Public Storage units?

[swords]

I'm thinking about getting a http://www.publicstorage.com unit and I was wondering if any of you guys have one and what you think of it? Can I use my own combination lock on the door or MUST I buy one from these people I'm renting from for twice the price?

On their website they say a 5 x 5 unit with a door and lock in my area is $28-$35 per month and 5x10 is $52 both of which seem reasonable.

Are any of you using this company or a similar storage place for your extra stuff you can't bear to part with but have no space for?

 

[herenorthere]

My wife had a storage unit when I moved here and I highly recommed throwing away enough stuff that you don't start down that path. They just enable people to accumulate more stuff and, what starts as a 5x5 habit is soon a 5x10 habit. Do yourself a favor and start a heroin addiction instead. Ttreatment is available for that, but not for storage unit dependency.

 

[Ant]

smells like a garage sale.

 

[swords]

Yes, I hear ya! I'm generally good about throwing out unused stuff. It's just all these books I hate to get rid of. I gave away a few hundred unopened collectible action figs at Xmas to toys for tots-which eliminated a large stack of boxes. Boxes of CDs and DVDs go to the half price bookshop a few times a year cos I get so many in for review. I just hate the idea of having to try and locate any of these books again later.
It is possible to run out of space with just books - I never thought I'd make it... I guess that's why they call it "Bibliomania"!

 

[RL7836]

A friend recently sent me a copy of this video. While I have not tried the approach on a real lock, it does seem authentic/functional (& snopes has nothing on it). Would make me reluctant to lock anything important with a combination lock.

On the storage issue - HNT is right - heroin is probably easier to stop. Beyond the 'storage habit' thing - beware of rodents & mold. It's easy to assume that your important stuff will be safe - not.

 

[herenorthere]

Bibliomania is a dangerous condition. I once rented a room in a house where the person in charge had thousands and thousands of books and records on ugly free-standing wood shelves he built. It was a good sized house and pretty much every wall in his room and the common areas was lined with shelves. They weren't much of an upgrade, aesthetically, from the board and cinderblock shelves I used back in the day, but his shelves could be higher and hold more. He did a weekly international music radio show and more records & tapes arrived all the time. The books mostly came from used bookstores, but he'd occasionally order a book about music or ethnography.

He ended up losing the house because he wasn't able to keep enough tenants and the owner he "managed" it for decided to lease the house to someone who could pay the rent. I helped him move his stuff to another house owned by a friend of his and he later moved out west to take care of his elderly parents. I sometimes wonder (like now) what became of him and his collection. There were enough books to be a small town's library, if the small town had a lot of twisted residents, and the record collection was a gold mine for anyone interested in world music. I had grocery bags full of tapes when I moved out.