places to stash your gear?

[Puckett]

I refuse to leave my gear anywhere. Your gear is your responsibility, it's pretty much your home. Even if I walk 10 minutes down the road for something and then come back, I still take my gear with me. IMO, never leave your gear behind. No one wants to baby sit your gear, and it's so easy for someone else to pick it up as a ground score.

agreed

 

[0ddity]

I've been using cardboard recycling dumpsters quite a bit. Always put cardboard on top of your gear. Works out rather well. Plus you don't get the stink you would get from hiding your bag in a garbage dumpster.

 

[castler]

Good thread, I keep the non-replaceable items in my backpack with me and where I have the tent, pitched in the woods off by the tracks, its not bothered by the locals, but I can't wait to get back to the Southern part of Illinois, There's no-one to mess with your stuff as its 70% forest down there.

I considered using my 120ft rope to put my stuff in the trees, just as long as its waterproof.

 

[JungleBoots]

What gyms would be best to do the gym membership thing with? That sounds like a great idea, for washing clothes, showering, free coffee, and I've taken up powerlifting too...

sick idea

i dont know, i mean some gyms have daily use fees that are like 15 bucks or less...

I work at a YMCA right now, and once i hit the road this summer technically ill still be an employee which means im also a member of their gym and able to use any Y facility in the world. so ill definately be using that... not to mention some YMCAs have boarding houses for travelers.

anyway... i know the YMCA i work at has a daily fee of 15 bucks... while they have a monthly of 60 or so... but rates change between gyms.

i couldnt say which is best for sure, but renting a locker at a gym with showers and a pool and cold water fountains everywhere sounds like a great idea....

 

[bryanpaul]

this has probably been said but black trash bags are good for hiding your gear...... tie it up and hide it in some dense brush...throw leaves and trash and shit on it...looks like trash.....sucks stashin my gear tho cuz all day i'm anxious and shit, thinkin it's gonna be gone...........one time, in olympia, i stashed my shit under a tree down by the water and when i came back all drunk i couldnt find it!!! freakin the fuck out!! so i look and look with no luck so i'm like stumblin around town wasted expecting to see somebody with my shit...like running these confrontations through my head....at one point i was crouched behind a dumpster with a chunk of brick in my hand stalkin these homebums ready to pounce on 'em cuz I SWORE i heard 'em talkin about me... i'm followin these guys around with a chunk of cinder block...anyway...passed out with a cardboard blanket...woke up and went and my shit was right there........s

 

[Murf]

I have not squatted in a city since i belive 07 or 08 , but what i used to do was dig a hole in a very easy to remember spot , mark it , then let er go. I currently still have 'burried tresure' in 4 states. Starter kits to familiar spots so your never fucked if your on your turf , just be carefull and make sure its a place only you would look.

 

[LeeevinKansas]

yes never leave your gear anywhere as others have said. its is your home. ever lose your pack to someone or something? i have. its like losing your car. your like agh, shiiiiit wtf. especially if ur in the middle of nowhere. and the weathers bad. u might not have water. heck anything could happen. if u absolutely have to leave ur shit somewhere..... dont do the first thing you see.

honestly ive left very expensive belongings under these like rocks and shit. but they were in the woods. always choose the highest place least likely to receive visitors. stake it out if u have to. remember that pack is your lifeline. then dont just throw it in some trees. cover it up. camaflouge it. throw some trash on it, dark colored trash. dirty trash. shit that people wont wanna touch. now a hobo with a mission aint gonna let trash get in their way. heck booby trap it if u want. string that up in the trees if u can off the ground so its out of immediate ground level sight/view.

but never leave your bag in the city. theres always going to be someone smarter than you.

but in the woods, people arent always smarter. as humans are naturally ignorant of the ways of the wild.

 

[crazy john]

if your a decent climber and arive in a small town at night u can stash it on a flat roof of a store and cover it with a tarp or other plastic. if your in a city you might be able to stash it at a drop in or catholic worker if they have one (maybe). and asfar as a show, if i was in the band id just throw ur shit backstage till the show was over. im sure noone would mind

 

[allenfromallenville]

i too had trouble bringing my pack into the philly library, ha.

i often stash my pack because i don't feel like carrying it all the time. overgrown woods are the way to go.

 

[Wawa]

Along with my sleeping bag, I always carry a dark wool or fleece blanket. The uglier the better. Aside from being extra warmth or a pillow, it's a great prop for disguising my pack as a pile of bum trash. Tarps and trash bags are too reflective, and the dirty blanket seems a bit more offputting to touch then just peeking under a tarp...

Had a big gray shitty looking wool blanket one night camping out in a sketchy ass spot in Bakersfield. Anytime I heard someone walking by, I'd throw it over me, pack and all, along with whatever trash and plant debris had stuck itself to the blanket. No one seemed to notice me there, or at least thought I was weird enough not to fuck with [emoji14]

Probably doesn't sound like the best way to stash a pack, but it's worked fine so far.

 

[kecleon]

I usually keep my pack but empty out any heavy bulky stuff like my tarp and sleeping bag so I can fill up on food and drinks. I keep my mat because it's so small/light and gives enough insulation if it came to it in a good spot id be alright in my clothes.

No one stole my sleeping bag yet but had a bivi stolen little while ago but from trusting the wrong person :l

 

[rooster831]

stashing my shit makes me paranoid, so i don't do it unless i got a house to leave it or someone to watch it

i've just heard too many stories about people stashing gear they come back n it's missing or whatever and i really try to carry the essentials so stashing is out of the question for me

 

[nivoldoog]

First spot I look for is a good woodline I can store my gear. I have lost gear that was left too long. But woods has been my best bet for long term. Up a tree, not many people look above their head.

Short term I like securing bag with rope and tossing over a cliff/ bridge/ water drain so that it is out of sight but retrieve able by pulling rope up.

Find cleanish garbage cans that have some trash in bag. Remove plastic bag, place your pack in bottom , then put plastic bag back in. People will throw trash on a fill it up but not too often look under it. I will use dumpsters sometimes.

Put pack in black trash bag and toss in with a pile of trash.

 

[shabti]

This might sound counterintuitive, but I have two backpacks. A small marmot day hiking thing, and my giant surplus internal frame one. When I want to go skate or just wander around, I usually store the big one on a rooftop, put the essentials in the little one, voila.

Rooftops are the best for everything. Sleeping naked under the stars in the middle of a crowded city is priceless

 

[shabti]

Find cleanish garbage cans that have some trash in bag. Remove plastic bag, place your pack in bottom , then put plastic bag back in. People will throw trash on a fill it up but not too often look under it. I will use dumpsters sometimes.

Put pack in black trash bag and toss in with a pile of trash.

Yeppety yep. I leave a little note at the top that says "I'm homeless, storing my stuff here briefly, please don't take it, it's all I have" had a sales clerk guy see me stash my stuff, he came out and opened the bag, then tied it up. So it worked once I guess.