It's not pretty when a pack-ratting gunnie moves...

[Hutch]

What was I thinking?? I'm DOOOOOOMED, I tells ya.

I accepted a move to NW Arkansas, which means moving out of my house of 22 years. I have a strongly acquisitive nature, a lazy streak, and a mountain of stuff to sort thru, organize (yeah, right!), pack, and move. On my own dime. Just to let you know, it took me a full afternoon to clear off the top of my chest of drawers and empty the bedside table drawer on my side of the bed. In so doing, I uncovered/recovered, ~ 100 rounds of ammunition, 5 speedloaders, 4 pistol mags (1 of which I haven't had a pistol for in 2-3 years), 2 knives I thought I'd lost, 1 I had forgotten I owned, the "owners manual" for the A.L.I.C.E. pack, about 5-10 unopened (Thank goodness) packages of throw away eap plugs, old magazines, 3 old pairs of glasses, old American Rifleman 'zines, 2-3 flashlights, none of which had useable batteries, 3 holsters.... Well, you get the picture.

What in the world will I do when I get busy in my "hobby room"? 30 or 40K rounds of ammo (about half .22's), a similar number of pieces of brass in various calibers, ~ 20k primers, 10-20k bullets, grips, holsters, manuals, powder, dies... I feel nauseous. I know it seemed like a good idea at the time, but WHY did I need another 2k pieces of .45ACP brass, or a hundred pounds of linotype? What is the value of the 5th K-frame holster, or 20th FAL magazine? If I ever get my head straight on this, there's gonna be a reckoning.

 

[Moondoggie]

I feel for 'ya!

When wife & I relocated 2 yrs ago, it took 2 trips with our 18 wheeler & 48 ft trlr to move all of our stuff....actually it was only 3/4 trlr load each trip cuz we had a car sitting in the rear both times.

Couple of things like the piano (thankfully now handed down to a nephew) & the gun safe I called a moving company and paid $40 to have a couple of their guys come over at the end of the day to get those into the trlr. Fortunatley I had built a 20' ramp out of 2x12's (with my sawhorses underneath for support). The lumber became shelves in the basement of this house for the boxes & boxes that we still haven't unpacked...SWMBO keeps making noises about going through all of them; YIKES!!! We bought a new big screen TV this weekend...hopefully that will distract her for a few more months!

"Acquisitive Nature"...I LIKE that! When the SHTF all of that stuff is gonna come in handy...that's my story anyway.

 

[Arc-Lite]

Guys...I want to thank you...for a good, heart felt laugh this morning.... just know, your in very good company.....and if anyone tells you different, then they haven't moved in a long long time....oh , and it only get worse or better, your either a collect, or your not, it won't change.

 

[ACP230]

I have taken a vow never to move again.
Gun stuff accumulated over the years is one reason.
Another is about 1,500 books.
I never answer bug out threads because I'm planning to stay in place.
Maybe I could make a barricade out of the books and fight from behind them!

 

[craig]

moving

here's an idea. have a yard sale. gun stuff collectors only, lol.

 

[Gunpacker]

Re: Moving

I can certainly sympathize. I remember thinking "Just what will I say if I get stopped and the cop asks if I have any firearms, knives or other weapons with me." It certainly would have been interesting. Thankfully, I never had to answer that question at an inopportune time. When going thru a truck check, I was asked what I was hauling. I truthfully answered, "I am moving, and have household goods and other normal personal property." Well, at least it is normal property for those of us here.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Guess I'm lucky to be able to move every 4 years or so. That way the stuff doesn't accumulate as much.

 

[sumpnz]

Lenny - I was only in the house there in Vail for 3.5 years and it was bad enough dealing with that crap with the move to Mesa. Thankfully GD paid for the movers.

 

[biere]

Good luck.

I am moving this fall and while I have only lived at my present home for 4 years I have a very good idea of what you are dealing with.

One thing I found out recently and plan to use when I get around to emptying my 40x60 barn is that a 20 yard dumpster costs 265 dollars.

For working on stuff inside I decided to just move everything out of each room as I deal with stuff. The only items that can go back in that room are stuff I am keeping and use all the time. While the room was empty I made notes about paint and repairs and what not and will get to those once I have gone through each room.

