Storing your gear

[woody143]

I live in a townhouse and have very limited room. I don't really have any space indoors to store my regs, fins, mask, computer, etc. I don't have a BC or wetsuit yet. With that said, should I worry about storing this gear in my garage? It isn't in direct sunlight for a majority of the day and doesn't get too hot.

 

[Garrobo]

Just how small is this townhouse?

 

[Arizona_SVO]

Ya see, here's the thing - I am too lazy to put in your coordinates into some map program to see where you are, but let's just say it gets hot there - or not. I have lived the vast majority of my life in places that are down right hot and have lived by the following rule:

Wet gear - get it cleaned and dried and then store in a cool, dark place. The key is to ensure it is dry before storing - so here, in Arizona, I rinse it, and let it dry in the shade for a day or two, then bring it inside and place it in a dark closet, back in the dive bags. Keeps everything handy, in one location - and ready to go.

Okay, so maybe I am not too lazy - in New York, I can see it not getting too hot in a garage for the drying duties, but you will still want to bring it into a cool, dark place after it is dry.

 

[Akimbo]

Fumes from vehicles, combustion appliances like gas or oil furnaces and water heaters, and stored chemicals can deteriorate flexible materials used in diving gear. Dipped latex seals on drysuits are probably the most susceptible, closed cell Neoprene is second, and solid rubber-based materials are third. How much, how long, and how bad is a highly variable question. I have a friend who was storing his drysuit in a garage with a furnace and water heater and was "going through (drysuit) seals like crazy".

Knowing this, I have stored my gear away from fume sources for many years and still dive fin straps that are 10+ years old and show no signs of cracking. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Karel26]

I do the same as Arizona. . Wash my gear let them dry out, put my fins, mask. glove's, booties, knife in a bag hang my wetsuit and bc in the coubert and my reg in the bag. . I store mine in the house due to the fact that some uninvited geust can come around and claim my dive gear for him or herself. . It is also easy to grab your gear when they are all stored together and the chances will be very slim that you will get to your dive destination just to find out that you have forotten some gear back home and want to kick your own but for doing so. .

Live to dive and Dive to live. . . .

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I live in a townhouse and have very limited room. I don't really have any space indoors to store my regs, fins, mask, computer, etc. I don't have a BC or wetsuit yet. With that said, should I worry about storing this gear in my garage? It isn't in direct sunlight for a majority of the day and doesn't get too hot.

No direct sunlight for ANY portion of the day, and should not get hot AT ALL. Dark, cool, dry is best.

The rule I use for storing everything except tanks: Would I be comfortable living in those conditions 24/7 ?

Best wishes.

 

[Da Wolf]

I too use to live in a townhouse, but was able to clean a closet out just for my diving gear. After it was all washed and dried everything was hung up and placed in it's very own closet. Now that I am married I still have it hanging in a closest, but unfortunately my dive stuff doesn't have it's very own closest any more. But an indoor closest is the best and only way I would store my equipment.

 

[OldNSalty]

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.

 

[Amphiprion]

I live in Texas. For me its bc, tanks, fins, reels, lift bags and the like in the garage. Regulators, masks and computers and wetsuit in the closet. Dry the wetsuit out first.

 

[Jasoncassanova]

well here in the Philippines you got the humid weather and the dust working against you side by side so what i do is i keep my gear in a plastic create that is really used for diving except for the wetsuit, i hang it in my closet covered with a really big garbage bag