Staying rust-free is critical for the proper function of a firearm. Rust and corrosion will ruin a gun and render it unsafe to fire quicker than anything else. Don’t let the rustman get you, get yourself a gun safe dehumidifier!
Because rust is bad. That’s why.
Long story made shorter is that humidity is bad for guns. Not all guns are equal in this respect, but being wet is bad for any firearm. You can mitigate this by keeping your firearms well oiled and inspected often, but it’s a preventative measure.
A more creative measure is to make sure they don’t get wet to start with.
If you live in the freaking desert as I do, this isn’t a problem and you might not even need a dehumidifier.
If you live where there is actually water in the air — you need a dehumidifier.
Your gun safe should, ideally, be between 30% and 50% humidity. If your average is above that, get a dehumidifier!
There are basically two types of gun safe dehumidifiers — ones that heat the air to prevent condensation and ones that physically absorb moisture from the air.
The first is basically a small heating element and a fan to keep the air moving. These require power and need to be plugged in. The nice thing is that these are plug-and-forget devices. You never need to change them, set them, adjust them, nothing.
Dehumidifiers that remove moisture from the air are basically silica gel pellets repackaged and sometimes upgraded.
These simply absorb moisture from the air and trap them in their crystalline structure.
Sometimes these are just that and nothing more, but more often these are packaged in a device that let you “recharge” the moisture-absorbing material. Basically, plug it in and it will gently heat the pellets and let them release their moisture (not in your safe) so they can be reused.
Really it comes down to the kind of safe you have.
Both styles of dehumidifier work equally well, with a slight edge given to the electronic kind.
However, if you’re short on space in your safe you’ll want to use the passive silica dehumidifiers.
You’ll also need access to power if you want to use the air circulation type. Some safes have holes drilled in them for this reason or they have power supplies in the safe itself that you can plug into.
Either way, you’ll need power.
Silica dehumidifiers are easier and more flexible, but they require changing out or recharging sometimes as often as once a month.
Weigh the pros and cons and pick your style!
A gold standard in gun safe technology, this is likely the dehumidifier that is recommended more often than any other.
Why? Because it’s simple and it works.
The Goldenrod heats the heat slightly and allows it to circulate and prevents condensation. You need to plug it in, but otherwise, it requires zero attention and zero effort on your part.
Several sizes are available and all of the work well.
Check your safe’s owner manual to find your square footage to see what size Goldenrod you need.
Some of the top-end gun safes actually ship with a PEET Safekeeping Dryer already installed in the safe, that’s how respected this model is.
Not only does it slightly heat the air it also has a fan to better move the air around the same — perfect for large safes or safes that have a LOT of stuff in them.
Again, you’ll need to plug it in — but once you do this is a tool that you can forget is there since it does all the work for you.
If you want your dehumidifier to have some brains to it, the Lockdown Compact Auto Dehumidifier is perfect for you.
While the other models are simple set and forget ones, this one actually lets you decide how much humidity you want in your safe.
Maybe you live in an area that is kind of borderline on if you need dehumidification or maybe you have older firearms in the safe that requires a little more moisture in the air to keep the wood from drying out, but not so much that the metal rusts.
This fine line of kind thing can only be handled by a dehumidifier that can sense the humidity and act accordingly.
I’ve been using this exact model of gun safe dehumidifiers in my firearm safe for over 5 years now, I have nothing bad to say about it.
Technically, I barely need a dehumidifier because of the dry area I live in — but since I run a humidifier in the room with my safe so I can breathe without the air hurting my soft and delicate nose, I need a dehumidifier in my safe.
This is a super simple design that just hangs in the middle of a shelf and does its thing. Nothing to adjust, nothing to worry about, it just sits there and soaks up the wet.
Every couple of months I plug it in for a few hours and it heats up to release the wet it’s collected.
Simple, fool-proof, and easy to use.
If you don’t like the idea of using electricity to recharge your moisture-soaking gel pellets, Hornady has this for you!
Instead of plugging this into the wall, you throw it in the oven to heat and release the humidity it’s collected.
The upside of this is there are no batteries and no power required, plus this will basically last forever.
The downside is that you need to put it into a 300-degree oven for up to 4 hours to dry out. That’s… a choice I guess.
To help you know when it’s time to cook your crystals, they’ll turn pink as they soak up water.
Another oven-based silica canister but it comes in a bunch of sizes! Small ones for small safes and even gun cases like Pelican hard cases and larger ones for safes.
There isn’t much to say about it, it’s a can of silica that you need to stick in the oven now and then.
This one is “different” only due to the size options available. These are especially useful if you fly with your guns often and want to keep them drier and safer during travel.
Safe dehumidifiers are the perfect way to keep your guns safe and rust-free.
Remember, the ideal humidity is between 30 and 50%. You should get a [[whatever the name of the damn thing is]] so you can monitor the humidity!
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