Acceptable humidity level for a gun safe

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Wondering what you guys consider a good humidity level for a gun safe. I have 2 safes. 1 in my living room has a 20 year old 18" Golden rod running all the time and it stays around 40% year round. The safe in my loading room in the basement is a little smaller but also has an 18" Golden Rod and a Stack-On rechargeable desiccant dehumidifier. I can't get it lower than 56% humidity. Not sure what the humidity level is in the room it self but its about 2 degrees warmer in the safe than the loading room. Don't have any rust issues in either safe. The basement safe is fairly new to me. Just want to make sure I have no issues as the basement does get pretty humid in the summer months. All the loading equipment in the room is rest free also.
I do have a wood/glass display cabinet that I only keep muzzleloaders in. No dehumidifier in that cabinet and no rust issues except for 2 of the 6 have a little surface crud that wiped right off. I'm thinking that was just poor cleaning.
 
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50% should be fine.
If you can get your safe humidity lower than the out side air god bless you. I can get mine maybe 3-5% lower sometimes.
My basement is a challenge to keep it around 50%.
i never bothered to check my safe temp?
I had a rust event 20+ years ago. Thats when i learned about rust inhibitor s. i use gun socks with vci. Vci storage bags and vci emitters. I even have vci emitters that fit in the barrels of the least used rifles i have. Reminds me i need to check the pistols soon.
 
My safe is in my basement and I run a dehumidifier 24/7 during the muggy months not during the winter. I try to keep my basement between 55% - 60% and my safe around 55%. I have a bunch of rechargeable dehumidifiers inside my safe that work well.
 
My safe is in my basement and I run a dehumidifier 24/7 during the muggy months not during the winter. I try to keep my basement between 55% - 60% and my safe around 55%. I have a bunch of rechargeable dehumidifiers inside my safe that work well.

This is my setup to a tee ^
 
My safe is in a basement with a dehumidifier that I run year round. Keep it set on 60%. No corrosion issues. The safe is on a 6" tall wood platform. Never checked what the humidity is in the safe.
 
As mentioned above the trick is keeping the air in the safe warmer and drier than the air outside. I run a Goldenrod year-round and a dehumidifier in the basement as needed.
 
No clue what it is in the safe. I throw one of those big plastic moisture absorber things in there and change it when it gets too full. Which reminds me, I need to change it.

Just actually bought a bunch of vci gun socks to store most of the stuff in primarily to help keep it from getting banged up, so started doing that as well.
 
I run a dehumidifier and a fan in summer months for guns in the basement safe, its up on a 4" pad as well, not sitting on concrete. But I also store guns in places where i don't even have temperature control. I've never had an issue with rust either way. In both cases I wipe guns down with some form of oiled rag, and usually clean them before I put them away.
 
if the Extech is traceable to +/- .04% what might you think the $13.00 instrument is-if it is traceable at all ?
 
So last night I took the hygrometer out of the safe and placed it on the safe. At 9am the temp read 66.7F and humidity in the room read 64% "wet". I put the hygrometer inside the safe and 3 hours later read 70.0F with a humidity level of 59% "comfort". Temp rose 3.3 degrees and humidity level dropped 5%. I am guessing humidity level will drop a little more but I don't believe much more. As I said I keep a 18" Golden Rod and a rechargeable desiccant dehumidifier in there year round. Only thing that has changed is that I just put it on a 1/2" thick rubber mat so the sage is not sitting directly on concrete. I've had guns in there the past 7 months and see no sign of rust issues as of yet. If you guys think this is sufficient, I wont give it another thought.


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If anyone is wondering about the accuracy of the “$13 instruments” all you need to do is go to cabelas and look on the shelf

Last time I was there I looked at the 6 that were hanging on the peghook for sale and there was a 10 point swing between them all
 
Gentlemen, how much can an instrument that can be had for 13.00usd or so have cost to make-6.8 yuan, give or take?. The product has to be made, sold to a broker/exporter, transported, go through Customs, taken to a warehouse by another broker, sold to a rep-distributor then end user.
 
Gentlemen, how much can an instrument that can be had for 13.00usd or so have cost to make-6.8 yuan, give or take?. The product has to be made, sold to a broker/exporter, transported, go through Customs, taken to a warehouse by another broker, sold to a rep-distributor then end user.

Probably not too accurate but most of any of these cost anywhere from $8 to $20 and even the high end ones aren't too much over $40
 
Golden Rods don't reduce humidity per se, they heat metal to the point where water won't condense on your firearm (and then cause rust). Don't be surprised if their effect doesn't show up on your hygrometer, or even shows a slight increase. They work fine on their own but can be coupled with a desiccant for maximum safety.
 
Anecdotal Advice Only: I used to get a lot of rust hazing in my workshop when I did not manage humidity. For the past ten years I've kept the humidity below 53% or so religiously (it jumps a little in storms) and have not had any noticeable rust on tools or metal surfaces. In one wood working forum, an old fellow (serious master woodworker, has made things for queens and heads of state, etc...) felt that anything over 53% can let rust bloom.
 
No clue what it is in the safe. I throw one of those big plastic moisture absorber things in there and change it when it gets too full. Which reminds me, I need to change it.

Just actually bought a bunch of vci gun socks to store most of the stuff in primarily to help keep it from getting banged up, so started doing that as well.

All those plastic bucket absorbers are is Calcium Chloride ice melt, make your own, $12 for 50 pounds.
 
For the past 11 years my gun safe has been in an attached garage. In the coldest part of winter the lowest temp I have ever seen is 38. In summer the temp and humidity is pretty close to outdoor conditions. I have a goldenrod heater in the safe and have never seen rust on anything. Anything that is used is cleaned and put away shortly after use. All the unused items get a yearly wipedown with CLP. The only time I have any concern is when I bring a cold firearm into a warm house. That will cause moisture to condense on the cold surfaces and they always get a wipedown in that case. I am convinced that all you need to do is keep the interior of your safe warmer than the surrounding air.
 
So I checked the safe today. Looks like the temp has dropped a bit and the humidity level has stayed at 56% for the past 24 hours. I’m happy with that. I tried the salt and water in a baggie thing. Didn’t work for me.
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Did a search and nothing about the cited product showed up.

Had to replace our refrigerator this week and decided to see if our 'tempstick' would work on the inside to help us set and monitor the temps for a few days, to my surprise the signal was 100% so naturally I had to see if the thing would work from inside our safe-a very strong 3 bar indicated signal from the closed safe to router (?) two rooms away.

We have a budget to mid range safe-Liberty Pro Vault- and I'll let those smarter than I discuss the expected performance in higher end safes.

 
Did a search and nothing about the cited product showed up.

Had to replace our refrigerator this week and decided to see if our 'tempstick' would work on the inside to help us set and monitor the temps for a few days, to my surprise the signal was 100% so naturally I had to see if the thing would work from inside our safe-a very strong 3 bar indicated signal from the closed safe to router (?) two rooms away.

We have a budget to mid range safe-Liberty Pro Vault- and I'll let those smarter than I discuss the expected performance in higher end safes.

My SafeElert from Liberty tells me every Monday at 801 and 802 what the temp and humidity level is.
 
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