Sometimes you don’t need a whole house monitoring system. You just want an alarm that monitors your safe, or a room in your house, or a drawer that holds your valuables. Enter the Lockdown Puck.
The Puck from Lockdown is a wi-fi enabled device that monitors your valuables with a free app on your smart phone. You can use the enclosed magnetic mounting system to attach it to a door, a cabinet, or a vault.
The Puck tells you whether a monitored door or drawer is open or closed. It monitors temperature and humidity. It detects vibration and lets you know when someone disturbs it. You can set a threshold for the alarm and turn it on and off with your phone.
The Puck is powered by 4 AA batteries or a micro USB port that you can plug in to an outlet with an adapter. It can connect to other Lockdown devices to create a whole house system. You can also touch the button on the device to arm or disarm it.
Our First Impression of the Puck
The Puck arrived in a standard shipping box. We opened the box and found attractive packaging: a sturdy box with a liftoff lid and a flap that details the major selling points. The puck itself was nestled in a padded cutout.
The Puck is a durable plastic square with metal inserts on the sides and a battery compartment on the back that requires a small Phillips head screwdriver to open. The metal mounting bracket attaches to grooves cut into the back and stays securely in place.
The Puck measures 3 1/4″ square and is 7/8″ tall. When I put my tape measure on it the magnet attracted the metal on the end of the tape. If you have a metal door on your safe, the Puck will attach magnetically. If not, use the included screws to mount it.
What Is Included With the Puck
The box was packed with the Puck itself, the metal mounting bracket, 4 AA batteries, a 9 foot USB to Micro USB power cord, a small screwdriver, and a door sensor magnet with 1/2″, 1-2″, and 2-3″ extensions plus mounting screws.
The variability in the extension sizes comes from an adapter that you can screw in to add length. We did our testing with batteries from our own supplies.
By itself the Puck weighs 3.75 ounces. Add the batteries and the mounting bracket and the whole assembly weighs 8 ounces.
The accessories were packed in their own cardboard containers within the main box. Also included were a sticker saying “Secured by Lockdown” and a card with information about the warranty and how to get the app.
How the Puck Works
The Puck relays information about your monitored storage via your home wi-fi connection. Chris installed the app on his iPhone and found it worked well at home. Away from home, he was able to connect to the Puck using the app.
I attached the small green magnet to the Puck at the embossed arrow on the side of the device. When I pressed the sensor on the Puck it turned on and connected to our wi-fi. Initially we could not get it to differentiate between “door closed” (magnet not attached), and “door open” (magnet attached).
When he got home, we realized the issue was impatience. There is a delay before the alarm sounds, probably to give you time hit the button and disarm it if you forgot you had it armed.
He left again and found that the Puck works just fine at notifying the app when the magnet is separated from the device. You just have to wait a moment. He was able to arm it and disarm it away from home. He was also able to monitor the temperature and moisture level.
What We Like About the Puck
The small size and straighforward use make it easy to stash it in a small drawer along with your jewelry or your gun. The app is free and has easy to understand interfaces.
As a matter of fact, there are short animations showing you which buttons to push and for how long.
It can take the place of a door alarm, a hygrometer, and a thermometer, or you can use it to calibrate your other instruments. It will notify you by email or text when the alarm is triggered.
The price is around $100, making it affordable for most budgets, and you can buy several to customize your storage situation.
You can choose whether to monitor a room, a drawer, or a safe. You can arm it and disarm it on the scene or remotely with the app.
Its appearance is unobtrusive and unlikely to clash with your decor or bring attention to itself. An intruder who is unfamiliar with it is unlikely to figure out quickly how to disarm it.
Limitations of the Puck
With no buttons on the device itself and just a touch sensor on the top, you can’t troubleshoot it without the app. All you get is the word “Lockdown” flashing or solid in red, yellow, or green.
The Puck relies on your wi-fi signal, so it is only as good as your internet connection. Those of you with a good signal will have a reliable connection as long as your phone has a good signal. We live out in the woods, so our connection varies and might not maintain a reliable signal.
The alarm is a small high pitched noise, repeated every few seconds. Watch the video I have imbedded in this article for you. It would not discourage a thief or summon help, but it would let you know that your security has been breached.
Should You Get a Puck?
You need to think through your plan for protecting your valuables, including guns, jewelry, and papers. A multi-faceted plan will provide options if one part fails due to an internet or electricity outage.
The Puck is not a whole house system. It does not summon help for you or monitor every entrance. It does not have a video component. It will not take care of your every need.
That said, the Puck can be an adjunct to your main security system. It can monitor the temperature and humidity in your safe, drawer, or room. It can alert you to changes that might signal a water leak or a fire.
It tells you when your monitored area has been breached by a door or drawer opening. This can alert you to the need to find out who is in your house.
Get a Puck if you have a specific area that needs monitoring, but use it as a component of your security system, not as the only thing you do to protect your valuables.
Where to Find the Puck
You can get your Puck directly from Lockdown. Be sure and use our “double10” code to get 10% off your first purchase. Enter the drawing if it is still 2020 when you read this. Look at their other security products while you are there.
Keep reading my blog for helpful information on all things related to firearms, and watch our Double Eagle Gunworks YouTube channel for even more information.