Pack ratting. Too much stuff

Joezilla

Joezilla

Moderator- Wilderness and Survival Skills
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So I'm about to move again, and I've realized how much I am being a pack rat. I've got way too much stuff. Too many pots, pans, flammable items, boots....

The list goes on. Who feels my pain?
 
Someone once told me that three moves equals a house fire. :D

I always seem to lose a few things that I really miss but keep a whole lot of JUNK! :D
 
Man I feel you.
I got packs and old sheaths and old tarps and obscure knives and more packs and machetes and old shoes and a book I lost on run on sentences! And one time....

-RB
 
Joezilla, brother, you and I are one in the same. I'm practically giving away gear whenever I can.
 
I am a packrat. I refuse to throw anything away that I have used at least once. Not sure why, but I can't do it.
 
When I moved from my first apartment, I had no idea how I got so much stuff in such a small space. I'm still a packrat, but with a second child on the way I realize I need to thin out things I don't use. I fear I'll get rid of something and then later need it, even though I've had it for years and not used it.
 
I try not to accumulate much, I go on monthly purging spree's to keep the junk accumulation to a minimum. the pay it forward thread is great for getting rid of stuff :).
 
I feel your pain.
I am accumulating gear and accessories and sharp things at an alarming rate.
Besides which, moving is always a pain.
 
Years back after my move from a house to a small townhouse (divorce), i learned to keep it simple. I had so much "stuff" crammed in every nook and cranny in the house that my head was spinning while packing to move. I gave away so much stuff after I got settled. I know what your going thru!
I now go thru everything each time the clocks get reset spring and fall and anything I accumulated that isn't used goes.
 
Anything that looks like it may even remotely have a use in the future, looks like it might be turned into something else, or may contain parts that could be used or transformed into something, is still living somewhere in my apartment or garage. Every time I even think of tossing something out I begin twitching and shuddering, and a little voice says "yeah, but what if..."

Pack rat? I'm way beyond that: my rats are legion ... and they all have packs. If I ever have to move, I'm in deep, deep trouble.
 
I go through my various gear closets/bins/boxes/packs/rat holes about once a year and clean out my extras and stuff I have upgraded. Extras go to ebay or a friend in need. I used to be really bad about buying 20 new knives a week, but since I got the Sparky prototype, I really haven't been buying knives. I am still bad about flashlights, but it's a lot easier to get rid of the extras when I am selling five different premium brands anyway.

I used to run an online business for a gear store that did used stuff as well, and we did a lot of business with guys like you, Joe. Wives would start complaining and husbands would have to get rid of half their stuff. Luckily, my wife is into the same stuff I am, so I am usually the one wanting to get rid of stuff.

REI super clearance sales are really bad for me. I make so much progress in getting rid of stuff and then my piles quadruple. This year was especially bad. :o
 
Okay to heal the Pain Trade Blanket! me I've been Selling off tools and blades as some know, it will get real heavy this year as I have to clear out a storage room.
 
I hear you loud and clear. I blame my parents, its genetic, My mom and dad tried really hard not to accumulate stuff, but when they bought my dad's uncles house, it went down hill from there. I want to keep everything light, and simple, and my girlfriend tells me that someday we'll have a big yard full of toys. I'm doomed. oh well, might as well make the best of it.
 
Joezilla said:
Who feels my pain?
Click to expand...

I sure do! I've had to move cross-country twice in the last six years, and both times I disposed of an unbelievable pile of "stuff" (books, old clothes, broken outdoor grear, old electronics, etc., etc.). B oth times I moved I ended up getting rid of stuff that I had never unpacked from the previous time I moved!
 
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I feel your pain- quite intensely- on a daily basis. Half of the crap I own has not seen the light of day since I got married and moved into a tiny, tiny house with Kat nearly five years ago. We have a 10x10 storage unit rented down the road that is literally packed to the ceiling with who-knows-what. :rolleyes: One of my summer projects is to sort through, clean up and sell off as much of it as I can.

Meanwhile, we have accumulated more junk and a mob of cats in the house which combine to make an actual sighting of the floor a rare occurrence. (No too bad, really- the carpet is scary-ugly!) :p
 
I'm the same way but I am interested everything so everything has a purpose to me. My wife on the other hand doesn't have any hobbies so it's easier for someone who does nothing to need nothing.
 
Another pack rat here. I've got kit coming out my ears, some of it so environ specific the chances of using it again are almost non-existent. The key word being almost.

4 month purges is al that keeps me from needing to either buy a bigger place or rent a garage. My gf moved in last year and brought all her stuff which has gradually taken over the apartment, the only good thing is that it forced me to move a lot of my stuff on.

The only true are of multiple redundancy I will not purge is my blades. I just need to work hard at rotating through them so I can justify them is all.

Don't even get me started on books, I've got some from 16 years ago that i've not read since but enjoyed at the time. If I had the land I could just about build the walls for a small garage out of my books.
 
With me it`s mostly excess knives. They seem to multiply when I`m not watching. What I have started to do, is every Thanksgiving I put numbers on the back of the knives I no longer want or need. Then I have my son in laws draw numbers to see who gets what.
 
Stomper said:
With me it`s mostly excess knives. They seem to multiply when I`m not watching. What I have started to do, is every Thanksgiving I put numbers on the back of the knives I no longer want or need. Then I have my son in laws draw numbers to see who gets what.
Click to expand...
Do you have any more Daughters available?:D
I'd like to get in on this.
 
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