Hollon Safe FB-685E 2 Hour Burglary and Fire Safe 2.36 Cu.Ft,

Excellent build and features

Many people have said to have people help when you move this. Seriously! Very important detail. I can’t compare this safe to anything other than a sentry $100 deal that I bought at Walmart. This is so much higher in quality, sturdiness, and safety. It is a “safe“ after all. Do your product research. Mine lasted about four hours. You will find Hollon safe to be of all dimensions and for all purposes. Mine suits my needs very well. I think if you let price dictate your purchase, you may also compromise quality.

This offers what almost no other safe on amazon offers, actual security. Heavy, strong, very well made. This would take several strong men with many tools and much knowledge a long while to open. Feels great.

Super high quality, easy to use combo pad. Very heavy, use two people and hand truck to move.

Does everything I expected. Very strong, and easy to use. I recommend it. This thing weighs 380 lb. No one is going to pick it up and walk away with it.

Really like the value this represented in cost per cubic inch. Well designed, solidly built. Documentation is clearly oriented at supporting the locksmith sales channel (warnings about voiding warranty for doing common install tasks). The supplied anchor bolt needs a 1/2 hole drilled, not documented and support stated 'drill a 3/8 inch hole'. Ended up not using the supplied anchor bolt and bought a Red-Head bolt instead. While it might increase manufacturing costs, I'd prefer to see a recessed anchoring hole so that the final anchor bolt and hardware is flush with the floor of the safe.

The safe is a very good value, I saved almost $400.00 by purchasing it from Amazon and they payed the shipping, I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking into purchasing one .

Although I use Amazon as often as I can for purchases, my Hollon FB-685E came from an established, locksmith who also hardened entry points and installed a monitored alarm system. The price I paid for the safe was $70 more than the bargain price offered by Amazon. The vendor delivered the safe (which weighs 354 pounds), bolted it to the floor, provided instructions for setting the combinations, and answered questions I had about the safe. Two strong men used a specialized hand truck to bing the safe into my home. The variety of safes available at different prices and quality levels makes choosing a safe a complex decision. In my opinion serious fire/burglar safes start at the $800 to $1,000 price point for a 2+ cubic foot capacity. Hollon makes a similar size UL rated TL-15 safe which costs twice as much, weighs 1050 pounds and has slightly less internal space. The FB-685E is rated by Hollon as between its TL-15 model and its office series. This safe was designed for residential use with very good fire resistance properties and sufficient engineering of the box to resist physical attack. The design requirements for resisting fire and physical attack are opposed. The heavy steel shell needed to withstand prying, drilling and cutting conducts heat to the contents while the best design for fire resistance is a thin steel shell filled with a thick layer of insulating concrete. The FB 685E has a two hour fire resistance rating and is factory tested to withstand a 30 foot drop after being heated. By comparing inside and outside dementions it is clear there is three plus inches of fire resistant material on all sides of the safe. As far as I can determine the FB-685 is missing some additional hardened steel on the exterior of the safe to challenge serious professionals using power metal cutting tools. Nonetheless the FB-685E incorporates intelligent design features to increase tamper resistance. The door fits the safe opening closely. A credit card can be inserted between the door and frame but two credit cards bind. The shape of the door and the close tolerance makes it difficult to insert pry tools. There is a top to bottom vertical one inch steel bar incorporated into the hinge side of the safe which mates with a grove in the door when the door is closed. Even if the hinges were removed the door would be solidly held. This simple design feature does not stand out to the casual observer, but it is as effective in securing the hinge side of the door as a bolt mechanism and greatly simplifies door construction reducing labor and materials without sacrificing security. Since the bolts only extend from the left side of the door, only one carrier is necessary and all the parts necessary to move two bolt carriages in opposite directions can be eliminated. After I purchased this safe, I started to research how safes were attacked and failed. Inspection of the safe door with the back panel removed provides key information. Serious design deficiencies such as large bolts mounted onto inferior carriages with undersized screws and other delicate mechanisms are hidden from view. I inspected the safe door with the back panel removed and was pleased to find additional layers of steel protecting and supporting the lock body from attack. The bolts were forged onto a heavy sheet metal carriage shaped to increase strength and rigidity. The portals through which the bolts passed were reinforced with additional steel to prevent the frame from bending or ripping under a pry bar attack. Any attempt to punch or drill the primary lock would break a glass plate that releases a second device to hold the bolts closed. The carriage system is simple and robust. The safe door has a spring loaded mechanism that automatically locks the door as it shuts. The door cannot be closed and left unlocked. The safe comes with a hardened bolt that fits through the bottom for bolting the safe in place. The FB 685 weighs between 50 and 200 pounds more than its competition. Many videos showing safes being opened in a few minutes involve some misdirection and suggestion typical of a magic show. It is easier to attack a heavy safe, lying on its back with plenty of open space around. The heavy pry bars, sledge hammers and axes used in the videos are not the sort of tools carried by an amateur thief, nor are they available around my home. In any case, placing the safe adjacent to walls in a corner restricts the space necessary to apply leverage with prybars etc. This safe can be fitted with either an electronic or a dial lock. I opted for an electronic lock (SecurAm Safelogic with Surelock battery compartment). All the logic and mechanism of an electronic lock is located inside the safe. An electronic lock cannot be manipulated and is easier to unlock. The key pad is only a dumb data entry device with a battery compartment. Further debate about locks is not part of this review. Bottom line, this safe offers good fire resistance and as long as the safe is bolted in place will confound attacks by all but skilled professionals with plenty of time and good tools.