First, it’s absolutely nuts to keep a small safe at home if it isn’t bolted to the wall or to the floor because someone can just come in, stuff it in a bag, and walk away with your valuables. With that said, we can’t help but want to own one of these awesome Mandem Safes anyway just for the sheer novelty of a having a safe housed inside a shoebox.
Like other small safes, it consists of a metal box with a locking mechanism. Unlike them, it’s sized to fit inside specific brands of shoeboxes, essentially using the shoebox as a decorative cover to help camouflage its appearance. That way, you can hide your valuables inside a lock box that looks nothing more than an ordinary box that came with your favorite NMD, Boost, or Air Max footwear.
The Mandem Safe comes in two models: LX and SC. The LX is designed for hinged shoeboxes that measure 320 x 220 x 120 mm (width x depth x height), like the standard Adidas shoebox, while the SC is made for boxes that measure 330 x 225 x 115 mm, similar to those hinged Nike shoeboxes with semi-circular cutouts in the lid. Because they’re sized to fit flush, the box should affix to the safe like a second skin, while an adhesive strip on the inner side of the lid, allows you to secure the lid of the box to the safe, so the whole thing moves as one. In case your box fits a little loose on the safe, the outfit advises using double-sided tape to affix the bottom sections.
The lock boxes come with dual locking points to ensure the lid stays down when you leave it unattended. Instead of using keys or a number pad for opening, the LX box relies on contactless smart cards that you simply need to bring close to the front of the box to get the locks to disengage. The SC, on the other hand, comes with a key hole on the side, making it a better choice for folks who prefer a more old-school way of disengaging the locks.
Both Mandem Safe model come with a protective foam inlay, so you can keep your watches, jewelry, and other valuables inside without having them scratched by the metal surface. They also have pre-drilled bolt holes for those who actually plan to use it as a primary safe in the house, whether for holding cash, important documents, or a self-defense weapon.
From what we can tell, the safes look like any of the standard lock boxes in the market, so this should hold up just as well as any portable safe you can buy off the shelf at Walmart. You know, it’s secure enough to protect your belongings from thieving hands, although someone can easily swipe the whole thing if you don’t permanently bolt it down to a fixed section of the house.
The Mandem Safe LX is available now, priced at £380, while the Mandem Safe SC is slated to be restocked later in the year, priced at £180.