the best or how safe my documents are (har-har), but it makes me sleep a little better knowing that they are secure.

I have a safe deposit box at the bank with my important documents, my grandmother's jewelry, and hard drive backups on DVDs. It gives me peace of mind, and it also doesn't take up any space in my apartment.

I'm with katie, I have a safe deposit box but I've thought about a safe for fire/flood protection for photos and other keepsakes I like to have on hand. (yes, i know I should digitize the photos but time always gets away from me...)

Safe deposit boxes at banks are great just be careful to keep up with them... itemize a list and make your payments/dues. Also, banks have been known to move or remove deposit boxes for end of year escheat auctions even though they are supposed to contact owners and bank customers of lapse in deposit box accounts. I remember something like this happened a while back in California regarding this issue... I put the most recent business card and letterhead inside as contact information just in case...

Fire safes are great! should at least have one. We have two, one for local papers/backup CDs/tax papers/gun and one for photos/negatives/film...

the newer fire safes have the ability to drill a hole through a preset spot so you can anchor them to your floor or floor joist. if you store papers or collectibles be sure to use a gel pak for controlling off gassing or some of your stuff will turn yellow over time. I don't bother with keycode ones that use batteries, the tumbler and round key are better...

I have a safe that is fire rated, but it came with a hole on the underside to bolt it to the floor. What would prevent fire from going up into that hole? The bugger is really heavy so carting it off in a burglary would at least throw the burglars back out - serves 'em right.

Embarrassingly enough, we bought a safe over a year ago and it's still sitting in it's original cardboard box, unopened.

Must add that to my to-do list!

Have a fire-rated in-floor safe, but haven't dug the hole to put it in yet. It's big -- about 20" on each side -- and about 250 lbs. Bought it a few years ago from an online seller out of KC or somewhere in that vicinity.

I still don't have any kind of safe... I know I should get one to have all important documents safe. I don't have any valuable (jewelry etc.) so it's only needs to be secure from fire or some other similar disasters.

I own a Sentry fire/water safe too. It's relatively inexpensive and gives me peace of mind for my important documents. It has a simple key but theft isn't a big focus for me.

For those of you wondering about gaps or bolt down holes, fire safes work because they have a gel material that expands when heated, sealing the contents inside from the fire. This is why you shouldn't consider your safe waterproof if it hasn't been rated so.

It was easy for me to learn about safes on the different websites, also keep in mind that the fireproof process that activates during a fire may cause damage to things like stamps, jewelery and some data devices because of what it does to the internal humidity, so check to see what items a particular safe can keep inside.

good point madamimadam... although I imagine if there's a fire your jewelry etc. would have a better chance of surviving in the safe?

We have a fire/water proof safe that we keep important documents in (similar to what first5times listed). We've been through a fire and had a leaky floor once so we have it to protect the documents from that, not theft. It was a real pain getting those documents replaced so this puts our minds to rest.

Ours is not very big nor has a hole. It's heavy, but could be easily carried (no handle though). Simple key lock, and my husband and I each have a key for it on our keychains (so that if we're out of the apt when a fire happens, we'll still be able to open it later).

Yes, absolutely. We have a Sentry fireproof and waterproof model (it's about 40 lbs and we keep it hidden, so someone (hopefully) can't easily run off with it). We went through a flood and were incredibly lucky- we didn't lose a single valuable thing. That was an eye-opener, to say the least. Renter's insurance and a good safe- two things we will never go without.