2aHawaii
Tools and Uses => Firearms and Accessories => Topic started by: 808shooter on October 26, 2010, 10:47:26 PM
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Question to all, but especially those who have owned guns for a while. Do you think locating a gun safe in a garage is a "OK" location? Reason i'm asking is I just got a larger safe and it's a little heavy. I thought about lugging it upstairs but have considered bolting it down in the garage. It would be secured to concrete and located in a fully - enclosed garage. My main concern is the heat and moisture. It's usually really hot in my garage, no ventilation and can be a little humid due to laundry. Of course I'd be running my dehumidifiers and dessicant packs inside. I'm just a little worried about the heat and humidity on my guns. Right now they're in the house, 24hr A/C and i'm having zero moisture / rust issues. Any thoughts? :shaka:
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I have my "safe" (crappy wooden cabinet w/ trigger cable and extra locks) in my garage, as long as I keep my guns oiled after every use they are fine (I live close to the ocean too). Toss in something to help control the moisture and you should be fine.
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Question to all, but especially those who have owned guns for a while. Do you think locating a gun safe in a garage is a "OK" location? Reason i'm asking is I just got a larger safe and it's a little heavy. I thought about lugging it upstairs but have considered bolting it down in the garage. It would be secured to concrete and located in a fully - enclosed garage. My main concern is the heat and moisture. It's usually really hot in my garage, no ventilation and can be a little humid due to laundry. Of course I'd be running my dehumidifiers and dessicant packs inside. I'm just a little worried about the heat and humidity on my guns. Right now they're in the house, 24hr A/C and i'm having zero moisture / rust issues. Any thoughts? :shaka:
You may want to add one of those little weather stations that show high/low temps and tracks the average humidity to ensure you dehumidifiers are doing there job. I got one for about 12 dollars. There are also gunsocks or "boresleeves" that are supposedly great for keeping moisture away from your toys. I have never used one, can't back it.
As far as mounting, It is highly recommened that you put one side into a corner and lag bolt it to the concrete or studs behind it. Two guys can roll a safe out of a garage really quick and break into it somewhere else.
To me, the garage is fine, just remember that any passers by will be able to gaze into your man cave and note that you have a large safe in there.
Just food for thought
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Most homes in Hawaii aren't air conditioned. So, in terms of heat and humidity, your garage probably isn't a whole lot worse than my bedroom. I clean and oil my guns, then dress them all in gun socks, before storage. So far, haven't taken one out of storage that wasn't in the same shape it went in.
I am not a fan of safe heaters or desiccant packs inside a safe. Desi packs can swell and come apart without constant attention. And the goldenrod "dehumidifiers" are just heaters, keeping the inside of your safe warmer than the outside air so that moisture won't condense. I'm not a fan of leaving things plugged in for years at a time, nor of adding heat to what is, in my case, an amply warm environment.
YMMV. IANAL. QWERTY. :)
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Question to all, but especially those who have owned guns for a while. Do you think locating a gun safe in a garage is a "OK" location? Reason i'm asking is I just got a larger safe and it's a little heavy. I thought about lugging it upstairs but have considered bolting it down in the garage. It would be secured to concrete and located in a fully - enclosed garage. My main concern is the heat and moisture. It's usually really hot in my garage, no ventilation and can be a little humid due to laundry. Of course I'd be running my dehumidifiers and dessicant packs inside. I'm just a little worried about the heat and humidity on my guns. Right now they're in the house, 24hr A/C and i'm having zero moisture / rust issues. Any thoughts? :shaka:
IMO, bad idea. Garages are generally favorite targets for thieves, especially kids & chronics. Bolts can generally be pried/sheared off fairly easily, and a tow strap rapped around the safe and tugged by a vehicle (perhaps your vehicle) would prolly do the job, plus the location just makes it easier to load in the back of a truck.
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Garage Not a good place.
But, if that's all you have.... Make sure you camoflauge it. Make a wooden cabinet around it.
Always get a Larger safe than you think you'll need.
