why wont my sentry safe open with the key

WHY WONT MY SENTRY SAFE OPEN WITH THE KEY SKIN

So, you can often replace your existing electronic keypad with a biometric version without changing the lock inside your gun safe. The fingerprint reader in these devices turns your fingerprint into a combination. Performance testing and rating criteria like UL 768 don’t yet exist.Ĭommercial grade biometric keypads for UL-rated locks are indeed available from reputable companies like Sargent & Greenleaf and La Gard. UL 768 Listed La Gard Smartpoint Biometric Keypadīiometrics in general are still evolving. Sounds great, but in reality biometric gun safes have serious issues. Also, marketers say you’ll never forget your combination because it’s literally at the tip of your finger. The idea is that someone may be able to get a hold of your gun safe combination, but in theory they won’t be able to imitate your fingerprint. The biometric with the highest theoretical security is eye retinal structure, as seen in spy movies.įor gun safes, the biometric most often used is a fingerprint.

WHY WONT MY SENTRY SAFE OPEN WITH THE KEY SKIN

Biometric security systems use fingerprints, eye retinal or iris structure, hand geometry, facial recognition, ear shape, and even the blood vessels under your skin to identify you. Biometric is a term for using a physical or behavioral characteristics to identify a person. Let’s talk about the technology of the locks themselves. For self-defense, reliability is more critical than for a full-sized gun safe just used to store a gun collection. However, small handgun safes are primarily used for quick access to a self-defense weapon.

It’s true that the majority of full-sized gun safes today are sold with battery-powered keypad combination locks. In addition to the other reliability issues of biometric locks we’ll get into below, battery-powered devices are fundamentally less dependable than all-mechanical devices. This biometric fingerprint door lock was opened by just sticking a paperclip in the “backup” lock.Īlso, biometric handgun safes are electronic and run on batteries. The key locks can often be opened with a standard screwdriver or strip of metal.įundamental security issues on devices with cheap fingerprint readers aren’t just limited to gun safes.

Many biometric gun safes also have flimsy key locks as “backups”. Adding an economy biometric lock to a weak gun safe doesn’t make it any more secure. Most small gun safes can be compromised by a variety of low-tech methods including paperclips, screwdrivers, or even just banging on them. The keypad alone for a proper commercial lock costs many times the more than most entire biometric handgun safes (more on this below). To start, the biggest problem with biometric fingerprint locks is that they’re generally only found on cheap gun safes costing a couple hundred dollars. In general, I don’t recommend biometric gun safes for the following reasons: Weak Gun Safes

Why wont my sentry safe open with the key