Fort Knox Safes Offer Craftsmanship, Customization & Premium Materials
In a world where price and quality is being driven out of the market, Fort Knox is committed to driving quality into their safes.
Widely respected as one of the premier safe manufacturers in the world, Fort Knox safes are hand-crafted in Orem, Utah. Each safe is built with heavy-duty steel, precision-cut fire insulation, and a lifetime warranty. Plus, nearly every element of a Fort Knox safe can be customized.
In a world where price and quality are being driven out of the market, Fort Knox is committed to driving quality into their safes. Built in America from American steel, this family-owned and operated company creates jobs and supports our country’s economy. When you buy a Fort Knox safe you’re making an investment in protecting the things you value.
Since 1988, our family-owned and operated business has provided customers with the largest selection of safes and the highest-quality service. We’re honored to be one of Fort Knox's premier dealers. Are Fort Knox safes worth the investment? If you are securing high-value items, we believe so.
To help you understand why, this post will cover the following topics:
Fort Knox Safes Offer Enhanced Theft Protection
The best prevention against theft is a heavy body and the least number of seams possible, which is precisely what Fort Knox provides.
Heavy Duty Steel
At their entry-level model (a Spartan Vault), Fort Knox features a 3/16” body and ⅜” plate door. The steel used on this safe is 3.85 times stronger than 11 gauge steel and 5.59 times stronger than the strength of 12 gauge.
Steel Security Plates
Moreover, every model above Fort Knox entry-level safe is built with a 10 gauge steel security plate. Don’t other manufactures offer gun safes with ‘security plates’? Yes, but in most instances, these manufacturers leave roughly a 6-inch gap between the plate's edge and the door's full-width.
This gap makes the safe cheaper to produce, giving customers a lower price point. Unfortunately, the gap also presents a security threat, as this section of the door is less protected. Fort Knox extends its steel security plate to the edge of each door, mitigating this potential risk.
Unibody Construction
The less seams in a safe, the more secure it is. Fort Knox safes are built using a unibody construction. Each build begins with a single, flat piece of steel. The piece is then bent into the safe of the body, practically eliminating gaps and seams.
Fully Penetrating Bead Weld
Despite the unibody construction, seams are impossible to avoid altogether. The steel frame must be joined. Additionally, the top and bottom of the safe must be attached.
It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to skip weld or stitch weld, two more cost—effective techniques, to speed up the build process. Unfortunately, these techniques leave seams and gaps in the steel.
Fort Knox hand-welds each safe with a fully penetrating bead weld inside and out. This ensures a seam-free edge and maximum structural integrity to the safe. Furthermore, because each safe is hand-welded by a trusted Fort Knox employee, you avoid the imperfections that can go unnoticed on an assembly line.
As a consumer, fire protection is a challenging issue when you’re looking at safes for sale. Why? Namely because safe fire ratings are not regulated.
Manufacturers can award any fire rating to any safe regardless of how the safe was constructed or how fire testing was conducted. Which means it’s hard to trust fire ratings. And don’t get us started on the folks who claim to sell fireproof safes. (Fireproof safes don’t exist.)
What should you look for if fire protection is a priority? You want a premier safe manufacturer that builds their safe with fire protective layers and offers transparent testing. All Fort Knox gun safes offer the following features at a bare minimum:
Type-C Fireboard
Type-C Fireboard with Vermiculite is designed to resist shrinkage, thanks to a specialized blend of fibers that enhances its structural integrity and fire resistance. Unlike other manufacturers that rely on standard drywall or generic fireboard, it offers superior reliability to safeguard your valuables.
Precision Cut Fireboard
Fort Knox doesn’t just slap a piece of fireboard into your safe. Each piece of Type-C fireboard is cut precisely. The tight fit prevents heat pockets from being created during a fire and reduces heat transfer, helping protect valuables from being damaged
Security Plate
In addition to theft protection, the Fort Knox security plate also helps with fire safety. The steel plate adds more structural integrity to the safe’s door, helping it not buckle or warp when exposed to a fire.
Smoke & Fire Seal
The door’s first layer of defense is the Smoke Seal, which blocks smoke, heat, and caustic residue. The secondary barrier is the Fire Seal, made from heat-activated Palusol material that expands at 212°F to close even the most minor gaps in the door.
