Anyone rent a storage unit for some of their preps?
 

I've got so much stuff on hand, that I think I want to get a small storage unit to split it up so it's not all in one place.

I can get a 5x5 place acrossed the bridge (not good in an earthquake, would have to drive around) for $31 a month or the same on my side of the water for $36 a month.

It would be used to store ammo, mags, firearms, food, and other preps.

I would love to keep some at a friends, but the few people I trust either still live with their parents well into their 30's with no end in sight or have tiny apartments with no spare room.

The risk is that if something happened to my home all of my stuff would be gone. I have home owners insurance but....all of my preps would be gone.

Diversification is a good thing in most areas & I see location-diversification as a good thing as well. We (I) do have some things stored in a mini-storage unit, but I make certain that there's not anything in there that I'd be devastated if we lost due to theft, tornado, whatever.

I store preps in two areas other than my home.

Looks like I'm behind on diversification...:crying:

I've pondered leaving a bag at a friend's house just for backup, but I've got a pretty good load of stuff in my car and I work/play very close to my house so it's not a huge need.

I'd definately think about it, but I'd be careful about what I left there. Something non critical i.e. a cheap gun instead of a nice one. Those get hit by breakins on occation

You mean you get broken into a lot?:shocked:

OR in general guns get taken in break ins on occassion?

Rather than a storage unit think about a buried or hidden cache in a rural (if possible), So this way your not in a populated area exposed in a shtf senario.

2 thoughts;
1) SHTF, securty typs at storage units lock the pace down to prevent looting and you can't get to your stuff.
2) SHTF, security types at storage units run for the hills leaving the place to looters and you will never see your stuff again.

And have my stuff sold to the highest bidder on some reality TV show?

No thanks!

Yes. I am friends with the owner who stores his stuff there, too...

SC

Store stuff off site? Yes. Store stuff in a public storage locker? No.

Notoriously...

pest infested (mice, rats, snakes, roaches, spiders, ants, etc.)...
leaky and humid (rust, mold, mildew)...
burglar-prone...


Also,

What happens when you forget to pay the rent? They put their lock on it so that you have no access until you can track them down to pay them and remove their lock.

Most have serious limitations on what can be stored there: no hazardous chemicals (fuel, paint, gun powder, lead, solvents), nothing flammable, no weapons/firearms, etc., etc.

Electronic gates malfunction often.

I have a sea crate at my farm.

That thing is built similarly to a storage place - metal walls and roof.

In the summer, I bet it gets over 130 F in there regularly. Not sure what preps I'd want to store in there for any length of time besides maybe water.

Good Luck!

We use for one for storing food, tp, ammo, weapons, generator. I made sure to park it under the shade of a tree. It rarely ever gets above the low to mid-nineties here in the summer anyway, and then only for a few weeks.

Try adding shade in the form of old pallets, sheets of plywood, tarps, etc to keep the sun from directly hitting the metal. It will help. You could also add a roof vent or two.

SC

Your homeowner's doesn't cover personal property?

My take and a more practical prep idea: borrow a digital camera and take some photos. My agent's general rule is any item over $100 should be documented.

If my house burned to the ground, I have enough digital photos, scanned in receipts, and multiple thumb drives including some in a safety deposit box I would have no problem getting the maximum reimbursement. As my agent has stated: if I can document 100% of my large ticket items adjusters rarely sweat the small stuff.

The hard part is getting the records in line; digging out all the receipts from my fire safe and adding them to a spreadsheet and scanning them in took on and off a few months.

Once the record is complete maintenance is a breeze.

I am all a fan of multiple gear in multiple spots - even down to knife in pocket, knife on belt, knife in bag....

But somewhere YOU don't control access, and is a target for looting?

No...

Exactly.

That and the afore mentioned lack of pest control.

no thanks.

Valid consideration; no access issues in the one we use and it didn't occur to me, but a lot of them do have restricted access. On ours, I know the owner (he's a customer) and made sure that we were in the front-most row of units, which face the back side of a commercial strip (laundromat, sandwich place, etc in the strip). The owner already had our camera system in the interior of the building to watch laundromat customers & such, so I offered a free upgrade to his camera system - larger dvr and two additional cameras at no cost, putting the two cameras on the outside-rear of the building. Good for us because it watches our unit; good for him because it watches other units as well, watches his back service area (dumpsters & such), and didn't cost him anything.

Definitely NOT want to be in a storage unit that I couldn't access 24/7, whether for prep stuff or even just junk storage.

So what to lube guns with before vac. Sealing and PVC burrial? What about the ammo, how to prep that?

I have said this before on a related post and I will say it again...

If you are looking to use storage units, look at the mom-and-pop's that do not care if you visit the unit 24/7, are typically less cost, do not require your SSN, They offer a lot of "discreetness" and flexibility not seen in Uncle Bob's and U-Haul centers.

You guys keep acting like storage units get robbed in your town all the time and that the Storage Wars TV show is coming to your unit. Gimme a break. This is why I have been spending my time elsewhere. Quake said it best when he said don't use it to store things that would be life shattering if they got destroyed/stolen/etc. But in reality, looters probably won't hit storage units because they know most units are full of rotting pine furniture, old VHS tapes, and grandma's yearbook.

Good points, I don't think people keep a lot of valuables in them. Just old junk that they don't seem to want to part with.

This is the best answer. And Cosmoline is what you use to store metal/firearms.