How do you handle the storage of your equipment?

[Yavox]

I just started thinking about the layout of my new empty garage. I have quite a lot of space and I can order any kind of shelves, hangers or other custom furniture I like.

How do you deal with storing your diving equipment - i.e. what goes where, how do you use the available space to be able to store everything in an ergonomic, safe and comfortable way? What aspects should I consider?

I will be grateful for any clever hints and suggestions, the pictures are also welcome.

 

[muddiver]

I have one Craftsman steel cabinet that all of my smaller stuff and regulators go into. The shelving is the bast place to store the regulators so the hoses don't have any strain on them. Some people also like to have some kind of bar to hang exposure suits on. I just use a Rubbermaid storage bin (it's like 2'x3.5') for wet suits, BCs and fins. It seals up well enough to keep critters and ozone out. My dry suit goes in the bag it came with and fits in the cabinet. You need to protect the soft parts from vehicle exhaust, paint and gas fumes as well as sunlight.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Pegboard.

 

[milbournosphere]

There's a DIY around here somewhere where the guy built an awesome half-height tank rack for his garage. It included storage for a large library of tanks and stage/pony bottles as well as surface space for rig assembly, but I'm sure the design could be modified or expanded to have space to hang/store a BC, as well as a storage tub or two with gear in them for reg storage, hoses, etc. I always store my wet suits on padded hangars with plenty of ventilation.

I live in an apartment and have to fight for my storage space with the missus, so you don't want to see how I store my gear when it's not being used or dried.

EDIT: Here it is: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/do-yourself-diy/445622-netdocs-nifty-new-tank-rack.html

 

[Rich Keller]

I built two shelves in a small room next to the furnace room so it is always warm and dry in there. For smaller items I just use plastic milk creates on the lower shelf. It is simple, cheap and makes it easy to group equipment together by the type of dive they are needed for. Tanks are stood on the floor under the shelves, larger items are on the top shelf and exposure suits are hung up.

 

[TSandM]

I went to Home Depot -- they sell a modular shelving system that involves mounting vertical strips on the wall, to which you can then fit various types of shelves and hangers. I have a set of shelves for lights, batteries, analyzers, and spare stuff (remember, there are two of us!), and one that has a top shelf for infrequently used things like X-shorts, a shelf for regulators (which are stored in plastic bins, so each reg has a place where IT goes), and then the bottom has a bar where we hang BCs. The third section (this is all on one wall) has a high bar for hanging dry suits.

When we outgrew that, I got a rolling clothing rack from a store that was going out of business, and the wetsuits and spare BCs are there; when we outgrew that, I got a small wire rack shelving unit, put it together, and the student stuff is on that and fins are hung around the perimeter of it on hooks.

Don't know what I'm going to do next. When you leave a bunch of dive gear alone in the basement, it breeds . . .

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Let's see, some suits and undies hung on a rack in the basement. Modular shelving unit in the bedroom for BC's, fins, LOTS of misc stuff. Bins in bedroom and living room/kitchen for regs and reels, tanks in living room, bedroom, and kitchen. Office has service bench for regs, hose rack, and other misc stuff.

But my GF has her own place. Only reason I can get away with this arrangement.

 

[dive_turkey]

I have an entire room, kitchenette, and bathroom dedicated to dive gear and mountain biking. Immediately after a dive everything gets rinsed and hand dried with the radiator on high and the fan on, then stored in the original containers. Wet suits are folded as they came from the box and then placed on a shelf, drysuit in the original bag, and regulators are extensively dried before going in a case. Then I pack it all into the large Tupperware that I take on dives.

 

[tplyons]

One section of my basement is pretty much used for the storage of my toys. All my scuba gear, cycling equipment and guitars are down there. Fairly well climate controlled with a dehumidifier, I can keep it about 60% humidity and about 65 degrees year round.

All my scuba gear is on a 4 foot wide shelf with four or five shelves. Bottom shelf is fins. Above that is boots and more fins. Above that is hoods, gloves, regulators, reels and lights. Above that is masks and my FFM. Top shelf is boxes, bags for all that and my tent for camping out at Dutch Springs. My wetsuits and drysuit and undies are hanging on a bar in the next room because its out of the way.

Makes for a good staging area to run down a checklist and pack everything into a bin or bag for transport.