The simple science behind the diversion safe follows the logic that thieves are looking for actual safes and sock drawers–the places where valuables are most often kept–when breaking into a home; they never think to look in the refrigerator or kitchen cupboards. Sure, you can go the traditional route and hide your valuables in an Ajax container or a can of Pabst. But we’ve pulled together a list of unconventional and forward-thinking diversion safes that expand the possibilities.
Wall Socket Safe
The Wall Socket Safe is a particularly inspired example of outside-the-box thinking in a genre prides itself on stumping the common thief. Not only does this safe offer the standard appeal of a hiding space where crooks “would never think to look,” the additional element of a simple key to open the safe will ensure that no one would be able to simply pull out the plate in passing.
Lipton Brisk Bottle Safe
The refrigerated, canned or bottled beverage is a diversion safe classic, but this Lipton Brisk Bottle Safe takes the concept one step further. The bottle contains actual liquid, giving it both the feel and appearance of a real plastic bottle.
Brief Safe
Why would any–burglar or otherwise–pick up a pair of underwear soiled with feces? That’s what the Brief Safe is all about. Unless your place is being burgled by 15-year-old boys, you’re probably safe with this one.
Barbasol Shaving Cream Safe
While most diversion safes have focused on the kitchen, this Barbasol Shaving Cream Safe throws further subterfuge into the mix. Like the classic diversion safe cans, this one screws off on the bottom, creating a seamless, inconspicuous closer at the base.
Book Diversion Safe
The safety of the Book Diversion Safe lies not only in the fact that it’s an unconventional safe and it can be placed in spaces not traditionally associated with diversion safes, but also that it’s an actual book. Hidden in the pages of Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers is an enclosure large enough for money, valuables, or small documents.
Sprinkler Key Hider
More of a outdoor key holder than an indoor safe, the Sprinkler Key Holder is made from a real sprinkler system head and lets you take the diversion outdoors. Whether you are keeping an extra key handy for yourself or leaving money or small documents for someone else, this is the ideal outdoor safe spot.
Iceberg Lettuce Safe
Perhaps the most inconspicuous diversion safe available, the Iceberg Lettuce Safe truly fulfils the aim of all diversion safes to create a secure space where a burglar would never think of looking. It has to be said that part of the reward of using a diversion safe in the first place is to allow yourself to feel like you are simply and cleverly outwitting any bumbling crooks that may enter your house, and nothing out there really says that better than this safe.
Candle Safe
Like other contemporary diversion safes, the Candle Safe takes the piece out of the conventional hiding spots–the refrigerator and the cupboard–offering you far more options. This realistic candle can actually burn for four hours without harming the metal safety container within.
Thermometer Safe
Like the Sprinkler, the draw of the Thermometer Safe lies in its usefulness for placement outdoors, in case you want to exchange keys, money, etc, without the necessity of someone coming inside your home to get it. This safe offers the further appeal of being a versatile safe that can be used outdoors, in your garage, or even in your kitchen.
Old English Diversion Safe
The cheap beer diversion can is as old as this trick gets, but there’s something particularly noteworthy about this Old English version. To make this scheme work, you’re going to have to have more than one can in the fridge. But it has to be asked: if you’re drinking OE out of the can, do you really have any valuables you need to be hiding? And if you can think of something to put in there, are you going to have enough short term memory to recall where you put it?
By: robert o’neill