I have long been wanting an established space for gear and projects. For many years, my gear storage consisted of plastic totes on various shapes and sizes, stacked in corners and on top of one another. A 6’x6’ walk-in closet was all that was available. There was hardly room to sit in a chair, much less have a true workspace to get much accomplished. It was cramped, but it was what I had and it worked, after a fashion. I’m grateful for what I had. It was more than what some people have. Many preppers live in apartments, mobile homes, or any other small space that doesn’t have the luxury of an available walk-in closet. I’ve lived in strictly limited space. Over the years, I worked with what I had, with a hope of more.
I recently had a shop built that now serves all my needs. There is a large amount of workspace in the “main” part of the shop, where I can work on mowing equipment, vehicles, carpentry (nothing fancy, just building basic things like shelves and deer stands), and the like. However, I was able to build a 10’x10’ room in one portion of the shop, which doubles as an office and storing prepping gear. I went from 36 sq feet in my previous “closet” to 100 sq feet in my “office”. Nearly three times the space and much better organized.
As for the office, there is a folding 6’ table that serves as a desk and a folding chair. It may not sound like much, but it’s perfect for me and it serves my purposes. There is a decent surface to work on everything from organizing gear to typing. There is even a coffee maker on one corner of the table, for those long nights when I could use a little “pick me up”. I put up a 6’ wire shelf (the semi-modular kind that you can buy at Walmart, Home Depot, etc.). This shelf allows me to stack five storage totes (27 gallon heavy duty storage tote as Sam’s, approximately $10.00 each), on individual shelves, and free up quite a bit of floor space. There is an added benefit of being able to access a tote without having to unstack whatever is stacked above it. There is just enough room left on each shelf to stack a couple of smaller totes. Everything stays contained and easily accessible. I went a step further and labeled each tote with a strip of Gorilla tape and a Sharpie marker for quick reference to what type of gear was in each tote (“Camping”, “Packs”, “Spare Parts”, etc). There are a couple of wall-mounted racks that hold gear that I need daily. In the near future, I plan on installing a book shelf around the upper portion of the walls for my small library of reference books and prepper fiction.
There was a great sense of progress (maybe even relief) when I finally got my gear organized. Maybe it is a measure of OCD. Maybe it was just the lessened stress of just not having to look at clutter. Either way, there was a sense of accomplishment. If, and when, you can establish a dedicated workspace, do it. Spend the few dollars more on totes (or whatever system you’d like) to organize and store your gear.
A side note: I have learned various skills over the years that allowed me to save quite a bit of money having the shop and office built. I worked for an electrician for a few months, several years ago. Having learned the basics, I was able to run all of the my own wiring and install switches/outlets. This saved a LARGE amount of money. Even more money was saved by painting everything myself. My point is, anything you can do for yourself is money saved. Money that can then be put back into prepping, or other projects you have to do. This is just another part of being as self-sufficient as possible.
Don’t just prepare, prepare to thrive.
