Storing your gear

[tomboyy]

I keep mine in my living room/ computer den ... I get to look at it all the time The wife doesn't enjoy it so I guess i'm lucky that I'm the boss

 

[sskirsty]

My husband and I hang our wetsuits in our closets and store the rest of our gear in mesh bags under the bed.

 

[Mike Boswell]

For my wife and I a closet works fine. Everything of mine (wetsuit, BP/W, Fins mask etc.) is on 3 hangers and takes up maybe 12-18" of closet space. Tanks and lead go somewhere else.

 

[MrGRD]

OK, I live in a very expensive shoe box - with indoor plumbing. I rinse everything in the shower, put the wet suit on a hanger in front of the bedroom window with a small fan blowing on it to dry it, a rolled up towel under it to catch the drips. Fins tuck in towel rack, booties, gloves, hood get the same wet suit treatment until dry then hang in small front coat closet. Regulator hangs in bedroom closet after drip dry on shower rod. The rest of the gear gets rinsed and spread over the sink until dry. Then into the dive bag and bedroom closet until next time. Sometimes I think I spend about as much time taking care of my gear as I do using it. I have been reprimanded by others that think I do not have enough possessions, well I only have what matters, the rest is not needed which gives more room for my dive gear!

 

[ERP]

I guess I never even thought about this, I keep all my dive gear in the garage. Everything with the exception of my drysuit and my active reg set in rubbermaid containers. The drysuit I hang, the regulators I leave connected (obviously not presurized) to whatever tank I intend to use next.
I did the same thing when I lived in CA and it was often >100F in ther during the Summer.
I have a backup drysuit in a rubbermaid container in there, the I checked it the other day, the seals are 5 years old, and look fine to me.
I do rinse my gear after every dive.

 

[knowone]

All rigs set up with firsts loose, but screwed in or on, fins hooked over valves, masks, gloves clipped through and stuffed in fin pockets, accessories clipped or bolted to bcds, seconds or second clipped to 2 1/2" ring on necks of tanks, inflators or airs in pockets but usually end up on the floor with weights in front and suits hanging above on big hangers in the garage. No heating systems involved.

Number one rule in diving. Fill tanks after a dive not before. Even if it is impossible.

Another set up set up in the car for driving along the coast or bay as I "[ {DID}]" and will again soon, every day in case I get swept into the water.

It's amazing what you can accumulate. Its also amazing that you can build a top of the line ten year old or younger or older second hand all the same internals doubles set or twins, I don't know, full gear, for the price of a current first, hose, second, box, papers, and a smile from where you bought it when you leave.

Hanging regs bends hoses and shortens their life.

 

[vladimir]

I had a 1500 sq ft apartment in New York. Here in Hong Kong, I have a little over 1000 sq ft (which makes it cavernous, by HK standards) so I'm used to the constraints of limited space. I thoroughly dry my gear after use and don't unpack it when I get home--it stays in the suitcase and rolls into the closet. It might not be the optimal way to store scuba gear, but it is the optimal way to minimize its impact on the rest of my life.

 

[FireInMyBones]

I too live in a townhouse and I do the following:
After I dry everything (I built a drying rack for a few bucks) I pack everything ready for the next trip in the same Tupperware boxes I carry my gear in on a boat or in my car. I then stack the boxes in a corner against the wall, out of the way.

 

[Sas]

I have a small apartment and just leave all my gear drying in the bathroom after I've washed it in the bath (I have no garage or garden or balcony, just the apartment). I'm diving a few times a week so just dump it back in my dive tub when I am off diving again.

About the only thing that I need to store for long periods of time is either my wetuits or my drysuit, depending on what season it is I just stick it in the bedroom cupboard. My partner has lots of storage room in his study that I'd love to use but scuba gear is offlimits as he says I'll eventually take it over!

 

[Hank49]

A friend of mine use to hang his reg from the wall of his townhouse behind his couch-Kinda like it was on display at a store. I thought it was odd. I think he had hopes it would impress the ladies. Either way, it was out of the way and in a climate controlled area.

That's what I've done. I don't know if it impresses my wife, but it keeps everything out of range of my one year old son. Regs, floatlines, bcds, spearguns, masks...yep, the spare bedroom is "Hank's Dive and Fishing Gear" shop.
It's better than keeping it stuffed in a bag in a closet. Out of sight, out of mind.