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The Best Ways to Store Camping Gear
If you love camping and the outdoors, it’s likely that you look after your camping gear with great care. After all, it enables you to have wonderful holidays with your family and friends, and it sure wasn’t cheap to buy. Taking care of your camping equipment isn’t always that easy, though. It’s big and bulky and doesn’t always fit smoothly into a space.
That’s why we’ve created a list of 10 camping storage ideas to help you keep your camping gear in tip-top shape, ready for your next adventure.
10 Tips for Better Camping Storage
1. Use Overhead and Wall Storage
Adding hooks to your walls is a great way to store items like hiking boots, backpacks, lights, camp kitchen gear, and anything else that can be hung up. Vertical space frees up so much room on the ground and you don’t need to scramble to find everything in one big heap when it’s time for your next adventure.
If you’ve got it, use overhead storage space, whether that’s at the top of your kitchen cabinets, or in the rafters of your garage. Many camping items such as hiking poles, camping chairs, and all your camping essentials could fit comfortably in camping containers stored in overhead space.
2. Pack Tents Correctly
If you’re an outdoor-activity fanatic, then you’re likely already pedantic about how you store your camping tent to keep it in good condition for camping season. But just to go over the basics, you’ll want to clean the tent of all dirt and mud before storing it, make sure it’s dry, and keep it in a bag that places little tension on the tent poles. Many campers choose a dedicated space to ensure it stays safe and protected while not in use.
3. Fold Tarps
Tarps can easily become tangled up if they’re not packed away properly. Fold yours up neatly and pack it right at the bottom of your storage space, so you can pack your other equipment on top of it.
4. Store Dangerous Gear High up
Propane, insect repellent, knives, axes, and anything else that could harm someone or something are best stored up high and out of the reach of children, pets, and oblivious housemates. This could include cooking equipment that uses gas or has sharp edges. It’s also a good idea to store sharp objects well away from items like air mattresses, puffy jackets, and life jackets.
5. Use Your Backpacks
Your backpack can hold a lot of gear and equipment—why not use it to store the items you’d normally keep in there? The advantages of this are that much of your gear is stashed safely away, and it’s ready to go the next time you head out on a camping trip. Items like sleeping bags, water bottles, and camp kitchen items like mess kits can easily be stored here.
6. Pack Related Items Together
One of our best camping storage ideas is to keep related items in your camping gear together in containers, laundry baskets, or even boxes. For example, pack your sleeping bag, inflatable pillow, and camping or inflatable beds together. This will make it easy to know where everything is and ensure a quicker pack up the next time you head out into the wilderness.
7. Clean Your Equipment
One of the worst things that can happen on a camping trip is arriving and setting up, only to realise your gear, like your camping tents, sleeping bags and camping chairs, are full of dirt from the last trip. Or, worse, there’s mould.
When cleaning dirty camping gear, use gentle soapy water and a soft brush to remove caked on dirt, but avoid all purpose cleaners and harsh chemicals, as these may damage it.
If you’ve found mould on your gear, it’s best to use pure vinegar to remove it. Put some in a spray bottle and let it sit for an hour after spraying, then scrub clean. It’s important to note though—don’t use vinegar on waxed wood, aluminium, or cast iron as it can damage these.
Make sure it’s all dry before you pack it away, otherwise you’re going to end up with more mould when you take it out of storage.
8. Use Clear Storage Bins
Using storage clear storage bins means everything has its own place and you know where everything is. Again, we recommend storing related items together in these bins. Some items may be sensitive to direct sunlight or mould and bug damage. Sealed, clear containers stored in a shaded, cool, dry environment container like those at Easy Store are ideal for protecting these pieces of gear.
9. Make an Inventory
If you’ve got loads of camping gear, it can be easy to forget something when going away. That’s why we recommend making a list of all the items you have stored in your camping equipment storage space and keep it handy for every time you get away. As you pack up for the trip, you can check off all your equipment so you never leave home without something again.
You can also use that list when you return home to make sure you haven’t left anything behind.
10. Use a Self-Storage Unit
One of the easiest ways to keep track of and store all your camping gear is to use a storage unit. These come in a range of sizes and prices, so you can find one that will fit the camping equipment you need to store.
At Easy Store, we make it even easier. We can deliver a storage container to your house, help you pack up all your camping gear, and then take the unit back to our storage facility. When you’re ready for your next adventure, we can again drop off the unit at your place, so you’re not inconvenienced at all. Give us a call to arrange a viewing of our units on 086 11 00 222 today.
