Camping is a great family activity and an affordable way to take everyone on a vacation when you need to get away from it all. It also requires a lot of preparation that other types of vacations do not. If you’re going to a hotel room, you can just throw some clothes and toiletries in a bag and go. But camping takes gear – tents, sleeping bags, dishes and utensils, flashlights, sunscreen, bug repellent, and more.
Most of your camping equipment isn’t one-time-use only, so after a camping trip is over, you’ll need a place to store all of it where it won’t be in the way. Some of it is bulky, and some of it is in small pieces – where else could it go but in your garage? Take a look at some of the best tips for how to safely store your camping gear in your garage.
Protect Your Camping Equipment
Camping gear can be expensive, so you want to make sure that it’s well-protected. Things like tents and sleeping bags often come with their own heavy-duty bags to protect them. It’s usually best to use the bags that come with the equipment, but if you don’t have them, invest in some heavy-duty bags that will protect your gear from moisture, mildew, and any other conditions that might damage them.
For some types of equipment, the backpacks or duffel bags that you pack to bring with you to the campsite can double as storage bags when you get home. These bags tend to be heavy-duty and protective, and they can also conveniently hang on hooks on the wall, which can save space in your garage.
Practice Proper Shelf Storage
If you’re going to stack your camping items on shelves, make sure that you practice proper shelf storage techniques to maximize safety. Put the lightest weight items, like first-aid kits and cans of bug spray, on the top shelf. Tents, full backpacks, and other heavy items should be stowed toward the bottom of the shelving structure.
By doing it this way, you’ll have easy access to the smaller, lighter weight items, and they’re less likely to weigh down the shelves and fall off or knock the shelf down. This also prevents you from potentially hurting yourself lifting heavy items down from a high shelf.
Find Vertical Storage for Certain Items
Fishing poles, trekking poles, kayaking paddles, and oars are all items that are better stored vertically than horizontally. They’re less likely to be knocked off and damaged that way, and in the case of fishing poles, horizontal storage could lead to bending that could deform them.
Empty tall laundry baskets or trash cans can be repurposed as vertical storage for these types of items. Just be sure to weigh them down so that they can’t be easily knocked over.
If you store your camping gear in the garage with care and planning, it will last longer and will serve you well on many more camping trips in the future. To find out more about your garage storage options, Schedule your free design consultation 
