My current - largest in terms of time - employer gives me the ability to purchase gear at a pretty good discount, some of you may be aware of the term prodeal, I have that ability. It only gets better if I pick up a sponsor or two. So acquiring gear is not a real problem, but after a time you come to realize you don't really need anything - unfortunately I am at a point after two major expeditions where I have a lot of gear that needs to be replaced, but that is another story! Yes, every now and then I see something that is super cool, but I generally don't buy it unless I need it. But that still leaves me with a large amount of gear, and after moving to our current house last July fourth, I had gear in several places. It made it particularly difficult to find that particular thing I needed.
All that has changed. I now have all my gear in one location, sorted by usage. It makes it super easy to pull gear for either a trip or a class. It looks like this.
Sorry I couldn't get a better picture of this monstrosity, but I couldn't get far enough away from it with my iPhone to get it all in frame.
So here is how I use it. Yesterday I taught a paddling class. I grabbed my primary paddling duffel and paddles. I then grabbed the cooler for lunch and drinks, and my rain shell. From the Electronics shelf I grabbed the pelican case for my iPhone. When I came home I reversed the order. I didn't have to look for where anything was, and I didn't forget anything.
In all it took me about 4 hours to build, and about $200 in lumber. Well worth the time and investment, after years of trying to remember where a particular piece of gear is. Admittedly, it is big. 8 feet wide, by six feet high. It still needs some organizing and fine tuning. But so far I am extremely happy with it. How do you store all your gear? Post a link in comments, I truly want to see it.
