How to Store Your Camping Gear

Properly storing your outdoor sporting equipment helps you keep it in tip-top condition so that it’s always ready for your next adventure. Sporting gear can represent a substantial financial investment, so it’s essential to protect it and support its longevity with appropriate care. Moreover, carefully maintaining your outdoor sports gear will ensure that it functions the way it’s supposed to, which leads to a safer sporting experience. Here, we’ll explore how to store your outdoor sporting gear so it will last for years to come.

Many types of camping equipment are designed to stand up to the outdoor elements, so they’re fairly tough, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require proper maintenance and storage once you return from the wilderness. One of the difficulties of storing camping gear is that it tends to be so diverse—sleeping bags, tents, camp kitchen items, clothing, etc. Plus, if your camping gear includes items belonging to an entire household, it may require quite a bit of storage space.

Ideally, it’s helpful to keep your camping gear together in one spot, but that’s not always possible. Here, we’ll outline some of the best ways to store various types of camping equipment to keep it in the best possible condition.

Pre-storage preparation

Before stowing your camping gear, be sure to make sure all items are clean and thoroughly dried before placing them in storage. Any organic material or damp can foster mold growth if it’s allowed to sit on your equipment for some time. A sleeping bag coated with mildew is not something you want to deal with just before heading out on your next camping trip. 

Also, you may want to invest in some type of storage system for your diverse range of camping supplies. You can purchase ready-made storage units, or you can build your own from wood shelving and rubber bins with tight-fitting lids. If you do opt to store your camping gear in your garage, you’ll definitely want to use hard plastic or rubber bins to protect it from dirt and pests. 

How & where to store camping gear

Many people do store their camping equipment in their garage, which is an option, but you may also choose to keep it in your basement or even in a spare closet. Here, we’ll consider some specific ways to store various types of camping equipment:

Clear plastic bins

Transparent bins give you a view of what’s inside. If you use colored containers, just tape a list to its side to know what items it contains. Clean storage bins are ideal for storing a wide range of camping items, including:• Canteens• Tent stakes• Camp kitchen items• Clothing• Tarps• Camping implements (i.e. compass, knife, rope, candles, whistle, flashlight, etc.)

Shelves

Wide shelving is ideal for storing more oversized items such as your tent and cooler. Be sure that you store your tent loosely; many experienced campers often roll up their tent and store it in a pillowcase, if not the tent’s own nylon bag.

Sleeping bags

Sleeping bags can also be stored in rubber totes or even safely stored in closets in pillowcases or rolled up into their nylon bags. 

By organizing and storing your camping equipment with care, you should enhance its longevity, which allows you to get as much value from your gear as possible. As you likely noticed, a common theme with these types of equipment is cleanliness. With all gear, you should strive to clean items thoroughly before you store them. Investing in strong rubber bins that lockout dust, moisture, and pests is also a good idea for keeping all types of equipment stowed safely.

Originally posted on Porch.com

Written by: Rocio Espinoza