corbin 621 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Hey everybody! Most of us have things we would like to protect against theft. Especially guns. A gun safe is not only a smart investment, but really the responsible thing to do if you can. Unfortunately, if we just hide things, thieves know many of the places we might tend to use: under the bed or mattress; in the underwear drawer; the backs of large speaker housings and so forth. So some creative hiding places or appropriate measures to disguise them might help keep them hidden from all but the most professional burglar. I'm hoping some folks can share their ideas here for creative hiding places. I know, I know..... the bad guys can read this and learn our secrets. Most likely, many of the pros already know most of what we'd come up with already. Besides, the average thief wouldn't be spending more than 5 or 10 minutes in your home, just going for the obvious stuff first, then looking for the hidden stuff before leaving, as time allows. Having an alarm system (and/or a dog) would help reduce the time they'd likely spend there, but probably wouldn't stop them, unless you've got a really large dog or nosey neighbors that would respond to the commotion. Regardless, having one or more hiding places could not hurt. To that end, here's some things I thought up. Feel free to add your own ideas. Obviously, having a setup like James Bond or Men In Black where a whole wall opens up to reveal an arsenal would be cool, but probably not something the average person would build. I'll try to keep things a little more realistic: *Hollowed out water heater w/ removable top to hold guns. *Large diameter PVC tubing for fake water pipe under the sink or near washer/utility room (make it look like a drain pipe or something). *Fake (or real) section of heating duct if you have a suspended ceiling somewhere, or in the basement perhaps. *Maybe an area in between the walls you can access (like how you do for water lines for the tub/shower). *Standard hollow interior door w/ removeable mirror on one side that covers up an access hole to the inside of door. *Underside of table top or maybe a chair or bench. Obviously, a chair could only hold a handgun sized item. *A regular wall mounted gun case (like the glass front models), but with a fake back to access interior of wall. Keep airsoft or less expensive guns in the glass case and the more expensive models hidden. *If you have drywalled areas around deeper set windows (like bay windows), have the sill be removable or hinged to access interior of wall under the window. *Build the side of a doorway with the strikeplate to have a slide out section almost like a vertical drawer that goes inside the wall. It could only be opened with the door open. I'd probably have a section of peg board inside the drawer frame so I could hang whatever I needed. *If you have a fireplace w/o an interior chimney area above it, build a fake section on the wall above the fireplace to look like a chimney. Cover it in fake stone if you want. Just have a way to secretly open an access area to store stuff. *If you can get access to it, the underside of stairs can be a decent place to build an out of the way hiding spot. Many companies sell small hidden "safes" that look like soda cans, books, wall outlets and planters and candles, among other things. Here's a few worth looking at: Invisivault's website Some of their stuff: Spray or Stun's website A couple of their products: HiddenSafes.com Some of their stuff: A-1 Locksmith's website Their wall safe, which you could mount other stuff over: So, I hope this got some of your creative ideas going. Please add your own thoughts or suggestions. Corbin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hobbyshooter 59 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 A dirty underwear pile makes a great deterrent/hiding place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moe Zambeak 53 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Great idea for a thread!!! I agree that It is only responsible to have a gun safe. Right now I just keep everything in locked cases. But today I checked out a new house with my girlfriend, and I was checking out spots to build a false wall, LOL. I think having a safe and bolting to the studs/floor is one of the most secure ways of storing firearms. This is something that may be hard to convince your landlord of letting you do, unless you want to forfeit your security deposit, lol. I think most thieves will look more for targets of opportunity then perform an extensive search. That is unless you live out in the country. I guess there are positives and negatives to living in the city. If I had my druthers I would live back out in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately for now I am stuck in the city Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gtnichols 51 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Wow those are pretty cool!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
