Hornady's palm-vein gun safe survives mud, soap in hands-on test
October 28, 2026
Biometric gun safes aren't new, but reading the veins in your palm instead of your fingerprint is a different approach. In a video from TheGunCollective, the presenter puts the Hornady VEXIS Night Guard Safe through some informal torture tests to see how well that contactless tech actually holds up outside a marketing demo.
Key points
- Contactless access: The safe reads palm veins without physical touch, popping open with a hand wave even when the unit is upside down or scanned with either hand.
- Mess tolerance, with limits: Soapy hands unlocked it fine, but heavy mud blocked the scan until the presenter wiped the palm mostly clean.
- Backup power options: Two 9V batteries serve as a fallback, with a power-adapter port and a rear USB charging port also built in.
- Storage capacity: It's roomy enough to hold a Canik MC9 Prime Radian seated in a Gunfighters Inc. holster.
- No sponsorship: The presenter notes Hornady did not pay for the coverage, framing it as a straight hands-on look at new safe tech.
Quick take
Vein-scanning is a clever workaround for the usual biometric gripes about dirty or wet fingerprints, and the demo backs that up until mud gets genuinely thick. For buyers weighing quick-access safes, the backup power setup matters as much as the party trick, and both get a fair look here.
Watch the full video: TheGunCollective