Safe Storage for EDC & Hunting Firearms | Melissa Bachman from Deadly Passion

Responsible firearm ownership requires that storing firearms properly and safely is a top priority for the owner. Having firearms ready for action and storing firearms safely are not mutually exclusive. The technology available today makes it quick and easy to access firearms from a stored location if quick retrieval is required. Melissa Bachman from the Deadly Passion show came to Gearbox Talk to discuss holsters, home storage, and unveils her favorite type of safes. One of the safes Melissa Bachman covers is a new kind of safe that you can actually transport without a five man crew and a fork lift.

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Gear Mentioned:
TXC Pistol Holster http://bit.ly/TXC-Holster
Defender Keylock Handgun Safe http://bit.ly/Defender-Keylock-Handgun-Safe
Gunvault Microvualts http://bit.ly/GW-Gunvault-Microvualts
Gunvault Multivault - Biometric Safe https://bit.ly/GW-Gunvault-Multivault
Vaultek Lifepod - Safe https://bit.ly/A-Vaultek_Safe
Steelhead Outdoors Safes http://bit.ly/Steelhead-Outdoors-Safes

Show Notes:
Melissa Bachman’s Website: https://melissabachman.com/
Melissa Bachman’s Social Accounts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissa_bachman/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissabachman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelissaBachman
Steelhead outdoors safes: https://www.steelheadoutdoors.com/
Tim Kennedy’s EDC Show: https://youtu.be/bAimWi0JO4w
Jack Carr’s EDC Show: https://youtu.be/cM_sQZ8tKGc
Mike Larsen’s EDC Show: https://youtu.be/9BeEBS_mO-s
Erin Crooks EDC Show: https://youtu.be/_JPS_pH6XP0
Wes Robinson’s EDC Show: https://youtu.be/v9Sxxb7ck8Y

Transcription:
Brad: let's talk about everyday carry no this show isn't a pocket dump it's about where your pocket dump goes Melissa Bachman is a really well-known television show host in the firearm and hunting space you may know her from her show winchester deadly passion she spends 200 days a year in the field but today's show is more about when Melissa comes home from those long hunts and even a trip to the grocery store we're talking about holsters and home storage she's going to share her tips and she's going to unveil her favorite type of safe and this is an awesome tip stick around to hear about that because this is actually a safe that you can transport without a five-man crew and a forklift when you buy it we're gonna drop melissa's gear recommendations in the show notes as usual and I'll put some links to some other safes that we've mentioned in the show on the past and I'm gonna link to some of our other top edc shows that of course includes edc shows with jack carr tim kennedy wes robinson mike larson and joe biden gotcha just checking to see if you're paying attention you are that's good to know because here we go this is gearbox talk with Melissa Bachman meet the industry's widest variety of game changing ammunition however you shoot and whatever you hunt fortune favors the prepared find your federal premium advantage today melissa Bachman welcome to gearbox talk how are you doing
Melissa: I'm doing great thank you for having me
Brad: you have one of the most impressive backgrounds we've seen on the show by the way I love it that's that's quite the setup mounts
Melissa: well thank you very much it keeps me busy keeps you motivated to keep editing so we can keep filling the wall
Brad: absolutely we're going to get you back to talk about whitetail later this year we have to do that after seeing that background you got there but for today I really want to talk about gun safety you and I were just chatting about this how there's so many people out there who have gotten a gun for the first time and you know there's a lot of things that they may not know yet about gun safety so let's start first with talking about the the everyday carry holster so for a beginner you know what is in your mind I know you carry a lot like what's your mindset on a holster what are some things that they should consider
Melissa: well one of the main things I think is finding what's comfortable for you and what you wear for me I've had I don't know 10 15 different holsters I've tried all sorts of things I go to SHOT show and I see all these new holsters and I buy them give them a try some they just don't cut it some they're not comfortable so you kind of learn from things that you don't like and try to zero in on the exact holster so right now what I'm using I like to have an appendix carry and one of the reasons is because it's kind of up front and for people who don't know an appendix carry kind of is right from where your zipper is just a little off to the right and I like it because it doesn't get in my way much if I'm editing I'm doing anything I'm carrying the kid whatever it is it's right up front the one thing that's important to note is that it's a lot better if you wear a belt with it because the clip actually grabs onto it so you can see this I've got a txc holster and the reason I actually selected this is because it allows for I have a light on this one so it allows for that there's not a lot that have it it's hard it's rigid it's about 80 but I think it's really worth it because it will hold tight you can pull it in and out and the big thing is practice with it whatever you get go out to the range we actually built a pistol range at our house and I think it's so important to be comfortable with it to know it inside and out so that way if something happens it's second nature for you I think that's the number one key thing
Brad: love that you said something in there that I haven't heard a whole lot about but it was the the importance of continuing to look for a holster so you've tried 15 of them and I think if you're new to carrying it's important to know that you may not be comfortable with that first holster it's not that you're not comfortable carrying you just may not have found the holster that you really like or the position that you would like to carry in hey something I wanted to talk to you about you know I know you have kids so I want to talk about the importance of when you come home with that weapon and what happens to it how do you make sure that your everyday weapon you know everyday carry doesn't get found by a kid we have a lot of new gun owners out there this is something I personally worry about is that people they've thought through getting that first gun they found a gun that they're comfortable with and maybe they are comfortable carrying but when you come home you know it's very important that that those firearms aren't left around for children to find what's your advice to somebody on on that process of either making it a habit or having a safe storage what are your thoughts on that
