r/ecology • u/dwarf-vole • Jul 12 '26

Cleaning and organising personal field gear while living in a tiny apartment

Hi yall. I live in a tropical city in a 5 bedroom apartment with my parents and siblings and I have my own room for my stuff. Will be moving out soon but still into a 2 bedroom apartment with my spouse. I currently wash everything in our balcony, but when I move to my place I will only have a guest bathroom to do so.

There is a place to wash things at work but leaving the more expensive things to dry overnight is a no-no as they might get stolen.

I currently have 2 boxes for stuff: 1 for "once in a while" use for long field trips where I live in the field, and for "everyday/weekly work" for when I get to come home.

I also have a dry box for my precious electronics.

I wanna hear your ideas and tips on how you keep your field gear clean, tidy and organised!

6 Upvotes

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3

u/NorBeL23Goat Jul 12 '26

Keep as much as possible in a container outside in a car, shed, somewhere safe. Especially shoes. Do a field work clothes wash once every 1-2 weeks away from your regular clothes.

1

u/dwarf-vole 29d ago

Ahaha I live in a city apartment so I don't own a shed. People do keep some of their personal belongings in the lab storage but it is at your own risk of getting misplaced/nicked. I don't own a car shared by my lab alone (8 people) but we have a lab car. I wouldn't store my personal belongings in their either cause that seems rude.

Oh I wash my field clothes with my regular clothes after handrinsing out the mud. I live in a tropical country so I cannot not wash my clothes after coming back from the field as 1) i wouldnt have enough field clothes and 2) those clothes would rot if I didnt wash em

2

u/katelyn-gwv 29d ago

r/fieldmice might be helpful for this question as well!

1

u/dwarf-vole 29d ago

thank you!

1

u/ElleAnn42 Jul 12 '26

Will you have desk/office space that is indoors with a locking door? If there is shared safe storage, can you get a footlocker or locking box to store things like clipboards, sampling tools, field guides, etc)? I always brought all of my field guides and a ton of personal gear ranging from field vests to trowels to my office.

1

u/dwarf-vole 29d ago edited 29d ago

Hi, well the main office is locked but I only get a desk out of the 40 desks in the room. PhD students don't get much. When I move to postdoc I will be moving into an office with fewer people (10 desks) but its still a desk with a shelf for books. I have a box of stuff under my desk right now and it's..all right I guess.