[L.J.Steele]

To move this back to gaming, some of this will be setting expectations with the PCs. If the setting and game experience is that urban settings are mostly safe -- unlikely to get into a sudden life-n-death struggle -- then PCs will be more willing to put their gear into storage. The first time they get jumped in a bar by a couple of vampires and don't have the gear to make it a reasonable fight, they'll cling to their stuff thereafter like a snail in its shell. Ditto if they put their gear in storage and it gets stolen, messed with, etc.

Yes, the fight without the gear is a good challenge, but use it sparingly if you want the PCs to not spend ludicrous effort on making that problem never happen again.