Next time you can鈥檛 find your headlamp before car camping, imagine gearing up for a 500-mile ice paddle to the South Pole聽or a 750-mile ski traverse across the Arctic. Professional expedition guide leads these kinds of trips every year, and the sheer volume of gear he needs to make it back in one (preferably unfrozen) piece is staggering. We caught up with Larsen to unlock his storage secrets and find out how he keeps track of 13 tents, ten聽pairs of skis, eight聽expedition聽sleds, ten聽harnesses, 20 jackets,聽and winter-camping accessories galore.
Think Horizontal聽
Storing gear in big stackable tubs sounds like a great idea until you need something from the bottom聽tub. I recommend taking advantage of as much horizontal space as possible with long, deep shelves and wraparound storage. This way, you can actually see your gear. A quick scan should tell you exactly where something is, and you can access stuff without having to move a bunch of other stuff.
Get a聽Rack聽
If there鈥檚 one item that seems to really accumulate, it鈥檚 jackets. Most people stuff them into boxes or duffel bags, but then you end up playing hide-and-seek聽every time you go looking for one. I have a ten-foot coat rack where I hang everything. This makes for easy browsing, which reduces time and stress before a big expedition聽or even just a long weekend in the mountains.
Smart Security Wins
Never advertise your gear by leaving the garage open for extended periods of time鈥攖hat鈥檚 just asking for a break-in when you leave town. At the same time, use your judgment. If your bike is hanging way high from the ceiling聽and locked to a bunch of other bikes up there, you might not ride that bike聽as much as you would if it were easily accessible, which聽kind of defeats the point of owning it.
Pre-Storage Rituals Are Key
A good storage system has enough space where you can comfortably get your gear into a storage state. You need room to hang up rain flies, lay out wet layers, dry your boots, and so on. If something is broken, make sure to repair it before throwing it into storage, because you鈥檒l be extra mad at yourself next season when you鈥檙e packing for a trip and, uh-oh, there鈥檚 your broken camp stove.
Get Rid of Old Gear
I find gear I no longer use every time I go into my storage, but getting rid of stuff can still be hard. Sometimes it鈥檚 an item I think I鈥檒l need down the road, like an extra sleeping bag, and sometimes it鈥檚 an item with sentimental value, like the tent I used for Everest. You just have to make it an ongoing process.