PDA

View Full Version : storing gear



squeezebox
11-27-2015, 12:51
I know about not storing insulated stuff stuffed tight. But what about tents, pads? My hiking clothes share a drawer with my cycling clothes. Not sure what kind of conversations go on in there when I'm asleep. I'm sure the clothes that do both think they are superior, and the bicycle shorts are asking the underwear "what are you doing in here". But anyway I was thinking my tent, ground sheet, pads and other fabric things might be better off loosely packed. I'm thinking tight creases causing a break in coatings. Put them in pillow cases tie shut and into the closet. Pretty easy to do "just in case". I'm just saying , why not?


Hey!! Lighten Up!!

jdc5294
11-27-2015, 13:18
This is going to me 100% from personal experience, I could have been committing backpacking gear high treason for the last 4 years but someone will have to correct me.

With sleeping pads I've always kept them rolled up with no air inside, and they've always been fine. Even with something like a neoair xtherm there's no insulating material that's susceptible to becoming worn out so I think you're fine. Same with a tent, maybe taking it out once every few months and letting it air out and re-sealing the seams? I haven't used a tent in a while, I went to a bivy sack which is a lot simpler but that's my thinking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maui Rhino
11-27-2015, 13:54
I store my tents and groundsheets loosely folded into a rectangle, and laid flat under a futon stlye couch, along with my sleeping pad, in a cat-free environment.....I don't need the cat sharpening her claws on my pad. Synthetic quilt is also loosely stuffed in a large bag so that it is not compressed.

SkeeterPee
11-27-2015, 14:30
Good topic, I have now accumulated enough gear I have to organize it. It can't just be spread around the extra bedroom or there may be a mutiny in my future.

Hosh
11-27-2015, 14:31
I have some floor to ceiling cabinets in my basement with sliding drawers. I always make sure my stuff is very dry before storing, not hard in arid Denver. I like to store tents folded, same with air pads. I thought I had read that air mattresses should be stored with the valve open. I never inflate the mattresses with my breath, I've always thought the moisture inside with eventually become a mold problem. Sleeping bags and quilts are hung in the cabinets via loops or draped over some wooden dowels. Base layer clothes are used year round, hiking in the summer, skiing in the winter.

Feral Bill
11-27-2015, 21:02
I dry the tent or tarp for several says, then stuff or roll. My self inflating pads are left unrolled with valves open.

Vegan Packer
11-28-2015, 00:24
I have a the equivalent of a foot locker trunk. I store everything loosely folded inside of the trunk.

Heliotrope
11-28-2015, 01:13
I have a industrial kitchen style bakers rack in my dry basement. I store my quilts in large drawstring bags Tarps and net tents are stored loosely folded out of stuff sacks after thoroughly drying. Inflatable pads are also loosely folded with valves open. Packs, and clothing outer layers I hang. Merino wool is kept together with cedar chips to minimize moths. Water bottles are stored with caps off. I like having it all in one place so I can put together a trip quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lyle
11-28-2015, 08:14
For me, and mostly, just because it makes sense to my way of thinking:

Sleeping bags, naturally, stored loose - no questions about that.

Sleeping pads: If foam filled, store expanded, with valve opened - allows SOME moisture to escape. If strictly air filled, store rolled up - no particular reason, but I do inflate with a bag, not breath, so I worry less about moisture left inside.

Tents/tarps: Make certain they are fully dried, then pack away in their stuff sacks.

Clothing: Stored folded on ventilated shelving.

Bronk
11-28-2015, 10:43
If you use a water filter you want to make sure the filter element is dry before storage. I put mine away wet one time and several months later when I opened it the filter was full of black mold.

saltysack
11-28-2015, 11:09
If you use a water filter you want to make sure the filter element is dry before storage. I put mine away wet one time and several months later when I opened it the filter was full of black mold.

Guess that's why sawyer recs flushing be bleach water...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Coffee
11-28-2015, 12:08
Sleeping bag hangs from a nail driven into the top of my bedroom wall and serves to taunt me for not getting out enough. Pads are stored loose in a closed with valve open but minimal air inside. Tent and other cuben gear is stored loosely folded in large USPS priority mail boxes in my closet. Clothes are stored in boxes or in my closed. Down jacket, wind jacket and rain gear double as everyday garments and hang in my closet.

squeezebox
11-28-2015, 12:20
Guess that's why sawyer recs flushing be bleach water...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My guess would be about 10% bleach. ??

4eyedbuzzard
11-28-2015, 14:10
Guess that's why sawyer recs flushing be bleach water...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


My guess would be about 10% bleach. ??

