Equipment Storage

As my underwater camera gear setup grows, so does my collection of parts grow. I have many adapters, lens, spare o-rings, clamps, arms, nuts and bolts, small accessories that typically comes with your lights, strobes, etc. All of it just randomly placed on my shelf.

Wanted to know how do you guys store and organize all your stuff at home? Pictures would be appreciated so I can get an idea of how you do yours. Thanks

Mine live in big random piles in my office, which ensures that I can never find anything

Important expensive stuff like camera, lenses, hard drives etc all live in various peli cases stuffed with silicone sachets (I live in a house over the water, so the humidity is insane). Clamps, accessories and all the other stuff is in various plastic storage boxes like u can buy in B&Q. Usually ordered by 1- stuff I use, 2- stuff I sometimes use, 3-stuff I need to sell but convince myself one day in the never never I might actually need again.

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On 9/1/2020 at 2:41 AM, adamhanlon said:

Mine live in big random piles in my office, which ensures that I can never find anything

thanks Adam haha, we are in the same boat here, looking for knick-knacks takes a few minutes of my life everytime.

On 9/1/2020 at 10:20 AM, Placebo365 said:

Important expensive stuff like camera, lenses, hard drives etc all live in various peli cases stuffed with silicone sachets (I live in a house over the water, so the humidity is insane). Clamps, accessories and all the other stuff is in various plastic storage boxes like u can buy in B&Q. Usually ordered by 1- stuff I use, 2- stuff I sometimes use, 3-stuff I need to sell but convince myself one day in the never never I might actually need again.

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Interesting sorting categories. I agree I will need a pile of those items I never use

Like Adam entropy tends to take over. I have two sets of industrial shelves with plastic bins. I bought them at Sam's Club in Anchorage on a ferry trip there a few years back - store is now gone and the ferry system here has been mostly offline. If there is a Sam's in your area they are wort looking at. I have some stuff stored in Think Tank rollers (one domestic and one international) that only leave on dive travel so they still have use at home plus some spares are stored there ready to go.....

I keep mine all in a Cinebag Square Grouper - which I also use to carry my gear to and from the dive boat. It has some zip pockets for o-rings/batteries. They have lots of bag options - so might be worth a look.

I just had my Zen mini dome arrive and was a bit taken by surprise when it only came with a neoprene cover for the outer glass and no port cover at the back. So wondering what people do in regards to storage/travel.
I would love a little hard travel case (I heard Adam mention something about people getting into using plumbing fittings at one point?) or a back port hole screw-on fixture ( from the new Sea&sea minidomes). I had a quick look at 'lens hoodies' which might be better for storage/travel also, essentially a neoprene lens cap with a hard plastic insert that the port could slot into.

For now, I keep my flat port on the housing normally during storage/ travel but might want to keep the dome port constantly on now and get something a tad better than neoprene over the glass for travel in my camera bag.

So if anyone has any tips, I'm all ears.

Hi Leehank

I've tried a number of things:

- you can often buy a "rear port cover" for ports - eg, Subal sell them for Subal ports - so worth checking that.

Or you can use all sorts of things for a DIY solution which can be very cheap and also satisfyingly fun......

- plumbing pipe cut to the right length, with end caps and sponge cushioning inside.

- The right size paint pot from a DIY/paint store (empty and cleaned, of course)

- Tupperware-type material cake boxes

- Food storage boxes with "click tops"

Definitely worth having a poke around DIY stores, budget shops, Walmart-type stores... and then let your imagination run riot.

Hi,

I keep mine in two safes locked away but all in cleaned & dried before I shut the door.

I do keep batteries charged & discharged, as I try to keep them in top condition. 

regards,

Andy

Hi all.

Keep them on shelves and Inside their pelican cases... If some stuff is wet, leave the case open..

I leave them in peli-cases. As for spares I put them in a bag and label it what it’s for. I’m very forgetful so that helps me keep things together and makes it easier to find later. Everything goes in a case.

I just a got a Pelican Air case that holds everything  - minus battery chargers. It's big.  About the size of a large check on, and it does weigh 48 pounds full.  With that said, I have no problem checking it and even paying for an extra bag. After many years of carrying batteries and parts in my pockets, I finally figured out it's only like 20 to 40 dollars to check it as an extra.  On SWA it's free

We finally moved into a house large enough so that I can have my own (fairly large) closet for underwater camera gear. My wife and I started out by sharing the closet (roughly 50/50 camera gear and her knick-knacks). As she takes stuff out of this particular closet (to use, etc.) I subtly spread stuff out a bit to appropriate more space. I'm up to about 70% of the closet now, aiming for 90% eventually

Having everything laid out on shelves (small bits in bins), lenses sitting upright, etc, makes it much easier to find stuff (and also makes you realize it might be time to jettison some stuff - why do I have 5 different housings, incl. one for a D90?)

1 hour ago, oneyellowtang said:

We finally moved into a house large enough so that I can have my own (fairly large) closet for underwater camera gear. My wife and I started out by sharing the closet (roughly 50/50 camera gear and her knick-knacks). As she takes stuff out of this particular closet (to use, etc.) I subtly spread stuff out a bit to appropriate more space. I'm up to about 70% of the closet now, aiming for 90% eventually
 

 

This sounds an eerily familiar ploy.... must make sure my partner doesn't see this post!

My dive gear all goes into the same closet in one of the bedrooms.  Dive bag on the floor, BCDs and regulators on hangars.

The camera gear is separate.  I have an entire walk-in closet mostly dedicated to holding photo gear.   One cabinet with three shelves holds two big Nauticam housings (D850 and D810).  The third holds strobes, and misc dive-related camera gear.   The latest housing (D850) sits in a backpack that also holds the bulk of the arms, extensions and ports needed.   At the moment I only have three lenses and matching ports, and I only use two of them .  (105vr and 16-35.  60mm macro was too short - a failed experiment).

Even my closet doesn't hold all the camera gear.  My strobes, stands and umbrellas have a dedicated shelf area in the garage, mostly because at Thanksgiving I make the garage into a studio and do family portraits there.  Almost never use the strobes elsewhere, so convenient to keep them there.

We utilize 1 gal zip-lock bags for groups of similar components.  All chargers in one bag, tray and arms for each camera in separate bags, All gopro components stored in a small sealed box.  Had to drill a small 1/16" vent hole in the gopro storage box, the seal would vent and pull a vacuum on the box during airline travel, almost impossible to open afterward. 

Lens and cameras are stored in padded cases.  All of the bags and components are then stored in a tote from HD w/ folding lid flaps.  Keeps everything organized and ready for the next trip. 

Our house is large enough that we have a room dedicated for dive and camera gear.  Installed heavy duty clothing racks and shelves to hang wetsuit and BCs, and store totes.  Have several totes labeled for gear:  His, Hers, Cameras, Mechanical, Liquids, Misc.  Installed long hooks on one wall to store several pairs of fins.

Keep a 6' table in the room to prep gear for the next trip or servicing equipment.