Melissa: I really think routine is key doing the exact same thing every single time you get home when you walk in the house the very first thing you do is you go to the safe you put it away before you do anything else and I think if you start doing that over and over and over it becomes routine and you're not going to be as likely to forget make sure that it's in a safe location and even with the safe we always tell the kids you don't touch the safes they're not going to get into them but it's just the idea those are off limits to you we have numerous different types of safes to put guns in but go to the same safe the same spot every single day and make it a routine
Brad: I love that answer and we're going to talk a little bit about safes in a second but since we're talking about the kids what are some key tips for teaching kids gun safety you kind of mentioned telling them to stay away from the safes but are you are you doing anything to kind of teach them at an early age you know these aren't toys or like what are you reinforcing with your kids
Melissa: well we have a two-year-old and then we have a 14 year old 12 year old and 10 year old so we have kind of a mixed variety so even the older kids nobody's to take a gun out unless we're home and we give it to them whether they're going hunting whether they want to go shoot their bb gun with friends whatever it is another thing that I think is really important is just having you know air guns or bb guns laying around putting them in the safe I made all of our guns in our house be put in the safe because we have a two-year-old that I promise he would not know the difference between an air gun and his toy guns and anything else and he could easily shoot the dog the kid a person whatever it is and he wouldn't know so even guns like that that maybe you wouldn't think twice about putting in a safe get them all in the safe with our kids jax will watch us he's two he'll watch a shoot and we say these are the big guns these are only for mom and dad when you get big you can learn about it the other kids as soon as they're old enough we put them through gun safety we work with them on the range we're constantly you know just reinforcing those safety measures so that it gets built in their head but it starts early it starts all the way at that one two years old
Brad: I love it so we kind of mentioned a second ago that you have multiple types of safes multiple safes throughout the house how do you recommend storing guns in your house like how are you thinking about that storage I'm sure you have some kind of thought around home defense versus your rifle storage just walk us through like your personal setup
Melissa: so we have several different safes we have one safe that is for all the active guns as we call it so whatever season's in in so right now we've moved all our turkey guns up in there just a couple weeks ago we had all the coyote guns in there and that's a safe that's easily accessible for when we're going in and out of the house to grab whatever guns we're using during that season we hunt a lot so I don't want to be going down all the way downstairs rummaging through trying to find that gun we just put the ones that we're using upstairs and at the ready now for home defense we have a safe right in our bedroom we actually have two safes in our bedroom and I love that because not only do you get to keep you know your shotguns and some other handguns in there but it's just nice knowing you've got a safe right there in your bedroom should something happen if both ben and I need to grab numerous guns in the middle of the night promise we've got quick access to them right in our room but I also like to have a safe right next to the bed we have just something really small so that way you have quick immediate access to a firearm that's loaded ready to go for personal defense
Brad: yeah I was going to ask you like what is that safe what's the one that you found that you trust bedside you know for self-defense what what what model and brand are you using that you and what did you like about it
Melissa: we found a I don't even honestly know if they make them anymore but it's a winchester safes it's a it's a small safe that goes right next to your bed and it's got numerous different options to open it you can enter a key code it lights up in the night so that you can see the buttons or it has rfid which is basically I didn't really know anything about it but it's like a small sticker like this and you could put it between your phone and your case for example you have a key fob you could put it on a remote control you could put it on different things and simply slide it across for quick access what I like about that is it's just another option where if you're you know too rattled you could always do that get quick access it pops up only one handgun is in there that's all that would fit in there but it's portable now when I used to live alone in minneapolis I was always feeling uncomfortable so I actually had them in different rooms in my home I had them in my office I had one in the bathroom I had them all different locations and that's what's nice about a little tiny one with just one is I spend most of my time in my office well now I can be prepared anywhere I'm at in the house and some people might think well that seems a bit overkill well if you're in the shower and all of a sudden you hear something someone break in and you live completely by yourself you're your own help so to me that was important and it just gave me an extra sense of security
Brad: there was a funny meme started circulating around last year of it was a guy in the shower and it says see's headline of guy shoots intruder from with shower gun and then the bottom of it says considering purchasing shower gun
Melissa: you know and it's so funny because I saw that too and I was like oh my gosh that was totally me but I can promise you when you're living completely by yourself and like I used to get death threats all the time from being a hunter and all this is going on and you're in the shower and you hear something you feel completely vulnerable yeah how are you going to get downstairs it just wouldn't make sense and it's not for everybody by all means I'm not telling everybody that that's what they need it's just if you're in that situation you want that added safety there are safes out there that can do that for you now
