Is Sports Afield Safe Fireproof? This question is one of the most asked on Google and long story short, no they are not “fireproof”, they do however have fire ratings. This is a huge misconception in the safe industry where new buyers typically think a safe is fireproof or not fireproof. No safe is actually fireproof, everything can melt in a hot enough environment and a long enough period of time. Safes are however Fire Rated for a period of time and temperature. You’ll often see a rating such as 30 minutes at 1200 degrees. Sports Afield makes a variety of safes, some are fire rated and some are not. I’ll help you understand which series are fire rated and what those fire ratings mean.
Which Models are Fire Rated:
- Haven Series – 75 Minutes at 1400 Degrees
- Preserve Series – 45 Minutes at 1400 Degrees
- Instinct Series – 30 Minutes at 1400 Degrees
- Home Defense Series – 20 Minutes at 1200 Degrees
The only series not fire rated are the Journey series, Home Defense Quick Access Vault Series and Home Defense Portable Vault Series.
Are Sports Afield Safes Independently Tested?
Sports Afield safes are not independently tested by a verified agency such as ETL or UL. Their fire rating is only a factory test done at the manufacturer. This means we do not know for certain if the safe will actually survive the fire, we have to take their word for it. With that said, nearly every company does not have their safes independently tested with the exception of Cannon and American Security who hold both ETL and UL fire ratings.
What’s a good fire rating?
Fire ratings are function of both temperature and time. The three main series are rated for 1400 degrees which is 200 degrees hotter than the standard 1200 degrees. The standard house fire burns for 20 minutes so all of their models outside of the home defense series should be able to survive the standard house fire. Some fires burn hotter such as wild fires if you live an area like California or Oregon. The minimum fire rating you look for should be 30 minutes at 1200 degrees and an intumescent door seal that expands during the fire to keep smoke and heat from entering the safe. The Haven, Preserve and Instinct series should be able to survive a standard house fire just fine.
The Bottom Line
Considering most companies selling safes do not independently test their fire ratings, the fire ratings provided by Sports Afield can be considered accurate. They are a reliable company with a long history and they back it with a lifetime warranty that covers all components of the safe including fire. To answer the original question, Is Sports Afield Safe Fireproof? No they are not fireproof, but they are fire rated for a period of time at a certain temperature.
