One of my consulting clients recently bought several Bed Bunker gun vaults and I had the chance to examine them. This product is an unusual horizontal home gun vault design that replaces your bed’s box springs. These vaults have two major advantages: 1.) They don’t take up any more floor space than your current furniture, and 2.) They will probably be overlooked by most burglars that are in a hurry. (And statistics show that most burglars are in a hurry. Typically, they are in a house for less than five minutes. The bad guys can’t attack a safe if they don’t know that it is there.)
I was pleased to hear that these vaults are manufactured in Spokane, Washington. That minimizes the shipping costs for those who live in any of the American Redoubt States, and you can feel good that you’ll “Buy American”. In this case, you’ll even “Buy Redoubt”.
Bed Bunkers are built with welded 10 gauge steel in the body and a 1/4-inch thick inset steel door that weighs 140 pounds just by itself. The hinge side is backed by a very heavy flange that protects the vault against attacks where the hinges might be cut away. Because of the flange, that would be a huge waste of time for burglars. The basic unit (twin bed size) weighs about 650 pounds. The vault’s pair of cylinder locks are a robust “bump proof” and relatively pick-proof lock variety with cylinders and keys that are made in Israel. These vaults have a two-hour house fire protection rating. At around $2,000, they are relatively expensive per cubic foot, compared to traditional upright gun safes. So I would mostly recommend them to families where space is at a premium. One of the vaults that I examined was a double vault where the two Bed Bunkers are bolted to a welded spacer, providing a platform for a king-size bed. The combined empty weight is 1,450 pounds, so it would be exceedingly difficult for burglars to tote that vault away.
The legs on these vaults have threaded attachments, with a very long adjustable length of travel. They can be screwed all the way in so that the vault nearly touches the floor. Or they can be completely removed, allowing you to bolt the vault to the floor, with lag bolts. For the greatest security, I recommend bolting your safe down. By attaching a long dust ruffle, you can make a Bed Bunker disappear from view. (Use a 14-inch dust ruffle if you don’t use the vault legs.)
As with any other home security purchase, be sure to keep quiet about it. Do not mention to friends or relatives that you’ve bought a vault, and swear your kids to secrecy. Just remind them that if they blab about it, then a possible consequence is that burglars will steal a portion of their eventual inheritance. When burglars learn of a lucrative yet hard target, they’ll probably come equipped with a cutting torch that can defeat even the best gun vault. So remember: Loose lips sink ships!
Lastly, be careful about where you leave your vault keys. Don’t just put a vault key on your key ring. It is best to establish a well-hidden yet quickly-accessible place to store your vault keys. A fake electrical outlet box is one well-proven ruse. (Unless you live off grid, every room in your house probably has several outlets, so an extra one won’t be noticed by all but the most sophisticated burglars.) Another good hiding place is a fake can of shave cream in the bathroom drawer.
Disclaimer (Per FTC File No. P034520): Bedgunsafe.com is not a SurvivalBlog advertiser. They have not solicited me or paid me to write any reviews or endorsements, nor have they provided me any free or reduced-price merchandise in exchange for any reviews or endorsements. I am not a stock holder in any company.