Welded Anchors
Most manufacturers glue their fireboard in place. Unfortunately, glue melts during a fire, allowing the fireboard to slump away from the safe’s wall and exposing your valuables. Fort Knox secures each piece of fireboard with welded anchors to ensure the longevity and efficacy of your fire protection.
Thermal Barrier
In addition to keeping the fireboard in place, the welded anchors create this dead air gap between the outer wall and the Type-C Fireboard. This subtle gap slows the transfer of heat to the interior of your safe.
Transparent Testing
The placement of sensors (aka thermocouples) during a fire test can significantly skew results. How so? During a fire, the heat at the top of a safe can be 100 degrees hotter than the bottom. Some manufacturers only place sensors at the bottom of the safe or the middle of the safe. Fort Knox places nine heat sensors evenly from top to bottom.
Another factor that skews fire tests is how quickly a furnace's temperature is raised. Fort Knox fire testing is designed to mimic and exceed the standard house fire. During a Fort Knox fire rest, the furnace is raised to 1200 degrees within the first 10 minutes and then steadily to 1680 degrees.
Fort Knox Safes Feature Premium Finishes
Fort Knox safes aren’t just built to last for generations, they are exquisitely finished. This requires:
Prepping Welded Seams
Before your safe is sanded and painted, all welds are fully covered with Bondo, a polyester putty that’s used in home renovations, automotive repairs, and marine repairs. A two-part compound, it is mixed with a hardened that causes the mixture to harden as it cures creating a solid surface.
Removing Any Imperfections
After all welds are fully covered, the prep team at Fort Knox uses sanders and grinders to remove any imperfections. The result is a pristine, smooth surface.
Painting with Premium PPG
Fort Knox safes are never powder coated, a finishing process that uses an electrical current to apply a dry powder to the outside of the safe. The powder is then cured in an oven, creating a hard shell. Unfortunately, common problems with powder coating (such as poor adhesion, uneven coating, and inconsistent thickness) can cause the protective layer to crack — presenting a poor finish and exposing your valuables to increased risk.
Fort Knox uses PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) paint, a commercial-grade paint used in the automotive industry. This ultra-durable paint offers an extra layer of security for your valuables and a more durable finish.
Fort Knox Safes Can Be Customized to Meet Your Needs
Most safe manufacturers offer a handful of colors, two finishes, and a standard graphic option on the exterior. Interior customizations are almost non-existent. Fort Knox safes are available with hundreds of different customizable combinations.
Exterior Paint
Exterior paint options include:
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3 Textured Paint Finishes
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16 High Gloss Paint Finishes
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5 Different Premium Upgrade Paint Schemes (including distressed, two-toned, faded, rivet trim, and crane hinge)
Extended Lock Options
Nearly every safe we sell comes with three lock options. Fort Knox safes are available with four:
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Mechanical Lock
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Electronic Lock
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Biometric Lock
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Redundant Lock
Interior Fabric
The ability to choose your interior fabric is another very unique option Fort Knox provides. For most safes, there’s a standard interior fabric. With Fort Knox, you have six different choices.
Specialty Upgrades*
Another unique advantage of buying a hand-built Fort Knox safe is the ability to customize your security to meet your needs. You can add the following packages to nearly all safes:
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ArmaKnox AR500 Package — Make your safe more cut, drill, and ballistic-resistant with a layer of ArmaKnox AR500 Steel (7-gauge hardened steel) added to all six sides.
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Stainless Steel Package — Give your safe the highest level of torch resistance by reinforcing all six sides with 10-gauge stainless steel.
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Carbon Steel Liner — Create a significant defense against burglaries by adding up to four additional layers of 10-gauge carbon steel on all six sides
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Steel Body + Door Upgrade — Increase the steel body thickness up to ¼”. Plus, add a ⅛” steel security plate to your door. (Door upgrades are not available on all models and sizes.)
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Reinforced Fire Liner (RFL) — Add additional layers of Type-C fireboard to your safe to increase fire protection.
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Extra Depth — Increase your safe’s storage capacity by adding additional depth. Take the standard depth from 27 inches to as deep as 40 inches.
*Upgrades can reduce the cubic square inches of a safe’s storage space.