The Best Gun Safe Dehumidifiers

Gun safes usually protect your pistols, shotguns and rifles from things like theft, fires and children finding them. What you may not know is that your safe can’t protect your guns from moisture.

If you keep your gun safe in a damp area like a basement, garage or near water sources in your home, your safe is susceptible to becoming a safe haven for mold growth and making your guns rust. Not good.

We’ve done the research for you to find the best gun safe dehumidifiers out there right now so keep reading to find out which ones we liked.

By the way, gun safe dehumidifiers are worth their weight in gold as far as we’re concerned and they are CHEAP. As in under $100 for a good dehumidifier. It’s a no-brainer purchase for any firearm owner.

5 LBS “Dry&Dry” Pure White Silica Gel Desiccant Beads for Your Gun Safe

When you want a simple and effective solution for dehumidifying your safe on a budget, go straight to the source of most dehumidifiers: silica gel. I’m not talking about the tiny packets you find in your beef jerky. This is a bag of the raw material, perfect for measuring out what you need to reduce the moisture in any space without worrying about buying the right sized product.

If you want to make your own packs, there are several ways to go about it. I personally like pouring some of the material in a coffee filter and cinching the top with a small bag tie or a string. As long as air can penetrate to the beads, any method will work. Some simply pour the beads in a bowl and leave it at the bottom of the safe. Depending on the moisture conditions in your area, you might experiment with different amounts of silica or different time periods, but the end result is a dry safe to store your firearms and ammunition.

The material can also be recharged by tossing them in the oven on low heat for two to three hours. Doing so will dry out the beads and prepare them for another round of work, though they won’t be quite as effective the second time around. The sack is cheap enough that you can toss the spent beads, and there should still be plenty of drying power to last a long time.

The biggest benefit of using beads, is that you can make your own pouches for various purposes, like keeping smaller packs in your ammo cans or biometric safe, and a big pouch for the rifle safe. The cost here comes at making the packs, not in the materials, and it’s a time investment. There is no color indicator to let you know when they are saturated, so some experimentation might be required.

Dry-Packs 750 Gram Silica Gel Canister Dehumidifier

Simple, easy, effective, reusable. This 750 Gram kit is quite affordable, and an important step up from making your own silica packets. The small pack of orange indicating beads near the top will tell you when they are at 60% of their moisture-absorbing capability by turning green. The next time you get a chance, you can recharge the whole thing in the oven and return it to service. This pack can be reused many times.

The biggest advantage over loose beads is that you won’t make a mess. Silica gel, like any kind of sand, has a way of scattering about and dusting all of your stuff. Beads get loose, and can be difficult to clean out of tight spaces. The container will keep everything neat and tidy while you work with it.

Make certain before recharging that you remove the lid to keep the plastic pieces out of the oven. This may seem simple, but if you hurry, you might be tempted to toss the entire can into 300 degree heat, ruining it. Another potential issue with this device is the thin aluminum construction. It keeps the unit price down, but can be dented or punctured if abused.

This is a cheap and easy solution that will keep your weapons dry for a long time with minimal maintenance.

Lockdown Dehumidifier Rod

This is an interesting unit for gun safes with a power strip on the inside, a feature that is becoming more and more popular. I don’t consider it a stand-alone solution, but it is effective in keeping the humidity down by keeping the air inside the safe not only warmer, but circulating.

Place the rod at the bottom of your gun safe. When plugged in, it heats to around 120 degrees, warming the air around it, which rises to the top of the safe, cools, and descends again. This pattern keeps a little circulation inside, even when the safe is closed, to cut down on the possibility of mildew.

The biggest drawback is that until you open the door, there is nowhere for ambient moisture to go. The warmer air inside will carry moisture out when you do open the safe, but this solution will work best is used in conjunction with drying packets, or some other moisture collecting method. Still, most dehumidifiers don’t do much to increase circulation, and air currents however tiny, do play a huge role in effectively drying any space. You will also want to keep the hot rod away from anything that could potentially burn or melt.

The Stack-on SPAD 100 Wireless Rechargeable

This gun safe dehumidifier is the bomb when it comes to gun safety. It is small but powerful, so you can rest assured your weapons will be kept safe and rust free. The dehumidifier can cover 100 cubic feet of space, effectively removing moisture from your gun safe.

But the best feature of this product is the fact that it’s wireless. This means you won’t have to drill holes in your safe to install the dehumidifier and draw out the cable in order for it to run. When the product is spent, and it has a battery lifespan of four to six weeks, just plug it into a standard electrical outlet and let it charge overnight.

Cannon Safe SGD57 Silica Gel Dehumidifier

This dehumidifier reduces the moisture by trapping it inside the silica gel. But, not to worry, the product is made to be as safe as possible, so the gel is non-toxic. The product covers 57 cubic feet of space, which is none too impressive.

Therefore, for a large cabinet, you will have to use another one. The product features an easy-to-read indicator that turns pink when the gel is saturated. In this case, place the product in an oven and heat it to dry out the gel.

GoldenRod Original Gun Safe Dehumidifier

Just like the other rods, this GoldenRod dehumidifier heats up the air within the safe to remove the excess moisture. However, unlike the other rods on our list, this one does not heat up, so it is safe to handle while it’s plugged in.

This gun safe dehumidifier doesn’t require batteries, but you will need to plug it into a power outlet. That means that you’ll need to drill a hole in your safe if you don’t already have one drilled from the factory.

Browning Safes Everdry Electric Dehumidifier

Another dehumidifying rod, the Browning Everdry Dehumidifier is cheap, economical, safe and easy to use. Just plug it in, and it will immediately spring into action, raising the temperature of the safe making it nice and dry.

The product Is 18 inches in length, and it’s meant to be used with safes and lockers thirty inches and wider. The product produces heat, but it is not excessive, so you will be able to handle it while it’s working.