Gear Storage Help

When people come over and I open the gear closet I am immediately embarassed. I open the door and the closet literally vomits my stuff out into a heap on the floor. It's overflowing. My problem is that I live in a small place. Maybe it seems small because I have 2 growing boys running around. We have minimal closet space, no garage and a little storage area out back. I can't bring myself to keep the gear out there tho. Any suggestions on how I can store this stuff? I have progressed and moved onto storing a lot of stuff in those big tubs and putting them into a closet but I still have a lot of stuff that doesn't fit anywhere. How can I hang my skis, ice tools and bike? Are there any simple shelves that I could buy or put up? Those of you who have seen this mess know what I'm talking about. I can't really hang anything from the ceiling in my room. It's about 16' high. Moving isn't an option until next year. :-)

Tracy,

Lockers may work, but can be pricey. You can find used ones at office liquidators locally, or on-line.

Europeans are masters at living in smaller spaces; IKEA has storage units, and shelving that's attractive, and affordable. You can also get the less attractive, but practical, and cheap peg boards, and pegs/hooks to hang stuff on from Home Depot, or your local hardware store. Dedicate one wall in your living space just for your gear organization, if you can.

This is a pretty cool, and reasonably priced indoor hanging bike rack!

Disclaimer: I'm no expert, and have done the blue tub thing too. ; )

Good luck!

G

What is it with women and those blue tubs?? ;-) In our home, every month or so they seem to double in numbers.

I keep asking my wife if she's gonna get a giant blue tub to put all the little blue tubs in.

Tracy, I peg-boarded my climbing gear mounted on 1x2 that are screwed into the wall studs. The larger stuff, get those self-screw hooks to hang the bikes & skis off of rafters (course it sounds like you can't hang off the rafters, so get rid of the kids or pass them off to Mike Lane, he's good with kids)

I just organized my stuff at my wife's behest. Quite honestly I was starting to forget things when packing anyway because it was such a mess.

If you go to Lowes or Home Depot they have these gray rubberized hooks of different shapes and sizes in the garage storage section. They are super cheap, like ~$1 a piece. They need a stud or other solid piece of wood to secure them. All my stuff is now neatly organized in our garage attic.

Check out craigslist for old steel cabinets and lockers. SAM's club has the best deal I have seen by far. A 6 foot tall, 36 inch wide, 18 inch deep cabinet for $188. Sounds like a lot but I can't find anything similar for under $300.

IKEA has wall units that would probably suit your purposes better but.... you would have to drive to Salt Lake City.... it's the closest until the one in Denver opens in a little over a year from now.

I am in an apartment that has limited space. I use two 35 Gallon latch totes (FYI - Wallmart/Target) that go into a walk in closet and sit on the floor out of the way. They hold most of my rock and ice gear that I want indoors year round (rack, ropes, etc). An outdoor storage closet holds the backpacks, skis, camping equipment etc...

Joseph P. Crotty wrote: I use two 35 Gallon latch totes (FYI - Wallmart/Target)

Latch tote, AKA Blue Tub. I just laughed really hard for some strange reason. My shopping trips to Target, and WalMart will never be the same.

Mike Wysuph wrote:I keep asking my wife if she's gonna get a giant blue tub to put all the little blue tubs in.

there are grey ones for that. Seasonal times also offer additional options of orange, black, green & red etc... no need 2be stuck in *blue*

Tracy I haven't tried these folks but heard good things... "The Container Store" has a *free* online-design option and 3 location to supply all the stuff. Let me know how it goes, good luck..!! (:

• For smaller gear (ie rock & ice gear) I use a pegboard. Just make sure you don't buy the super thin cheapy stuff if you wanna put axes and such on it. I have at least two friends that live in pretty small houses and hang their pegboards in their living rooms.
• REI sells 3 or 5 pr ski hangers. I've got a 3pr-jobby; I think it's pretty handy.
• The old standby giant hook in a joist/2x4 works great for 'cycles.

Your abode's not gonna be in Home & Garden with gear hanging everywhere, but I use all of the the above and it all works great. :)

--Marc

Tracy, I'm going to embarass myself and post a picture of a section of my closet... Adjustable shelving is very helpful, I'd go for the low-profile, sturdy metal stuff. And you see, it can fit all those blue plastic tubs. :)

or you might just have too much stuff.

It sounds like you are doing what you can with the space you have. If you really can't hang stuff high, consider renting a storage unit close to where you live. Large seasonal items can be stored there.