corbin 621 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) Like this? Click on pic for more info. HERE'S another site with a bunch of smaller "safes". I like the Let-Us-Hide safe that looks like a head of lettuce. A dirty underwear pile makes a great deterrent/hiding place. Edited June 8, 2009 by Corbin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stansplace 414 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 One cool idea I got from my dad was this: I did this because I have kids and didn't want them to have access to guns of course, but I wanted to be able to get to a weapon quickly if needed. I bought a fairly inexpensive reliable 9mm pistol, then I cut out a hole in the sheetrock by my bed about neck high. I then installed a 2 by 4 horizontally to act like a little shelf. I then placed loaded pistol onto shelf. Then put regular white poster board over said hole, mudded in, feathering the edges and sanded just like any other drywall work. Paint to match. If I ever need a weapon to defend myself quickly without worrying about kids, theives etc... getting to it, all I have to do is push through the hidden soft spot in my wall. TaDa. Armed and ready. Sucks if you plan on moving, but still easy to fix. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunman1 1,753 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 My safe weighs over 400 lbs. empty. I did a little modification to it and was able to put a small fire proof safe in the bottom on one side for our most important documents and some jewlry, weighs about 50 lbs. there is about 100 lbs. of guns and about 200 or so lbs. of ammo, with more on the way. I can't imagine any zombie type crook getting that safe out of this house without making a shitload of noise, and once out of the house then what? carry it up the street? Load it into a truck, 7-900 lbs.? My neighbors all have guns and the guy directly across the street is a nutjob throatslitter type special forces, not a bad thing. There have been some break ins around here in the past several months and that's why we bouhgt the gun safe. I keep everything locked up when kids are around, in fact, the folks we know that have kids will call before they come over and we make sure everything is locked up tight. We're not real concerned with hiding places, we always have a weapon within reach when we're home. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vultite 57 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) Good deal, I think the coolest thing I've seen around is when your having a house built, you can have a actual vault door installed in your master bedroom walkin closet or any other place you want (must be done while being built b/c of reinforcing the walls and ect.) and it gives you like a makeshift panic room/gun vault/ man-cave. Good post Edited June 8, 2009 by Vultite Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reverendfranz 160 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 I like the pistol in the wall, but i dont have any handguns i dont like that much and wouldnt miss. Along the same lines as the above picture, this place http://www.mastersecuritydoor.com/ has some very nice interior security doors. If you wanted to build an inexpensive safe room of vault in a pre-existing structure, you could gut a walkin closet (or a spare room, if you are lucky) recess all of the lighting, reinforce the wall studs and door frame, apply several layers of sheetrock with rabbitwire sandwiched between (for penetration resistance, and half-ass fire resistance) to all five sides of the room and replace the door with something like those linked. If you did a good job it wouldn't look any different than a normal closet, but would be hell to get into, and wouldnt cost much at all to do. If those doors can withstand a cat5 hurricane, I think they can hold off a petty thief with a prybar for the 10-15 minutes it takes, after he ransacks the rest of the house, for an alarm system to generate a response. As far as hiding places, secret closets under staircases are an old and inexpensive DIY favorite, as are compartments under loose floorboards or heater vents, oversized tiles or hidden under insulation in the attic. False bottom drawers take about 10 minutes to make and as long as you dont go too thick, are pretty hard to detect at a glance. Gaudy curtainrods are usually hollow, you can shove small items in them. False electrical outlets (or live ones if you can wire them safely, make a good access to a hollow wall, big enough to fit your hand into. Most kitchen cabinets have a kickboard at the bottom that can be removed, and things shoved under them. The inside panels of some refrigerators can be removed, and a pocket hollowed out in the insulation. I bet if you put a gun in a bag of frozen vegetables and resealed it, no one would ever check it, as well as in other food items, bag of flour, can of salt. People in jail try to hide all sorts of things in toilet tanks. pretty much anywhere you think something has a enough room to fit something into, you can hide something in. The best ive seen was an old heavy antique paneled coffee table that had the very thick tabletop removed, hollowed out in the center, and paneled back over, it ended up with a pretty big compartment, and was a perfectly functional table. If you want to get fancier, just look into all the innovation used to hide people from slave trackers in the old days, secret rooms, second basements, tunnels, rollaway castiron stoves, concrete holes underneath fountains or even ponds, all kinds of stuf. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Azrial 1,091 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 I used to have a Sofa Bed that I had disposed of the mattress from a substituted regular cushions. I used 2/3 plywood on top and that created a large hollow section inside. It was great for hiding long arms. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spartacus 1,619 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) I like the drop down coat hooks on the shallow wall. I'd bet that would be easily missed in a search by bad guys. Many of the other ones would get found. The false vent below it would be found, no room for duct work in that wall. Vents get checked anyways. Good thread subject. Edited June 8, 2009 by Spartacus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hobbyshooter 59 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Like this? HERE'S A dirty underwear pile makes a great deterrent/hiding place. Wow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G O B 3,516 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Most important when hiding a safe, or even a private storage area, is to use perspective and deceit. Instead of hiding a walk in closet - put a false wall in the back and make the access from a different room. If stealing space, do it from the wall furtherest from the door. Box in under a stairway - but make the entry through removable step treads. Make a box spring that IS a box. Even better is to make a waterbed base! Put a false back on a dresser (for long guns) or a night stand (for pistols). Put the item to be hidden in a chest freezer - under a layer of frozen spinach. Remove the sheetrock from a wall and replace it with paneling - held in place by magnets. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Snoofer 138 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 i came across this video a few weeks ago. it's a pretty cool/cheap/easy way to stash handguns around your house. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
6500rpm 670 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Share Posted June 8, 2009 Funny this came up, just today I was thinking with all the states w/ CCW (and the places you can't bring your gun into) that there might be a market for custom pistol hide-a-ways that you could build into cars that would be hard to detect. Even better would be pop up options for easy access. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BronCobraJet 80 Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 My staircase to the 2nd level has 3 treads then makes a 90 degree turn on upstairs. I am remodeling my bathroom on the other side of the stairs, so I am going to install a large pull out drawer on the bottom step. I will be able to make it about 2 1/2 foot wide and 6 foot long. There are lots of good ideas here! The only thing wrong with those fake cans of soda and oil and stuff is how easy it is for stuff like that to get tossed. I remember reading some time ago how a housekeeper or maid or something threw away a can/safe because it didn't spray or whatever it was supposed to do, and the home owner lady almost lost some pretty high priced jewelry. Also, if you are single or live alone and hide all your crappola, when you kick the bucket none of it may ever be found unless you leave a list in a safety deposit box or something. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mscottrogers 56 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 (edited) Funny this came up, just today I was thinking with all the states w/ CCW (and the places you can't bring your gun into) that there might be a market for custom pistol hide-a-ways that you could build into cars that would be hard to detect. Even better would be pop up options for easy access. I bought a Tuffy security drawer that is just long enough to put a s12 folded into it but I have to remove the hider if I dont want to angle it with ammo and other stuff. Can't get to the drawer without the gate open and have to have a key. works great. I'll get some pics this weekend. this is a stock photo. Mine is deeper and I put it in a cherokee Edited June 10, 2009 by utahhandyman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gaddis 1,689 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 Like this? Click on pic for more info. HERE'S another site with a bunch of smaller "safes". I like the Let-Us-Hide safe that looks like a head of lettuce. A dirty underwear pile makes a great deterrent/hiding place. So will sweaty bra money from an old hag. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
22_Shooter 1,560 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 Good deal, I think the coolest thing I've seen around is when your having a house built, you can have a actual vault door installed in your master bedroom walkin closet or any other place you want (must be done while being built b/c of reinforcing the walls and ect.) and it gives you like a makeshift panic room/gun vault/ man-cave. Good post Do want! Ever since I was a little kid, I've wanted a house with secret rooms and passages. Now that I'm grown up (well let's be honest, I'm not really grown up ), a secret room would be even more useful. I'd love it if I could mimic Banshee's room. