Best way to camouflage a gun safe?

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Hoyle33@reddit

I've had people coming over into my house for years with multiple safes and ammo cans stacked everywhere, most people mention what guns they like, and I do the same. It's really not that big of a deal

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50sraygun@reddit

you’re worried about your tradespeople breaking into your safe?

hire betters tradespeople or buy a better safe.

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annoyingone@reddit

Cover then putHalf sheet of drywall. Some lumber. Set a couple tool boxes or other junk on and around. Make it look like extras from a project.

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Kemerd@reddit

Honestly there’s no use. If someone wants to find it and break in they will. Just buy a good quality one, make it beefy, bolt it down, and insure your collection.

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annoyingone@reddit

Thats not OPs goal. He wants it to look like he doesn't have a safe.

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Censored_88@reddit

My A/C is in my gun room. They just spent 2 days replacing it.
I stopped trying to hide it.

I just warn them there's cameras everywhere, and ask them to please do not take any pictures.
The wall of shooting trophies probably serves as a good reminder to keep their nose clean.

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Fun_Union9542@reddit

Bury it

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fusilmedellin@reddit

It always seemed odd that he would not only bury, but then concrete over his guns and gold. I could see bury with some type of easy access hatch being more convenient.

I get that they were going for the ultimate in symbiology, thus the concrete, but it doesn't make sense for that type of individual to choose to bury his guns under concrete.

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BigBoyBoulevard6@reddit

Symbolism*

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escapevelocity1800@reddit

Symbology.

Great movie. I need to rewatch now.

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TrifleEmotional4843@reddit

In California, burying your guns under 4 inches of concrete is considered easy access, according to politicians.

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TrifleEmotional4843@reddit

I was at a gun shop in Idaho. They had a bunch of rusted guns that came in for repair. The owner had buried them John Wick style, minus the waterproofing. A pipe burst, it was pretty ugly.

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TargetOfPerpetuity@reddit

Safes buried in the floor eventually turn into sumps, in my experience.

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iambatmanjoe@reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeDepot/s/Qgpw0CxIW9

I've also seen it done with branches.

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BSH1F@reddit

But a ugly cheap looking cabinet roughly the same size and cut it to fit it

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A_Thorny_Petal@reddit

throw some stacks of wood, drywall and tools around it, no one will think twice. put stuff on top of it, use a crappy stained 'work' sheet or canvas to cover the safe.

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fluteofski-@reddit

This right here.

I have a few in a large family room (because it’s a concrete slab under). I actually got a little carried away and framed with 2x3 two shorty walls. And put particle board over it. Painted white. Then I got some MDF cut some panels. Used a router to do a bevel along the edges to make them look like doors. Shorty nails in a brad nailer and nailed the panels up (same white). Little pull handles to make it look convincing.

Took an afternoon.

Now when we have company over they’re always like “I love how you have nice size storage cabinets down here. We need cabinets like that!” (Makes more sense when they see the house and how it’s laid out).

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agm115@reddit

I was going to suggest a non-working fridge/freezer…those are perfectly reasonable to have in a basement, and no one’s going to open that cause it seems rude.

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HorseLover_Phatt@reddit

Up your ass

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preppers-ModTeam@reddit

I’m not sure what the user did to provoke this rant.

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HillbillyRebel@reddit

Just put a sign on it that says "Buttplug Collection". Place a few on top. Hidden in plain site!

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preppers-ModTeam@reddit

This is a variation of a joke that has been told many times before. Your comment was removed because it is a duplicate of an existing joke and because it contains not-safe-for-work content.

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mushasensei@reddit

I have a refrigerator and a freezer next to the safe. They all have sides with pegboards with tools and other materials hanging. The fronts have hinges so they all look like they are there to save space but they have actual practical use. For added measure, I keep the front pegboard of the refrigerator open and the other two closed, with the safe having some "temporary" items placed in front.

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lantech@reddit

https://murphydoor.com/products/tactical-murphy-door

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whaticism@reddit

Take the solid snake approach: a cardboard box.

Go wild and write something like “Christmas shit” on it

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Soff10@reddit

Hazmat sticker

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Big_Imagination_4072@reddit

Go get an old fridge from dump. Cut back off it and slide it over front of safe.

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ToastByteStudio@reddit

Stack books around it. People are allergic to books in 2026. No-one will go near it.

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1millerce1@reddit

Relatively easy to turn it into ducting or a furnace.

