I am looking for a vault door and found the following two.

http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com/defender.htm (The cost is about $1000)

http://www.ftknox.com/vault_doors/Inside.asp (The cost is about $2400)

Although the Ft. Knox is about $1400 more (the other door is on sale), I feel you tend to get what you pay for.

The three important items about the FT. KNOX is the fire protection, reputation and the fact the door opens inward. This is the only door i have seen to open inward and really fits my requirements.

With this in mind, would you still go for the Ft. Knox and pay the extra cash?

Check out [url]www.smithsecuritysafes.com[/url]

Wouldn't you want something to open out?  That way someone couldn't bang their way in?  

Sportsmans is O.K. if you don't have to deal with Kevin, he's a total moron. I bought a safe from them several years ago and had no problems. However, I went with a friend last weekend to pick up his safe, what a joke. They scratched the hell out of the door frame and gave him touchup paint. Then, they were showing him the safe, the door would'nt lock. The top slide bar was hitting the doorframe. Out came the hand grinder. This was done OUTSIDE in full view of the customer! I would have moved the safe indoors, out of view of the customer for "adjustments." A week prior to this, my friend received a call telling him the safe was ready. When he arrived, he was told the safe was'nt ready. The owner told him at that point "Just because you received a call telling you it was ready,doesn't mean it's done." I was flabergasted at that point. I am in the market for a larger safe, I will most likely go elsewhere.

Being in Florida the door is part of a hurricane/tornado shelter (and gun vault), having the door open inward is best, because if debris is blocking the door, you can still open it. If the door opens out, there is a good chance of debris preventing you from getting out.

Also, since the door will be for the back of a closet (to keep it hidden), having it open inward would keep me from having to remove stuff from the closet whenever access is required. This is why I sorta decided to go with the Ft. Knox door, but was hoping others would agree so I don't feel bad paying almost twice as much for the door.

Ahh, I gotcha.  Pretty good reasons.   I guess it really doesn't matter much with a vault door, because as long as the bolts hold, no way you can bang your way in. [:)]

You might try to email the guy from the link I posted.  I emailed him about a safe I wanted and he went all out to be helpful on what I wanted.  They might be able to do something for less than what the FT knox costs.

I had a walk-in safe where I used to work.  Thing scared me to death.

I had seen it constructed and I knew that if I ever got trapped in it, it would be my tomb.  It was in a somewhat remote part of the building and I generally worked by myself.

I put in emergency lights, a phone, and both a rechargeable and a regular flashlight.  I practiced unlocking the door from the backside.  Anytime I opened the door, I threw the bolts so it couldn’t close and lock on me.  

The door opened toward the outside, which wasn’t too bad since I had no intention of ever closing the door while I was inside.   For the purpose you describe, I’d consider an inside opening door to be absolutely essential.

I forget where the door came from – some place in Georgia I believe.  It was rated for the storage of Top Secret material (not that I had any) and cost several thousand dollars, so it’s not what you’re looking for anyway.

I hope you’ve got some sort of ventilation set-up.  Personally, I’d also look into a second access door, maybe 18 inches square – probably made of metal plate bolted inside the vault (with a wrench nearby).  I’d also throw some noisemakers in there in case you do get trapped – whistles, air horns, etc.