SentrySafe Fireproof Safe with Key Lock, Chest Lock Box for Home or Travel Secures Money, Documents, 0.18 Cubic Feet, 6.1 x 14.3 x 11.2 Inches, 1210

Why it's worth it

A 13-pound steel chest that's UL Classified for a half hour at 1,550°F and ETL Verified to protect CDs, DVDs and USB drives. It locks with a flat key, has a built-in carry handle, and holds roughly a folder's worth of documents.

Half an hour of fire protection sounds thin next to a full hour. In practice it covers a lot of ground. Crews usually control a residential fire within 20 to 30 minutes of arriving, and a chest sitting low in a closet rides out the coolest part of a burning room. You're trading margin for portability. For a passport, a birth certificate and a car title, that trade is usually fine.

The media rating is the sleeper feature here. Most document safes only promise to keep paper readable, and paper survives far hotter conditions than a thumb drive or a disc. This chest is ETL Verified specifically for CDs, DVDs and USB drives, so a backup copy of your photos has a real chance of coming out usable. If digital storage is the reason you're shopping at all, that's the label you should be hunting for.

From our review of 6 fireproof home safes

What we like

• +Half an hour of fire protection sounds thin next to a full hour
• +The media rating is the sleeper feature here
• +It weighs 13 pounds and has a handle, which changes how you use it
• +The key lock is old-fashioned, and that's not entirely a downside

What to know

• –Thirteen pounds is a one-hand carry
• –The interior is only 3.5 inches tall, so this is a documents-and-jewelry box, not a home for a laptop or a run of binders