Do you fear that your valuable firearms could rust or corrode due to humidity in your gun safe? It’s true that a gun safe, for all it’s other qualities, cannot protect your guns from is moisture. Fortunately, there are certain products you can buy to limit the negative effects of humidity as much as possible. These products come in the form of dehumidifiers, which suck out all of the moisture and humidity in your safe to ensure your guns remain rust free. In this article, we’ll talk about why moisture is bad for your guns, exactly how a dehumidifier works to stop that moisture, and three of the best gun safe dehumidifiers on the market in 2024.
Short On Time? Here Is The Bullet List
- Best Dehumidifier Rod: Lockdown Dehumidifier Rod
- Best Electric Dehumidifier: Pro Breeze Rechargeable Wireless Dehumidifier
- Best Desiccant Dehumidifier: SnapSafe Silica Gel Dehumidifier
**Below are our more detailed reviews. Click the links above to see current prices or read customer reviews on Amazon.
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Moisture is Bad
Moisture and humidity will easily be the biggest enemies of your firearms and ammunition in general, which is why it’s imperative that you keep the interior of your safe as dry as possible. If the inside of your safe is not dry, then the entire point to having a safe, to protect your firearms, could be negated!
Buying a gun safe will be one of the best things you can do to protect your firearms, ammunition, and other valuables against a fire or from burglars. But there’s one bad thing that your safe does at the same time: It severely inhibits the airflow around your firearms and will allow the moisture that is in the air to wreak havoc on your guns. Never underestimate what moisture can do to a firearm – It can cause corrosion and rust to develop on the metal parts of the guns and mildew on the wooden parts. This is why it is extremely critical that you take basic steps to prevent humidity from ruining your guns, especially if any of your guns have a sentimental value to you or if you spent a lot of money on them.
Dehumidifier Basics
The solution to ensuring that the inside of your safe remains dry and moisture free is to buy a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier, in its most basic form, works by trapping any moisture that is present inside the safe. Granted, properly cleaning and lubricating your guns will also do a lot to prevent rusting, but you should still take the extra step of placing a dehumidifier in your safe to remove any potential humidity that could be inside of it.
While all dehumidifiers may work for the same purpose of reducing moisture and humidity in your safe, there are many different designs of dehumidifiers and each has their own advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we will define exactly what a dehumidifier is, the basic types of dehumidifiers, and then the three top recommended dehumidifiers that we would recommend.
Dehumidifiers to Protect Your Guns
As we have clearly established in our introduction, moisture is easily the number one enemy of your guns and ammunition. If you think about it, the only time that air will get into your safe is when you open it. All other times, your items will be locked in a dark, dense, and compact space, which is the perfect environment for mold and moisture to develop. This will be even worse if you live in a humid environment.
Fortunately, investing in a gun safe dehumidifier will mean that you don’t have to worry about any of this from ever happening. A dehumidifier will protect your guns and other valuables in your safe by soaking up all of the moisture from all four corners of the safe. This will, in turn, cause the entire interior of your safe to be completely dry. Without a dehumidifier, your guns, jewelry, ammunition, and any paper documents you have will rust, corrode, or rot away.
It’s also important to understand how corrosion works as well. Since guns are made out of metal, they will rust over time if not stored in a proper environment. What will happen is the moisture will get inside the gun and start corroding it from the inside and out. This means that if you notice any signs of rust or corrosion on the outside of your gun, it’s more than likely that more damage has been dealt to the inside of your gun. In other words, rust and corrosion are far more than an aesthetic issue. It will directly and negatively impact the inner workings of your guns and possibly make them unsafe to fire.
Types of Dehumidifiers
As far as types of dehumidifiers are concerned, you have two primary options: electric dehumidifiers and desiccant dehumidifiers. Between these two, electric dehumidifiers are by far more popular. The reason why is because they are arguably more effective at removing any moisture that is in your safe. Granted, electric dehumidifiers also tend to be more expensive than desiccant models.
Electric dehumidifiers work by using heat to remove, or more appropriately to evaporate, the moisture that is inside the safe. However, electric dehumidifiers will also be effective at reducing condensation in your safe. Again, this is due to the heat and increase in temperature that will result from the dehumidifier. The internals of your safe and any and all valuables you have inside of it will be protected.
The biggest limit to an electric dehumidifier is that since they are electric, they have to be connected to an external power source. This means that you will need to drill a hole in your safe, if there isn’t one already, to run a wire through to connect the dehumidifier to the power outlet. The alternative to an electric dehumidifier will be a desiccant style of dehumidifier. This does include the small desiccant packs that likely comes to mind but it also technically includes dehumidifiers that use products such as silica gel to reduce the moisture as well.