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CSLoser96@reddit

This reminds me of when I bought my first house and I was getting internet run to the ethernet port in the house and coincidentally also packing for a pistol course using the dining room table. I had all my ammo, mags, belt, holster, pistol, etc strewn out on the table. When the internet guy was at the door, I just straight up told him, "hey bro, im packing for a pistol course im going to tomorrow. Is it gonna bother you?" Dude looked at me like I was crazy and was like "nah man I love shooting."

He did his job and left and that was that.

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Valuable_Option7843@reddit

Blindfold the contractor and walk them across the basement a dozen times, spinning them around before finally reaching the work area.

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CCWaterBug@reddit

Lmao, choking on my spit now lol., I'm like a bald Angela white

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Bolts66@reddit

Gut an old upright freezer , or pop machine . I had a pop machine gun safe in a junkyard garage , shop was broken into multiple times but they never got my guns .

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Anonymo123@reddit

I put mine in the front closet, it has a bit of an L shape. Put the cedar siding\wall stuff in there that is common for closets and small hinges with a magnet, can't tell its even there.

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tmwildwood-3617@reddit

Get a refrigerator box...wipe some grease on the outside and write old kids clothes on it like the box has been there for 20 years untouched...put it around the safe and stack some other junk on it. Push up other basement crap (I mean stuff) around it like you made space for the trade guys to do their thing.

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MaterialTowel4704@reddit

They will just think your a cool guy who likes guns and keep working.

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UND_mtnman@reddit

Slap a "sex toys" label on it. That'll make em avoid eye contact.

In reality, it's a safe. Unless you completely disguise it as a fridge or something, people are going to look and see a safe. But also, most of the times, tradespeople don't care, even if it is a gun safe. They're in and out of houses all the time, something has to be really outside the norm for them to take note.

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IGnuGnat@reddit

LOL

"MAN CAGE"

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HalcyonKnights@reddit

So what Im hearing is that the OP should buy a broken fridge and hollow it out. Cut a hole in the bottom to slide it over the safe, then access it through the nice magnetically sealed doors. As a bonus it'll help keep humidity out.

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Kradget@reddit

You forgot a complicated series of biometrics to go on the outside of the refrigerator to make sure everyone sees that this is a highly secure beer fridge.

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HalcyonKnights@reddit

Give it a padlock and a sign that says "Yogurt Fridge". Nobody will touch it for several reasons....

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IGnuGnat@reddit

I laid mine down and bolted it to the floor. I'm thinking to build a bench over it, the bench seat would flip up to access the safe

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Several_Mousse_9485@reddit

I've considered the same thing but it's all a lot of work for a minimal risk.

Talk to your tradesmen and get their names. Never mention a safe. They won't ask. They go to a thousand houses a year and wouldn't be working so hard if they weren't honest. They see safes, sex toys, a sea of dog shit smeared into carpet, you name it. The next day they've forgotten about it. Unless you're really nasty. Then they'll remember you forever.

They don't care about the safe.

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That_Play7634@reddit

A contractor I hired, in turn hired some sketchy day labor to help out with my project. A few days later double Y guy came back and stole some of my tools. My neighbor's dogs alerted, and we found him a few hours later with the loot, surprisingly 1/2 a block away from the neighborhood police dispatch office.

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dachjaw@reddit

Double Y?

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temporalwanderer@reddit

Probably a Ys guy...

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ishootthedead@reddit

It's not the licensed tradesman you need to worry about. It's their helper that's filling in because the normal guy got sick and they are giving a new guy they just met a chance.

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Several_Mousse_9485@reddit

Oh I agree totally.

Life and protecting is all about assessment and compromise. We all have to decide where that line is in what we're willing to do, and on top of that all of our situations are different.

If he is in a place where he feels it's needed then my advice is worth zero.

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No_Walrus@reddit

As a tradesman, you are 99% correct. I have a couple places that I do remember just because they had a setup that I was jealous of! Running data cable for security systems in a secure gun room/vault is pretty damn cool. Also I remember one guy that had painted the inscription from the Door or Durin from LOTR on his, thought that was pretty neat.

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kshizzlenizzle@reddit

Our biggest one is in our shop. There’s a lot of welding equipment in there, so it sits inside one of those really big gorilla shelving units and has some welding cloth curtain thingy tacked around it - it looks like a small welding booth. But it’s also surrounded by a LOT of stuff, lol. The whole setup is VERY easily missed.

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immadoittoo@reddit

a gun shop near me builds gun safes inside of working soda vending machines and some candy machines as a furniture delivery person ur safe is the 10th one I've seen today and and unless it's super unique or u ask us to move it we're not going to notice it but depending on size of safe put it in one of those large metal cabinets

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dknisle1@reddit

They don’t care

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perfectsquared@reddit

I just pile of bunch of shit all around mine so it’s hidden and just looks like a pile of random junk. The Costco black bins with yellow tops work great for this.

