gear garage Mark Shipman
Outside the ultimate gear garage (Jose Mandojana)

The Ultimate Gear Storage Facility

How to build your very own gear shrine

gear garage Mark Shipman
Jose Mandojana
Image

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Every minute spent wrangling gear in a cluttered closet is time wasted. This truth prompted Mark Shipman, a 64-year-old skier and climber from Wenatchee, Washington, to build the most impressive gear-storage facility we’ve encountered. Using made-to-fit shelves, a custom lazy Susan, and drying racks, he packed 10 pairs of skis, two bikes, and all of his climbing and camping equipment into his 20-by-20-foot garage. Then he used the extra space to house a home-brewing kit, a walk-in cooler, and two climbing walls on the shed’s exterior. Here’s Shipman’s blueprint for building the ultimate gear shrine.

garage gear Mark Shipman Inside the ultimate garage.

USE WALLS WISELY: If you’re starting from scratch, cover your walls with OSB, a composite that’s tough enough to be drilled into. Build shelves parallel to the wall—the sides of each unit, and the spaces between them, are for hanging and drying gear.

INNOVATE: To keep his climbing ropes off the ground and away from corrosive chemicals, Shipman installed a 24-inch lazy Susan, upside down and at eye level. His ropes hang and rotate, like on a tie rack, for easy access.

From Outside Magazine, Oct 2012
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Lead Photo: Jose Mandojana
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