Safe Lens Storage

[ssloansjca]

In November 2006 my house was broken into and some of my gear was stolen. Since then I have been considering buying a gun safe. The crooks know I have more gear they didn't get.

But, my local pusher, I mean camera store owner, said I should never store camera gear in a safe due to mold.

What do you think? How do you, or should I, keep gear safe?

Steve Sloan
San Jose, CA

 

[TedB]

If you end up going with the gun safe, a product is made called the golden rod.....essentially is looks like a long curling iron, it generates a bit of heat (plugs into 110v) and takes humidity out. Gun folks using safes have been using them for a long time.

Ted

 

[Marton_B]

In November 2006 my house was broken into and some of my gear was stolen. Since then I have been considering buying a gun safe. The crooks know I have more gear they didn't get.

But, my local pusher, I mean camera store owner, said I should never store camera gear in a safe due to mold.

What do you think? How do you, or should I, keep gear safe?

Steve Sloan
San Jose, CA

Sorry to hear about your break in.
How about keeping a bunch of desiccants in that gun safe? :smile:

 

[Palouse]

When I lived in the tropics (India) we used a 60-100w bulb inside a metal cabinet to keep air dry. But desiccants are much safer--pelican makes a large one for use in it's cases.

 

[Gary Mayo]

Any source of heat is all there is needed. Small light bulb is great.

Sorry about your loss.

 

[ssloansjca]

Thanks for the comments, yes it stunk as did dealing with my insurance co. They would look up used equipment and then depreciate its value. I said if they wanted to depreciate something they had to look at new equipment. Lost about $4K in value, but that's another story.
Do most safes have little holes for power cords?

 

[LDB415]

You need to review your insurance. We had a break in back in 1981 I think it was. I had a lot of gear stolen. Part was bought new and part was bought used. My policy was full replacement cost coverage. The insurance company took the equipment list to a camera store on North Shepherd that I can't remember the name of. I got the full retail replacement value of all items in settlement because that's how the coverage read.

 

[APandya]

LDB -

what insurance company did you have! For the amount invested in equipment I wouldn't mind spending a bit more for that peace of mind.

 

[scyfreestyler]

My gun safe has holes for power cords or mounting bolts in the bottom. I use desiccant to keep out moisture but only guns are kept in there, no lenses and such. It's too inconvenient to keep things that I use routinely stored in there.

 

[johnmh]

Boating supply places are good sources for dessicants.

 

[johnmh]

An alternative is built-in hidden storage. If you're any good at building things it's actually pretty easy to incorporate hidden storage into closets and elsewhere. You can even build in a gun safe somewhere behind a panel so it's not even obvious that you have it.

Some of the older houses around here have hidden places for storage. Lots of stories about contractors finding old built-in safes and such that new owners didn't even know existed. Our house had a spot I found when demolishing closets to make a 'walk-in'. Never would have found it if I hadn't torn the existing closets out. Nothing there but clearly this was designed to hold jewelry - a fairly large spot that would hold a jewelry box.

 

[yendikeno]

...
Do most safes have little holes for power cords?

Yes, they usually do. On my safe, it's down low on the back panel of the safe.

 

[ssloansjca]

Thanks, my house is from the 70's and it is a tract home. If there is a hidden vault it would likely have a few old disco 8-tracks and maybe a few out of date rolls of Kodachrome II.

 

[PAReams]

I have State Farm with the same coverage that was mentioned in post 7. It really provides a lot of peace of mind.

 

[trenchmonkey]

Pelican 1660. Wheel everything not going with to detached garage/workshop. It's a fortress.

 

[ssloansjca]

I had Farmers Insurance. They were once pretty good.

~Steve

 

[acena]

A gun safe is your best bet. Rather than a bunch of dessicants that have to be replaced every so often just be sure to buy a "Golden Rod" with the safe. Stick it in the hole behind the safe, plug into the wall and it will keep the moisture out. From personal experience, the golden rod works like a champ.