YOU HAVE A RED SPOT

KIT UP KEEP AND STORAGE - Something most people forget about or you don't normally see on blogs.  If you maintain your kit/gear when regularly it will out last your expectations and continue to perform the way you need it to.  Sometimes it's just a coat of paint to preserve the look and sometimes it's actually scrubbing the dirt and mud off with soap and water, other times it's spraying it down and resealing the seams.  Finding a local supplier of things like velcro, buckles, zippers, shock cord,and cord pinches.  The little things that break and ensure you have a ready supply at home for these time and keep a travel baggie of the most common things.

For Storage, it's the small things that help extend kit life.  I recommend a KIT MIDGET for everyone running a vest and/or chest rig system.  This is a throwback to the days of swords and shields.  A KIT MIDGET or gear rack is used to hang you stuff while in storage and allow it to dry out between use and cleaning as well.  The simplest design is an upright cross/little t that uses a single 8 foot 2x4 and some 3 inch screws.  Cut three feet off the 2x4 to use as your upright portion.  Of the 5 feet left, cut it into 1 foot sections.  Center a 1 foot section six to eight inches from the end of the 3 foot upright, this will allow you to hang your vest/rig system and place a helmet on top.  The remaining 4, 1 foot sections will be used to create the legs to make it stand upright, screw them into the bottom in a pin wheel effect allowing for 4 equal legs to stabilize the stand.  Once your done hang your gear on it.  Now to ensure your gears longevity if you have plates (depending on your local laws) and depending how often you use them, remove them.  You do this for a few reasons.  The weight of your plates in your gear is negligible but over time while in storage it will add up.  Additionally there is no guaranty that you won't knock stuff over while in your gear room/closet and dropping ballistic plates and helmets is a bad thing, so by removing them and placing them in a secure dry storage area you can limit or prevent damage to an expensive piece of life saving gear.  Third if you're not in a profession where you're down range, or you're shooting season is dependant on extended weather you'll need to properly store your gear.  Now I said depending on how often you use your vest/rig.  I did this because if you need to/or use your kit every week/day then removing and replacing the plates will effect the velcro (hook and loop) on the plate pocket.  So if you're using it a lot leave them in.

Pouches, I don't remove my pouches unless I'm replacing them.  I run a few different setups based on what I'm doing.  What I do, do is down load my pouches removing things with batteries, expiry dates, and anything that mite be under compression.  I do this to ensure I check the life of anything with a battery so when I need it, it works.  Expiry dates usually means medical equipment and the last thing you want is to have to use your IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) and it's falling apart or rancid.  I remove things under compression so I can hang or shelve them so that things with springs or fill (sleeping bags and jackets) aren't left in a state wear they become ineffective.  And with things like sleeping bags and jackets they need to air out and be washed/dry cleaned so that you have them when you need them.  Now depending on the use of the pouch I treat it like a small backpack.  I will ensure buckles and zippers as per, but I will take some thin silicone and seal the seams on the inside and use a water repellent spray on the outside after I've cleaned the crap off and let my gear dry.

Go bags and storage.  I always have a Go Bag ready doesn't matter where I am.  What does change is the amount of kit and the sizes.  My Go Bag for at home and the one I have when I'm away serve different purposes and see different amounts of use.  The one at home is usually set up for going to the range and holds emergency kit as well in the even of a power outage or flooding in the area.  The one I have at work carries my backup kit if things go south and is based on what I think I'll need.  All of this said I treat my Go Bag like the rest of my kit and will down load it and check it periodically to ensure things like batteries and expiration dates on things like chem lights, med gear because it's left on a shelf and I don't access it every day or week.

Shelves and hangers are a must have.  Being able to arrange your gear according to type or season helps you when you need to pack it or put it away for extended amounts of time.  Now this can be done relatively cheaply buy picking up wooden selves at your local home depot, wal-mart, tiger, ect.  Additionally the nice thing is you can add hooks and panels to allow you to hang things.  You can also customize it to the area you have for storage.  On top of the selves, bins are nice for sorting out small bulk items.  It really is up to you how you do it, the options and layout are endless.

All of this said I don't wash my kit every week, I maintain it when I use it and check the perishables regularly and never store food stores in my kit when I don't need to.  I have an area set aside to allow me to have proper lighting, and access to any tools I mite need.  Things I don't do is put my boots, shoes, packs and rigs in the washing machine.  It's hard on your machine and gear a like and we've all spent enough to get us where we are now.  I use dish soap and a scrub brush if I'm washing my rig and I ensure I get all the soap off.    I know it sounds pretty intensive but it's easier then you think and takes no time at all, as well if your gear doesn't need it don't worry about it, you'll know when it needs to cleaned and you'll store it when it needs to be stored.