Hanging onto useful tat?

austin

Well-Known Member
How long do you hang onto stuff. Example, in 2003 I had some side windows fitted to the Land Rover I had then. I saved the cut out bits of aluminium “just in case”. 19 years later they are still in the garage and I can’t bring myself to get rid. Surely they’ll be useful one day (probably about 2 days after they’ve gone to the tip).

that’s not the oldest by far but a good example. The oldest is probably various old tools my dad gave me from his ship engineer days that I also can’t get rid off. Again they will have a use on day. I reckon my dad hung onto them 30-35 years and I have had them about the same, so about 70 or more years waiting for a use.

I also hang onto broken things, like a bent a twisted pair of mole grips from 30+ years ago - bent them trying to get the exhaust off sn R80ST, but there’s lots of stuff like that cluttering up my garage, not to mention unused fittings and doo-dahs from stuff like flat pack furniture, washing machine install kits, old lamps, and god knows what. Then there’s rusty old nuts bolts, washers that are knackered from rust, threaded, rounded or whatever that I just know I might have a use for, along with bent broken and battered homemade special tools that had a one off use but I am sure will come in again.

anyway one my promises to myself is to have a clearout this summer as I am running out of room.
 

Hudders

Moderator
Staff member
Forum Supporter
Keep everything you can, sods law says you will need it soon as it's junked, maybe not for the intended purpose but always useful [emoji6]

Sent from my S41 using Tapatalk
 

Rubberchicken

Well-Known Member
Big question is, if you were to ever need some bit you've been keeping for decades, are you going to be able to find it in all that junk? Or are you going to forget you have it and buy a new one? :)

Having had the opportunity to muck out a hoarders house & shed (and experience what a souldestroying job it is given that 99% of it goes into a skip), I've come to really appreciate the odd cull.
 

austin

Well-Known Member
Big question is, if you were to ever need some bit you've been keeping for decades, are you going to be able to find it in all that junk? Or are you going to forget you have it and buy a new one? :)

Having had the opportunity to muck out a hoarders house & shed (and experience what a souldestroying job it is given that 99% of it goes into a skip), I've come to really appreciate the odd cull.

most of the time I know exactly where everything is. Sometimes I remember where something was; it’s when I give something a new home that I forget where it’s gone. But yeah, I think a cull us needed.
 

-XP-

Well-Known Member
Forum Supporter
You're not alone. I have shelves all around my workshop full to the brim with stuff, I haven't used any of it for years but if I were to throw it away I'd need it, it's sods law!
 

Hudders

Moderator
Staff member
Forum Supporter
most of the time I know exactly where everything is. Sometimes I remember where something was; it’s when I give something a new home that I forget where it’s gone. But yeah, I think a cull us needed.
It's an age thing [emoji23]

Sent from my S41 using Tapatalk
 

Philwhiskeydrinker

Well-Known Member
Good to hear that we're not alone...

In 18/19 we moved four times (yes, four ffs, next time will be in a 6' wooden box [emoji23]), our stuff 2 or 3 times - each time, we had a clear out, lots of the non day to day stuff is still boxed in their packing boxes, it's crazy.

When stuff went into storage the chap at the storage compound said that you can get a family 3 bed semi into a 20' shipping container if you pack it well, believe me every corner was stuffed, when you went back, opened the door and there was a wall 8' high packed tight up to the door, tifht to the roof, plus our temporary flat was full, my brothers garage had stuff, as did my sisters & some stuff at our mates' farm...

Chatting to Paul/Bimbler the other year after his latest move, he said one thing that became apparent over the years is how much 'stuff' you accumulate...

On the other hand, I helped a tenant move after 18 years - his stuff went in a load of my van.
Part of me envies his simplicity of life!

But then he doesn't; have pets (stuff), kids (loads of tat/stuff), motorbikes (more stuff), go camping (stuff), do gardening (stuff), do any form of modifying/fixing/building/repairs/mechanics/maintenance etc - lots and lots of stuff (often heavy & bulky).

The trouble is, this stuff only has relevance to us.
If you or I popped it tomorrow, someone would come in, deem it all as useless tat (and think wtf have they kept that for...?) and chuck it in a skip [emoji23][emoji23] (hopefully charity some of it)

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk
 

Rubberchicken

Well-Known Member
Well that’s the thing. I have been that someone, and a lot more of it went into a skip than was comfortable, but you can’t take the time you need to do everything justice.

But yeah, bikes, spare parts, tools, a few generations of bike gear, camping gear. A few generations of computers and laptops and misc tech shite. Books. Oh man books… It all sure adds up once you start packing, how many boxes? More.
 

boboneleg

Well-Known Member
Forum Supporter
We used lockdown to 'cull' our loft , I also did a similar job in my garage. When I eventually took it all to the tip , sorry I mean recycling center it was clear that lots of other people had the same idea. The queue to get in was horrendous
 

Lowflyer

Well-Known Member
We used lockdown to 'cull' our loft , I also did a similar job in my garage. When I eventually took it all to the tip , sorry I mean recycling center it was clear that lots of other people had the same idea. The queue to get in was horrendous

In the old days before "recycling " my wife made a point that more often than not, I'd actually come back with something I'd found at the tip :eek:

I remember when the lads were very small, I took them to the tip in the lorry when one of them shouts " daddy, there's a horse " I ignored initially until I looked up and saw a rocking horse on top of a large mound. Got it down, brand new it was, shoved it in the back of the truck, had it for years :D
 
Top