Dorm Room Safe

[runwad]

Can anyone post a link to a good safe for a dorm room? We want to be able to put a laptop, phone,money and credit cards in it. I wanted to stay $50 and under but seems like they are all more expensive than that and if they are cheaper they seem to be junk. We also don't want it to big and bulky something slim like the size of the laptop. Thanks, I'm getting tired of googling

 

[Alesia]

You're not going to find much under $50, but this one is under $100: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002...dorm+rooms&dpPl=1&dpID=41orXiq9TpL&ref=plSrch

 

[runwad]

^^ I saw that one but it's kinda heavy 37#!! Do you actually use it? Plus it doesn't come with that tethering cable, I like the idea of that. But thanks for looking

 

[Malibustyle23]

Could they just use a fireproof safe? Would a laptop fit in it?

 

[kid-at-heart]

We just bought our daughter a safe for her meds/money/etc to use in her dorm room. It is not big enough for her laptop (mac) and that was not an issue for us. For her computer, we bought a docking station that can be tethered to her desk and that she can keep tethered while working but then easily disengage to take the computer to class - or keep in the docking station if she is planning on going to the library or elsewhere and wants to "lock" her computer while out and about. If you are interested in which docking station we bought I can ask my husband, he ordered it from Amazon..I think.

We bought this safe (see link) and then my daughter painted it so it would stand out if anyone decided to walk down the hall with it. A few years ago Sentry was selling hot pink one, I thought about buying it but since we were a few years away from college, I waited. Should not have since they no longer sell the hot pink one. We wanted a safe that was big enough and heavy enough that it would not be easy to slip it under one's coat or into one's back pack. We bought locking cable to tether it to her bed or closet rod... This is the one we ended up with: http://www.target.com/p/sentrysafe-1200-fire-chest/-/A-14786972 approx. $20.


and this is what she did to it. I seriously think if anyone tries to walk off with it, folks will notice. It is large enough to hold "valuables" except for her laptop and yet small enough that she can store it easily in her dorm room.

 

[runwad]

I like that safe from target @kid-at-heart if it was a little bigger it would be perfect. Her laptop is 15.6". I really want something for the computer, its from dell maybe I'll ck their site.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Target had a larger size for about $40 but I do not know if it was large enough for a laptop. Ahh, the things we do for our children. When I went to college, laptops were not in existence.

 

[KKB]

If you lock your door when you leave, why do you need to tether your laptop?
I mean, unless you don't trust your child's roommate...(and I do get that to some extent; our oldest's first roommate was a little d***. But we weren't really worried about theft...)
Our children have been instructed to have little money on them & keep doors LOCKED. DS never had an issue.
I suppose you are also at the mercy of a roommate being sure to lock the room as well...

 

[Disneybuckeye]

I had three kids spend 13.5 years in college and none of them ever had a safe. None of them ever had anything stolen out of a dorm room. They are all recent college grads.

Never entered my mind to worry about it. Maybe we were just lucky.

 

[scrapquitler]

I had three kids spend 13.5 years in college and none of them ever had a safe. None of them ever had anything stolen out of a dorm room. They are all recent college grads.

Never entered my mind to worry about it. Maybe we were just lucky.

We never thought about this for our DD who is going to be a junior this year. She never carries cash, and she has one credit card, but I'm no more concerned about that getting lost or stolen than I am my own, closing it out and getting it replaced just takes a simple phone call. She's not worried about her laptop, either, it's an inexpensive one and she has backups on her portable hard drive and her thumb drive. It just hasn't been anything that we've worried about...and she and her roommates didn't even lock the bedroom doors within the suite last year. She's not careless, but she's not worried, either.

 

[crisi]

If you are going to get a safe, be aware that if anyone is going to steal anything, they'll just jack the safe. So you will need the tether - and you will need something permanently installed in the room to tether to. Otherwise, all you are doing is giving them a box that says "please steal me." Cheap safes are easy enough to crack open with TIME and tools (I lost the key to mine years ago, it took me maybe an hour to break into it).

