So I'm doing my fall preps for winter - we re-pack our go bags and all of that, and I have this fire safe...it's got an electronic keypad lock, which is nice. And I thought..."Gee, I don't remember changing the batteries on that thing for a long time....I wonder how I'd open it if the batteries died?"
It's working just fine right now...but you know, if we had a fire, I'm sure the electronics would be destroyed...so how the heck do I open this thing without the electronic keypad?

My pistol safe (also with an electronic lock) has a trouble key for just such a purpose, but as I examined the larger fire safe, I found no way to use the key to open the safe.

I found the owners manual...not a mention of bypassing the electronic lock if the batteries are dead.

As far as I can tell, the only way to open this thing if the keypad is dead is to cut the safe open. Harumph. Not what I want.

That is strange. The most i have seen, also have a backup key system to bypass the electronics. I also noticed a lot a safes have there battery compartment on the outside.

I wouldn't trust that either. Actually, I have gone out of my way to have only mechanical locks and safes for everything.

Yikes,not good.Then again watching storage wars.....dont seem too tough to open in emergemcy failure mode of device.

No problem. Many of those safes pop open easily if you just pick them up and drop them at an angle from about six inches to one foot high. Others can be opened with a paperclip. No kidding. The locks on these "safes" are ridiculous (even on the multi-hundred dollar ones). They have all this fancy electronic pushbottom stuff, and fingerprint recognition stuff, but none of these ways to unlock something matters if the lock mechanism itself is a piece of trash to begin with. Many of these locking mechanisms ARE trash.

Here is one article demonstrating some of the failure modes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebertob...three-year-old/

There is a video link partway down the first page of this article. Check it out.

I have seen some electronic door locks that have two inconspicuous metal contacts on the bottom edge where you touch a 9V battery and enter a master code to open the lock in the event of a dead battery.

Welll...for one I have that EXACT MODEL of pistol safe (the Stack-On one) and it says VERY CLEARLY in the instructions that it must be bolted to a wall and shelf - the "drop" hack should not even be able to happen. But just to test, I pulled it off the wall and did that drop/whack test many times and the door did NOT open.

But I also bolt all my safes to the building.

The electronic lock on my pistol safe (using the term loosely) failed early and I went key only. I would not buy another. My real safe has an S&G tumbler lock (no batteries).

All safes can be defeated; it's a matter of tools and how much time, skills, and noise you want to put the attacker through.

Most electronic locks do not impress me. I would recommend an S&G dial combination lock for a gun safe, for resistance to theft, fire, and software/firmware problems.

Just like there are high end combination locks, there are also high end electronic locks. If you're buying a 'safe' from a typical big box store, you're getting neither.

We've got some high-end TL rated safes, and they're a totally different animal from most of the consumer garbage out there. In these security rated safes you can get high end S&G electronic locks, or even KABA locks, which are electronic, yet require no batteries.

On the high end, electronic locks can do things mechanical locks can't. You can set time delays (so the safe will only open during business hours, even if you have the code), you can track dates and times the safe was opened (as well as who it was opened by if you give them an individual code), you can set it to lock out after a certain number of failed attempts, you can set it for dual mode (essentially requiring two people to open it), etc.

Basically, depending on what your needs are, electronic locks can do things mechanical locks can't even dream of.

With that in mind, if you're buying a cheap firebox or even a rated RSC for your home, you're probably better off with a mechanical dial lock. Even the low-end ones are relatively simple and robust, whereas low end electronic locks often aren't.