The Storage Dilemma of Sports and Outdoor Gear: Nearly Half of Owners Keep Items They No Longer Use

Kase Warehouse Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture; President: Akira Mitaka) conducted an email-based questionnaire survey titled 'Survey on the Actual Storage Issues of Sports and Outdoor Gear' targeting customers currently using its 'Kase no Rental Box' and 'Kase no Trunk Room' services. Responses were received from a total of 944 individuals, including 529 owners of sports and outdoor gear, and the results are hereby announced.

Sports and outdoor gear—such as camping, golf, skiing/snowboarding, and cycling equipment—are popular hobbies but are often large in size and tend to occupy significant storage space in homes.

To understand how these items are actually owned and stored, and what challenges they create, we initiated this survey.

The results revealed not only rankings of owned items and actual usage patterns between home and trunk rooms, but also the honest sentiments of consumers who 'know they won’t use an item but can’t let it go,' along with real-life conversations within families.

The full details of this survey are available in the complete version published on our web media platform, 'Kase-shiki'.

For those interested in graphs and verbatim responses, please refer to the page below.

▼ Complete Survey Results Here

Kase-shiki 'Complete Report: 2026 Survey on the Actual Storage Issues of Sports and Outdoor Gear'

https://www.kase3535.com/media/storage/12941/

Survey Summary

● Ownership rate of sports and outdoor gear: 56.0%. Top owned item: 'Camping gear' (57.1%)

● 63.3% of owners reported having items they haven’t used in over a year.

● 48.0% of owners keep items they no longer use. The top reason: 'I think I’ll use it again' (57.7%).

● Primary storage location: 'Trunk room / rental warehouse' (62.6%). 60.9% cited storage as one reason for signing a trunk room contract.

● Top storage concern: 'Takes up too much space' (49.0%). 30% have experienced complaints from family members.

Survey Overview

Item

Content

Survey Name

Survey on the Actual Storage Issues of Sports and Outdoor Gear

Target Respondents

Users of Kase Warehouse’s 'Rental Box and Trunk Room' services

Survey Period

June 19, 2026 – June 30, 2026

Survey Method

Email-based questionnaire

Valid Responses

944 respondents (including 529 owners of sports and outdoor gear)

Ownership Rate of Sports and Outdoor Gear: 56.0%, with 'Camping Gear' Leading

When asked about ownership of sports and outdoor gear, 529 out of 944 respondents (56.0%) answered 'Yes,' indicating that over half of the respondents own some form of sports or outdoor equipment.

When owners were asked to select all items they own (multiple responses allowed), the top 10 items were as follows:

'Camping gear' was the most common, selected by 57.1% of owners—more than half.

This was followed by 'Golf gear' (31.6%), 'Bicycle / Road Bike' (28.9%), and 'Ski / Snowboard gear' (26.7%). Camping gear, which includes bulky items like tents, sleeping bags, tables, and chairs, stood out in terms of ownership rate.

When asked which item takes up the most space, 'camping gear' again led with 34.0%.

Regarding usage frequency of the bulkiest items, 'a few times a year' accounted for 39.7%, and 'hardly ever used' reached 20.0%. Combined, about 60% (59.7%) use their largest items fewer than a few times per year, revealing a significant gap between storage space used and actual usage.

63.3% Own Items Unused for Over a Year; Nearly Half Can’t Let Go

Among owners, 335 (63.3%) reported owning items they haven’t used in over a year. The top reason for no longer using them was 'I just can’t bring myself to throw it away' (39.5%), followed by 'physical ability or age' (21.7%) and 'no one to do it with anymore' (17.2%).

Over 60% Store Sports Gear Outside the Home; Trunk Rooms Serve as a Solution

When asked about storage locations (multiple responses allowed), the most common was 'trunk room / rental warehouse' with 331 respondents (62.6%), significantly surpassing 'closet / cupboard' (215 respondents, 40.6%). This indicates that home storage alone is insufficient, and external storage services are actively utilized. Other locations included 'empty room' (87, 16.4%), 'entrance / hallway' (75, 14.2%), and 'balcony / garden' (53, 10.0%), showing that every corner of the home is being used for storage.

Looking at items stored in trunk rooms, 'camping gear' stood out at 39.3%, followed by 'golf gear' (18.7%), 'ski / snowboard gear' (15.1%), and 'bicycle / road bike' (12.1%). It appears that larger, seasonal items are more likely to be stored in trunk rooms.

When asked if 'storing sports and outdoor gear' was one reason for signing a trunk room contract, 60.9% (322 respondents) answered 'Yes,' confirming numerically that storage needs for hobby-related items are a major motivation for using trunk room services.

Top Storage Concern: 'Takes Up Too Much Space'; 30% Have Faced Family Complaints

When asked about storage-related difficulties (multiple responses allowed), the most common response was 'takes up too much space' (49.0%).

This was followed by 'gets in the way during off-season' (25.3%), 'worried about deterioration or rust' (25.0%), and 'difficult to access' (20.8%). Beyond simple space shortages, issues related to quality—such as deterioration, mold, and odors—are persistent concerns.

In open-ended responses, numerous specific anecdotes were shared:

● 'I can’t reach items at the back, so every retrieval turns into a major cleanup.'

● 'When I finally take it out, it’s moldy.'

● 'I forget where I stored what.'

The recurring themes are the difficulty of storing irregularly sized items and the problems of 'deterioration, mold, and lost items' that arise from infrequent use.

Regarding complaints or criticism from family about storage, 30.0% reported that it 'often' or 'sometimes' happens. Actual comments from family members included:

● 'If you’re not using it, just get rid of it?'

● 'When are you going to use this? It’s in the way—throw it away!'

● 'You’re taking up too much space at home—get rid of it!'

In open-ended responses to 'What gear would you buy if you had more storage space?', the following comments were received:

● Additional camping gear such as tents, table and chair sets

● More golf gear, ski equipment—expanding existing hobbies

● Fire pits