In this article we are going to take a look at the Lockdown Logic enabled line of products from Lockdown and their newly updated Logic App.
The world has gone digital and whether we like it or not, technology has hit us like a tsunami over the last 50 years and it will never recede to simpler times. While we may wish some things would go back to the analog days, there are countless products hitting the market at record speed which are actually changing our day to day lives for the better. One such manufacturer who is working to change their slice of the gun industry for the better and make it more connected, is Lockdown.
If you aren’t familiar with Lockdown, they are a secure storage and organization company that is part of the American Outdoor Brands family of companies. Lockdown offers a wide variety of products which help you organize and secure your firearms, magazines and much more. While firearm storage is generally an afterthought, it shouldn’t be. Keeping your guns out of the hands of those who should not have them is priority number one in this day and age, but keeping your collection safe from damage is not far behind.
In years past, the average gun owner really did not have many options when it came to organization and safe storage beyond being a helicopter parent to your growing gun collection. Many opted to use rechargeable silica gel products to help regulate humidity and if your safe was large enough you may have a factory installed outlet which would allow for a more robust dehumidifier. While those options were and still are worthwhile to help mitigate a degree of moisture, they don’t do much in the way of monitoring.
The technology market has been absolutely bombarded over the last few years with DIY home security systems and products from video monitoring to self installed security systems. Home automation has grown exponentially with 10’s of billions of smart devices being deployed in homes all across the globe. I’m uniquely aware of this space because I owned a smart home integration business while the market was in it’s infancy and can say with reasonable confidence, many of the products that people are installing are overkill. There is a fine line you walk between functional and completely impractical when buying “smart” tech.
With all of that said, the one thing I always consider when thinking about buying a “smart” product is whether or not it is going to actually make my life easier or solve a real problem that I am presented with regularly. Consider something like a smart vacuum with voice control in your hierarchy of tech needs. It may seem cool to be able to bark commands at a robot vacuum when you drop a bowl of popcorn, but I can almost guarantee that after the first time you do it, you will be underwhelmed.
On the other side of the robot vacuum are products that really deliver on the entire idea of why smart tech was created in the first place. This is where Lockdown comes in to play with their logic enabled products. You may not think smart tech has a place in your gun safe, but I think you may change your mind after reading more about what Lockdown can bring to the table. This article was spurred by a personal need to monitor my firearms and gear, whether I’m at home or on the road.
I recently made the decision that working from home could not be a long term option for me unless I created a dedicated space to go to during work hours. So, I took over my 500sqft detached garage and turned it in to an office, gym, and secure location for all of my gear. That decision resulted in a year long project to transform my dingy garage into a space that I wanted to spend hours of my day in. One of the biggest areas of focus for me was building a secure room to put my gun safes and ancillary gear in. I decided on a 6’X6′ reinforced room with a steel core exterior door. I plan to upgrade the door to the Lockdown vault door as soon as they become available early next year.
With my space built out and all of my things finally organized, the next step was getting a solution together that would allow me to monitor my gear now that it was all in a building separated from my house. With Lockdown‘s logic enabled products, the hardware was already available to provide a number of high value monitoring capabilities. While the hardware is exceptional, the app was ready for a refresh, and a refresh is exactly what it got. Lockdown released an all new version which created a much more stable and user friendly interface.
Lockdown currently has 4 categories of products that we’ll get in to later on in this article, but as far as set up goes it is extremely simple. Since all of the products are using Wi-Fi to connect to your account rather than bluetooth, you simply have to follow the onscreen prompts and connect to a temporary Wi-Fi hotspot which the specific device broadcasts. Once connected, your device is added to your app and available in your dashboard. The entire set up process for a single device takes less than a minute.
The app also provides a guided walkthrough for first time users which I found to be very helpful.
What I love about the entire suite of products and the app is that I now have multiple layers of monitoring for my gear. Within the Lockdown Logic app, I have my devices easily accessible and organized so that I can quickly open it and check status on everything. The app also has push notifications which can alert you of various things such as door openings, motion disturbance, temp and humidity, and more when using the Lockdown Puck. I can also uses 3rd party apps like IFTTT to create a sequence of events when a threshold is met, such as high temps or motion disturbances. You can also do the same within the app using the Logic functionality built directly in.
Overall, the app is incredibly easy to use from set up all the way through to daily use. Having used various apps from smart home technology manufacturers I think that Lockdown did the right thing when refreshing their IOS and Android monitoring apps. They provided the right mixture of function and usability to let users decide how they want to use the hardware. Being able to pick and choose the alerts I want and where to receive them is an awesome feature in itself.
You can download the Logic app for IOS and Android at the links below.
The Puck is Lockdown’s heavy hitter in the logic enabled hardware catalog. This is going to be your go to device to give you the maximum amount of monitoring and protection. This little device which is about the size and shape of a Klondike bar packs a serious punch. In terms of the exterior, The Puck is equipped with both a high powered magnet backing and a physical mounting bracket to allow you to decide how and where you place it.
