Humidity...it's that time of year!

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    boisepaw

    boisepaw
    Jan 5, 2015
    380
    Eastern shore, MD
    New to the area. At what relative humidity will my firearms be safe from rust? 40%? 60%? 80%?

    And what do you folks use for humidity in an insulated but non air-conditioned room?
     
    Boondock Saint

    Boondock Saint

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 11, 2008
    24,445
    White Marsh
    Safe from rust? Never. Lower humidity is better, of course, but there are practical concerns.

    Golden Rod(s), desiccants, quality rust preventative coatings, and/or dedicated dehumidifiers are the weapons of choice. Firearms have two enemies: rust and politicians, and rust never sleeps!
     
    davsco

    davsco

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 21, 2010
    8,623
    Loudoun, VA
    other than with hvac, not sure you can really control the humidity in an actual room. but a safe or mostly airtight cabinet or the like should work, using a goldenrod or similar device to lower the humidity.
     
    DivingDriver

    DivingDriver

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 14, 2016
    1,514
    Nanjemoy MD
    Goldenrod is what I depend on and living on the water we get plenty of humidity. Just a quick hint, put your goldenrod on the floor of your safe about three inches or so from the front of the door. They did some tests and found out that the airflow from the heat of the goldenrod worked better at circulating the air when placed in that position.
     
    L

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,723
    My safe is in a humidity controlled basement. I don’t keep it super low though. 55-60% in the summer and 45-52% in the winter (dehumidifier set at 55%).

    In my safe I keep a rechargeable desiccant. Safe isn’t air tight, though airflow restricted. I haven’t run my humidistat in my safe, but I’d guess most of the time it is probably running 5% or so below ambient.

    No rust issues so far, but only been 4 or so years a gun owner. Well, a bit of rust, byt my fault and Remingtons fault for 870s rusting if you look at them sideways (some turkey hunting in the rain and not through enough drying afterwards. Nothing bad, but a tiny bit of rust I cleaned up).
     
    Pinecone

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Just realize a Golden Rod does not remove moisture from the air. It heats the air, so the relative humidity is lower.

    Dehumidifiers, AC, and desiccants remove moisture from the air.

    Best is a combo of Golden Rod and some method of removing moisture
     
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