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Miserable-Biscotti54@reddit

Easiest thing to do is put anything you don’t want touched or damaged under a plastic sheet or tarp. Then just have a conversation with the company before hand not to touch or damage those things. Can fold and cover the objects a certain way to where you can pick up if it’s been touched or not.

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alternativepuffin@reddit

And also you should have a couple large tarps on hand as a prep item anyhow.

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Early-Series-2055@reddit

I always wanted to build one into an old refrigerator.

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davesnotonreddit@reddit

Put tape on it marked “Musical Theatre Costumes”

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marksmandann@reddit

Make it look like an ordinary closet.

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Long_Bit8328@reddit

If you put a camera right in front of it. You won't need to hide it.

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Introverted-headcase@reddit

Get some old refrigerator name plates and handles and dress it up.

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No_Alarm_3993@reddit

I know someone who built a Warhammer 40k table over his (its on its side). It's light enough to move when he needs access to the guns, but to anyone it just looks like a pile of 40k stuff.

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SheistyPenguin@reddit

Cheap: Cover with a paint-splattered tarp, then drape some drywall, lumber and other stuff around it to make it boring.

Professional: Make a basic frame w/ drywall and 2x4's to surround it on three sides. Then a curtain over the opening, or a door if you want to go crazy

Creatively-crazy: Disguise it as a fridge, then post it on Youtube for like & subscribe 🤣

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ChesterNorris@reddit

Hire a naked woman to stand in front of it.

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GooseGosselin@reddit

Hollowed out boxes wrapped around it, labelled Xmas Decorations, donations, winter jackets, etc.

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hoardac@reddit

Put it in a mushroom/grow tent.

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ComplaintOk807@reddit

Hi hi! Check this out: it’s a diy rolling mirror you could put over a random closet or linen closet. Then just put ur gun safe in there with other preps/ valuables/ect. Just an idea! There’s also bookshelf doors for sale or diy everywhere which could also conceal a closet or small room.

Link to mirror design:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWzDcjdCJKu/?igsh=djFxbnpjNTZ2Nmpj

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sabotthehawk@reddit

Another option depending on safe size. Buy an old broken fridge. Cut out the back and slide around safe. Now it's just a random fridge in basement.

Other options -

metal cabinet with doors like an old bolt bin cabinet.

paint it like a fire locker for flammable storage. Bonus points for random spray cans and paint cans stored on top like it is full.

Get a grow tent (if your area allows legal grows) still risky due to theft target also.

Large cabinet wardrobe. Could be a nice one modified to fit the safe. Or a cheap fabric garment storage bag people use for hanging excess clothes.

Depending on location, look, and layout of area it is in make a false wall around it.

Permanent option. Build a real wall around it. Mark it it even make it a tornado shelter if in tornado areas. Make it look like a bathroom, or a washer/dryer closet. Otherwise just put some cheap bifold doors in it because who hides valuable stuff in those. Often I have encountered old closets in basements when people tried to finish them for living space and never removed closet after it flooded, got musty, or they couldn't get occupancy due to fire restrictions. So there is just a random bifold closet in basement.

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sabotthehawk@reddit

Get some home Depot or there moving boxes. Slightly larger than safe. Put them together, tape like they are full. Stack them up and glue them together like they are just free stacked (can't see them glued together) cut out bottom or back and slide over safe. Now it's a pack of random storage boxes instead of a safe. Still easy to access when needed but can be left camouflaged without issues.

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Halofauna@reddit

Find an old refrigerator, hollow it out so it’s only a shell, figure out how to put gun safe in fridge, safe now looks like an old fridge.

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PapaJuke@reddit

I found an old sturdy af , with a lock filing cabinet , just added a little bit to the inside and a better lock. Bolted it to the floor and its in the office next to a regular boring desk. Holds 8 comfortably 🤷‍♂️

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iteachag5@reddit

A friend of mine is a detective and he told me a unsafe needs to be mounted into a wall.

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East-Selection1144@reddit

My grandfather’s used to be under the front stairs in the coat closet. When you opened it you only saw coats and basically had to be half in the closet to see the safe but shove the coats out of the way and you could easily access the safe

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Canadian-Footy-Fan@reddit

Personally I have always wanted a shelf that doesn’t rest on the floor but is mounted on horizontal rails and slide over to reveal the door/safe/cache. Wouldn’t be hard to hook up a latch or something that wasn’t obvious. The benefit of sliding over above the floor is that it wouldn’t leave tracks. Could even have a weight bearing when at the midline that would not leave a trail since the shelf would only slide enough to reveal the door.

