Gear Storage

[Jon C]

In the garage.

I put up a 1" pipe to hang wet suits, bc's, gear. Tanks are on the ground under my photo bench. I have a roll away that holds repair items, extras, batteries, etc. Drysuit gear is in a plastic roll-away chest.

I heard some time back that car exhaust is bad for neoprene so I went to The Container Store and bought some plastic, zip-up garment bags for the wetsuits (long)and BC's (the ones for jackets and suits). Once they are dry...which happens quickly in So Cal...they go back in the bag. The Container Store has a lot of Scuba-related goodies...they just don't know it! Check out their battery holders...perfect for keeping them dry. That's where I got the plastic roll-away...

I have 2 extra BC's that are in a closet somewhere.

Jon

 

[Thalassamania]

Most of the gear is packed into about a dozen of those big plastic boxes with tops that keep the mice out. Cameras, strobes and housings are in beat up old black haliburtons. Tanks are in a wooden rack. The Mark-16 is still in all the pieces that it was when I got it ... on the workbench (some day, but I doubt I'll ever dive it).

 

[CompuDude]

Everything gets cleaned in the shower/tub in the spare bathroom and hangs to dry in there. Once dry (assuming I'm not diving long enough for that to happen!) everything gets packed away:

Wetsuit hangs in the hall closet. InstaDry = no funk.

Regs go in reg bag, computer too. All small items, flashlights, fins, masks, etc. go into an Action Packer tub, along with the reg bag and BC, ready to go out on the next trip. Camera gear lives in a good-size Pelican box, which sits on top of the Action Packer. Drysuit gets rolled up properly and put into it's bag, which also goes at the top of that stack. Said pile o'gear sits in a corner in the spare bedroom. Weight bag also sits on the floor beside this pile.

Tanks find themselves in various corners around the house, or lying in the footwell of the back seat of my car awaiting or returning from being filled.

To dive, throw AP tub (one trip), Camera box, drysuit bag and weight bag into the car (one trip). Grab wetsuit from closet (always bring a backup in case of a leak!) and a towel plus any incidental (sunscreen, boat coat, etc). (one trip) Bring a tank or two to car if they're not still in there from being filled (4th and final trip). Hit the road!

 

[DiverLS]

I soak it all in the tub, including the bag. Then I let hang my drysuit and bc from wide hangars over the garage door guide. The rest decorates my bike and my skiis. When it's all dry, everything except the drysuit goes back in the bag and is stored in the garage next to my tanks. The drysuit hangs over a heavy duty hangar behind the door in my closet.

The camera is stored in the study, next to the computer.

That way everything is ready for the next adventure. No worries - I still remember the drysuit in my closet and the camera in the study.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

I went with the spare closet deal, once I have all my gear cleaned I hang it up in a dry closet, with no windows. If i'm in a rush I push the Dehumidifier in with it, and that deals with the moisture and hence the odor in just a few hours.

 

[Buoyant1]

For my BC, Wetsuits, hood, gloves, etc. I have one of those expandable rods they sell to hang clothes in the back of a car (hooking it on the hanger hooks over the back doors) Except I hook it to two bike hanging hooks (the kind that you hook your bike tire over) and keep it in my basement (over the drain) which is a nice cool dark place out of direct sunlight. I have shelving that keeps my lights and other "stuff" off of the floor (and away from the cats) My dive bag has my fins, mask cases, snorkels etc in them hanging on a hook behind the door, as well as my reg bag (with my regs). (tank and weights are sitting in the corner)

The best part is during the summer, I take the rod outside into my garage where I have two more hooks set up so I can just hang it there after diving! (which is where everything usually ends up staying in the summer)

 

[BrianO]

The best place for gear is in a cool, dry place out of the sun. Prolonged dry heat is not good for any of your dive gear, so the garage may not be the best place for it during the warmer months unless it's being used frequently during the season and is just drying in there.

For neoprene, hung or rolled, not folded is the ticket. The hallway closet is a great place for suits and regs and the rest can go into a gear bag out of the sun.

It is also a good idea to soak everything really well with BC/Wetsuit wash so that it will stay supple and odor/mold free.

 

[Gary D.]

There isn’t a room in the house w/o some gear in it. One full set stays in my car set up and ready to go. The basement looks like ground zero for a nuke test at a dive shop and the garage has something in every nook and cranny including the trusses. There is some in the dive boat as well as some in the big boat and come to think of it there is even stuff in the barn.

Gary D.

 

[Bob3]

I've left a set at my buddy's place in FL so I don't have to lug it down with me when I visit.
At my sister's is a storage shed full, plus my kids have a few of my hookah compressors & some of my vintage gear collection.
At my place the garage has a 3' clear path 3/4 of the way through it, gotta open the overhead door to reach the rest.
Almost forgot my closet & the hall closet & some in the spare bedroom & utility room. And the truck.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

mmMmm sounds nice and moldy Bob3