Brad: right right that makes total sense since you mentioned that you aren't sure if that one they make that one anymore I think the one I have is a gun vault and it's kind of the same setup but it's biometric it doesn't have the rfid but it has the biometric option and you can program it to have a finger like a three code and it's you know a series of digits like a one two three option and you build in your four or six digit code and then you have the biometric option which which works really well so I'll put a link to that one in the show notes too for anybody's that's looking for a new save you have a couple options we also had a a firearms instructor on the show quite a few shows back and we'll put a link to the options he recommended too that way if you're looking for a safe that's right for you you know you got a couple options out there so you know when that's so these are kind of your personal defense safes but I want to talk a little bit about you know what to consider for the other safes for you for your rifles and for your more kind of your storage your longer storage items because most people are probably going to have their self-defense safe and then you know like a safe that has most of your firearms your rifles and maybe some other pistols and whatnot what are some things to consider for that other your primary safe the big safe that you're going to get and there's so many options on this I'm really interested to hear your answer on this because you can literally buy you know like a tin box or you can get like these mac daddy saves so what are the important things that in your mind when you're when you're evaluating a safe option
Melissa: well I think it's important to think about what you're going to put in it what does your gun collection look like right now how many guns do you have how many would you like to have and is there room for growth within that safe another thing that's important is are you going to put other things in there are you going to put jewelry are you going to put documents are you going to put I have some drives in there so shelving is also important so really think about that and think about how easy is it to access am I going to need to get guns in the back do I need to be able to see what's in there where am I going to put it can my house handle it can my apartment handle it I lived in a town home for years and one of my concerns was always how am I going to get a safe in I don't have enough people to help me I don't have six big guys that can wheel a big safe in what am I going to do so those are all considerations to really think about and to try to plan ahead this may not be your forever home what are your options for where you're at now and being able to move somewhere else
Brad: that's awesome advice is there is there a point with those like I kind of joked about the tin safe but there's literally I mean there's some of them you could cut them open with the hatchet right like but like they're that that that lightweight and portable and that might be right for an apartment person maybe I don't know but is there a point at those cheaper quality safes that you're like just no like is there a cut off for you to where it's like no you really need to not evaluate that option or is it like even personal preference down to those lower quality safes
Melissa: well here's the thing if you put all your valuable items in a lower quality save someone breaks into your home they find the safe all the most important things you've put in one place for them made it as easy as possible and now they can either rip it off and call home and cut it open and get everything you have in one or you can wait and spend the money and get something that's good what I was worried about is I do not want to buy something cheap and then put all my most valuable things in there and say hey look right here it's all here for you I made it really simple you can get in and out quickly I mean to me that seems like a terrible idea yeah so I really highly recommend trying to get a little bit higher price point waiting a little bit longer if you need for that big gun safe and then making your decision
Brad: I think that's great advice so we both work with an interesting company called steelhead outdoors I know you're a big fan of their safes and I i want to first talk about something that's interesting that they do they make modular safes and for some people that are considering a safe they may not understand what that even means can you talk through first what is a modular safe and what are the considerations to make when looking at those as an option
Melissa: well I met them because I was walking through a trade show and I saw modular safe basically it's like our sauna that you have all the different pieces and you put it together where you want but it's manageable to get to any space you need and I was walking through and I thought this is genius because we were living in a home we were building a new home and we wanted something that could move with us but I did not want to buy a giant gun safe and try to find people to move it around get it down the stairs I just thought this is a disaster someone's going to get hurt I don't want that and when I saw it I literally stopped in my tracks and said I need to learn more about this so what it was is different pieces but the way they put it together it can't be taken apart once it's together and I think that's people's number one concern is well if you put it together couldn't someone who breaks into your house just take it apart and no they have thought it through and the way everything is interlocked you cannot break into it once it's together so it's it's genius the other thing is is people always wonder well what about fire safety is it the same as others well from what I can understand it's the same or better because a lot of these when a fire does break out they're gonna just steam all your guns in there and a lot of times destroy them if they sit in that heat too long well this is a lot better it's got just as good a fire protection but it doesn't have all that interior that can burn and steam and that velvety that's all over it it's just way more simple and I think sometimes simpler is better you don't need that and it has a lot of benefits that way so for me I was able to pick up each piece with one person and we got to bring one piece at a time into our home now I hate putting things together I'm the first to tell you that I am
