Organising advice

[Blue407]

Morning All

Ok, I've gone through periods of getting kit and food in the past, then nothing for a bit and then getting some more, all in a pretty disorganised way. I'm spending some time this week trying to get stuff organised and tidied as its all been dumped into boxes as I've purchased it.

We are limited on places to store equipment and spare food, we have a garage but its not attached to the house, its modern and relatively secure but out of sight. We have a small loft in the house and also one in the garage. As with all modern houses, the kitchen is pretty small and is already packed to the gills with normal kitchen stuff.

Given out limitations on space, how would you store and organise stuff? Obviously we don't want everything immediately visible when the garage door is opened.

At the moment we have brought everything into a spare bedroom and started organising it into piles of similar stuff. For example knives, saws & machete's. The torches, batteries and chargers together, all first aid kit together etc. We do have some plastic storage boxes with lids that we were planning on using, along with some clear self seal bags (The under-bed type of box that stack easily)

Should we just continue like that, pack everything into boxes of the same type? How about food?

Obviously in the event of anything kicking off, it would all have to be carefully moved into the house from the garage.

Any advice, suggestions gratefully received

[raz]

I had the same problem with space I bought a bunch of the plastic storage boxes and stacked them against the wall in our spare room its a hell of a lot more efficient but I'm actively looking for a bigger home or a cheap lil BOL so that I can have a dedicated place just for my prepps.. I arranged my Boxes with the principle of my BOB having all the essentials in each box instead of specific items in each. my thinking behind this was if I had to bug out for any reason I could grab any box & get out asap and not end up with a box of torches when I'm sat around cold & hungry

[Plymtom]

Sounds like you're bugging in, and like many of us do, buying stuff more suited for bugging out, that said I share a cluttered and too small for the family house problem with you, boxes for food - tinned etc yes but not for torches and batteries as you may need that sort of thing to hand should power fail, and as for buying anything with limited means, I would recommend thought as to the items real use to you, if you can find a use in the here and now, then that doubles the justification for buying it.
For instance I bought a machette in the 90s Brilliant saw backed plastic sheath with a built in sharpener, I have found it most excellent for cutting folded xmas wrapping paper and looking cool.

All these things need sensible (and legal) storage and in many cases no doubt the garage will have to do if space in an issue, I would be reluctant to store things of value even in normal times where they were in danger of being lost to thieves, we all start with some sort of idea which then evolves to suite both realities and perceived possibilities, I use boxes for food ( I'm looking now at rotating an average month or so's worth and the size of box I'd need) and they do come in handy for keeping things organized too, but don't squirrel things away which have a reason to be around here and now (even if that is only that you collect them) and remember to rotate stores of things which expire (batteries, petrol.. super glue)

[Arzosah]

I do think its important to store like with like, and to keep an inventory if at all possible. I had a slight plumbing emergency this year (a personal shtf, if you like ) which I mentioned on here, and because I didn't keep an inventory, I didn't know I already had the plunger thing I needed to clear a washbasin at least I have two now!

Plastic boxes - great for easy, portable storage, I use 24l ones, nice and sturdy. They're see through, thats the thing, and if anyone can see them - and if you have kids, they can - then line them with a bin liner?

Plus, if you have a loft, the standard advice is to store stuff up there thats not affected by heat or cold - and to store it in stuff thats more or less mouse-proof (they eat even heavy plastic ).

[FEISTY]

I'm still buying this and that as I go along, eg yesterday I ordered a maslin pan for making jam, etc, next year (surrounded by countryside heaving with brambles - even in our garden - and we have quite a few fruit trees and bushes which weren't really taken advantage of this year yet again). I often buy a bunch of spring onions to do stir-fries, use two or three and chuck the rest away in the compost bin. Instead, I'm experimenting with three giant spring onion bulbs from the salad section in Morrisons. I've used a few leaves already, but put them in a jar of water on the windowsill. I changed the water every day and within a week had two inch roots growing. Yesterday I potted them up in a 12" clay pot, put chicken wire over the top (with the leaves poking through) to keep the squirrels from eating the bulbs and put the pot in the garden in one of the raised beds. I'm hoping they will continue to grow (looking to see if I can store spring onion leaves somehow for use in cooking) and hoping that, even if they die back over winter, they'll come back even stronger next year. If they do, I'll find a permanent spot in a raised bed for them next year and I'm hoping never to have to buy spring onions ever again. That's the plan ... Continuing to get stuff out to the new garage shelves and putting to use/re-arranging/getting rid of everything else in there so that my husband can get the rest of the concrete floor painted which is beginning to look very smart and is less dusty. The window in he garage is the week point (double door with security bolts into walls either side, locked metal back door, but the window is wood and deteriorating - I don't think it will break the bank to replace it with something more secure and prettier, but I actually think it's the spiders just inside that would put people off from crawling through it - will be making a new curtain to replace the yucky one we inherited from the last owner (or may consider an inside blind and metal grill outside). Clearing up and preparing the garden for next year. Keeping everything we possibly can (branch chipping, old compost from pots, leaves, etc - everything can be used in the garden). Ordering strawberries (mine were not in a sunny enough spot and I don't think the varieties suited our area, so not a high yield). Still re-organising the kitchen to get maximum use of space for storing food. Gotten much more in than I thought and have space for more . Need to think more about actual meals to be made with stores. Better get back to work - no rest for the wicked!

[grenfell]

Here's something I do which would perhaps be of use to you for storage in the garage. I use plastic paint tubs for storage , generally the ten and fifteen litre plastic bucket type , they are also used for stuff like tile adhesive. Easy to get hold of , look in builders skips for instance , and nearly always contain water based products so easily washed out but they still look like tubs of paint and if there are dribbles down the side they look like part used tubs of paint. Result is storage that looks not worth bothering with , storage that can be moved about without attracting attention , something that would be overlooked if the garage was broken into. It's also possible to use the original labels as a code of sorts , magnolia emulsion could be dried fruit , white emulsion rice and so on. Disadvantages , as no system is perfect , are that being round they do waste a bit of space and the smaller size sometimes makes it awkward packing things like cans.

[Blue407]

Here's something I do which would perhaps be of use to you for storage in the garage. I use plastic paint tubs for storage , generally the ten and fifteen litre plastic bucket type , they are also used for stuff like tile adhesive. Easy to get hold of , look in builders skips for instance , and nearly always contain water based products so easily washed out but they still look like tubs of paint and if there are dribbles down the side they look like part used tubs of paint. Result is storage that looks not worth bothering with , storage that can be moved about without attracting attention , something that would be overlooked if the garage was broken into. It's also possible to use the original labels as a code of sorts , magnolia emulsion could be dried fruit , white emulsion rice and so on. Disadvantages , as no system is perfect , are that being round they do waste a bit of space and the smaller size sometimes makes it awkward packing things like cans.

Excellent suggestion

[janso]

+1 for the paint can suggestion; I've just not long got rid of a few as well! Excellent tip for the masses mate


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[BigJockC]

Hi All, I have been collecting old doors and buying lengths of studwork timber from any of the wholesalers who have offers (Wickes, B&Q etc) then using the trusses in the loft I have now two tier shelving in my loft, really simple DIY trick as most doors will fit through the hatch.
Doors are measured, Timber is cut to length and fixed to trusses and doors laid on supports. Bingo Shelving in the loft. I used Gumtree as well as skip jumping to find the doors, so only paid for the timber this time.