Best secure mailbox to protect your mail
If you or someone you know had your mail stolen or tampered with, you want to learn about lockable security mailboxes. They make it easy to insert the mail, but to retrieve it, one must have a key. There are several types and manufacturers of lockable mailboxes, and this articles is meant to help you find the best secure mailbox for you.
In order to help identify the best secure mailbox for your needs, first it is good to know the reasons and benefits:
1. Secure mailboxes prevent identify theft
The top reason many people need secure mailboxes is to help protect themselves from potential identity thieves. The mail service contains almost everything about us that an identify thief would want to know: what banks and other financial institutions you use, your cell phone company, tax return information, what various memberships you have, among many other things. Someone could piece together enough information to impersonate you to gain access to an account, where they gain even more information about you. This can lead to financial devastation before you know what’s even happened, and fixing it could take years and be emotionally destructive.
2. Secure mailboxes prevent mail and package theft
Even if it’s not your identity a thief is going for, they may be looking for checks, cash, or small packages ordered online. Not only that, theives aren’t kind enough to take just the things of value – they are looking to move fast, so they would just grab everything, then later throw away anything that didn’t provide them value.
3. Secure mailboxes prevent snooping
If you have a problem with nosy neighbors or prying friends and family, lockable mailboxes are a great deterrent. It could be any number of reasons that people do this, but the bottom line is that if people cannot help themselves and practice some self-control, then a secure mailbox has an added benefit of removing that temptation and keeping your privacy.
4. Secure mailboxes discourage mailbox-related deliquency
Sometimes kids think they are doing relatively harmless initiations into their peers’ social circles by doing stupid things, such as messing with your mail, just because they can. Disuade said behavior with a lockable security mailbox.
Choose the best secure mailbox for you
When wanting to find the best secure mailbox with lock and key for your needs, consider the following:
- Whether your mailbox is post-mounted at the curb or wall-mounted on your home
- How much mail you get
- What size mail you get
- Whether you are away from home for several days at a time
In general, lockable secure mailboxes are going to be slightly larger in volume than normal basic mailboxes. They should withstand basic prying, hands reaching in, and baseball-bat beating. That said, nothing is completely fool-proof. A dedicated thief, with enough force and time, can defeat even the most secure mailboxes. The key is to be more secure than your neighbor, and make it not worth the time or energy to attempt to get your email.
When investigating several options for a secure mailbox, below is our round-up of the best secure mailboxes we found.
-
Mail Boss Mail Manager
About $100
The Mail Manager is a popular choice to protect against mail thieves and mailbox vandals. It is designed to accept normal mail and small packages, yet keeps hands from reaching in to fish out the contents. It comes with two keys for its locking system that is pry-resistant. For many people who are at home day-to-day or get light amounts of mail, this is going to be a straightforward choice as the best secure mailbox for many.
-
Mail Boss Package Master
Around $240
Built much like the ‘Mail Manager’, but higher in capacity, so it’s able to accept some small packages, or hold multiple days’ worth of mail. It, too, keeps hands from reaching in to fish out the contents. If you’re away from home home for a few days, or tend to get more mail/packages than others, this might be the best secure mailbox for you.
-
Gibraltar Locking Galvanized Steel, Wall-Mount Mailbox
Range around $25 – 30
Wall-mounted mailboxes are for mailboxes that attached to the wall of the home. They provide security and privacy with a locking mechanism, and a flap to protect from the elements outside. The Gibraltar Wall-Mount Mailbox is a great all-around choice for this style of secure mailbox. It’s waterproof (if the lid is closed!) and is offered in a couple of different designs.
Installing a post mount secure mailbox
This applies to the top two items above – the Mail Boss Mail Manager and Package Manager.
To install a post-mount mailboxes, you’ll need a post. For the two items above, the Mail Boss company offers a special steel in-ground post that can be chosen in the same colors that are chosen from the Mail Boss secure mailbox itself. For homes in which the mailbox post much attached to a sidewalk, Mail Boss also offers a surface mount base plate in combination with a surface mount post to be used with the base plate installation. Hardware is included.
Once the post is in place for your secure mailbox, you will need some tools, such as a socket set or wrench (13mm for the Mail Boss), crescent wrench, and portable drill. The mounting plate comes with the mailbox, allowing it to be installed on any post or platform. Several hole options on the mounting plate, and ideally you choose the four holes furthest away from each other but still cover the wood platform. If you have a metal post (recommended ) that already has holes, use the holes in the mounting plate that line up with the bolt holes in your post. Mounting the mailbox to the post requires access to the secured area of the mail box, so there is minimal risk that someone can remove your secure mailbox without having opened it.
USPS specifications require the height of the mail slot be 41″ to 45″ above the road surface. It’s best to wait until you have your mailbox before setting your post so that you can line the mailbox at the appropriate height.
Bottom line
For people who care about securing their homes, it makes sense to also secure their mail. A dedicated thief can likely find their way into any mailbox, safe, or a mix thereof, however, these mailboxes appear to be the most tamper-proof of their kind. The manufacturers have clearly put much care and thought into the right balance of security and accessibility. Thieves and nosy neighbors will be heavily dissuaded towards wasting their time trying to get to your mail. Please do your research as well, but these mailboxes appear to offer the best security of the bunch.