I always cleaned EDIT - platypus bag with bleach and water, yeah, maybe 10% +/- - I didn't measure carefully. Some store platy bags in the freezer with good results.

saltysack
11-28-2015, 14:21
I always cleaned mine with bleach and water, yeah, maybe 10% +/- - I didn't measure carefully. Others just store them in the freezer with good results. I've gone back to bottles though.

Store what in freezer? I'm talking about flushing sawyer mini/squeeze. I assume your talking about storing platty bags in freezer...not sawyer I hope.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Feral Bill
11-28-2015, 14:21
Speaking of mold, make sure all cooking and eating gear is absolutely clean and dry. The horror!

4eyedbuzzard
11-28-2015, 14:36
Store what in freezer? I'm talking about flushing sawyer mini/squeeze. I assume your talking about storing platty bags in freezer...not sawyer I hope.


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkYes, platy bag - sorry!

Bronk
11-28-2015, 15:37
A surprisingly small amount of bleach will purify water...too much bleach I would think would damage the filter element.

squeezebox
11-28-2015, 17:46
While we are talking about diluted bleach water and mold, anything else to clean with it?

theoilman
11-28-2015, 18:24
The Sawyer instructions call for a cap of bleach (cap of bleach bottle?) in a quart of water. Far weaker than 10%.

RangerZ
11-28-2015, 19:00
My spare third floor bathroom is my gear closet. Down sleeping bag loose in mesh bag, tent loose in stuff sack after drying for couple if days. Clothes on hangers on clothes hooks. Sawyer bags and filter bleached and drying in sink. Hiker box in plastic bin in bathtub with pack. Faithful companion Stick in basement because he gets well oiled after hikes. Boots on porch because that's where they come off after (sometime) daily walks.

Mtsman
11-29-2015, 04:25
I use wall hangers (the 3m no stick kind that can hold up to 3lbs) and have them all over my walls in my storage room. Almost all of my gear gets stored on each of those hooks after being cleaned and dried. All of my down stuff goes in big sacks to fluff out, my hammock is stored the same way, and anything that doesnt go on the hooks goes in a hiker box right below the hooks.

Odd Man Out
11-29-2015, 09:00
Bleach is a sodium salt so it would leave salt residue behind when it dries which will clog a filter. Same with tap water. I do a final rinse with distilled water.

egilbe
11-29-2015, 09:24
Shouldnt backflushing get rid of anything left in the filter on the dirty side? Regular use would get rid of anything on the clean side. I cant imagine bleach residue would damage the filter or sawyer wouldnt reccomend using it.

squeezebox
11-29-2015, 14:13
The membrane in a dialysis filter is delicate. I'll call Sawyer and see what they say about pre-storage treatment.

Bronk
11-29-2015, 16:30
8 ounces of bleach will treat 1000 gallons of water to give you an idea of how little is needed...more than a few drops to flush out a filter is overkill and may cause damage to the filter...but cholorine will evaporate over time...if the filter is put away wet and left for a long period I still think you'd probably have mold.

Mtsman
11-30-2015, 01:32
8 ounces of bleach will treat 1000 gallons of water to give you an idea of how little is needed...more than a few drops to flush out a filter is overkill and may cause damage to the filter...but cholorine will evaporate over time...if the filter is put away wet and left for a long period I still think you'd probably have mold.

I would agree with the mold statement here if you have a completely sealed container to keep it in OR you are in a very humid environment (the type of environment mold is a problem in everyday life). I keep my sawyer in a cuben fiber sack with one end open without any sign or worry of mold. Then again, I use my water filter more in a month than most of the population (not counting the WB folks, they are kind of addicts) does in a year so my opinion might not matter here.


The membrane in a dialysis filter is delicate. I'll call Sawyer and see what they say about pre-storage treatment.

I would love to hear about the findings on this squeezebox. Thank you!

Five Tango
11-30-2015, 15:38
So once a Sawyer is used,how do you dry out the inside before storing it?How do you know it it's dry?Wouldn't re-treating before putting it back in service kill any mold that may be in it?Not trying to drift the thread,I keep all my permethrin treated clothing in a garbage bag in my closet so I will know for SURE which socks and shirts are the treated ones.Untreated wool socks etc are in my regular drawers.

nsherry61
11-30-2015, 19:03
It is not realistic or necessary to dry out a Sawyer filter after use. You can shake out what water you can shake out, but the hollow fiber filter will pretty much never dry out unless you leave it heated and/or in a desiccator for an extended period of time. That is probably why Sawyer suggests treading the filter with dilute bleach. Since the filter will probably never dry out, bleach residue from dilute bleach is also probably not an issue, although, I always backflush my filter with clean water after bleaching.