The Key...
Always remember...security is best done in layers....a safe should only be one component of an overall security plan. In fact....if someone should somehow be incredibly good or lucky enough just to get standing in front of my safe...they get maybe 10 to 15 minutes max time to work.
As for flood protection...well I don't have much to offer for suggestions there...other than move and/or elevate the safe as much as you can. Depending on the situation a few inches of elevation could make a big difference.
As for fire protection... just having any safe that has some fire protection designed into it gets you a big step ahead of keeping them on the living room floor. Do a little research...buy the best you can afford based on that research and move on to living your life. I don't believe a lot of the hooey in this thread...if there was such a huge gap between what a safe is advertised to do and what it can actually do....as some here have claimed...our commercial system,commercial law, and the marketplace would flush that out at some point. I also don't take everything an advertiser takes at face value. The truth is usually some where in between.
As for rust proofing....first point is that every time you open your safe equilibrium is established between the air in the safe and the ambient air. So don't open it on humid days...just kidding. The fire protecting materials and other components are not infinite moisture sources that continuously disperse moisture into the internal air of a closed safe. Most of the moisture in the materials is encapsulated and does not easily evaporate...so that when a fire happens the moisture is released thus providing protection. If it were not encapsulated the moisture would evaporate fairly quickly and offer no threat to rusting. So again this is not a point to anguish over. Like security, rust prevention is best done as a multilayered program. Use some sort of dessicant in the safe...or other moisture reducing method...or two...and check and clean your firearms periodically..and be done with it and move on with life.
There's my two cents....FWIW.