Before certain things were made legal (🇨🇦) I knew a guy who dry walled off the end of his basement with a similar entry for some horticultural interests.

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Sad-Ocelot-5346@reddit

I'm not in the trades, per se, but I am an appraiser. When I'm at a house, I'm there for the house, not the stuff in it. If I can, at all, I try to frame my pictures so that such things aren't in them, so that I don't trigger any snowflakes at the bank, but it doesn't affect my job otherwise. You don't need to hide it.

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CampClad_Outdoors@reddit

I saw one that was recessed, but has a sheet of foam board cut to fit the handles etc, so it just looked like a foam board leaning on the wall

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Fat-Boy-HD@reddit

Just put up a fake wall A few studs and some drywall.

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smc4414@reddit

I have mine setup in the garage and roll the ping pong table in front of it to cover it up…and it effective makes that part of the garage a separate room (sort of)

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After_Pie9064@reddit

Gun stickers

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ac7ss@reddit

Refrigerator box?

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hamakabi@reddit

you can get a huge cardboard box from your local appliance store and wrap it around the safe with duct tape. Use a sharpie to label it "Dads books"

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Cain-Man@reddit

Remember plastic will trap: moisture !

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tomthebarbarian@reddit

As others have suggested, putting it under a tarp is likely sufficient. I would add two additional features: First, put a few boxes on and around the safe (under the tarp) to disguise its shape; second, tie the tarp down to discourage casual peeking.

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Financial_Resort6631@reddit

Get a net. Hot glue trash to it. Throw it over the safe and a few other places. If you can’t cover the safe just take everything out leave it wide open and have them quote a removal for it and act hyper liberal. Like eww the previous owner was a hunter.

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dinnerwdr13@reddit

Depending how big it is, you could get some used moving boxes.

Slice them open, and use them to wrap around the safe so it looks like a stack of boxes. Write on the boxes with sharpie:

"College books"

"Old pictures"

"Baby stuff"

"Kim's fat clothes"

"Junk drawer"

It looks like a bunch of junk boxes even a thief wouldn't look through

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johnhd@reddit

Last year in my area, there was an incident where an employee of a junk removal company saw gun safes and ammo boxes in a house and tipped off his friends, but inadvertently gave the wrong address. It ultimately resulted in a random woman getting murdered and her son getting shot.

My electrical panel is in my gun room, so that made me think hard about my setup and how I could easily hide everything when I need work done. Ultimately I bought an adjustable room divider, which allows you to put up a wall of curtains just about anywhere. I don't use the center rod since the room is about 10 feet wide. I leave it up with the curtains open, and whenever I'm having work done, I close and pin the curtains which essentially makes a hallway directly to the panel. Also have a camera aimed that way, so I can see if anyone tries to snoop.

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Merganser31@reddit

I built cabinets that covered the entire wall. All with doors.

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Basic_Assumption5311@reddit

It’s a safe bro, most people will assume there are guns in there. Also most people in the trades have guns & a safe, and make damn good money. I wouldn’t worry about it

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smsff2@reddit

I mounted my safe in the closet. It’s usually hidden under large piles of clothes.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

Often it's stuff like this that people overlook thinking it's the normal pile of clothes most of have somewhere that is yet to be folded and put up.

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treecutter34@reddit

If you’re handy, you could get an old refrigerator and make a shell around it, or take some wood and make a shell around it to make it look like a cabinet.

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DuhTocqueville@reddit

I was thinking an old water boiler over the top like a sleeve

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treecutter34@reddit

Oooooo, or that. Put as much or as little money as you want into this.

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gilbert2gilbert@reddit

Smear poop on it

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Lo_jak@reddit

Cover it in more guns ! Then they steal the crappy guns while you nice shooters are left alone

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Kradget@reddit

If you covered it with a sheet, that should do it. Someone else suggested a specific fold or something if you're worried they'll peek, but this sounds like a big-ass safe. I'd let let it be a big-ass safe under a sheet. It'll probably either look like a refrigerator or a big-ass safe, but I doubt they'll mess with it. Certainly, they're not gonna crack it while they're in the fixing your HVAC or whatever, so unless you're in a place where there's an actual prevalence of home invasions or something, I'd just cover it up, maybe set up an indicator of tampering, and not make a big deal of it.

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