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We’re willing to hazard that Brette Harrington has more gear than you do. She may even have more gear than you and all your climbing partners combined. This should come as no surprise considering her multidisciplinary skillset. Harrington has made a name for herself as a free soloist, trad climber, sport climber, alpinist, and skier. Most recently, she put up a four-pitch 5.14a climb called Shadow Line in a coastal cave in Sardinia.
Yet in spite of her stockpiles of ropes, shoes, cams, and more, Harrington keeps it all organized across several gear closets, as well as storage areas scattered throughout her home.
“I just moved into a new house so I’m still organizing it,” says Harrington, who’s currently based near Las Vegas, Nevada. Though she admits that her gear organization remains a work-in-progress, she showed us some creative ways of storing gear, both in a dedicated closet and beyond.
Watch Brette Harrington show us around her gear closet
Harrington’s storage systems, aspirations, and pro tips
Like many climbers, Harrington uses bins to organize her gear, which she stores in an under-the-stairs closet. But she’s hoping to upgrade her storage system soon. “I’m planning to build some cabinets for everything,” she says. For now, she has dedicated bins for winter gear, climbing gear, camping gear, and so on. She makes sure to keep bins of gear for the current season easily accessible.
“Honestly, it’s nothing special,” she says of her gear storage system. “I have some grand plans, but they are still in the making.” Relatable.
Here are a few of Harrington’s pro tips for keeping everything organized:
- Use a peg board to keep gear visible and accessible
- Rather than dumping stores and draws in a bin, hang them in a closet or on a freestanding clothing rack
- Categorize everything so you can keep gear for similar pursuits together
- Don’t leave out the small things—put them in the bins for the category they belong to as well
- Store smaller bins filled with harnesses, carabiners, chalk, chalk bags, brushes, and more small necessities on bookshelves or other shelving units
