ShaunMrBmore Welcome to the forum. We’re glad you found us.
The debate between digital or dial combinations on safe has come under scrutiny recently with a news story coming out about Liberty Safe company providing law enforcement with “master” codes to unlock all their digital safes.
Link to that topic is here:
Through my own personal experience with digital and dial combinations, I personally prefer a dial combination. Working in retail (automotive) as I have for the last hundred years, all the store safes were eventually upgraded to digital. Every digital lock does have a “master” code preprogrammed in in the event the daily use code is erased or the company loss prevention officer shows up to chastise the store manager. Depending on make of keypad, the “master” code may be permanent, unable to be erased. In that event SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE will have your combination. If you register a warranty on your safe SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE will have the address of where that safe is. That information can easily be stolen via a low-level hacker or could be supplied to law enforcement by the company.
Getting back to the low-level hacker, most digital keypads have a port where a cable can be plugged in either on the side of the keypad or if you remove it by the twist and pull method the port may be on the back of the pad. There are programs available where someone can plug into the keypad and retrieve the master code and unlock the safe.
I have a dial lock on my safe. I have the combination and my Wife has the combination. I never registered the warranty on the safe, so the manufacturer doesn’t know where that safe is.