Review of Harbor Freight wall safe

Hi folks.

If you are like me, a father of a toddler and a responsible adult, you may often seek a balance between the quick and ready access to a firearm while also restricting access to your gun to only those who you deem can safely handle it.
To this end, I purchased a wall safe from Harbor Freight. Here is my review.

To begin: My criteria for safe storage of a handgun (while not wearing it) involves the dual purpose of keeping the gun out of the hands of my kid while also making it just a bit harder for thieves to get their hands on my carry pieces. A safe that fits into the wall is ideal for space saving purposes as well as the ability to hide easier.

Here is the safe I chose -

http://www.harborfreight.com/922-cubic-inch-digital-wall-safe-97081.html



The safe is advertised as having .35 cubic foot capacity with two removable shelves.
Retail price is $65. If you clip the 25% off coupon out of the sunday paper you can get it even cheaper. I purchased the 2 year replacement warranty because I didn't want to have to go without a safe should this one fail. YMMV.

Backstory:
I have owned the little brother of this safe for several years, and despite it's cheap looking keypad, it has proved ABSOLUTELY reliable for a LONG time. I wanted to upgrade so I could fit all of my carry guns in one quick access safe. I figured a step up using the same technology was a pretty safe bet.

Installation -

The safe has 4 holes allowing one to bolt the safe to a frame. I cut out an appropriate sized hole out of the sheetrock of my bedroom closet and framed up the hole. I then placed the safe into the cutout and bolted it to the frame. The installation is VERY sturdy and would require some work to remove from the wall. This safe is pretty heavy (30 pounds per the specs) so a sturdy frame is highly recommended.

Construction of the safe -

The safe is constructed of "heavy gauge steel" (per the website). I would estimate the door to be 1/8th of an inch thick and it feels pretty sturdy. It sits on two beefy internal hinges. The door is held shut by two large bolts (as seen in the photo). The keypad is easy to use and the code is easy to reset (you have to open the safe to reset the code). There is a key override hidden behind the cover in the middle of the keypad. This is one big downside that I may address later on.

Shelving -

There are two removable steel shelves. They are fastened to the frame using plastic rivets. They stay sufficiently in place so that they don't fall off or dislodge accidentally, yet are still easy to remove.

Keypad -

The keypad is very easy to see with big numbers. The buttons have a very "positive" feel to them. One downside is the noise - when you press a button it emits a loud beep noise. I know this is easy enough to disable (by disconnecting the speaker) I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Another downside - the hidden key override. This brand uses a common key lock that is very easy to pick. If this keypad proves as reliable as the one on the last safe I had, I may fill the lock with JBweld so it can't be picked.

Battery life -

The last safe I used had the same keypad. The batteries lasted around six months or so. I used the safe every day, twice a day. When the batteries get low, a red light lights up every time you enter your code. Previously, I let the red light go for a couple of months without changing the batteries and the safe continued to function. Changing the batteries makes the red light go to green. So far this function works really well.

Access speed -

I have not timed myself, however I would guess that it takes me approximately 2 seconds from the first button press until I have my gun in my hand. Access is VERY fast. I can sometimes be a deep sleeper and have a couple seconds of confusion upon awakening, so having the gun within reach at my bedside is not an option for me. The fact that I personally know somebody who shot their girlfriend to death accidentally when they woke up confused solidifies this for me. I won't take a chance. I will seek the best solution for ME, which is this type of safe.

Now for the pics....

Here is what it looks like looking through my closet door:







A quick brush aside of the bluegrass wall hanging reveals the safe:




And here it is open. As you can see I can fit three guns including holsters and extra mags.





All my handguns are ALWAYS locked and loaded, ready to go. Having a safe like this means I can keep them that way, whether I am CCWing them or I am sleeping.

I hope you get something out of this review. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them.

WestKentucky said:

DO NOT KILL THE KEYOVERRIDE. I had a safe with the same setup on it and my keypad drained batteries like crazy. The key override was the only way I could get into my safe 80% of the time. I would also suggest keeping the baby brother safe as you have had good luck with it and the internals may swap easily should you have a failure later on.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I will take your suggestion and keep that old safe for a year. That oughta prove whether the new safe proves reliable or not.

In my opinion, this safe is about 100x better than a Gunvault. The lock mechanism, bolts and steel thickness easily beats out the Gunvault products. I like the hand shaped locking mechanism but that one cool feature is just not worth $150 IMO.
These are worth every penny of the $60 I paid for it. And it comes with batteries! LOL

The safe is still working perfectly. Original batteries still good. Money should lay flat on the shelves, although I wouldn't know.

I don't have any money haha

Jackie1 said:

Ok, thanks guys. That flew right over my head about doing a shim to bolt into 2 studs. Maybe Harbor freight was on to something, allow for build error.

I saw this one on Amazon that is 16" wide, and thought it was meant for 2 studs and harbor 1 stud at first :

http://www.amazon.com/16x4x22-Secur...qid=1416429292&sr=8-3&keywords=4x16+wall+safe

So, if there was error in the wall you decided to put this amazon one in, you may be in trouble?

(I'm rather go with Harbor one since they are local if there's an issue)

Click to expand...

That one looks damn near identical to my Harbor Freight safe. Cosmetic differences only. Wouldnt be surprised if it was the same manufacturer.

BTW I had to frame mine in because the wall I installed it in had much wider studs. It is the other side of my bathroom wall....for some reason it is deeper and the studs are further apart.