Gun safes are becoming more popular every year with companies trying to take advantage of the shifting market, brought on by paranoia, a global pandemic, and rising social tensions across the country.
More Americans have bought guns during the pandemic than any other year on record and new gun owners are trying to figure out where to store their newly acquired arsenals. It might come as surprise to many, but gun safes are incredibly expensive and will most likely add thousands of dollars to your budget.
One of the biggest issues for new gun owners, is how do you optimize your gun safe? Unless you’re willing to spend a few mortgage payments on a safe equipped with lights, you need to find a way to effectively light your gun safe.
The Lockdown Cordless LED Vault Lights easily attach to any safe with a magnet or screw and are motion activated!
Lockdown is one of the companies that we recommend because they have quite a few options for properly and affordably installing lighting in your gun safe. There are 5 different items that will make your gun safe easier and safer to use.
Why Do I Need Gun Safe Lighting?
You may think that as you open your gun safe there will be enough natural light from the room to light the safe up entirely. However, this is far from reality in literally any safe I’ve seen because gun safes have to be deep in order to accommodate long rifles.
Having proper lighting in your gun safe will allow you to safely store and secure your guns or other valuables. The worst thing you can do is have your $1,000 hunting rifle with your $600 Glock 19 Gen 5 shoved to the back of your safe and have to fish around the back to feel which gun you have in your hand.
This leads to marring, scratches, and deterioration issues from guns smacking into each other in the dark. I’d never risk my gun collection over an issue that I can fix for under $100.
1. Automatic Cordless 25 LED Safe Lights
I chose the Lockdown Automatic Cordless 25 LED Vault Lights as my number 1 choice because of the simplicity, ease of installation, and overall performance of the product. My gun vault is probably the smallest vault you can own and still fit your long rifles. For $32.99, you can get a 2-pack of this automatic LED light that will undoubtedly light your entire vault, so you can see every gun, clearly.
The light fixture works by using a built-in motion sensor that automatically turns on the light when you open your vault door and turns it off as the door closes. This motion sensor allows you to get the most out of your 3 AAA batteries and ensures that you always get 70 lumens for each light. Although 70 lumens might not be as bright as a gun light or tactical flashlight, it’s more than enough to light your vault. If your gun vault has a metallic interior, the back of the light fixture is magnetic, but if it’s a padded interior, you can use a screw attachment for the interior. Finally, each light will stay on for 6 hours if your door is open and need to work on your vault.
I have 2 Cordless 75 LED Vault lights in my gun safe because they are easy to set up on the ceiling of my safe with the magnetic attachment. This light fixture is brighter than the automatic cordless 25 LED lights but comes with a manual on/off switch. Personally, I like the fact that it’s manual because I already have the automatic lights that cover most of the safe.
As you can see from the picture below, this recessed lighting will get you the most coverage in the corners of the safe without adding any other fixture to the safe. With 95 lumens of output, you can just install this light for your safe and you’ll be much better off for it. You just have to remember to turn the light off before you close the door or you’ll burn the batteries out within a day or two.
The Lockdown Stealth Entry Light is one of the more unique options for proper lighting in your gun safe. Have you ever had to gt up in the middle of the night and get to your safe in a hurry? We hope not, but sometimes you don’t want to turn on your bedroom, kitchen, or outside lights because it eliminates your stealth advantage. If someone wanted to break into your home in the middle of the night, any light you turn on will give away your position to the potential intruder. Lockdown created a way for you to access your gun safe, without giving up your element of surprise and stealth.
Place the magnetic base to the outside of your gun safe below or above the combination lock. You can rotate and move the head of the light in any direction, free of mechanical obstruction. You can bend, twist or rotate the head in any direction so if you need to be stealthy, you can rotate the light towards the ground to limit your exposure.
Fortunately, I haven’t had to run to my safe in fear of my safety, but I use this light quite a bit more than I ever thought I would. For example, most of the time I clean my guns in either really early morning or late at night because my day is full of work, chores, and family obligations. This light allows me to open my safe without waking up my family by turning the room lights on.
My favorite feature of the Vault Tape Lights is their customization and aesthetics. Since the lights are on a flexible strand of tape that can be manipulated and tightly secured to any shelf, wall, or ceiling of your gun safe. You can easily conform the light tape to your specifications so you don’t have to worry about having extra light tape hanging around your gun safe.
The Lockdown Vault Tape Lights are motion-sensor activated and are equipped with a time delay to adjust when the light turns on and off. One of the most impressive features of the LED vault tape lights is the 1,200 lumens that it displays. I love the look of the lights inside my gun safe because it makes my safe look more expensive, customized, and always impresses people when I show them my setup.
The biggest difference between the LED Rope Lighting Kit and the LED Vault Tape is the construction and amount of light displayed. The Lockdown LED Rope Light is the most versatile of the lighting products on this list. The kit includes everything you’ll need to set up the rope light, including all mounting equipment for a variety of gun safe models. If you install this light on the backside of your vault, the rope light will illuminate the entire safe without you even having to see the lighting kit.
It’s incredibly bright, durable, and the tube is 12 feet long with a 6-foot long power cord. The power cord can be run through the vault door or wall if you have a model with an opening for the tube. The reason I put this product at 5 was due to the corded feature. However, if you have the gun safe model that accommodates a manual plug, the LED Rope Light is one of the best products you can buy.
There are many companies that provide gun safe lighting, but very few that offer the versatility and affordability that Lockdown offers. Any one of the products will make your gun safe easier and safer to use under many different scenarios and environmental conditions. Since I’ve started using the magnetic LED lights and the vault tape, I’ve not dropped a gun in the night, scratched the finish on any of my rifles, or had any issues with performance (so far).
Buying from Amazon will save you a lot of money and still get the products you want, but you’ll have to call and ask how that affects warranty issues. Either way, for someone who loves his guns a little too much, these lighting fixtures have paid for themselves in a matter of weeks during the fall season. Good luck and let us know what you think of the products above.
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