I installed two of these in my gun room, one on the exterior door and one in my main safe. On the door, I used the mounting bracket and within the safe the magnetic backer. The Puck also comes with a small magnetic button that activates the door ajar feature and triggers the various alerts in that category.
In terms of technology, I think I am in love with The Puck. I know I’m turning in to an old man when things like temperature and humidity monitoring are “awesome” to me, but I’m not even ashamed. Since my storage area is in my garage, I need to be more cautious about the atmosphere in my gun room than one would need to be in their home. With The puck, I can obsessively monitor the atmosphere inside the gun room or sit-back and let the app alert me to any drastic changes. I can also view recorded changes over longer stretches of time to view any recurring trends I many need to address.
An absolutely huge feature in my eyes that The Puck offers is motion disturbance tracking. Yes, The Puck will alert you when a door is open, but the motion disturbance alert gives you an early warning system before an intruder can even begin the process of trying to access your safe or safe room.
One more feature is that the puck can act like a security system, beyond the tamper alerts. There is a low volume siren built in to the device and it can be armed and disarmed within the app. This is great for when you leave home or town and want a little bit of additional peace of mind. It is absolutely possible as well to mess around with the third party apps I mentioned earlier to create a logic event that will trigger a much louder alarm if this device is triggered. It would take some work, but definitely possible.
As if these features were not enough, you can adjust an enormous amount of features directly within the app:
Tamper and Impact Sensitivity
Temperature and humidity thresholds
Power saver mode
Sound alerts for the alarm, door, and door sensor
You can also decide the delivery method for your alerts with the option of app notification, SMS, or email. You can select one method or all three.
I’m also going to include the video that Lockdown created to give you a better sense of how the set up process works.
Pros/Budget friendly, easy to use, feature rich, sleek design
Cons/Additional door sensors would be great, High decible Lockdown compatible sirens are not available
Bottom Line/This is by far the most budget friendly safe monitoring device on the market
The Logic plug is a, dare I say it, logical addition to the line of smart products offered by Lockdown. If you have a gun safe equipped with an internal outlet this will be a no brainer for you. The plug uses the same Wi-Fi protocol as The Puck and can be configured to toggle on and off when certain conditions are met. One use for this device would be to trigger the Lockdown Compact Auto Dehumidifier should internal safe humidity get too high.
You can do the standard “smart home” activities with this plug as well, toggling lights on and off or any other single switch electronics you may have. One thing to keep in mind is that you should never pair a smart outlet with a device that has a control panel, unless that device is also Wi-Fi enabled. For example, let’s say you have a dehumidifier that has a digital panel for control. If you pair a smart plug with that device, it will simply provide power to the device, but it will not turn it on. So, be sure you think through the devices you plan to pair with your smart plug.
Pros/Affordable, Easy to use, Logic app compatible
Cons/Only provides one plug per device
Bottom Line/When comparing smart outlet plugs such as this, the Logic Plug is as affordable as a a big box smart plug and will work with your Logic App. If you are buying in to the Logic system, you will want a Logic Plug
This is a great accessory for anyone who has lacklustre Wi-Fi coverage within their house. My house was built in 1925 and has plasterwalls that might as well be made of reinforced concrete. When the tradesmen were considering what to use back in the day, Wi-Fi connectivity was clearly not something they had to contend with and as such, they used the most durable solution they had on hand. This device utilizes a single band 2.4 GHZ connection which us perfect for broadcasting through dense walls.
Like the Logic Plug, the Wi-Fi extender is something you could by and use without the puck as a simple way to boosts your homes Wi-Fi signal.
Pros/Affordable, Easy to set up, 2.4 GHZ band
Cons/Cannot buy product in multi-packs for larger homes
Bottom Line/If you need to boost your Wi-Fi signal this is a great option
I’m really excited for this product. When you get to the point of building a gun room, the final step is adding a vault door. Not only does it add security to your set up, but it also looks badass. While the Logic Vault Door is not available for purchase yet, we do know a few of the features to expect.
Master Pin Access
Up-to 9 Guest Pins
2-Factor Authentication
Motorized Entry
Door Alarm
Tamper Alarm
Impact Alarm
Incorrect Code Alarm
App notifications and alerts
Access logs
Temperature and Humidity Displays
Much more!
The door will be available in various sizes with both left and right inswing or outswing.
Pros/Sleek Design, feature rich, secure
Cons/You must have a vault room to use this product
Bottom Line/The jury is out until product launch, but I cannot wait to get one!
Ben currently leads the editorial staff for Outdoorhub, Alloutdoor, and The Firearm Blog. He is an avid outdoorsman and has hunted for large game across the United States including Alaska, Texas and his home state of Michigan.
Ben also has a deep knowledge and passion for firearms and has participated in various civilian courses focusing on precision rifle shooting, carbine, pistol, ammunition reloading, and hunting focused firearm applications.
Outside of work, Ben pursues a number of water based activities spending his free time in Northern Michigan boating and fishing on Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan.
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