Stealth Safes review: the brand names UL for burglary, never for fire

This is a brand evaluation, not a lab test. Everything below is quoted from Stealth's own product pages, checked 2026-10-26, with each page linked at the claim it supports. Where Stealth states who did the rating, we say so. Where it does not, we say that too, because across this brand the difference between those two cases is the whole story.

The verdict

If you want our ranked view rather than the brand view, the UL28 appears in best UL RSC gun safes and the HS4 in best burglary safes, both of which sort on exactly this question.

Two tiers wearing one badge, and the same lock in both

The single most useful thing to understand about Stealth is that the catalog splits in two, and the split is about ratings rather than size:

• The UL series (UL28, UL14 and, among home safes, the HS4). These are the models whose pages state a UL RSC burglary rating. The UL28 page publishes a 12-gauge steel door and body and twelve 1.25 in solid steel locking bolts.
• The Essential series (EGS14, EHS4). Thinner at 14 gauge, and the EGS14 page states no burglary rating at all. Its security credential is California DOJ approval, which is a child-access and construction standard, not a burglary rating — a distinction we unpack in CA DOJ approved gun safes.

What makes this interesting rather than just a product ladder: both tiers are listed with the same lock. Stealth publishes a "UL Listed SECURAM TopLit High Security Electronic Lock, Type 1" on the UL28 and on the EGS14 alike, each behind a hard plate with an internal relocker, with a mechanical dial available as an upgrade. So the money between the two lines buys steel and the listing, not a better lock. That is a clearer ladder than most brands offer, and it means the cheap Stealth is not cheap where it would hurt you most.

The burglary claim, and why it counts

The UL28 page states a "UL RSC Residential Security Container Burglary Rating" and attributes the testing to Underwriters Laboratories. Per UL's own notice on the standard, an RSC Level I listing means a tester with common hand tools failed to get in within five minutes of net working time. That is a modest-sounding bar and it is still the only burglary claim in residential safes that anyone measured.

Why it counts at this brand's price: plenty of safes in the same bracket advertise "burglary resistant", "anti-theft" or a steel gauge and nothing else. Our Cannon review searched a competitor's entire live store for UL, RSC, ETL or Intertek and came up with almost nothing; Stealth puts it on the page. Treat the rating as a maker statement rather than a listing you have personally verified — we have not seen a UL file number on the page — but a maker that names the lab is a maker you can hold to it.

The fire claim, and what is missing from it

For contrast, AMSEC states ETL as the lab on the BFX6030, and SentrySafe states a UL classification on its fire safes. If a verified fire rating is your priority, best UL fire-rated safes lists only models whose fire claim an outside lab is credited with, and best fireproof gun safes sorts the gun-safe market the same way. Stealth does not appear at the top of either, and that is the honest consequence of a missing lab name.

The published evidence, side by side

Read the burglary row first. Three of the five state a rating; two state none. Then read the fire row, which is uniform in its weakness. Then read the lock row, which is uniform in its strength. That is a brand with one clear virtue, one clear gap and an unusually honest internal ladder.

On availability and price, for once we can be concrete: both the UL28 and the EGS14 showed In Stock, Ships Same Business Day on Stealth's own store when we checked, listed at $1,799.99 (from $2,299.99) and $1,099.99 (from $1,399.99) respectively. Those are the maker's own published figures on 2026-10-26, quoted to show where the range sits rather than as a price we track; safe prices move constantly, and the buy button is the current number.

Warranty, and where they are made

The warranty is a genuine selling point and it is published per product: a lifetime burglary and fire warranty covering break-in, attempted break-in and house fire, plus two years of parts and labor. Both tiers get it, which is more than several premium brands offer — Fort Knox's lifetime coverage, for example, does not transfer to a second owner, as our Fort Knox vs Liberty comparison documents.

Manufacturing location is the one question Stealth does not answer. The UL28 page states that the lock is assembled and tested in the USA; it says nothing about where the safe itself is built. That matches what we found when researching best gun safes made in USA, where Stealth is named as a brand publishing no manufacturing location. If country of origin matters to you, the absence of a claim is your answer.

On recalls: our CPSC search for Stealth safes returned no recall notices, dated on each product card. That is the quietest kind of good news, and it is not something every brand in this category can say — the recall history behind some competitors is the entire argument of safest gun safes. You can run the same search yourself at the CPSC recall database.

Who should buy a Stealth

• The buyer who wants an RSC listing without dealer shopping. The HS4 is the rare home safe with a maker-stated UL RSC rating that is sold on Amazon rather than through a dealer network. Our home safe rankings put it near the top for that reason.
• The buyer who values the lock and the relocker. A UL-listed Type 1 electronic lock behind a hard plate, with a dial upgrade path, at both ends of the range. See electronic vs mechanical locks, and if you want the dial, the swap guide explains why specifying it at purchase beats retrofitting later.
• The buyer who wants a replacement warranty in writing. Lifetime burglary and fire replacement, published on the product page rather than buried.
• The renter or upstairs owner buying the UL14. The same stated listing in a body that fits through a normal doorway; see apartment picks.

Who should not

• Anyone whose first requirement is a verified fire rating. No Stealth fire claim we found names a lab. Buy from a brand that credits UL or ETL instead.
• Anyone buying the Essential series expecting the UL series' evidence. The badge is the same; the burglary rating is not. If the price difference is the obstacle, a smaller UL-series safe beats a bigger Essential one on the thing we rank for.
• Anyone who needs country of manufacture stated. Stealth does not publish it.
• Anyone shopping on capacity per dollar. Gun-count claims are marketing arithmetic at every brand; our size guide and long gun safe rankings explain how to buy on interior dimensions instead.

Comparing brands rather than models? Liberty, Winchester, Cannon and Browning get the same treatment, each built on what the maker publishes rather than on what the category expects.