Safe Choices...

Fair question...why did I choose Liberty Safes?

It's one of those "wisdom of crowds"...things. Out of the hundreds of emails I received in the wake of the problems I had with my Cannon Safe, more of you guys overwhelmingly recommended Liberty Safes than any other brand. It wasn't even close, either. At least one person who had had trouble initially with his Liberty lock still unconditionally recommended Liberty because of the high quality of their customer service, "and I called 'em some ugly names, too!"

I had originally talked about Ft. Knox because I wanted a product made in the United States; the Liberty Lincoln Safe I chose was made in Utah, which is still part of the United States for a little longer. I talked to Liberty Safes' head honcho Jeff Talley about manufacturing practices, and it was impressive. I plan to take him up on his offer to visit the plant and look at their world-class manufacturing processes.

The Lincoln is not top-of-the-line, but it's above the middle. One of the things that I wanted was locking lugs on all four sides (14 1.25-inch lugs in all for the model I chose, this year 33% longer). I also wanted enhanced fire protection, because I live in a red-lined wildfire zone and fire is a reality for all of us up here. I'm sure you can see on the Liberty site that a Lincoln-level safe survived the 2007 California wildfires.

I won't lie to you — there are promotional considerations involved. But I made my choice decision first, then began talking to Liberty (and only to Liberty). Plus Jeff and the guys at Liberty understand that if I have problems with the new safe, they will be public problems. The good and the bad get reported together.

BTW, my Cannon now has a new S&G mechanical lock, courtesy of Aaron Baker, president of Cannon Safes. Cannon provided the lock free of charge (and without my asking them to); I paid only the amazingly low labor charge of $140 to John at Guardian Angel Lock & Security in Centennial, CO. John was great...he arrived precisely on time and stepped me though the whole process, showing me how the insides of a safe work. I feel much better about that safe now.

RE: Shipping on the Lipsey's .44 Specials, I believe they're going out in small lots right now...can't wait to get mine!