BOLT it down with the Biggest Grade 8 bolts you can get. In a hard to get to corner is nice. Make sure the door will open fully before bolting it down.
I have used a Golden Rod safe heater for as long I have had a safe. Over 30+ years, with no problems. I also us
treated gun socks too.
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Hey thanks all for the responses! I guess heat is not too bad if everyone is putting golden rods inside... I don't know why I was somewhat under the impression that heat was no good for your guns and ammo. I slept on it and the #1 issue I had too was the whole smash-n-drag the safe out of the garage. No way any # of bolting to the concrete would prevent a full-size truck pulling that thing right out. Would be real convenient for range trips though, having the guns / ammo right there in the garage and not having to carry a ways to the car. I ended up dragging it up the stairs the hard way... good thing the door was removeable, that thing weighs almost 1/2 the weight!
thanks peeps! :geekdanc:
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...snip. I'm just a little worried about the heat and humidity on my guns. Right now they're in the house, 24hr A/C and i'm having zero moisture / rust issues. Any thoughts? :shaka:
I'm just jealous that you have 24 hr AC! ;D
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...snip. I'm just a little worried about the heat and humidity on my guns. Right now they're in the house, 24hr A/C and i'm having zero moisture / rust issues. Any thoughts? :shaka:
I'm just jealous that you have 24 hr AC! ;D
just gotta work for HECO so you get a discount on the bill....
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...snip. I'm just a little worried about the heat and humidity on my guns. Right now they're in the house, 24hr A/C and i'm having zero moisture / rust issues. Any thoughts? :shaka:
I'm just jealous that you have 24 hr AC! ;D
just gotta work for HECO so you get a discount on the bill....
I thought they lost that discount.
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...snip. I'm just a little worried about the heat and humidity on my guns. Right now they're in the house, 24hr A/C and i'm having zero moisture / rust issues. Any thoughts? :shaka:
I'm just jealous that you have 24 hr AC! ;D
just gotta work for HECO so you get a discount on the bill....
I thought they lost that discount.
im pretty sure their fighting for that as their contract is coming to a close
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A word about air conditioning, guns and gun safes.
When you close the door of a safe that has been open long enough that the guns are at the "room temp" and you close/lock the safe, any moisture may/will
condense on the colder metal. You can guess where that's going. Rust, even if precautions are taken. I have a friend who has/had this problem. I told him
what the problem was, don't know if he took care of it.
The golden rod keeps the interior as warm as a 40 watt regular bulb and "forces" out the moisture around the door edge.
The seals on a fire restant safe expands(or so I've been told) in an extreme heat situation, thus sealing the safe. Otherwise, air does get in/out.
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PS Floor loading permitting, another thing that I have done on a concrete floor is to add numerous bags of Lead Shotgun pellets. Like line the entire floor with how ever many bags
will fit.
Hey, if someone is going thru the trouble of stealing my safe, what's another 200+ pounds of lead for them to drag out.....
BTW, to my knowledge, I am not aware of any gun safe on Oahu being successfully opened. If it has, the guys that I know who move/install safes
for the local gun community would be the ones who would know.
Reminds me, next time I see them, I'll ask if they are aware of one.
Edit: Is there an Edit function for postings?
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Edit function is right above the post on the right. It says modify.
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A properly bolted down safe would be mighty hard to move, even w/ a vehicle.
Example: Hilti Drop in Anchors or Kwik Bolts are capable of withholding hundreds of pounds before failing (provided they were properly set). Depending on the layout of the safe, I'd imagine there would be at least 2+ anchor points into the ground. Coupled w/ the overall weight of the safe w/ the weight of the contents inside, it's pretty damn heavy.
Not to mention if they are somehow successful w/ removing it from your garage, the amount of commotion trying to peel out w/ the safe attached to their vehicle I'm sure will raise some eyebrows.
With that being said, I'd be perfectly comfortable w/ a safe in my garage. However, if your house is built on a slab and you have sufficient means of moving the safe inside and properly bolting it to the ground, that would be an even more ideal solution. Though if your house is raised by post and pier or raised in general, I'd be a little leery.