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 Good thread Corbin. I was thinking of starting a Gun Safe / Gun Vault thread when I got a little farther along on a little project I'm working on now. I'll just post it here instead. This is an antique bank safe, or money safe, I found at a local dealer's shop. It's made my Mosler, who was one of the leading names in the business. In fact, the largest Vault door I know of is the one made by them at Fort Knox. This safe was made around the late 1800's - turn of the century time period. It was acquired by my local dealer after he was hired to break into it. Someone had lost the combination, or gotten it with a building renovation and couldn't open it. I'm going to have to find a new lock for it, as well as a pair of new handles (or make them myself now that I have a lathe). Restoring it is going to be a cool project and quite useful. This beast is certified dynamite proof and weighs around 2500 - 2800 lbs! When I first saw it I knew I had to have it. I've always loved old safes. When I looked inside it I was amazed at how much smaller the inside was. The doors and all sides are very thick due to the layers of steel, concrete, and fire proofing. Still I could tell it was about the perfect size to hold AKs! I bought it and hauled it home...boy was THAT an adventure ....lol! Luckily he was able to load it on my trailer with his fork lift...after I installed a steel bed in the trailer that is...and had to buy a 2.5 ton pallet jack so I could move the damned thing once I got it home....lol (to me that was better than paying them to deliver it). Now it's here though and I can work on it. What's even more cool is, I don't even need to bring it inside the house....lol! There aint NO WAY anyone is gonna make off with this monster without me knowing about it, and that would take some serious doing, and serious equipment. It's now in my garage so that would be a hard thing to do. So anyway...here are some pics of it, along with another "smaller" one I got to use inside the house. I'll be restoring that one too some day. It won't take quite as much work though, just a good sandblasting and repaint, and a new lock. That one will be great for cash, pistols, and other valuables. Hide in plain sight...lol. I got a great deal on both of them just to get them out of his way. He even threw in a 1,000 lb Diebold Vault door, complete with doorframe, that I'll eventually be using for my entrance to the real Man Cave... Like the others, it needs some TLC and a new lock but hey! I'm a fixer upper, save some money type of guy! The big black one..... The "small" one...lol.... Can't find my pics of the vault door right now but it's just like this one.... http://www.diebold.com/dnpssec/government/.../vault_door.htm Can't wait to get that project going! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BronCobraJet 80 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 That's a cool pair of safes Cobra! My chiropractor has one in his "adjusting" room. His office is in an old building downtown. It's always kind of cool to see it while you are getting you back cracked. I saw on the news today a daughter in Jerusalem decided to surprise her mom and bought her a new mattress. They threw the old one out and put in the new one before she told her mom. Her mom had hidden her life savings in the old mattress - over 1 million $! They are scouring the garbage dumps, but have not found the old mattress yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uzitiger 193 Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 These are great ideas for hiding weapons. What about the metal detectors and instrument which see through walls which the government has? We'll have to hide our weapons a lot better than that to preserve our freedom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HateTheSnow 29 Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 When setting up a cache, going cheap can pay off. Once you've put your stuff on "ice" (via vacuum sealed bags, ammo cans, and/or PVC piping), going underground or underwater does wonders. The other ideas are great tips, but it never hurts to keep your eggs in different baskets. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
corbin 621 Posted June 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 It was not my intention this thread be a "How to hide stuff from the Government" one. It's more of a "How to keep burglars from getting your guns while keeping them accessible to you" type of thing. If you're concerned with portable X-ray machines or ground penetrating radar, study how they work. Learn what they can and can't do. Then think outside the box. If you're hiding something and it gets to the point where gestapo guys in SWAT gear are kicking in doors and hauling people off, they'll find whatever you have hidden in your house, eventually. If it's in your yard, given enough time, they'll find it too. A guy I know from Cowboy Action Shooting lived a few doors down from Terry Nichols (linked to Tim McVeigh and OKC) here in MI. He said the people there (I'm assuming FBI or ATF or something similar) had earth moving equipment, were up on the telephone pole checking the transformer, were up in trees looking for stuff, and basically seemed to go through every single item in the house. They probably had people searching around the clock for weeks to try and find something. Corbin What about the metal detectors and instrument which see through walls which the government has? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VincentYGB 0 Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 (edited) Just last week I was discussing this subject with a friend and we came up with the idea of taking those free (non-working or needs repair) big screen tv's that are always on craigslist and using one as a hider (for starters) and eventually to use the shell to conceal a safe as no one would bother heisting an old big screen. They probably had people searching around the clock for weeks to try and find something. Nawwww, it takes them so much less time to just plant something Edited June 14, 2009 by VincentYGB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Azrial 1,091 Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Good thread Corbin.I was thinking of starting a Gun Safe / Gun Vault thread when I got a little farther along on a little project I'm working on now. I'll just post it here instead. This is an antique bank safe, or money safe, I found at a local dealer's shop. It's made my Mosler, who was one of the leading names in the business. ... That is SUPER Nice Cobra, I am quite jealous! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Elkhound 91 Posted June 15, 2009 Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 (edited) Our house in Arkansas had a very nice set of book shelves built on rollers. In the normal, closed position, it looked exactly like a book case. But, manipulate it just right (I never had the right touch, by my wife could do it easily) and the book case rolled out on the casters to reveal a large, finishd space under the stairs. It was really more of a novelty than anything secure, and I am sure if you rolled that heavy book case out too many times, it would have marked the floor and the action of the book shelves would have been obvious, but I thought it was pretty cool and satisfied the boy in all of us to have a secrete room. Then, because of the tornados there and my daughter's stormophobia, we put in an underground storm shelter. That was pretty interesting, but kicked my butt keeping it clean and bug free - what good is a storm shelter for a kid afraid of storms if she's also afraid of bugs!!! The things we do for our kids. But, then we moved here and I have no secret room. I did screw up though. Before we bought this house, I looked at another one up the street. I walked in and the real estate agent told me the price and I said "too much" and walked out. Well, by the time we moved into our house, we found out that the builder had lowered the price on the too expensive one and it would have been in our price range. One day before it sold, the house was unlocked. So the Bassett Hound and I went in. Well, damned if it did not have a semi well concealed hidden room that I did not see when I went in that first time. Many houses here have a full set of stairs up to a third floor attic. The builder of the house I did not buy (insert "kick me, I screwed up") put a false wall in the stairwell to that third floor. Open the 1/2 sized hidden door and there was a set of stairs you sort of climbed up and on, then down into a room about 10 x 8 and about 10 feet high. It was an awesome space. The people who bought it found a really good use for it. They do not stash guns in it, they sound proofed it and their son plays the drums in it - pretty smart. But in my subdivision every house has something the others do not. A sort of give and take. The house with the hidden room has a puny garage. They can barely get their cars in it. My garage is over-sized. So, I guess it was an Ok trade off. WJ Edited June 15, 2009 by WarriorJudge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
6x6pinz 4 Posted June 15, 2009 Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 In my old house I built a 2' x 4' x 8' room in the attic. I painted the inside flat black then ran an 8" return duct into it and put a return air register for access. This kept the firearms in a controlled environment and provided easy access to them while keeping the appearance looking real. I had to change the filters now and again but it did provide some better cooling for the dining room:) Even my friends who knew there were firearms in the house never could find it. Remember an average burglary only last around 10 minutes. I keep all traces of firearms (ammunition, spent cases, targets, manuals...) and cash out of sight so as not to give any reason for a deeper search. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
holderbox 0 Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Remember an average burglary only last around 10 minutes. And an average gun "safe" aka RSC only lasts 1 min & 45 sec against two thieves w/prybars. This video is of a lower end Liberty. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
22_Shooter 1,560 Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Remember an average burglary only last around 10 minutes. And an average gun "safe" aka RSC only lasts 1 min & 45 sec against two thieves w/prybars. This video is of a lower end Liberty. I've seen that video, and I think it's semi "eye opening"............but like someone had already commented on the video; Bolting that same safe to the wall/floor would make it A LOT harder to do what those guys did. With it upright, you can't get that leverage like they did with those bars. Personally, I don't even see the point in not bolting your safe to the floor/wall. Mine is in my closet, bolted to the wall in the back, and to the floor on the bottom. Also, being that it's in a closet, someone wouldn't have the room to maneuver a bar around, or get any type of leverage to pull it open like that. Moral of the story: BOLT YOUR DAMN SAFES DOWN! Will it make it impossible to break into? Of course not. But it will sure as hell make it a lot harder. I would actually love to see them do another video of it bolted to a floor/wall. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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