Best way to clean/store gear for a while after trip?

[nwflyboy]

Posting from the beautiful island of Kauai.

We are finishing up a dive trip to a tropical location. When we get back home, we will be packing up our gear and storing it until our next trip - which could be 6 months, or a year, or maybe even 2 years away. After returning from previous trips, we would just give everything a good, long rise in fresh (tap) water, hang things to dry, and put things away in big plastic packing crates. We would hang our wetsuits but everything else - including BCDs, regs and computers - just got packed up in crates.

I'm thinking we should probably hang the regs and BCDs. Other than that, any advice on storing things?

Also...I just picked up my fins and noticed there are a handful of teeeeeny tiny little bugs crawling around on them. These were rinsed repeatedly and left out in the tropical sun to dry a couple days ago. They were packed up in my main gear bag yesterday when we changed locations...so the little bugs could have been in my gear bag, or on some other item that went in there. Not a big deal, we're going out for some snorkeling and we will rinse everything good afterwards. But it does raise the question: other than rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some more, is there anything we can/should do to our gear (and our dive bag, for that matter) to ensure we minimize any tiny tropical creatures we might be bringing home with us? I was thinking when we get home, to fill the bathtub with water, let things soak...add a few drops of some kind of disinfectant or something, but I would imagine that anything that's good for killing bugs, fungus or other tiny things would be terribly bad for all things made from rubber, neoprene and other dive gear materials.

I don't want to overreact and damage any gear, but I'd also rather not establish a new colony of tropical pests in my closet at home. When I go and open those crates in a year or two, I want to find nice, usable dive gear in good condition....not some brood queen from Little Shop of Horrors that has taken over my attic.

What's the right compromise to strike here?

 

[DivemasterDennis]

First, let me convey my condolences to you gear for being put away for so long, and to you for having to do it. It's a shame when we can't dive regularly. But, it happens. I would soak everything neoprene in a tub for 24 hours with my favorite product, "sink the stink." Add the bc's. I would wash every thing else" lights, masks, regs, fins, etc. in a mild dish soap preparation. Rinse each thoroughly, and let the regs soak in fresh water another 24 hours after cleaning to make sure any trapped salt is totally dissolved. Let all get bone dry. THEN use the sealed plastic storage containers. If you hang wet suits and bc's, hang them in a protective clothing bag or dry cleaning plastic cover.
DivemasterDennis

 

[dwhthediver]

I use wetsuit shampoo and Mirazyme by McNett to clean & deodorize wetsuits. Regulator and computers get soaked, patted and allowed to completely air dry before stored in my regulator bag. Mask, fin and snorkel get soaked and allowed to air dry before being stored. BCD gets soaked in BCD cleaner by McNett, lower dump gets taken off and fresh clean water is run into bladder to rinse out any salt water residue. I hold both the inflator and deflator buttons down and rinse inflator assembly. I orally inflate after making sure all the water is out of the bladder and hang it and wetsuits out of direct sunlight to dry. Don't store the bladder empty or it will stick to itself when it dries. Now that being said, other than the BCD, I use my gear all year.

 

[Joe Bailey]

Everything being preached is true, however I'd like to look a little deeper. When do you get your gear serviced? Do you have it dove after a trip to ensure that there isn't any saltwater left from your trip, and your gear is stored clean untill your next adventure? Or do you wait untill a month before your trip? The problem with that is if you have some residual salt in your BC or reg, the salt will crystalize in the BC possibly puncturing the bladder, and corrode the inside of the reg causing a more costly repair. Plus the worry that the equipment wont be done in time.

 

[kimbalabala]

You could always go on a local freshwater dive to really rinse out all that gear and then do a final rinse at home ... just sayin' ...

Seriously, I'm glad you asked the question because I'm picking up some good tips. Dennis, why the plastic bags over the wetsuits? We store our wetsuits in the basement, hanging - it stays pretty cool and humid in the basement. We also hang our wetsuits only on wetsuit hangers to minimize wear in the shoulders. I store my regs in the protective bag after everything is bone dry. I don't like the idea of hoses having the weight of the stages pull on them (I know, it's probably no big deal).