Using this method inside has made me deal with lots of my junk since I quickly overcrowded the rooms I had not been through yet.

I have also been helping my parents go through some stuff at their home and we came across a lot of their boxes that they moved into the house a bit over 30 years ago. I decided I won't ever let things get that bad so I am really decluttering and making some headway.

I will still move way more stuff than I want to, but what else is new?

 

[Hardtarget]

I've been here 34 years. In my basement I have most of my wife's uncle's "stuff",(everything he owned), and her parents "stuff"...(everything they owned)...her Mom had a stroke then her Dad died. There is a narrow path throughbut its stacked 6 feet high all over. Then there's my "stuff"... ...now, what was your problem? oh,yea, you're moving...something I plan to NEVER do. I do plan to have a fire in the back yard! You'll see the smoke!
Mark. you have my sympathy.

 

[Slimjim]

We do have a F/S section, if you need to unload any of those long lost, recently found items. Or you could give them to me...ill pay shipping just to get it out of your hair faster

 

[Standing Wolf]

Stuff breeds. I swear I didn't buy half the junk that's taking up space in my garage.

 

[P95Carry]

Hutch - if it is any consolation (probably not) - 5 years ago nearly, after living (pack-ratting) in my UK home of 22 years - which was I might add part workshop.... I made my move over here - to marry my now beloved.

I spent countless weeks sorting (headaches were daily) - I filled a huge industrial dumpster with at least 15 tons of stuff - I advertized machinery and all sorts - eventually selling off a lot - helped pay for my then frequent flights to and fro. In the end I finished up with still a mass of gear (lathe included!) - such that my movers jacked up the cost - seeing as they saw it necessary to use a 40' contained instead of a 20'!! Not to mention the weight!

Hopefully your costs will be lower than mine - I spent perhaps $20,000 all in all getting here with my stuff - and eventually a tractor trailer arrived with it all. I have now needless to say added to it - badly!

Bottom line it can be done (has to be) - and looking back I do not know how I did it - really. I was even then feeling old too! But - where there's a will there's a way - so go for it - pick at it bit by bit - be a bit ruthless and get a huge bunch of flatpack cardboard boxes - and get to packing them with all the ittybitty small stuff - oh and LABEL them!

Oh and - my few remaining guns - they came shipped after much hassle getting ATF import clearance!

 

[HSMITH]

I moved last September. I was in that house 6 years. I filled the bed of my 3/4 ton pickup and a 16 foot trailer TWICE to move my 'gun room' and my bullet casting lead. Trailer and truck were both squatting pretty hard on the lead trip LOL! Then I had to move the rest of the house, by myself. I got down to the furniture and gave up, called in a mover and for $150 they made one trip with a big van truck and got the rest.

Moving sucks. I've moved something like 12 times in the past 14 years, most of those were on Uncles dime but it still sucked.

 

[cane]

Hutch, I could have written that origional post, right down to the "hobby room". I'm in the process of moving from NC where I have lived for 30 yrs. But, first I have to fly to Anchorage, pick up the truck and ATVs and drive to our new place in Texas. Then back to NC for the final truck load. I swear I'll never move again!

 

[Sam]

Being a career GI, I've been smacked around by that moving business a couple of times. Pretty strict limits on what you can move and how much of it. I had to dispose of 80k of assorted ammo, since Uncle Sugar wouldn't haul it.

Invited the flight and all their families for a day at the range, brought all the ammo (filled 2 pickups) and all the guns and had at it.

One guy inherited my 1000 lb reloading bench and another inherited 1800 lbs of lead. Had to give away about $1000 worth of bullets. Filled a PU an 18 foot trailer and the wifes van, that's after getting Uncle to haul 9600 lbs. I hauled the powder and primers in my vehicle. Lets just say that it was way more than whats legally allowed to haul in a passenger vehicle. I suspect that the DOT would have had issues if something happened, although they wouldn't have been able to do much about it.

Funny the Canadians never looked. All down the ALCAN in a rolling bomb

Sam

 

[thorn726]

you sound like the kind of guy that ends up being my goldmine!!

i haul junk for a living and (hehehe as i rush you into a box, sorry!)

the best jobs are when pack rats get too old for their home and i get to take it all away.
truckload after truckload of junk, with diamonds through out.