Storing gear between trips so it still works in five years

Almost nothing in a camping kit fails while you are using it. It fails in a cupboard, slowly, and reveals the damage on the first night of the next season. Two mechanisms do most of the work: compression, which permanently flattens insulation, and damp warmth, which chemically breaks down the coatings that make fabrics waterproof. Both are free to avoid and impossible to reverse.

Most gear failure is storage failure with a delay#

Consider when problems are discovered. A bag that will not loft is discovered at 2am on the first cold night. A sticky flysheet is discovered in the first rain. A filter that will not draw is discovered at the first water source. None of those failures started then. They started in the eight months of storage before the trip, and the trip merely reported them.

Storage is the maintenance task with the longest feedback delay, which is exactly why it gets neglected. Nobody is punished immediately for stuffing a damp tent into its bag. The bill arrives two seasons later and gets blamed on the tent.

The mechanisms are few enough to list, and each has a countermeasure that costs nothing:

• Compression set. Insulation held compressed loses the ability to recover, permanently.
• Hydrolysis. Water molecules break the ester links in a polyester-based polyurethane coating. Warm and humid is the worst case.
• Mould and mildew. Needs moisture and time. Stains permanently, smells permanently, and weakens fabric.
• Ultraviolet. Degrades nylon and polyester. Storage next to a sunlit window is a slow bleach and embrittlement process.
• Rodents. Attracted by food residue and by fabric they can use as bedding.
• Elastomer ageing. O-rings, shock cord and elastic harden with heat and time.

Compression is what kills insulation#

Down and synthetic fills both work by holding still air in a structure, and compression collapses that structure. Down clusters recover well from short compressions, which is why a bag can be stuffed daily on a trip without harm, but months in a small stuff sack leaves clusters set in position. Synthetic fill fares worse, being a mat of fine fibres that long compression bends and breaks, one of the differences drawn out in our down against synthetic comparison.

So store bags, quilts and insulated jackets uncompressed, in the large mesh or cotton sack supplied, or hanging by the foot box in a wardrobe. With no sack, a cotton pillowcase or laundry bag works, provided the item sits loose inside it. Avoid airtight boxes and vacuum bags entirely.

Because loft loss is gradual, measure rather than trusting memory. Take total loft at the chest with a ruler before storage and again when the bag comes out, by the method in our down washing guide. Two numbers a year tell you within three seasons whether your storage is working.

Damp and warmth are what kill coatings#

Polyurethane coatings and laminates degrade by hydrolysis: water attacks the polymer chain and breaks it. The visible result is a tent fly that feels tacky, a groundsheet that flakes, a pack liner that smells musty and a shell jacket whose inner face lifts. It is not reversible and no reproofing product addresses it, as covered in reproofing rain gear.

Two variables drive the rate: how much water is available, and how warm it is. Humidity supplies the reactant. Temperature supplies the energy, and the standard engineering treatment of thermal ageing, formalised in IEC 60216, is an Arrhenius relationship in which rate rises exponentially with temperature. The convenient rule of thumb that comes out of it is that reaction rate roughly doubles for every 10 degrees C rise.

Do the arithmetic on two real storage places. A loft under a dark roof can sit at 35 degrees C on a summer afternoon. An indoor cupboard sits near 20 degrees C. The difference is 15 degrees, so the rate ratio is 2 to the power 15 / 10 = 2 to the power 1.5 = 2.83: coatings in the loft age roughly three times faster. This is a model rather than a measurement of your tent, but the direction and rough magnitude are reliable, and the conclusion is worth acting on.

A garage adds the second variable: unheated spaces swing across the dew point as outside temperatures change, and condensation forms on cold surfaces including the inside of a stuff sack. Cold and dry is good. Cold and cycling through the dew point is not.

Scoring a storage location#

Score each candidate location out of 3 on four criteria: temperature stability, dryness, darkness and pest safety. A location scoring 10 or more is fine. Below 8, expect to be replacing coated items early.

Three details raise a score cheaply. Get everything off a concrete floor onto a shelf or pallet, since concrete transmits ground moisture. Use breathable containers, cardboard or fabric rather than sealed plastic. Keep food, and anything that has held food, out of the space, since residue is what brings rodents to your tent fabric.

Item by item: what each thing needs#

The dataset covers cleaning intervals and the storage state for the main items. A few need more detail than a table row allows.

Tents. Bone dry before the bag goes on, without exception. If a tent comes home wet, pitch it in a garden or hang it indoors until it is dry to the touch everywhere, seam tape and corner reinforcements included. Fold it on different lines each time: a coating creased repeatedly in the same place cracks along that line, and a cracked coating leaks. Loose beats neat, so an oversized stuff sack does more for a tent than a compression sack ever will. Store poles in long sections rather than tightly folded, so the shock cord is not held stretched for months. Our guide to choosing a tent covers which coatings are involved.

Sleeping pads. Store inflated or loosely rolled with the valve open. That stops the internal foam or baffle structure setting and lets internal moisture escape. Every breath blown into a pad puts moisture inside it, and a sealed damp pad grows mould where you cannot clean it.

Footwear and packs. Dry footwear at room temperature, never on a radiator, since heat hardens leather and softens adhesives, and store it loosely laced with paper inside. Empty every pack pocket, hip belt pockets included, and store the pack unfastened and upright so the foam does not take a set.

