A Man And His Gear

Reviews and news about a man's favorite gear

Gun Safe vs Gun Room | Which one do you need?

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Picture this, you are shopping around for a gun safe, only to find that not any single gun safe is able to hold all of the items you want to store in it. You start to wonder if you are going to need to buy 2 safes instead of just the one. Then you stumble upon vault doors, and gun room supplies… could that be the answer?

So which is for you, the gun safe, or the gun room? In general, a gun room is going to be best for those people that have so many items they can’t fit in a gun safe. However gun safes tend to do the best when you are looking for true security, as gun rooms are generally only completely secure at the door, and people can still break through drywall if needed.

Who gun safes are best for

Fort Knox 7241 in dark red finish
[Image courtesy of Fort Knox]

Gun safes are what people traditionally own when they get their firearms!

For most people out there, they will work perfectly fine, as most people won’t be owning the amount of firearms required to graduate out of a gun safe.

There are of course many things you should think about though, as if you have more items than just firearms you want to keep safe, that a gun safe may fill up much faster than you think, meaning it may not be future proof.

However gun safes are awesome for those that don’t have a room they can dedicate to storing guns (just need to get the right sized safe), or people that don’t plan on living somewhere long and need to be able to move it.

If you want to learn more about what to look for when shopping for a gun safe, this article here goes extremely in depth with that subject!

Pros

  • Can be put into any home.
  • You don’t lose a room of your home.
  • Can be less expensive.
  • No modifications.
  • Generally has a fire rating.
  • Can be taken with you when you move.

Cons

  • Limited space in the safe.
  • Can’t be used as a panic room.

Gun Rooms are best for these people

[Image courtesy of Snapsafe]

Gun rooms are a popular option for those that have just too many firearms that they just can’t fit into a safe. They can also be used sometimes as panic rooms, and even storm shelters.

If you are in the middle of building your home, you can even plan ahead, and build brick, instead of drywall walls, and make it incredibly secure.

Gun rooms will almost always be made secure by utilizing a vault door, that can range from around $1000 (like this Snapsafe Vault Door) to many times that amount.

However you also have to consider the cost of building out the interior of the gun room as well, to make sure all of your items stay safe.

If you haven’t been able to create a concrete barrier in your walls, make sure to keep in mind that a vault door will draw visitor attention, and the walls of your room will be the weak spot.

Pros

  • Can be used as a panic room, or even a storm shelter.
  • Space is only limited to what you can allow.
  • Future proof to items you may want to keep secure in the future.

Cons

  • Expensive to put together.
  • Requires heavy modifications to a home.
  • Any fire rating the vault door has, doesn’t matter if walls aren’t fire rated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can gun safes be put into a gun room?

One thing that many people do for added security, is to add a gun safe into a gun room! This means you can allow all of your family to gain access the room (as a panic room) but you can still keep the firearms extra locked away behind the gun safe. Almost using it as a controlled access box.

Can any room be turned into a gun room?

Any room can easily be modified into a gun room, just by adding a vault door. However it should be mentioned, that unless you reinforce the walls, that will be the weakest point of the room. Anyone can easily get through drywall, and get into the room.

Do you have to have a vault door for a gun room?

Vault doors really are the biggest part of making a gun room, a gun room. Thankfully there are inexpensive options like what Snapsafe has to offer.

Conclusion

I would say 98% (completely made up stat) of people out there will likely opt for a gun safe!

Gun rooms just aren’t feasible for many, because of the space needed to achieve having a whole room dedicate to taking care of fire arms.

However it would work awesome for those that are currently building their home, and can make those adjustments ahead of time to not sacrifice other usable space for this room.