Brad: not an ikea shopper
Melissa: no absolutely not however this was super manageable and very easy to do we actually did a little time lapse video and I think we got the safe together in under 25 minutes so I think those are kind of the three biggest things that were my concerns at first and many others was well can someone break it apart what's the fire rating and how hard is this to put together because the idea is one of those things where it's like this almost seems too good to be true why didn't someone think of this earlier and that's exactly what I told them is you've got the one idea that I wish i'd have thought of but you know hats off to you guys you did a great job
Brad: yeah there it's it's a cool product and I you know when we first met them there's a lot to like it's american-made product you know they've they've really you kind of mentioned this but the engineers have really thought about this from every angle and you know taking a different approach on it and is there anything else you want to call out about those safes that like that you like that maybe somebody needs to think through when considering a say if you mention the fire safety the the modular capabilities of it is there anything else that just kind of stands out on the steelhead outdoor safes
Melissa: well one of the things that I liked is let's say you have maybe six guns right now and you plan on having a bigger collection you can actually just take the shelves out and they're as simple as like a fridge right you just put them in and you can move everything around and they have it where there's different configurations for different amounts and with shelving so what I liked about it is one of my safes it has a little bit less area for guns and then more room for shelves for other documents and things we need now if all of a sudden next week I go on a big shopping spree and buy a bunch of guns and need more places you can pop them out and change it so for me not only is it a modular safe that can go wherever you need it whether it's a closet up door you know up upstairs downstairs even in elevators that was one of the things that blew me away there's so many new gun owners who understand I need to be able to put this away and safely lock it up but they're like I don't want a little box that someone can run off with this is really the best solution if you live in a place or maybe it's not your forever home you know maybe you plan to move in a year or two and the last thing you want to do is spend a bunch of money on a safe and then just leave it there I mean think of how many homes are sold safe is included because we're not taking it out now instead of having to waste that money and leave it and buy again now you can take it with you
Brad: that's awesome I i love that anything else I didn't ask you about that you feel is really important for somebody to keep in mind for firearm safety at home
Melissa: well I think the number one thing is consistency always putting them in as soon as you take them out put them back when you're done and just being really diligent about it even if you don't have kids before I had kids i'd be like you know I know it's important but it's not really that big a deal well all of a sudden you've got guests that come over and they've got kids and you forgot about it and you're running around your house behind every door in drawers all over trying to put guns away quickly and think about it if you forgot one spot and the kids found it you'd never forgive yourself one chance to do it right so I do think it's really really important to just always be prepared have them locked up have them at the ready and I think that's maybe a misconception too is people think well the reason I bought it is for safety I don't want to lock it up and not be able to get to it there's a lot of options out there now
Brad: yep great advice Melissa where can people find you to follow along with your story what are your what's your social media handles that they can they can follow you at
Melissa: pretty much if you type in Melissa Bachman you'll find most of it melissa_bachmann or just go to my website melissabachman.com and you can find them all from there but you can on all the social media twitter so instagram facebook all over
Brad: awesome we'll put links to all that in the show notes I'm gonna put links to all the gear that Melissa talked about and I'm gonna put a link into a couple other shows that are edc oriented that we've had on here as well Melissa thank you so much for doing gearbox talk this was awesome
Melissa: well I sure appreciate you having me thank you
Brad: absolutely thank you Melissa I cannot stress this enough if you have a firearm and you're not storing it properly as Melissa outlined you need to fix that today I think a mistake a lot of people make is they think well I don't have kids to worry about it doesn't matter if you have kids when friends come over they bring their kids or your little crazy nieces and nephews are running around or whatever of a dozen other scenarios I can think of whenever these moments happen if you don't have your guns locked up you're being irresponsible I'm not trying to be a jerk this is just how it is you need to take care of other people you need to protect your guns you need to be a responsible firearm owner lock up your firearms all right I'll come down from my soapbox now because in addition to asking you to lock up your guns I need one more thing from you I need you to secure your fandom to this show we do new shows every wednesday and it's really simple with the subscribe hit the bell icon you're gonna not miss a single show again they come out every wednesday evening and we touch on everything it's edc it's home defense it's long distance shooting it's hunting it's fishing it's camping it's hiking everything you probably like to do is covered on this show so make sure you subscribe thanks for watching and thanks for continuing to buy the gear that we talk about on gearbox talk as you know if you buy get any of the gear through those links we probably make money if we make money we definitely donate a portion of our proceeds into a camp called raise em outdoors it's a non-profit that teaches kids firearm safety for how to shoot a firearm how to hunt how to fish how to be outside and how to love nature it's an awesome camp we're proud to be a part of it so thank you for purchasing through the links I can't thank you enough that's it for me today though I am out.