Storage

[Mtrewyn]

Would a Garage be ok to store my stuff in, I don't use it for my cars, we leave them outside.

So the garage has just become a storage/work shop for me, my wife gets a little upset when I work on things in the house....if you are married you understand.

I know that it gets cold out their but never below freezing, it is attached to the house, but seeing how I'm still new I worry about all of my things but relay don't have much room in the house, my kids and wife have taken all of it, I have been banished to the garage, witch I'm not sure that is a bad thing, but well I was just wondering what the thoughts were?

[BouzoukiJoe]

I'm in your situation. It may not be ideal but I use the garage.

[TRACI]

Luckily I have one room that I can put all my gear in, has to be some benefits of not having kids.

[Navy OnStar]

I use the garage too. I set up some high ventillated shelving that I can hang a wetsuit from and now one wall looks like I'm starting a scuba shop. However, I'm also in Florida and there is no way my garage gets below freezing.

[mcc2318]

I used the linen closet, crambed everything but wetsuits and bc which I found some foamed, bendable hangers for them in the closet

[aggie99]

Does anyone here is Texas keep their equipment in the garage? Although my garage doesn't get extrememly hot in the summer (mid 90's at worst) I fear for the high humidity and the affect that might have. Granted all the equipment is designed for moisture (it would be pretty stupid if it wasn't) but it still concerns me. They always tell you to keep your equipment in a cool dry place and my garage can be a hot humid place?

[WV Diver]

Garages are fine for storage. It is a good idea to rubber band a sandwich bag over your mouth piece to keep spiders and such out of them.

If you are overly concerned you can always find room in a closet or drawer for a reg even if you have to hang it from a coat hanger.

[CompuDude]

It will shorten the life of your gear. Mostly the rubber parts are affected... the o-rings and such. How much it will shorten it, however, is debatable.

Latex seals are particularly vulnerable to deterioration due to exposure to oil in the form of fumes... very common in a garage environment. If you have a drysuit, I would keep it in a closet. Likewise, your regs are the single most critical piece of gear you have, so I would keep those inside as well.

Everything else is probably fine in the garage. BCDs are somewhat debatable, but there has to be a limit, right? Inspect it thoroughly and regularly before use to make sure there's no visible degradation and that's probably sufficient. Mask, fins, snorkel... these won't be hurt at all, although it will probably hasten the yellowing of any clear silicon (a purely cosmetic issue, however). Tanks won't be harmed in the slightest. Wetsuits will likely deteriorate faster than they would inside, but that's a matter of degree... they're going to go at some point anyway, and it's pretty impossible to gauge how much they would be affected. Again, inspect to ensure it's still flexible and in good shape. Worse case if probably you'll be cold.

So basically, I'd keep the most expensive, critical stuff inside (regs, and drysuit if you have one), and the rest should be completely ok (or at least tolerably ok) in the garage.

[kyfriedchipper]

I live in Phoenix - in the summer my garage routinely goes above 120 degrees F or maybe higher - definitely NOT a good place to store any valuable equipment - gonna have to be the interior closets - that's ok though - its a lot of money

[Soonerwink]

I keep min in the garage inside a vinyl storage cabinet I bought at Home Depot. I only installed the top shelf and also install a bar to hang wetsuits on. I can fit 2 tanks, 5 wetsuits, a BC, reg and gauges and all my misc. gear. I even store my hard case and inflated dive flag on top of the cabinet.