USA – -(Ammoland.com)- In early April of 2018, a small import outfit released a handgun safe onto the market through Amazon. The company is called Amarey, no big name in the gun world, but the safe is currently Amazon’s bestselling handgun safe. At a price of $99.99, it’s easy to understand why shoppers are being sold on the item.
Amarey Biometric Gun Safe
Amarey’s safe, the model HFGS-089, is supposedly designed to do double-duty as a handgun safe and portable case. The blurb on the Amazon product page says:
Gun Safe – Pistol Safe Portable Gun Safe with Biometric Sensor Chip, Auto-Open Lid, Qucik Access. Gun Safe Mountable on Wall. Waterproof Fire Resistant, 100% Safety. 5 Year Warranty. [Misspellings retained.]
Buried in the above are a couple over-the-top lies I need to address. The device is not actually watertight, and therefore is not “Waterproof.” Nor is it made of fire-retardant materials, so it isn’t any more “Fire Resistant” than any other metal container—a toolbox, an Altoid tin. As for the expression “100% Safety,” I can confirm that this is a combination of numbers and letters arranged in a fashion consistent with English.
One of the bigger illusions on this product page is the overwhelming number of 5-star reviews that accumulate daily. What’s going on? A flyer inside every safe offers a package of 25 free shooting targets to those customers who write an Amazon review. This is a violation of Amazon policies.
And what have my examinations turned up?
The safe is made of thin, 18-gauge steel, the box weighing all of 4.4 lbs. (Snapsafe lock boxes, which I have spent time exposing online, are made of heavier, higher-quality steel than this.) The safe’s top-opening door fits loosely and has two gaping holes in it, one for the fingerprint reader and one for the bypass lock; there’s plenty of purchase for a screwdriver. The hinges at the back are small and completely exposed.
And finally, the mounting holes in the bottom of the device open right into the latching mechanism, allowing the thing to be opened with a paperclip.
This last detail is bizarre, considering the device is supposed to be appropriate for use as a portable case. You, the gun owner, are to believe it is secure if it is merely anchored with the supplied cable. And you will be able to believe this if you visualize the safe having no holes in the bottom of it. It’s called Security Through Visualization. There are no holes in the bottom of your portable case if you believe there are no holes.
About Dave Goetzinger
I began while writing a piece of investigative journalism titled “Safe Cracking Is Too Easy,” published in the September 2015, issue of American Shooting Journal. The piece looked at defectively designed handgun safes, and was first posted online at ASJ on July 21, 2015, under the title “It’s Too Easy To Crack Your Gun Safe.”
About Handgun Safe Research
This site exposes the design defects and security vulnerabilities of popular handgun safes. Visit : www.handgunsaferesearch.com
UPDATE: In case anyone still discovers this article, I wanted to share how my activism on our behalf has paid off. The Amarey website, which used to feature all kinds of Chinese-made generic outdoor sporting goods, was taken down. Then it was replaced with a new website. Apparently, Amarey is now in the business of selling automated vacuum cleaners. As for the safe, the once popular product page on Amazon now lists the safe as “currently unavailable.” In one of the last reviews of this safe, someone going by name Godless Deity posed the following challenge to reviews: “I challenge… Read more »
If you mount the safe to a surface then you can’t do what you did to unlock it. I paid $250 for my Liberty quick access safe that is everything but quick access. It times out on first try then takes about 5 finger swipes to get it to open. I wish I would have purchase this safe from Amazon. Better to own a $100 piece of crap then a $250 piece of crap.
The made in China comment is quite appropriate. In Australia, we have mandatory minimum storage requirements and even with that there are many firearms owners caught out when the local police come to do an inspection. Yes that is right – if you are a gun owner you have lost your right to privacy. When the 1996 National Firearms Agreement (read gun grab) was enacted, a local hardware chain sold thousands of a no name brand cheap Chinese gun safes. It wasn’t until 2012 that our Tasmanian Police realised that once the keypad was removed (easy with a screwdriver), there… Read more »
If you can carry a safe as a case why have it? My safe weighs over 500 lbs. and obviously it can’t be carried because of weight and bulk. Temp controlled hard to move is a good combination.
But is bolted in such a fashion as to limit accessibility to the back and sides. My work sells those 500 lbs safes they are maybe 12 gauge steel shell with two to three layers of fireboard drywall for fire resistance. With 12 gauge it doesn’t take a lot to go through the side or back, if it is tipped on the floor its easy. And those big 1.5″ locking lugs are a facade. Funny thing about safes they scream ” I have valuables!” . That is why I searched around until I found a safe with 1/2 plate steel… Read more »
The lock appears to be an Ace type lock 7pin tubular, not to mention that nice gap on the left side.
This one is definitely child’s play to open non destructively, but if it falls on the floor, it will probably
open itself. Steve W, I wouldn’t consider this one.
@Steve Wollard, If your looking for a hand gun safe, I think it was either the one before this one, or the one before that, I can’t really remember, but it did have most of the inside protected, and had a lip around the inside so it could not be compromised from the outside. I’m not saying it can’t be opened, but it might have been the lessor of all the evils so to speak. I’m pretty sure it had a video that was shown with it, and it had a couple guys using pry bars and screw drivers, and… Read more »
I see these vulnerable-safe videos a lot, and I think they’re great. But if these are terrible, which safes should I buy?
Every consumer should appreciate your candid review of this product’s false claims and inherent weaknesses.
Betcha the case is made in Fu ‘Qin China!
You are 100% correct !
I wouldn’t put a frigging CANDY BAR in it for “safe” keeping, a 7 year old could easily defeat it !
Pure Chinese thrown together like all other shit made there…CHEAPLY manufactured, JUNK !
Side note….. Did you know that almost 70% of GM cars are made in China ?
I always say that “Chinese junk” is more than just a wooden-hulled sailing vessel.