Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818 Review

Steelwater is an unknown brand in the safe industry. You won’t find them in traditional gun safe stores. There is no dealer section on their website whatsoever and they only sell direct… big red flag! They import all of their safes from China and only slap their Steelwater logo on it. They use low quality solenoid electronic locks, key overrides and only provide you with the illusion of security. Overall, these Steelwater Gun Safes are not the best quality and there are far better options for a better price. In this Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818 review, I will explain the truth about this illusion of security.

Lock – Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818

First and always most important for any gun safe is the lock used. In an attempt to cut cost and have the absolute lowest prices possible, Steelwater opted to use a low quality Solenoid electronic lock. Undoubtedly, these locks are unbranded, un-rated and prone to failure. They include a key override for when the lock inevitably fails. While some models do include a hard plate or re-locker, it is useless when you include a key override.

Steelwater is more interested in providing the illusion of security than actual security. It’s a big reason why none of the real safe dealers carry any of their safes. My favorite feature of this gun safe is that they advertise this lock as EMP proof. However, the only reason they can claim that is because it has a key override… what a joke.

Security – Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818

Steelwater claims this gun safe exceeds Calfornia Department of Justice regulatory standards for residential security containers. Unfortunately, this is false as California DOJ does not test for residential security containers, that is done by Underwriters Laboratories, UL. California DOJ only uses the terms firearm safety device and gun safe.

UL RSC Burglary Test – Did Not Pass

The correct terminology for the Steelwater 22 AMLD593420-EMP Gun Safe is that it exceeds the California regulatory standards to be considered a gun safe. You can not exceed the UL Residential security container test and actually have to test it, which they did not, because it would not pass. The Residential Security Container test includes a 5 minute torture test with several tools to qualify it for an insurance rating. Without a UL rated lock and with a key override, they automatically fail this test.

CA DOJ Gun Safe Standard – Does Not Exceed

As a safe company, Steelwater should absolutely know this, which makes me wonder what else they are over exaggerating. Nonetheless, according to their claims, the safe does exceed the California DOJ gun safe standards due to its 12 gauge steel construction in the door and body, ten 1.5″ steel locking bolts covering all four sides, hard plate protecting the lock and internal re-locker.

Key Override

There are two additional things I would like to note. First, this gun safe is imported from China. They notate their steel thickness in millimeters. I am positive this gun safe is not 12 gauge but actually 2 millimeter in thickness which is close but still below the CA DOJ requirements for a gun safe. Second, having all these bolts, a hard plate and re-locker is absolutely useless with the key override. These overrides are easy to pick and i find it very curious that Steelwater never actually shows any pictures of the inside of the door. Like I said already, they provide you with the illusion of security, not actual security.

Fire Rating – Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818

Next, the Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818 has a 1 hour fire rating at 1875 degrees. This is significantly higher than their closest competitors who test their safes at 1200 and 1400 degrees. Now, the giant caveat to this, is that once again, Steelwater did not use a certified testing agency such as ETL or UL to verify their fire rating claims. We simply have to trust that the factory actually tested and that it actually passed. There is no verifiable evidence, pictures, videos, absolutely nothing and this would definitely cause me to look for a certified fire rated gun safe if that was my intended purpose for the product.

Next, they claim to have a heat activated expandable door seal to keep out smoke and water. They say this seal expands up to 8 times its thickness in the event of a fire. Now as a safe expert with over 30 years of experience, every seal I’ve ever known only expands up to 7 times its size during a fire. Now this may seem trivial, but I hope you are starting to see that Steelwater exaggerates or blatantly makes false claims to make you feel like you are getting better fire and burglary protection than real safes that actually go through certified testing and approvals.

Style and Function

The Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818 uses the standard textured black paint common for imported gun safes. Hardware includes a chrome 5-spoke handle and keypad. The interior is standard carpeting with a split gun rack, side shelves and a top shelf. Finally, this model has a door panel organizer and an LED light kit.

The Bottom Line

Would I buy the Steelwater 20 Gun Safe SW592818 for my firearms and valuables? No, not a chance. With the low quality electronic solenoid lock, key override and litany of false or exaggerated claims, this is definitely not a company I can trust. Presently, they have been around for over a decade. Yet still are not carried in any traditional gun safe stores… huge red flag.

Some gun safes that are in the exact same price range and are significantly better include the Stealth UL28 Gun Safe and Kodiak KSB592820EXSO. The reason I like these safes so much better is that they have a UL rated high security electronic lock, UL RSC burglary rating, tested 1 hour fire rating and are sold by reliable companies with lifetime warranties.

Don’t fall for the illusion of security, buy a real safe from a trusted and reliable company.

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