Salt air and outdoor gear

[jaymz]

Life and work have relocated me and mine to that great mountaineering mecca known as Clearwater, Florida. I've done a little Googling, but honestly, I've come to trust this forum more when it comes to things like this:
How concerned should I be about the effects of salty air on my climbing gear? Do I need to keep it in airtight containers, or is it ok hanging on a wall and sitting in boxes in a closet? I do have dreams of building a little climbing wall somewhere, but worried about having my stuff out in the open in a coastal area, especially when living or dying depends on the structural integrity of that stuff.
Or am I just worried about a non-existent problem?
Thanks in advance!

[pvnisher]

I lived within rock throwing distance of the ocean in East Asia for 4 years.
My bike (outdoors) turned to absolute rust. My tools, indoor, varied by how expensive they were.
Wife's indoor bike fared just fine.

My climbing stuff looks fine, most of it is aluminum. Steel crampons and tools are ok.
I don't think it has any effect on webbing and rope, but I stored all that indoors.

I did use one sling and two carabineers for attaching things to my paddle board. They got lots of salt water and sun, and whether it affects them or not, I ain't climbing with those particular pieces again.

I will say that most things stored outdoors in my car hole (literally a hole in the hillside) or outdoor shed aged pretty badly. Mold, salt crusting, rust, insect eggs, not great.
Indoors, pretty ok, except for a fair amount of mold on stuff, but that shouldn't really matter for integrity.

[jaymz]

Thank you, that is encouraging!

[Fletch Lives]

https://www.containerstore.com/s/clear- ... d=10024301

I live in a place where there are dramatic fluctuations in temp and humidity, so I use these for down jackets, sleeping bags, ropes, webbing, slings, harnesses, fly fishing gear and everything else I don't want to get funky. I am up to 12 of these bad boys and the original 4 I purchased in Denver in 2009 are still bomber. Stuff that's 15 years old looks brand new. Only exception to this system is fuel, stoves, and water filters (you never really can dry those things out).

If you're slightly more daring, buy one of these to keep them all nice a neat.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Black ... lsrc=aw.ds

[nyker]

For someone who grew up salt water fishing, WD-40 became my best friend with my gear. Understand you can't spray that on all your equipment but can probably work on some of it.
Also if it ever got sprayed directly with salt water or dunked, washing it with freshwater helped prevent corrosion on metal surfaces.

[jaymz]

Thanks guys. Sounds like I shouldn't be worried about one day suddenly finding a rusty pile of dust where my draws and axes used to be
I'll look into those containers and a little regular maintenance.

[AndrewLyonsGeibel]

Throw a silica packet in those sealed tubs and you’re good to go.

[Miles813]

I currently live in Tampa and my advice would be to keep anything that can oxidize that you care about indoors in a climate controlled area. I left my golf clubs in the garage for a weekend and they had rust. I keep all my gear in my bedroom to my wife's great chagrin. But in tubs in the house and you should be fine. As others have suggested throwing a couple of those silica pouches in there cannot hurt.

Hopefully I will see you at Vertical Ventures in St. Pete!