The three that are safety, not just longevity#

Water filters. Dry the filter fully before storage and never let a wet filter freeze. Water expands about 9 percent as it turns to ice, from the density of ice at roughly 917 kilograms per cubic metre against about 1,000 for liquid water: 1,000 / 917 = 1.09. Inside a hollow fibre element that expansion can split the fibres. The damage is invisible, and a split element passes exactly the pathogens it is meant to remove, so retire any filter with an unknown freeze history.

Lithium batteries. Cells age fastest at high state of charge and high temperature, and both accelerate capacity fade. Aviation rules require lithium-ion cells to be shipped at no more than 30 percent state of charge, which is a reasonable proxy for long-term storage: charge a power bank to somewhere between 30 and 60 percent, keep it in a cool indoor place, and top it up every six months rather than leaving it flat. A parked vehicle is the worst option available. Measurements published in the vehicle heat literature show interior temperatures rising roughly 22 degrees C above ambient within an hour, so a 25 degrees C day makes a 45 degrees C glovebox. Sizing and capacity choices are covered in power banks and batteries.

Fuel. Store canisters and fuel bottles cool, ventilated, upright, away from heat, and out of living space and below-ground rooms, because liquefied petroleum gases are denser than air and any leak pools at the lowest point. Weigh partly used canisters and write the fill level on them, since a half-known canister is the usual cause of running out of fuel.

The end of season pass, in order#

Set aside two hours and work in this order, because each step depends on the one before.

1. Empty everything. Every pocket, every stuff sack, every pack. Food out first.
2. Dry everything. Pitch or hang the tent, open the pads, unroll the bags, empty and dry hydration bladders and filters. Nothing else happens until this is done.
3. Wash what needs washing. Sleeping bags and insulated jackets after roughly 20 to 30 nights of use, shells when water stops beading, following the intervals in the dataset above.
4. Re-treat what needs it. Shells after washing, while you have the dryer running anyway.
5. Inspect and repair. Seams, zips, pole ends, pad valves, buckles, fixed now while parts are available. Restock the field repair kit, replacing adhesives opened last season.
6. Service the moving parts. Clean zips with water and a soft brush and lubricate them, clear the stove jet, check O-rings and pump cups, backflush and dry the filter.
7. Deal with power. Bring batteries to partial charge, and remove cells from headlamps and anything else that will sit unused, since a leaking cell destroys the device around it.
8. Store to the rules above. Insulation loose, tent loosely folded on new lines, everything off the floor, in the highest-scoring location you have.
9. Write two lines. What failed this season, and what needs replacing before the next one. That note is worth more in March than your memory of September.

Common mistakes#

Storing a bag in its stuff sack. The most expensive habit here. The stuff sack is for carrying, the large sack is for storage.

Putting a tent away damp for just a couple of days. Mould establishes in warm damp fabric quickly and the smell never fully leaves. If a tent must go away wet, keep it cool and unpack it that evening.

Using vacuum bags to save space. They compress insulation and seal moisture in at the same time.

Using the loft or garage because that is where the room is. These are the two worst common locations, for heat and for humidity respectively.

Storing a pad tightly rolled with the valve closed. Trapped breath moisture inside a sealed pad is how mould grows where you cannot reach it.

Storing gas canisters indoors in a cupboard with a boiler. Cool, ventilated, and away from ignition sources.

Frequently asked questions#

How should I store a sleeping bag long term?#

Uncompressed, dry and cool. Use the large mesh or cotton sack supplied with the bag, or hang it by the foot box in a wardrobe. Never leave it in its compression sack between trips, because insulation held compressed for months loses loft permanently. Wash it before it goes away so body oils are not sitting in the fill all winter.

Is a loft or a garage a bad place to store camping gear?#

Both are worse than an indoor cupboard. Lofts get hot in summer, and warmth accelerates the hydrolysis that destroys polyurethane coatings, roughly doubling the rate for each 10 degrees C rise. Garages are unheated and swing through the dew point, so condensation forms on cold surfaces. If you have no alternative, get everything off the floor and use breathable containers.

Does storing a tent wet really ruin it?#

Yes, faster than most people expect. Warm damp fabric grows mould within days, which stains permanently, smells permanently and weakens the fabric. Damp also accelerates the breakdown of polyurethane coatings, producing the sticky, flaking flysheet that cannot be repaired. If a tent has to come home wet, unpack and dry it the same day.

What state of charge should I store a power bank at?#

Somewhere between 30 and 60 percent, in a cool indoor place, topped up about every six months. Lithium-ion cells age faster when held at full charge and faster still when warm, which is why aviation rules cap shipped cells at 30 percent state of charge. Avoid storing a battery in a vehicle, where interior temperatures can rise around 22 degrees C above ambient in an hour.

Can I store gas canisters in the house?#

Store them cool, ventilated, upright and away from heat sources and ignition sources, and not in a cellar or any below-ground room. Liquefied petroleum gases are denser than air, so any leak pools at the lowest point rather than dispersing. An unheated but ventilated outbuilding or a cool porch is usually better than either a hot car or an interior cupboard.

Will my water filter survive being frozen?#

Not reliably. Water expands about 9 percent as it freezes, so any water left inside a hollow fibre element can split the fibres from within. The damage cannot be seen, and a split element passes the organisms it is supposed to remove. Dry a filter fully before storage, keep it above freezing once it has been wet, and retire any filter with an unknown freeze history.

How often should I check gear that is in storage?#

Once mid-season is enough. Look for damp, mould smell, rodent damage and battery leakage, and top up any lithium battery that has drifted low. A ten minute check halfway through a long storage period catches the two failures that get worse with time: damp and a leaking cell.