Bulldog Vaults Digital Personal Vault W/LED & RFID Access

I received this safe a few days ago and have been testing it extensively. Here is a quick rundown.Pros1. The price is great2. It holds a full sized gun3. It successfully programs my Hornady RFID stickers and bracelets!4. You can program five RFID devices into it.5. It can be bolted down6. It takes aaa's and not a 9 volt!Cons1. This is the big one! If you tap a key accidentally, which is very easy to do as you put your RFID device on it, it locks out the safe for about twenty seconds while it waits for you to enter the rest of your code. Meaning that if there is an intruder and you hit that button my accident, you no longer can open the safe for twenty seconds. Please please put the sensor area away from the buttons or redesign the safe to keep scanning for the RFID even if the keys have been pressed. The Hornady safe which I also own actually makes you push the big button to turn it on the RFID reader is you are using it on batteries. If it's plugged in then you just wave the RFID over the area and it opens. If you are in a blind panic and you hit the reader with a lot of force, pushing the button over and over, it still opens quickly and reliably.2. The RFID reader is in a very small exact area. I've found that I can hold my RFID devices in the general area of the Hornady safe's large button and it activates it without a problem. The Bulldog safe requires you to be very precise in order to activate it. I have a Hornady sticker on a card in my wallet and on my phone under the case. The wallet opens it just find because I can feel where the sticker is and it lines up quickly. My phone has a very hard time opening up the bulldog through it's case, but not the Hornady. I tried the same test with the bulldog RFID card and it was about the same.3. The Bulldog safe doesn't require me to click a button to activate the RFID reader. This is handy, but also makes me worry that the safe will run down the batteries quickly.4. It feels a lot like one of the $25 dollar lock boxes, but for the price you can't expect it to be much stronger.5. If you key in the code wrong three times it locks out the electronics. You need to open it with the key. Your RFID devices will not override and open the safe. It doesn't matter if you keyed in the wrong code if you have your RFID device with you. if you make a mistake in a panic and it locks you out, but you suddenly find your RFID card or fob, you should be able to use it to override the lockout and immediately open the safe.Conclusion:I actually like this safe a lot for, what I believe is, a first generation device. But I can't really recommend it for a home invasion safe. I would recommend this safe for the price, but would purchase the Hornady 2700 if it came down to needing the gun faster. If my front door is getting kicked in, I'm running to the Hornady safe. I do like that I'm able to program both my Hornady RFID stickers, key chain and bracelets as well as bulldog's RFID key chain and cards. Remember, you program your safe to accept the RFID device, so your safe is not programming the RFID device. This means that that you can program as many RFID safes to work with a single key fob as you like. If you want to have four safes, you only need one key fob to work with them all. This is not a bad product, but I think it will get much better in future versions.

[Update] TL:DR Spend more $$ and get a better productAfter pressing this into use as an under seat vault for LE / State law compliance it quickly began to fail - RFID failed almost immediately and now even the key is hit or miss. As others have pointed out, this is NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO TRUST YOUR LIFE WITH. At the point the slightest big of resistance = fails to open = I have to fish the key out to get at the contents. I have other Bulldog vaults and they have been pretty darn good - this one is just horrible. Frankly, I don't know why companies chase this bottom of the line stuff - it dilutes their brand and introduces distrust in their platform.The only thing this will be good for is a one-time target practice device.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I purchased this for the specific purpose of having a vehicle under-seat storage for valuables or whatnot in the event law or circumstance requires they be left in the vehicle. (I was focused on size more than anything, and this vault is pretty darn slim which is what I wanted.The Good:slim / small footprint means it fits under low seatsprice is very reasonableRFID enabled [works, most of the time]The Bad:You get what you pay for - this is NOT a robust vault - it guards against smash and grab and that's itOnly 1 cable lock port = I drilled/filed another so I could put the cable where it made senseThe foam fell away instantly - after locking it protruded out of the keypad port covering it and the RFID sensor = no good. Do yourself a favor and remove it immediately and spray it with some 3M Super 77 and put it backAs noted by existing reviewer, the location of the keypad in relation to RFID sensor often results in a delayed opening - it's nearly impossible to grab it from under a seat without bumping a keypad, and once out nearly impossible to move your hand above the RFID reader without bumping a key which = having to wait for it to reset to then read the RFIDTL:DRKeep your expectations in line with the price point and be clear as to your use case. I would NOT recommend this product if your life was on the line - entry is too slow. This vault can easily be defeated with a sturdy screwdriver - it's not intended to be a "safe" - it's a locked container and nothing more. Skip the RFID and go keypad only - it's actually faster and works great.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m very happy with what I received. It’s solid but not bulky. You can disable the “beep” for code input, so it becomes much more stealth. The RF works like expected, and I can even leave the card in my wallet and just touch my wallet to the sensor to open the safe. I plan on keeping this one in the bedroom, and buying 2 more for the cars.

I use this for travel. Perfect little safe. Holds my gun with lock, 3 magazines, a knife, and the include security cable. The only negative and thus the 4 stars is that the buttons stick-up and when in luggage the need to be sure only some thing light is on top of it so they dont get beeped. Need to recess the buttons lower and have metal sliding cover to go over the top of the buttons to prevent any Accidental Activation on buttons.

After watching several you tube reviews of small gun safes that were easily defeated (and opened by small children) I have been totally pleased with this one. I wish I could disable the beep.

Great little safe just to keep little hands from getting at your firearm but don't trust it to keep adults that can not keep their hands to themselves from stealing your weapon. Great for a bedside gun vault, an RV vault for locking your firearm up in states that are traitors to our constitution or a quick access gun vault. You can open it three ways, key code entry, swipe card or key in the event other two methods do not work. Over all Bulldog products are good, budget friendly ways to store or lock up your weapons. Can't go wrong.