*** wrote:I'm going to embarass myself and post a picture of a section of my closet...

If I had a digital camera, I'd take a picture of my basement floor and make ALL of you feel way better.

In all seriousness, since getting married, I have learned that that once-semingly-huge walk-in closet that was "all mine" is not so huge. Now it is "all hers." Not that my stuff isn't in it, just that I can't find it.

To keep stuff from puking out, shelves ar the key- you can get shalf brackets and boards cut-to-fit to make it all shelves, essentially building a book-shelf like structure out of your closet. Since the stuff isn't stacked it doesn't vomit forth, and you don't need to dig into stacks of bins. looking for whatever everytime you want it.

Another idea is that space under the stairs if you have it. I used to keep my rack clipped up under there horizontally on a few old retired daisychains, but staple-gunning a long webbing to the wood with some slack, so as to tack it loosly will have the same effect.

Embarrassing....

Even more embarrassing....

I am glad you started this thread Tracy 'cause it made me realize how badly I need to organize my gear.

Lee Smith wrote:Embarrassing.... Even more embarrassing.... I am glad you started this thread Tracy 'cause it made me realize how badly I need to organize my gear.

I will borrow a camera soon and make ALL of you feel better.

Tracy Roach wrote:I can't really hang anything from the ceiling in my room. It's about 16' high.

Use that high ceiling for the bikes: bikenashbar.com/profile.cfm…;subcategory=60001132&brand=&sku=21429&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Just need a really big ladder to get up there to install once.

Kathy

Tony Bubb wrote: I will borrow a camera soon and make ALL of you feel better.

Ha! I saw that basement of yours last fall. Ahh, I feel better just remembering the image.

Lee, I think you should replace some of those cardboard boxes with blue plastic bins. Oh, and move the crutches away from the climbing rope - that just looks like bad juju.

Lee Smith wrote:Embarrassing....

Hmmm, embarrassing indeed. Careful, girls. When Lee's making friends, he's all warm and sensitive...an ideal guy.

But when the novelty wears off...check just above the footwear to see how things are.



She deserved better!

Jed Pointer wrote:Purge. Get rid of the crap you don't need. How much you paying per sq foot for your place? Do the calculation some time. Is the stuff occupying that space worth the storage cost? How much time and money do you plan on spending for even more crap to store your crap, not to mention the time to go buy and install this new crap and then spend every few months handling and sorting. My gear closet is pretty small. I try to get rid of something every time I bring something new home. Shoes, ropes, old packs, skis, whatever - toss in the trash or give to Salvation Army. I love purging. I go through the ritual of getting the old stuff out of my life at least 2-3 times a year. Clear home = clear mind.

Sunk cost. I paid for the place already and it just sits there anyway in my case. I don't pay extra for my junk.

Frued would say you're anal expulsive & were bottle fed.
I'd say it's just a high need for "order." I don't make any more out of it.

My shit is a mess though, and it bugs me a little, I'll admit. But it all gets used. Just different stuff for different trips. Funny that, but for my hobbies, my place is actually pretty spartan. Then you look at my photo collection, sports gear and clothing, or guidebook collection (OK, library in general- any thing reference material related) and think "packrat".

I guess it shows where my values/desires/interests are.

But my messiness is silly. I guess it's just a product of allowable space and lack of pressure to clean it up now. My wife's stuff takes up 3X what mine does even on shelves, so she doesn't bug me about it. In fact, there is another MP.commer who has all his 'spare' stuff in my basement since he moved into a small apt, and frankly, it takes up as much space too... Just doesn't matter. The basement is like a 1545 SqFt 'closet' except it's down hill, so opening the door doesn't vomit gear up the stairs.

Darren Mabe wrote:or you might just have too much stuff.

Darren, you silly! There is no such thing as "too much stuff" when it comes to climbing gear. Think Indian Creek...

As far as purging goes, I've been-there-done-that recently with selling my house and now renting a little place. There is a point where you just can't get rid of anymore if you still want to go play outside. I've got jack for storage so I can relate to Tracy here, except I have two dogs instead of two kids running around my place.

Back to shelving... it minimizes the vomiting but occasionally there's a burp-up of gear.

*** wrote: Lee, I think you should replace some of those cardboard boxes with blue plastic bins. Oh, and move the crutches away from the climbing rope - that just looks like bad juju.

Actually Kateri, the crutches are karmic insurance -- I know that the minute I get rid of them I will break my leg and need a new set. You are right about the bins. I need a bunch. Maybe I will put them on my Christmas list.