Timbervaults offers a variety of concealment furniture, from shelves and benches to mirrors. All of their products are RFID locking and come with free shipping. They sent me one of their concealment mirrors to check out and review. It is the small caramel Kentwood mirror.

Installing the Timbervaults Mirror

When you unbox the mirror, there is a small box with hardware. It has a long red ribbon attached to it so you won’t mistakenly throw it away. This contains the latch for the RFID lock and the miscellaneous screws you need to mount the mirror and the latch.

The mirror is similar to other competitors where the hidden compartment is installed into a wall between the studs. I used a stud finder to check where the studs were located and marked the wall accordingly. The installation instructions said to cut a hole 1/4″ bigger than the exterior dimensions of the back cabinet.

I cut a small hole to check what was behind the wall but there was fiberglass insulation in my way. I shoved a piece of PVC pipe into the hole to check if there were any blockages above or below the hole. I did not check side to side and missed a third wall stud that my stud finder missed. I used gloves and long sleeves to remove the insulation.

I used my battery powered reciprocating saw to cut the 2×4 and then used a claw hammer to pry it away from the wall. There were a number of nails sticking out so I used the claw hammer and a pair of pliers to pull them out to make room for the Timbervaults mirror.

I test fitted the mirror but found it to be very snug. So I shaved the excess drywall with a knife to make the opening flush with the wall studs.

Its not pretty but it fits the mirror.

Here is a video showing the unboxing and installation along with some comments about the mirror.

Timbervaults Mirror Features

The mirror comes with two rare earth bar magnets with double sided tape. They came packaged with two plastic shims between the two magnets. Just slide the magnets apart and set them aside away from ferrous metals.

You can see where I affixed the two bar magnets. The yellow sticker says “Made In China”. A little disappointing that this was not USA made but Timbervaults never claimed that this was.

The mirror came set up so the door opens to the left. You could rotate the whole mirror 180 degrees if you wanted the door to open to the right. You will need to flip the shelves around as well. In order to do that, you need to unscrew the four small screws that hold them into the shelf pins. Once you remove the shelf you can remove the shelf pins.

I was hoping to get the larger mirror but found this small mirror to be adequate in holding large pistols and bullpups.

Issues With The Mirror

Obviously, I had to remove the shelves in order to fit the larger firearms into the mirror. As mentioned above, the shelves are screwed onto the shelf pins. So even if you want to rearrange the shelves you need to unscrew them. It is a little bit tedious to do so but you know the shelves won’t get knocked out of place once you set them and screw them back in.

I did have an issue with the two RFID Cards. I will call them card A and card B. When you unlock the mirror, you have to swipe the card again to lock it. This actually raises a small pin in the block screwed to the back side of the mirror door. This block has a hole that a pointed mushroom latch pokes through and hooks onto this pin. By swiping the RFID card, the pin retracts allowing you to pull the door open. My problem was that I could only lock and unlock the RFID lock with one card at a time. If I locked the mirror with card A, I could not unlock it with card B. This was the same problem if I switched card and locked the mirror with card B. I can only unlock it with card B. This defeats the purpose of having two RFID cards.

I reached out to Timbervaults and they sent me instructions to reset the actual lock. Along with the two RFID cards, you get a programming card. The programming card is what you need to program additional RFID cards. The rest process was rather straightforward but it required removing the RFID lock from the back of the mirror door. Then you press a reset button with a paperclip and follow the directions which involves swiping the programming card and the two RFID cards. Finish it by swiping the programming card again then remount the lock back to the door.

When I reset the lock, it also reset the retractable pin. From the factory, the pin remains down when you unlock the mirror. You would have to re-swipe an RFID card to raise the pin so when you close the door it locks. Since the lock was reset it now automatically relocks itself after a few seconds. So now I don’t have to re-swipe the RFID card. The lock also beeps 10 seconds after it relocks itself if you haven’t closed the door. It is a reminder that the door is ajar.

As I mentioned earlier, they are all RFID locking. What sets the Timbervaults mirror apart from other similar products is that it is a self-contained unit made of wood. I would have liked it if the interior rear wall was lined with loop velcro so I can stick velcro accessories or patches to the back wall. This would be easy to modify and may look into modifying it myself. I just need a large enough sheet of loop velcro. Another change I would like to see is making the mirror more flush with the wall. As it is designed now, there is a wood flange that the mirror door closes against. That flange is the same thickness as the mirror door so it looks odd when looking at the mirror from the side. If they could somehow eliminate that flange so just the door is pressed up against the wall that would be better. Maybe make the flange thinner or have the mirror door nest over the flange? This complicates a few things like how the hinges would be used and how the door could open without hitting the wall. But it would make for a better-looking product and be less conspicuous.

The Timbervaults concealment mirror retails on their website for $299.99 and can also be found on Amazon.  All of their products come with free shipping.

For more information check out Timbervaults.com.

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