Article from NRA Women, February 1, 2021 – written by Melissa Bachman

Part of being a responsible gun owner is properly securing your guns when you’re not using them. When it comes to safes and safe storage, there are more options than ever. I’m constantly on the lookout for interesting new products, and I recently discovered one worth sharing.

If you live in a place that may not be your forever home—an apartment, condo or townhome—you may have been hesitant to invest the time and money into a large gun safe, for a variety of reasons, to include size and convenience. Last year, I was walking through the Minnesota Deer Classic and saw a company called Steelhead Outdoors showing off its new modular safes. This idea struck me as genius and made me think … why didn’t I come up with that? Turns out, modular safes have been around for a few years now and are becoming more popular. Here’s why: The safe comes delivered to you in panels, so you can bring them into your home one at a time and put it together anywhere you like. This makes it easy to carry up and down stairs, onto elevators or anywhere!

Security
Is it as secure as one that comes pre-assembled? The answer is, absolutely. This modular safe is just as secure as others. One concern was the fact that the hinges are on the outside, but even if someone were to remove or destroy the hinges, the interior can’t be accessed thanks to a full-length hinge side-locking bar that keeps the door solidly in place. It also has a large door recess to prevent pry attacks.

Assembly
How difficult is it to put together? They promised me that it was easy, and in the end, it took us less than a half hour! Watch the time-elapsed video here. You can fit the larger safe, the NOMAD 38 (38″ x 60″ x 24″, weighing 600 lbs. assembled; individual panels under 150 lbs. each), in the bed of a truck. It holds up to 34 long guns. The smaller safe, the NOMAD 26 (26″ x 54″ x 18″), can easily fit in the back seat. The assembled model weighs 375 lbs., but each individual panel is under 100 lbs. This unit can hold up to 15 long guns. Two of us carried it in the house and put it together with ease. Just thinking about getting a full-sized gun safe up and down stairs makes me cringe, so this was definitely a win. Now when it’s time to move, or change safe locations, your safe can go with you.

Quick Access
I love having a large gun safe for most of my guns, valuable firearms, etc., but for self-defense purposes, I also want something that offers quick and easy access. Having four kids in my house, leaving a loaded gun by the bed is completely out of the question, yet I still want to feel safe and secure. I have found a variety of other small bedside safes that use new technology for quick access. Mine holds one loaded handgun and can be opened quickly with a code, a sticker fob that you can fit inside your phone case, or an actual key. They also make fingerprint or biometric options along with voice-activated models. Again, the fast and easy access is the key here while still keeping locked up and safe. But these days, I might want some backups that only fit in a larger safe closer by.

These modular safes are great because they can be placed near an office, bathroom, bedroom, a front door or wherever quick access to guns is needed. The rationale I’ve heard from some who have chosen not to install a traditional gun safes is because they won’t be able to get to them fast enough. Well, that may have been the case in the past, but with so many technologically advanced options now available, there is really no reason not keep your guns locked up and secured at all times.

Click here to read full article at NRA Women