Merwin: What Will Happen To Your Gear When You’re Gone?

As fall tends into winter, our local fishing is slowing down. I’m starting to put away some tackle (but not the steelhead gear) and vowing to get my stuff better organized. Famous last words. Getting organized somehow never happens the way it should.

Thinking about that made me also think of this question: What’s the condition of your sporting estate? If you were to somehow keel over and depart this earth, would your family know the extent of your hunting and fishing gear and what it’s worth?

Or would your heirs just put all of Dad’s old fishing stuff out in a roadside tag sale, not realizing that it might be worth thousands of dollars? That’s one of those tough questions that nobody ever wants to think about–but should.

Long-time anglers and shooters accumulate all kinds of things that might not only be valuable in their own right, but also appreciate in value over time if they’re at all collectible. So make a written inventory, including what you think is a realistic value at the time. And make sure your wife or whomever knows where it is kept. Just in case.

There’s another benefit here, also. You’ll find good things you’d forgotten you even owned. Even the small stuff is important. You’ll find something like two small boxes of swivels, thereby saving money by not having to order yet again some simple thing because it’s easier to buy another one than it is to find the one you already have.

Despite the obviously good advice, have I done this myself? No, not yet. But maybe this is the winter is the time when I’ll finally get around to it…