Need to Hide Your Valuables? Consider These Quirky Safes.

A split-grid graphic displaying different types of diversion safes against colorful backdrops. The top-left features a lint roller safe with a set of keys spilling out on a yellow background, paired with a green icon of an eye with a line through it. The top-right shows a hollowed-out

When I was growing up, my parents had a family friend who often showed up at our house and made herself at home — even when we weren’t there.

The memory of the deadbolt’s rattling violently one afternoon when I was home alone, as her key failed to open the door, still elicits feelings of fear and vulnerability. I don’t recall her ever pilfering anything during these unwanted drop-ins, but she clearly had no qualms about invading our privacy.

If you worry that a visiting relative, dinner guest, or friend with no boundaries may poke around your stuff, get a hidden safe. A stealthily disguised safe can’t stop people from snooping, but it may keep them from discovering your hidden stash of cash, your most precious possessions, or your deepest secrets.

Most hidden safes, also called diversion safes, resemble everyday objects like wall clocks and soda cans but have secret storage compartments. Others deploy the kind of subterfuge you’d normally see in spy thrillers: smart-lock closets hidden behind wall mirrors, for example, or jewelry stashed beneath the false bottom of a shelf.

These gizmos make it harder, though not impossible, for experienced thieves to pilfer your goods. In general, the experts we interviewed agreed that if you want to ensure that your stuff isn’t stolen, a sturdy safe bolted to the floor is a better bet than a coffee can stuffed with cash in the back of a cabinet, especially in the event of a home invasion. (A strong home security system is also a must.) But if you have just a few items you want to keep hidden from prying eyes, a quaint hidden safe will do the trick.

With the help of experts in law enforcement, estate sales, home security, and even espionage, we’ve rounded up a few hidden safes that won’t turn heads (which is the whole point), including a chunky permanent marker, a hairbrush that actually tames flyaways, a lint roller that captures hair as well as secrets, a retro book safe, and a realistic wall outlet.



from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://ift.tt/jWmO9V4
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Nugget Is the ‘Original Play Couch.’ Costco’s Version May Be Better.

Image
If you’re a parent of a child under 10, you’ve probably heard of The Nugget, the beloved play sofa that launched a thousand (well, at least 20) competitors. I’ve only recently discovered the category; but now that my eyes are open, play-cushion sets seem to be everywhere — even at Costco. I’m inherently skeptical of any product that claims to solve a need that I’m unaware of having. But, last summer, a junk collector hauled away our sofa, whose base had finally broken clean in half from eight years of my son’s intense, anime-inspired dance-jumping. It turns out we could’ve used a play sofa — and saved our couch  (as well as our cushions). The Nugget , the first play couch to widely popularize the concept, experienced viral popularity during pandemic lockdowns in 2020. It is also a Wirecutter favorite . Its modular design is simple: There are two long, hinged cushions and two triangular bolsters, all with removable, washable covers. And while The Nugget is arguably the most popu...
Read more

The 30 Most Popular Prime Day Deals, According to Wirecutter Readers

Image
Amazon’s summer Prime Day — which is now a four-day event rather than the usual two days — is well underway, and we’ve been working hard to surface the best deals for our readers. We’ve sorted through thousands of on-sale items to pinpoint truly excellent discounts on the things our experts have found are worth your time and money. Among the 500-plus deals we’ve posted so far —less than 1% of every discount we’ve reviewed — some have grabbed the attention of our readers more than others. Here are the 30 Prime Day deals that our readers have loved the most, including soft sateen sheets, a luxe leather tote, an investment-worthy blender, and more. from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://ift.tt/tDSahdQ via IFTTT
Read more

We Bought a 450-Pound Mystery Pallet Packed With Returned Goods From Amazon and Beyond. Here’s What We Found Inside.

Image
When I convinced my bosses at Wirecutter to spend over $700 on a 450-pound, 6-foot-tall cardboard box filled with hundreds of mystery products that had been returned to Amazon and other retailers, I assumed that what we’d find inside would be a revealing snapshot of what shopping looks like today. Anyone can buy these pallets stuffed with discarded products. For months, I’d watched content creators on social media giggle in excitement as they’d pull packages one by one from their own surprise boxes and rip them open, ceremoniously revealing a bevy of weird and wonderful items. A sparkly diamond ring! A cozy custom blanket emblazoned with the faces of a young couple! Some sexy (unworn) lingerie! I was certain that my own box would be a mix of great stuff, mediocre stuff, and some downright lousy stuff. My Wirecutter colleagues and I would use the items we found to meditate on product quality, manufacturing, and the retail life cycle. And we’d likely discover something interesting an...
Read more