Putting gear in storage. Any advice?

[agent77]

I'm about 99% sure that I landed a new job a city where my brother lives. If so I'll be living with him and his family until I get my own apartment. This means I'll be bringing only the bare necessities (clothes, bass, practice amp, and laptop) the rest of my belongings will be put in storage. It gets pretty cold here in Northern Pennsylvania and heated storage spaces are not available. So I'm asking for any tips about storing gear. The following is a list of what will be stored:

5 piece drum set with cymbals
4 PA cabinets
2 floor monitors
2 PA heads
1 bass head
1 combo amp
some mics and cables

[fdeck]

Cold isn't really a problem if condensation can be avoided. Tightly bagging everything in heavy plastic bags (e.g., Home Depot has huge trash bags) is probably good enough. But never trust a storage space to stay dry. I'd make sure the gear is raised off the floor with some old shipping pallets.

[bertbassplayer]

I dont think I'd trust putting a drumset in a non-climate controlled storage facility. I've seen weather do horrendous things to drums. I don't know what the weather is up there, but I know here in Texas sometimes it can be 32 degrees one minute and 70 the next. I think I'd try and search around to find something that climate controlled.

[runmikeyrun]

The drums are going to suffer. The veneer could peel or the shells could warp.

The amps and mics will get destroyed by condensation, which is inevitable when it starts to do the warm up/cool down cycles in the spring. Thick industrial grade bags are a must, even double bag them. Put something absorbent inside the bag with your amps and mics. I'm sure you can buy silica gel or something commercially made, but a lot of people use a large bag of rice in a fine mesh bag. If you put the rice in a plastic bag it can't absorb the moisture. Just make sure to throw it away once it stays warm or it will get moldy.