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Growing up and going over seas, I went through a few moves where stuff that was not immediately needed at the next stop was put into storage for 2-3 years till we got back to States. Even in modern times, talking to a current soldier, he told me of how taking his tools out of storage was like Christmas.
But today, I often hear from anothers, "If you haven't used it in a year or two, you don't need it! Toss it!"
Well, seeing how the world of storage is exactly that, where does one stand in face of the other?
The "toss it" comment is idiotic. I have not used my first aid kits in over 5 years. Should I toss them? Fire extinguisher? Specialized car tools?
The "toss it" comment probably comes from someone who watches way too much HGTV.
There are things that you can possess and use in the US that you can't take many places overseas, guns being the most obvious.
We just recently downsized our storage again. Went from 30x10 to a 14x9 to a 10x9. Moving from a 4 bed home to a 2 bedroom apartment has been difficult. But I do have stuff in there that I really don't want to buy again such as a couple of grills, fire pit, bike racks, etc. Then there is stuff that I can't buy but only use when the Army determines I need to use it.
There's a difference between "I have a perfectly good home but I put things in storage for years on end and never touch them" and "I'm living overseas and items I don't need there {no room in a barracks, live in furnished housing and thus don't need my furniture/live in Dubai and won't need my winter coat and snow shovel and skis, won't be there long enough to need *all* my stuff} are in storage until I return to the U.S. or a place where I do need those things." It's comparing apples and oranges. Obviously, in the second case-- which is the situation in your OP-- one wouldn't throw out something one doesn't need *right now* just because one doesn't need it right now but will later. (Or, some people might, if they were to be away long enough and paying to store their funiture/stuff would be more expensive than just buying new whenever they're in a position to need it again.)
There's a difference between "I have a perfectly good home but I put things in storage for years on end and never touch them" and "I'm living overseas and items I don't need there {no room in a barracks, live in furnished housing and thus don't need my furniture/live in Dubai and won't need my winter coat and snow shovel and skis, won't be there long enough to need *all* my stuff} are in storage until I return to the U.S. or a place where I do need those things." It's comparing apples and oranges. Obviously, in the second case-- which is the situation in your OP-- one wouldn't throw out something one doesn't need *right now* just because one doesn't need it right now but will later. (Or, some people might, if they were to be away long enough and paying to store their funiture/stuff would be more expensive than just buying new whenever they're in a position to need it again.)
Only, I wasn't talking about standard storage, a unit or room someplace in town, but storage when one moves to another location where they can't take everything with them.
Now, as said, I might have termed it better but then again.....I did put it in the moving forum, did I not?
Only, I wasn't talking about standard storage, a unit or room someplace in town, but storage when one moves to another location where they can't take everything with them.
Wut? Commercial storage is commercial storage. It doesn't matter to the storage place why you're storing your stuff or where you happen to live...as long as you pay rent on time and you don't store prohibited items (unstable chemicals, explosives, pressurized gases, toxics, etc.).
If you never plan to come get the stuff again, this begs the question why you must keep those things if they're just going to sit in a storage locker in some place you don't live. Why not get rid of it? Put useful things in the hands of people who will use them while they still retain some value! Are you hoping to be featured on TV's Storage Wars or something?
Last edited by Parnassia; 03-21-2024 at 12:35 PM..
Without going into too much needless detail, I was for a while associated with a recurring project that popped up once or twice a year, in a different US city each time. Think 'circus' for purposes of discussion. For the first half-dozen or so years, the team would carefully store major items during the downtime, and then re-use for the next cycle.
Two things happened.
-The # of storage units went from 2 to 6 to 11 in no time.
-stuff never really came out of storage in the exact condition we needed it to, and/or it might not be an exact 'fit' for the next use...so into the trash it went.
(oh and a 3rd one, shipping and cartage costs were berserk)
We did a cost-benefit analysis and determined that it made much more economic sense to sell items at the end of a cycle to whomever wanted them, donate the rest, and start clean the following cycle.
Only, I wasn't talking about standard storage, a unit or room someplace in town, but storage when one moves to another location where they can't take everything with them.
Now, as said, I might have termed it better but then again.....I did put it in the moving forum, did I not?
And what are your plan with the stuff in the storage unit at the other side of the country besides paying for storage? Even if you have climate controlled storage there are bugs, dust, deterioration not to mention that the orange shag rug will need 30 years to be back in style.
Growing up and going over seas, I went through a few moves where stuff that was not immediately needed at the next stop was put into storage for 2-3 years till we got back to States. Even in modern times, talking to a current soldier, he told me of how taking his tools out of storage was like Christmas.
But today, I often hear from anothers, "If you haven't used it in a year or two, you don't need it! Toss it!"
Well, seeing how the world of storage is exactly that, where does one stand in face of the other?
Can you clarify a little bit?
Are you planning on going overseas, and need to put items in storage for several years?
Are you asking whether you should simply toss stuff that you haven't used for several years?
Are you just curious how many responses you can get to this thread?
If it won't be too much of a violation of OPSEC or security issues that aren't up for discussion, please let us know what you're actually talking about. . .
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Wut? Commercial storage is commercial storage. It doesn't matter to the storage place why you're storing your stuff or where you happen to live...as long as you pay rent on time and you don't store prohibited items (unstable chemicals, explosives, pressurized gases, toxics, etc.).