10 Covert Ways to Hide Your Valuables

Even though you have a home security system installed…right? You should still hide and lock up your stuff.

Burglars are generally aware that a woman’s jewelry is either in her jewelry box on top of her dresser or in her underwear drawer. For men, it’s in a similar place or sitting in a little dish next to the bed. These methods aren’t exactly covert.

A safe is your best bet. Wall and floor safes can be hidden and other heavy box safes can be bolted to the floor.

Here are some options:

1.    Buy or build a “Book Safe”. A book safe is a carved out book containing your most valuable valuables. Here is a DIY security book safe or do a search online and buy one.

2.    Hollow out an appliance. If you are mechanically inclined and have nothing more than a screw driver and wire snips you can gut anything from a power strip to a blender to a coffeemaker.

3.    Install a fake wall electric outlet or switch. This is also a buy or build.

4.    Use an air vent. If your home has “forced air” and you have air blowing for heat or cooling then any one of your horizontal vents can be a hiding place. Just make sure it’s a vent that doesn’t immediately lead to a drop.

5.    Can Safes. This is a buy or build. Mostly a buy. These are regular looking soda or aerosol cans that have a removable top or bottom. They are cheap enough to buy. But be careful with this because they can be mistaken as something you may not need and thrown away.

6.    Use your freezer. The best way to accomplish this is to freeze a smaller plastic bowl with nothing in it within a larger plastic bowl surrounded by tomato sauce. If a burglar looks in your freezer they see gravy.

7.    Hollow out a pillow. If you sew, this is an easy one.

8.    Make false inner pockets in clothing. Designate an older suit or dress that you don’t wear and put pockets in it.

9.    Use lamps or ceiling mounted lights. Lamps often have an hole  to insert anything. You may need a ladder for ceiling mounted lights so only put things in there you don’t access often.

10. Shoes. It’s easy enough to slide something in a pair of shoes then put a sock in there to contain it.

The key to improvised home security through obscurity is NOT to hide anything on the fly. Meaning designate a spot now and always use it. The day you quickly hide something in a lamp before you go on vacation is the day you lose what you hid because you will spend 6 months looking for it and think the house cleaners stole it. Yes, I know this from experience.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing ADT Pulse™ on Fox News Live. Disclosures