SentrySafe DS3410 Combination Fire-Safe, 1.2 Cubic Foot (Black)

Pros:
-Its a little heavy, so it's not as easy as the small hanging file safes to get up and walk away with.
-The key and the dial are very user friendly. The key doesn't stick at all and works every time without fail.
-The combination is factory set so you don't have the possibility of using a combination that would be easily guessed (a lot of people use their birthdate or home phone number for things like this... BAD BAD BAD).
-There are no batteries required. This is good, because if the thing really is stuck in a fire, there are no electronics to be melted, or to be wet by the water hoses. Plus those batteries can get expensive and corrode if left in there unused for a length of time and I'm guessing you wont be going in this every day, so it's probably better to have no electronic parts.

Cons:
-Its heavy #but this is a pro, too#, took 2 people to get it upstairs without too much hassle.
-The instructions tell you to drill the holes in the bottom of the safe and on the mounting surface #typically the floor# with a 7/16 drill bit. Well this is the same size as the screw, so I recommend only using the 7/16 bit in the bottom of the safe, and using a slightly smaller bit to drill the holes in the floor #Do this ONLY if you have wood or carpet floors, as doing this on tile will possibly crack it) I say this because the first time I mounted this, I used the 7/16 for both and the screws just slipped right through the holes in the floor. This made the safe slightly harder to move, because you had to lift it 2.5 inches off the floor, but it would still be easy for 2 crooks to lift and move.

Overall Opinion:
I'm recommending this to my mom, so it's not bad at all. Just make sure you register the safe on their website in case you lose your key or combination or if someone needs to get it in the event of something happening to you.

The safe was delivered by my next door neighbor (a UPS driver) so the damage I later found probably happened in the warehouse or the trip here (I trust him).
The safe is boxed in cardboard only slightly bigger than itself and with foam on the four corners. Nothing to protect the dial or anything else.
There was a small hole in the top of the box and whatever did that, also put a dent in the top of the steel safe.
Amazon.com was nice and we came to a mutual agreement; but make sure you check the safe when delivered.
NOTE: This model (a combination dial-not digital) has a factory combination which CAN NOT be changed.
This wasn't a problem for me as I didn't want yet another item that required batteries like the digital model does.
The combination works well; you can even miss the numbers by one or two and it will still open. You can push in the "key lock" and that disables the dial for extra security.
If you want to mount the safe to the floor, you have to drill holes in the bottom of the safe for the bolts - not a problem for me, I have all the tools, but it may be for many.
If you don't mount the safe down, be aware most suspects will just take the safe (it's about 90 lbs). I'm a retired cop and I've been to plenty of burglaries where they have done just that; so hide the safe or bolt it down (the first place they look is in your closet).

While the outside of this safe and its sheer girth convey a sense of security and solid construction, a close look at the inner workings reveals a pathetic, cheap, poorly constructed safe that is prone to failure and breakage.

My first safe arrived broken - the combination dial and attached shaft just fell right out! Much to their credit, CSN Stores shipped another right away. They told me to just dispose of the broken one (probably because it's not worth the shipping costs to send back a 143 pound [shipping weight] broken safe), so I decided to see if I could fix it.

To my horror, after prying off the plastic trim on the back door a spray of plastic washers and dials spat out - spring loaded. As I suspected from looking at the shaft attached to the main dial there is just a tiny little circular snap-on washer (not sure the exact name for this part) which holds the whole thing together, and the one sent to me had obviously fallen off in shipping. The plastic dials which determine the combination are thin, flimsy, and would definitely not survive any type of high heat from a fire, and the whole assembly would not survive a drop, nor is it even remotely waterproof or sealed.

In about 20 minutes I was able to re-assemble the discs and washers and figure out what the new combination was. So the broken safe works now, but I wouldn't trust it - and in fact I don't trust the working one I have. The inexcusable lack of quality in both parts and construction has serious implications for anyone who owns this safe, and likely any others from Sentry:

- The safe can be easily broken into by merely jumping on the handle to break through the discs or prying off the combination dial to easily access the flimsy discs inside, which as noted are held together by the tiniest thinnest snap-on washer that I've ever seen.

- The safe is not truly fire-safe - the plastic dials (and most of the innards) will melt long before a fire has an effect on the rest of the safe

- The safe is not water resistant - while there is a rubber gasket/trim around the perimeter of the door, the combination dial is not sealed at all.

So basically Sentry uses the cheapest most worthless unreliable parts where it counts the most, hidden where most people will never see them. Think twice before relying on this safe (or this brand) for securing valuables from theft, fire or water damage.

MAJORLY disappointed.

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Update:

I was contacted by Sentry Safe, and to their credit they are very attentive to these issues and wanted to clarify some of the finer points above.

The DA3410 safe is rated for 2 hours of fire at (I think 1500) degrees. They claim that the plastic actually melts and forms a seal which helps to protect the inside from water damage. I can't verify or discredit this claim, but the safes are independently tested by UL to get their rating.

Sentry was also quick to point out that less than one half of one percent of the safes they sell ever have reported problems. Again, can't verify this, but presumably the safes work for most people or else they wouldn't sell. They also claimed that the plastic parts are used in part because they are strong enough where needed, but also have a breaking point which if exceeded (as in the case of applying excessive force to handle) will cause the mechanism to fail-safe, meaning that the handle would just spin and fail to function.

My concerns and issues with this safe still remain.

1) Durability: The wobbly flimsy plastic parts that form the assembly of the combination dial are cheap and unreliable to the point where my first safe couldn't even survive shipping.

2) Functionality: As reported by other reviewers, the safe can stop functioning after time. The weakest link in this safe is the actual locking mechanism, not the materials of the actual safe (metal and concrete)

3) Protection of Valuables: Sentry points out that these safes are not TL rated (look up TL rated safes online) - so these safes are a best-effort against the average uninformed burglar. If someone's intentions were to destroy the contents of the safe, again, that's trivial - lay the safe on its back, pop off the combination dial, poor in gasoline through the open shaft and light a match. You've got a direct pathway into the center of the safe with almost no effort. Same hole could be used to insert a blow torch or something similar to melt the 2 ounces of plastic that keep the handle from turning.

4) Water resistance: Sentry points out that these safes are not water proof, they are water resistant. Fair enough - I just didn't expect to be able to so easily obtain a direct path into the safe by popping the dial off. Surely water could make its way in, but again - water *resistant*, not water proof.

I appreciate Sentry's response and in an effort to be fair to them have updated the review. However, I still think that the weakest link in the chain (so-to-speak) are the cheap plastic parts used in the locking mechanism. It seems like a very modest amount of re-design and more robust hardware would go a long way to ensure long-term functionality, improve security, and prevent the type of failure I experienced, having received a 143 pound safe rendered useless for lack of a sturdier lock washer which probably cost $0.03.

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