 

[QueenIsabella]

We got DD21 a small safe for her room, with a tether. AFAIK, she uses it for things like her passport and insurance card. She has a separate tether for her laptop, for when she uses it at the library. I have no idea if/how she actually uses the items, but I felt better. She goes to school in an urban environment, it's not a self-contained campus, and she's never lived in a dorm (specialty housing and apartments, both on-campus).

 

[kid-at-heart]

I work on a college campus. People steal. People plunder. Roommates have friends and friends of friends who drop by. Our family respects privacy but I had a roommate who liked to go through my stuff, read my journal and "borrow" a dollar or two. I feel better sending a small safe that can be tethered to something for meds/passport/cash then to assume everyone is honest or will remember to lock the room door. I am not worried about the cash so much as medicine and other items that are not easily/quickly replaced.

 

[barkley]

just curious-what do people tether these to? the dorm rooms at our local university only have minimal furniture so tethering something to the leg of a bed or desk would just entail lifting the item slightly to remove it.

dd didn't live in the dorms but in shared housing (so lots of roommates/friends in and out) so we got her a solid footlocker for secure storing. she could store anything of value in it (and more) and one of the tsa luggage locks makes it very secure. it isn't something that would be able to be grabbed quickly and walked away with. she kept her meds and such in it-but as far as things like passports and other vital documents, we keep those for her at home b/c it could always be overnight mailed (vs. taking weeks to months to get an original replaced).

it's never a bad idea to look into renters insurance for dorm students-dd pays around $175 per year for over 20K in coverage for losses and that's with only a $200 deductible (and as my insurance agent pointed out-if she has to put in a claim for her room or theft from her car it wouldn't go against our homeowner's policy and potentially raise those rates).

 

[adisneyaunt]

Homeowners policies have a relatively inexpensive add on, off premise theft you can add.
We purchased a small tethered safe while ds was dorming. He said he hardly used it as it was an inconvenience ( first we did fingerprint type option, then batteries died UGH, couldnt find back up key lol). Then we did another type, also tethered unit when ds went Overseas for school. He DID use that one, for passport, ins. Info, back up cc and some currency). It was small, and he attached it within his closet, over the rod and under a jacket.. We got it online.

Best of luck to ur student, may s/he have an educational, enjoyable, and safe experience!

 

[Disney_traveler]

Wow! I never would have thought of needing one back when I was in college. It's kinda sad and scary that's our world now.

 

[wenrob]

^^ I saw that one but it's kinda heavy 37#!! Do you actually use it? Plus it doesn't come with that tethering cable, I like the idea of that. But thanks for looking

A safe should be heavy. The idea is to make it inconvenient for someone to pick it up and walk away with it and/or make it hard to bust into. You can hope it will act as a deterrent but someone determined isn't going to find small, portable safes a problem. I agree with the idea of a sturdy footlocker that can be locked with a heavy duty lock.

 

[crisi]

Rhino seems to make a good one - its far over the OPs budget, but can also hold other stuff in addition to the stuff you need locked up.

 

[HM]

The only things my kids had stolen over the last few years were---

Clothes from the dryer in the laundry room. The took only the Izod polo shirts and khaki pants. Make sure your student stays in the laundry until the wash is done.

Books from the dorm room. Right before the end of the semester, an expensive Biology book went missing from my son's bed and was presumably sold back as a used book by someone. Keep rooms closed and locked.

My DD still can't find a raincoat which happened to have her Fitbit Zip in the pocket. Was it stolen or left somewhere?...we'll never know.

 

[SC Minnie]

DD had a little lock box she tethered to the wire rack in her closet. She kept a spare car key, her passport, SS card, a little extra cash for emergency, and a few other small important documents.

She never tethered her computer and didn't have a problem with anything getting stolen. She had apartment -mates but always had a private bedroom so would lock her bedroom door whenever she left.