SentrySafe Fireproof and Waterproof Black Steel Home Safe with Dial Combination Lock for Cash, or Documents, 1.23 Cubic Feet, 17.8 x 16.3 x 19.3 x Inches, SFW123CU

ok, so it's pretty obvious to anyone doing the same research i did, that you're just not gonna find a great safe over 1 cubic foot for $200 or less. i hemmed and hawed about the amazon listings for a good couple weeks, and checked around to other similar sites before settling on this safe. the reason i bought this one isn't because it stood out as being a higher quality, more user-friendly product. i bought this one because it was temporarily on sale for a huge discount. the regular price was down to $217, and there was also a $50 off coupon offered directly within the listing. that made the price for this safe a whopping $167!about the product. there are several other reviews here that touch on all the various features and faults of the safe, and for the most part i agree with them. however, i do have opinions to add on a couple things. first, the keypad combo lock. i was a bit disappointed that this doesn't come with an actual key for manual override in the event of battery failure, but this problem is resolved with externally-accessible batteries. now, if the keypad physically fails, you're up the creek. however, a mechanical dial can physically fail as well (more on that later) so i'm not letting this fault bother me.second, the lock and handle build quality. many people have complained that they feel the handle "feels cheap" or light or like flimsy plastic. i have to say, it's no worse than many other low dollar safes i've used in the past. yes, it's plastic and light. but as long as you're not trying to move the safe around by tugging on the handle, you shouldn't have any problems with it.finally, moisture. when i first opened my new safe, all the paperwork was wavy and moist. this is apparently a well-known issue with many fire safes, because there's some kind of liquid used to saturate the lining in the safe walls. this liquid releases moisture into the interior of the safe, which can damage documents or other moisture-sensitive items. i found that the easiest way to fix this problem is to throw in some kind of dehumidifying product. i opted for the Eva-dry Renewable Wireless Mini Dehumidifer because it isn't too big, it's rechargeable, and its warranty is measured by the decade. i threw it in the safe with some cash and paperwork, and everything has stayed dry as can be for the two months i've had the safe.oh, i almost forgot about the mechanical dial failure anecdote. i have an older sentry safe at my bar (it actually came with the bar) and it has a mechanical dial. the darn thing broke while the safe was open! i'm not sure if a bartender mashed the dial or handle or what, but something inside the door jumped out of track and left the handle frozen in the unlock position. it took me a good hour of taking the door apart from the inside to get to the problem and fix it. it is for this reason that i chose the keypad lock over the mechanical dial. i've seen the inside of the mechanical dial locks on sentry safes, and they just don't impress me.yeah, there are much better safes on the market. but probably not for less than $200. i'm happy with this safe because it does what i need it to do, and it didn't cost an arm/leg combo to get it. if you see it go on sale, and you're having trouble deciding which safe to buy, i have to say you probably won't be disappointed with this one. i know i'm very happy with mine!

It was almost impossible to get this on my desk. We had to open the safe and use the door to hold onto it to get it off the floor. Once there I found it easy to use, open, reopen, very nice. The best thing is my kids cannot get into it. I put things in there to keep them safe.

The 1.3 cubic foot model fits my needs and space. Wanted simplicity as I went with the spin dial, KISS methodology. Solid construction with adequate depth for my important documents and other stuff. Don’t hesitate to purchase these products from Sentry.

The other reviews here seem to pan this product because it's not got a digital lock, because the product isn't as pictured, or both. I ordered this late on Thursday and it arrived this morning (FedEx on a Saturday, free with Prime!!) - and what I got is a mechanical combination lock safe exactly as pictured.The safe itself is solid and well-constructed, but the lock mechanism appears to be pot metal and some sort of plastic composite. This safe is sufficient for the purposes for which we purchased it: to keep our kids' paws off our stuff and to protect our important papers in the case of a fire. If you're looking for something that's super secure, this probably isn't the safe for you.When we received the safe, the lock was open, which as it turns out was extremely exceptionally fortunate, because there was no trace of the combination ANYWHERE. This takes my rating from 5 stars to 4 (and if I hadn't found resolution on my own, would have knocked it down to a 3).Sentry Safe supposedly keeps a list of serial numbers and factory combinations and could presumably have provided it to us - but their customer service group is closed on Saturdays. No customer service on Saturday knocks my rating down to 3 stars.A quick look at YouTube quickly revealed that the inside door panel is quickly and easily removed, no screws, only snap-in tabs - all you need is a key or butter knife to remove it. The panel removed, it quickly becomes very easy with a flashlight to see the tumbler slots swing into position and then get the number by looking at the dial.On a side note while the inside door panel is off, and in spite of what the Sentry web site and other reviews here might say, it's also easy to remove the retaining clip on the lock center pin, pull the tumblers, and then put them back on as you want. That is, it's easy to change the combination. This, in spite of the lack of documentation, brings what would have otherwise been a 3-star rating back up to a 4.

While I'm a larger fan of metal dials and things like that, I was looking for a safe that I could put things in and had a fireproof rating. This came up and I read good reviews.My sister had a house fire several years ago and I have slacked off on getting a fireproof safe. It is small enough that I'd say it would be easy to remove if someone wanted, which is not a fantastic feature of a safe, but it's not so light I could solo pick it up and scoot away with it. I did also notice that it didn't appear to have any boltdown spots in it. It appears to be intended to just be a fireproof safe and deterrent.The safe works well and it is sensitive enough with tolerances that the dial is spot on, so I'd say that's a nice factor. The storage inside of it was plenty for all of my sensitive documents and a few extras in it. If one wanted they could remove a drawer or two if they needed smaller valuables in there, but I think the extra drawers were a nice touch. If you have access to a 3d printer you could probably even print your own addons inside for it for organization.