Are Hollon Safes Good Safes?

Hollon safes excel in security when compared to similarly sized safes at the same price points. Hollon safes often cost less while offering a better value and security level. With heavier construction, Hollon safes stand out as better-built safes, making them a great option in various safe categories at various price points.

We Know Quality Safes

At Acme Locksmith, we sell a lot of safes.  Our customer's  needs range from just keeping kids out of stuff that they shouldn’t be into, to high security TL vaults (for jewelry and insurance reasons), to the safe storage of munitions.

We try to carry the best quality safes at a given price point. So, for example, we feel our under $500 home safes will provide better security than competing brand home safes at similar price points.

This doesn’t mean that a home safe for under $500 is going to protect your high-dollar valuables. It means, at that price, for that intent, we believe our safe gives you more protection and are a better value.

We believe a safe is an investment. People should get the best they can afford and receive the best safe for what they could afford.

For this reason, we carry and endorse Hollon brand safes.

Why is Weight So Important in a Safe?

Weight indicates quality and quantity of the material used in the construction of a safe.

When looking at two similarly sized and rated safes, the better-built safe will be the heavier safe. And heavier safes are harder to move if someone is trying to take one out of your home.

Weight matters. 

When shopping for safes, you can use our Free Safe Weight per Cubic Foot Calculator to help you in your search. 

Why Hollon Builds a Better Safe

Hollon is one of the fastest growing safe companies in America. Started in 2008 by a former locksmith, Hollon Safe was created to bring affordable quality safes that exceed industry standards to the marketplace, often at 20-50% less than a competitor’s equivalent model.

They can do this by working directly with locksmiths and eliminate some of the middle-man costs associated in getting a safe into your home or business. We here at ACME Locksmith have carried their line of safes since 2011.

They are an American, privately-owned company, building safes right there in Corpus Christi, Texas. Their safes exceed industry standards in all their product lines, which range from data vaults that can keep the electronic contents safely under 125 degrees with 2 hours in a fire, to large gun vaults that can hold more than 40 weapons.

We, and our customers, have been very happy with the safes we sell from Hollon, and we’d like to introduce new customers to some of the most popular product lines.

The Most Popular Hollon Product Lines

If you need help determining which type of safe you should buy, check out our article on “How to Choose a Safe”

The HS Series by Hollon – Affordable Home Safes

Shop for Hollon Home Safes

The HS Home Fire Safe Series is Hollon’s answer to the common, affordable home safe. Most competing home safes offer a 1-hour fire rating, and many now come with plastic casings.

But, Hollon Home Safes provide 2-hour fire protection. And that’s at 1850F! What this means is that the content stored in a Hollon home safe won’t exceed 350F for two hours (that is the temperature at which paper starts to combust).

Most homes burn at about 1200 degrees and are exposed to that temperature for only about 17 minutes. So Hollon safes are offering one of the best fire proof safes on the market.

 They range in size from a small microwave to about the size of a mini refrigerator to suit whatever needs the home owner may have. These have thicker walls and doors than the average home safe too. And, they come with a drop rating of 30 ft. This means that should you place the safe on a second story and the floor collapses during a fire, Hollon safes are rated to survive the fall.

When your primary concern is fire protection and basic security (keep people out of your stuff), Hollon Home Safes are one of your best safe options.

The Hollon Fire Burglar (FB) Oyster Series Safes

The fire / burglary, Oyster line of safes from Hollon also offer 2 hours of fire protection. This burglary safe line features:

• 1.5” bolts,
• Glass relocker (a relocker is a type of break-in prevention system) on all but the smallest safe.
• Heavy duty vault hinges.
• 1 inch thick internal locking rods
• Even if the hinges are cut off, the door cannot be removed
• You can check out our video review of the Hollon Oyster Safes on YouTube.

This safe is midway between their home safe line and the more robust Commercial & TL-15 safes. They have models from 1.2cf to nearly 15cf (think “small refrigerator”).

Let’s look at the build of the Hollon FB-450E safe against a common competitor, the Mesa Safe Co. model MBF1512E.

Both are ‘B’ rated (see our article Burglary Ratings Explained), 2-hour fire and burglary safes of approximately the same exterior size.

Shop Hollon Burglary Safes

At the time of this writing, on Amazon, the MBF1512E safe is $867. We sell the Hollon FB-450E at $1068.

Why the difference in price? Again, weight is key.

A safe's weight per cubic foot is a great indicator of the safe’s build quality (see our YouTube video What to Look for in a Safe).

The MBF by Mesa weighs in at only 139 lbs.

The Hollon weighs in at 242 lbs.

That is over a 100 lb difference! The FB-450 weighs very nearly 1.75X more than the MBF safe!

One reason is the bolt size. The Mesa brand uses 1” diameter bolts, but the Hollon bolts are 1.5” — 50% thicker!

And look at the difference in the hinges. When you start looking at burglary safes, you’re protecting valuables, not just paperwork. You want to start thinking about how the safe is built, its armor.

Do you want a lightweight safe designed to keep cost down, or do you want a similarly priced safe that’s built 2X better?

Hollon TL-15, TL-30 Safes

Our high-end clientele are looking for strong safes capable of storing tens. if not hundreds. of thousands of dollars. Hollon has introduced a High Security Line of TL-15 / TL-30 Safe Vaults, which provides a great solution for those who need more protection.

This is a UL-rated line of safe to the TL-15 and TL-30 burglary ratings (Learn About Burglary Ratings).

The UL rating gives you a rather solid ground to compare safes between brands. It guarantees that the safe performs to that UL designation at a minimum. Many TL-30 safes come with concrete filled walls and solid, 3/8-1/2 inch thick exterior doors. What sets the Hollon Safe Vaults apart from the rest is it’s price point. You get the same UL-rated burglary protection but for thousands of dollars less than other major safe brands at similar sizes. These safes protect their content, without breaking the bank.

Hollon put their MJ Series, a TL-30 safe, through testing that could only be called insane. It included punishment by experts wielding, going at it with sledgehammers, pickaxes, crowbars, pry bars, power saws, chisels, drills and rotating disc cutters with no luck whatsoever.

Hollon’s Gun Safe Lines

Hollon also manufactures gun safes and is one of the fastest growing gun safes manufactures in the US. Gun safes deserve an entire article on their own and we’re almost done writing it! There are five lines of Hollon gun safes giving you plenty of flexibility to decide which is right for you.

Their safes scale in price and level of security from the budget friendly, but well built Hunter Gun Safes, to the UL RSC Rated Republic gun safe line.

For details on the Hollon Gun Safe Line, see our article: Hollon Makes the Best Gun Safes for the Money.

Summary: Are Hollon safes any good? Yes!

When purchasing a safe, it’s important to educate yourself before making a purchase. There are a lot of inferior safes available at big box stores that just don’t measure up to the standards one should expect from a container designed to protect your valuables. This may be fine for some consumers, who perhaps just need to keep the kids from getting into the guns, for example. But if you’re investing your money in a safe to protect your valuables, do some homework. Knowing why you are choosing a particular safe is as important as the choice itself.

Hollon Safes are great safes and should be looked at first. You won’t have to break the bank in purchasing a safe to meet your needs. 

Disclosure: As an Amazon / Google Associate I may earn from qualifying purchases.