If you personal lots of mountaineering and backpacking gear, it pays to maintain it well-maintained and arranged so yow will discover what you want when packing up for a hike or a visit. Here are some ideas and methods that I take advantage of to retailer my gear, so it doesn’t take over my house, and so I can discover what I want rapidly when making ready for a brand new journey. Everybody does this otherwise, so when you’ve got a helpful suggestion you wish to share, please remark under.
Get Rid of Stuff You Don’t Need or Never Use
I personal a good quantity of mountaineering and backpacking gear, however in all probability lower than you would possibly guess given the big quantity that I overview and write about on SectionHiker.com. That’s as a result of I make a degree to present away many of the free samples that producers ship me to overview. There’s no level in maintaining gear that you just by no means use, so I attempt to keep away from hanging onto issues only for the sake of maintaining them. I give many of the free gear I get to buddies and acquaintances, and I do know they move it additional alongside to their buddies.
If you’ve bought gear that you just don’t use anymore, there are many locations to promote it on-line in Facebook teams, on Reddit, or on eBay. You may even ship commerce it in at REI for retailer credit score, which is handy and fairly straightforward to do, however gained’t generate as a lot earnings as promoting it on-line.
Create a Designated Gear Space or Room
It actually helps to retailer your whole out of doors gear in a single central place or room. For instance. I retailer all my mountaineering and backpacking gear in my spare bed room. This helps cut back the litter in the remainder of my dwelling area. When I get house from a hike or journey, I take off my pack in that bed room to maintain the “gearplosion” contained and stop gadgets from being misplaced. It takes a bit of self-discipline, but it surely actually helps maintain me organized and can aid you reduce complaints from a roommate. I additionally maintain all of my Tenkara fishing gear and fly-tying provides on this room, in addition to a small desk, that primarily will get used for tying flies. The solely issues not saved in my gear room are my cross-country skis, which dangle in my entrance hallway near the entrance door.
Group Items within the Same Category Together
I group my gear into classes and retailer all of it collectively. For instance, all of my stoves are saved in the identical bin. The similar goes for my water filters/hydration reservoirs, stuff sacks, insoles, stoves, cookpots, gloves, gaiters, hats, and so forth. I like to make use of completely different gear for various journeys and this lets me see what I’ve and pull out the gadgets I need simply.
Spares and Consumables
I do maintain some spare gadgets and consumables out of comfort and these are additionally grouped collectively. There are gadgets I break periodically which might be tough to supply rapidly like alternative trekking pole segments, Tenkara fishing pole ideas, and Hillsound Trail Crampons (I routinely break 1-2 pairs every winter). I additionally maintain a inventory of Isobutane gasoline canisters, Esbit cubes, tenacious tape, Picaridin, and Permethrin round as a result of I take advantage of them up throughout the yr, so it’s good to have a resupply at hand.
Cloth Cubes, Shelving, and Hanging Storage
I’ve tried quite a few completely different storage codecs through the years, however the one which’s labored the very best (and I take advantage of now) entails cloth cubes with shelving and a ClosetMaid closet system with a central shelving pillar and three hanging racks. I prefer it as a result of I can retailer a comparatively great amount of substances in a small quantity of area, every part stays clear and mud free, and it’s very straightforward to entry gadgets after I need one thing.
Cubes/Shelving: For instance, I retailer all my water filters/hydration reservoirs, stuff sacks, insoles, stoves, cookpots, gloves, gaiters, and hats in fabric cubes that match right into a bookcase designed for that goal. I additionally use these cubes to retailer hammocks and their suspension programs in addition to winter traction aids like path crampons, microspikes, and full crampons. Wayfair is an effective place to purchase these dice/shelving items and so they’re comparatively straightforward to assemble.
Closet System: I retailer tents, sleeping pads, footwear, and a few of my unfastened spare consumables within the central shelving pillar. This may be very environment friendly when it comes to area utilization as a result of you may retailer gadgets from the ground as much as the ceiling.
This closet system additionally has three bars that I dangle issues on. For instance, my sleeping luggage and quilts all dangle on the left-hand facet and may loft totally with out deteriorating the insulation. I attempted storing them within the fabric sacks provided by the producers, however that was actually ungainly as a result of they have been at all times toppling off the cabinets that they sat on.
I dangle backpacks from the highest bar on the right-hand facet and jackets and vests on the underside bar. The backpacks and the sleeping luggage are hung utilizing hooks, additionally accessible from Wayfair. I like these hangers: I typically have a half dozen or extra backpacks in varied phases of overview and hanging them up frees up lots of the ground area they’d in any other case occupy.
Wire Wastebaskets
I retailer my Tenkara fishing rods, umbrellas, trekking gap spares, and my ice axe in wire wastebaskets. These are good for organizing lengthy skinny gadgets. I can’t bear in mind the place I noticed it, however some individuals use pool cue racks to hold their rods on the wall. I’ve thought of that, however I dread bashing holes in my drywall to get to the studs. Wastebaskets are significantly less complicated and extra moveable when you resolve you wish to transfer them someplace else.
While I do personal lots of gear, this method works very effectively at maintaining it organized and off the ground – which is without doubt one of the secrets and techniques of an uncluttered home. But it takes some self-discipline to maintain it method. The trick is to unpack your gear after you’ve used it, dry it, and put it away. If you do this, your own home or condominium will probably be a lot tidier and extra livable, and packing in your subsequent journey will probably be a bit of cake.
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We independently analysis, check, and price the very best merchandise. We solely earn a living if you buy a product by way of our affiliate hyperlinks. Help us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear critiques, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.