How a desiccant dehumidifier works is they act as a sponge to absorb all of the moisture in your safe. They will generally only be able to absorb moisture in a more limited amount of space than electric models, which is why you will need to buy at least two dehumidifiers if you have a larger safe. Both electric and desiccant dehumidifiers will get the job done to reduce moisture in your safe. As a general rule of thumb, electric dehumidifiers are more expensive and more powerful while desiccant or silica gel dehumidifiers are cheaper. Next, we’ll outline and discuss three of the most popular and efficient gun safe dehumidifiers on the market:
Best Gun Safe Dehumidifier in 2024 Reviews
Best Dehumidifier Rod:
Lockdown Dehumidifier Rod
One of the most commonly recommended and popular gun safe dehumidifiers is the Lockdown Dehumidifier Rod. There are several reasons why we would recommend the Lockdown Rod as one of the best safe dehumidifiers that you can buy. First of all, it is extremely simple and yet effective to use. When the rod is hooked into your gun safe, it will increase the overall temperature inside the safe by five degrees Fahrenheit. Just like that, you will have set up an effective defense against humidity, and you won’t have to spend your money on an anything else in an attempt to prevent the moisture.
Installing the Lockdown Dehumidifier Rod is simple, though it only works as long as your safe has a power hook up or a hook up that has been installed by you. Simply place the rod directly onto the hook up for it to work. If your safe lacks a hookup, you can always try and drill one through the safe for to access the cables on the outside. Take note, this may void the warranty on your safe, so do so only at your own discretion. All in all, the Lockdown Rod is a solid choice for a dehumidifier that has found favor with many gun owners already. Its only real limitation is that it requires a power hook up to be installed, so if your safe doesn’t have one, you’ll either have to drill one yourself or find a safe that does
Best Electric Dehumidifier:
Pro Breeze Rechargeable Wireless Dehumidifier
The Pro Breeze Rechargeable Wireless Dehumidifier is designed for both gun safes and security cabinets. It will work very effectively at absorbing the extra moisture in your gun safe and without requiring any additional work on your part. There is no need to drill holes or run wires through your safe. But one of the most appealing features of the Pro Breeze dehumidifier is how it also doesn’t rely on any batteries. You won’t have to buy batteries each month with the Pro Breeze. The moisture gauge located on the front of the dehumidifier will let you know whenever it needs to be recharged, so you can continuously keep it running.
The reason why we highly recommend the Pro Breeze Rechargeable Wireless Dehumidifier is that it is capable of pulling moisture away from over 100 cubic feet. There are very few other dehumidifiers on the market that are capable of pulling away moisture from that much space. What’s more, is that the Pro Breeze can pull away moisture within this space for anywhere from a four to six week period before it will need to be recharged. Speaking of recharging, it is incredibly easy to do with the Pro Breeze. Simply take the dehumidifier and plug it into an electrical outlet overnight. The next morning, the dehumidifier should be completely charged and ready to run again for another four to six week period.
You should take note, however, that it’s important you select an electrical outlet to plug the dehumidifier where you know it will be safe for any extra moisture to be distributed. An example of an electrical outlet where it should be safe would be either a utility room or your garage. Overall, the Pro Breeze is a very powerful and easy to use dehumidifier that represents an excellent choice for keeping moisture and humidity out of your gun safe. There’s no need to run electrical wires through holes in your safe or to use batteries, so that part alone should make the Pro Breeze an appealing option.
Best Desiccant Dehumidifier:
SnapSafe Silica Gel Dehumidifier
As the name suggests, the SnapSafe Silica Gel Dehumidifier will reduce moisture by trapping it in silica gel. Some people may be wary of using silica gel for a dehumidifier regarding it as toxic, but the reality is that the SnapSafe gel is completely non-toxic. The silica gel will be capable of trapping moisture within a space of 57 cubic space. While that’s a respectable figure in its own right, if you have a larger safe, you’ll want to use products rather than only one so you can trap more moisture.
The installed with an indicator system that will turn pink colored whenever the gel is saturated. If this happens, simply take the product and heat it inside an oven for at least four hours to dry out the gel inside and to reactivate it. You can then place it back in the safe and it will be as good as new. As you may have guessed, the SnapSafe is incredibly easy to use with no batteries or cables needing to be run through your safe at any time. It ships with a one year warranty from the manufacturer, and as we mentioned earlier, the silica gel inside is entirely non-toxic.
The SnapSafe Silica Gel is a very excellent choice for a dehumidifier. As far as limitations are concerned, you’ll need to use more than one if you have a larger safe. Whenever the gel becomes saturated, you will also need to heat it for at least four hours to reactivate it. That being said, the SnapSafe will be extremely effective at preventing condensation and moisture from developing in your safe. This prevents your firearms from rusting or your ammunition from corroding.
Best Gun Safe Dehumidifier Final Thoughts
It cannot be said enough how important it is to protect your firearms from moisture. If you have any firearms that are highly valuable or were passed down to you from family members, it will be extremely disheartening to open your safe one day only to find them rusted and corroded. Fortunately, you can avert any of this from happening by investing in a dehumidifier for your safe to fully protect your guns from moisture and keep them as good as new every day. Any one of the three dehumidifiers that we have discussed in this article will be a superb choice for reducing moisture in your safe and keeping your guns rust free.
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