A few posts back, I mentioned that I carry some spare clothes in the vehicle winter gear box. I vacuum pack them for two reasons – first, it keeps them clean and dry; second, it helps to compact items to conserve space. But, a picture is worth a thousand words.
For this example, we’ll use this Carrhart Face Mask..a bulky, thick, warm head/face covering that is well suited for spending the night in a cold vehicle. For the purpose of size comparison, note the beer-can sized object next to it.
We fold it into thirds so it’ll fit in the bag, slide it in and set it down for comparison. Note the amount of loft/bulk…it’s about half as tall as the Coke can. The coke can is about 4.75″. The folded face mask is about 3″ thick. Let’s draw the air out of it and see what it compresses down to.
Finished product. Not only is it now going to stay dry and clean, two very important features for a piece of gear that might be called upon in an emergency, but the thickness is a fraction of what it was before. When space is at a premium, this is an exceptionally good way of making the most of what you have.
Sure, buying yourself a vacuum sealer is a very(!) good way to maximize your savings on bulk purchases of meats and whatnot, but it also comes in very handy for protecting and storing items that absolutely must be stay in good condition. A buddy of mine just bought one the other day and when I talked to him a few days later he’d already had a good time experimenting with it and sealing up all sortsa stuff.
By the by, I actually do use the stupid thing for kitchen purposes. The absolute most useful thing I’ve done with it, in regards to food, is using it to store extra spaghetti sauce. See, I’ll make a huge batch of meat sauce with beef and sausage. Then I’ll put a couple ladles of sauce into a bag, let it freeze solid in the freezer, and once it’s solid I’ll vacuum seal the bag. (Because vacuum sealing a bag of liquids is messy. So..freeze solid.) Then, months (or years) down the road when I want a quick and easy meal, I’ll throw on a big pot of water for pasta. As the water comes to a boil I drop the bag of frozen spaghetti sauce in there. It thaws as the water comes to a boil. Remove bag, add pasta to water and cook. Put the thawed bag in the microwave for a couple minutes and when the pasta is done I just cut the edge of the bag and add sauce to the pasta. One pot cooking. I’m tellin’ ya, if you’re an imaginative dude you can come up with a lot of great ideas on how to exploit a vacuum sealer.
You’ve probably already heard about this before, but if you don’t have a vacuum sealer, a pretty good expedient is dipping the bag in container of water just below the top, then zip shut so water pressure against the envelope does the work for you.
Good tip on the spaghetti sauce, great way to make it in deer camp. Thank you.
Play sand also works as well as water, if not better as it gives support. Use play sand as its clean.
Thanks SAM – I hadn’t thought of that.
I dried some sauce and then vacuum packed it. Prying the sheets apart for use was an adventure.
I vac pack clothes, medical supplies like gauze and actual surgical gloves, anything that can be damaged by water, both for prepping and SAR gear.
One thing I do if whatever I am packing is a quantity more than the immediate use (gauze 4×4’s, for example) I put them first into a ziplock bag (unzipped) then vac pack it. Once the vac pack is opened, thats all she wrote – there is no more waterproofing going on. The ziplock allows me to at least protect it a bit.
Do you find with cold, dead fingers (sorry could not stop myself), you can get into the vacuum packed bags? Just thinking about what you said about it here http://www.commanderzero.com/?p=1478 and a not bad trick here http://www.commanderzero.com/?p=480 if you don’t have a vacuum sealer.
See some of us have been reading you a long time. I remember keep finding your site before it was a blog with just a peace about the Browning High Power, Comtech Stinger and something by your Dad (I’m getting old).
A tissue thin mylar space blanket is far more challenging with cold fingers than any vacuum sealed bag.
If you are using a disposable bag from a vacuum sealer (as opposed to one designed to be reused, like with a vacuum cleaner), they need to be cut open anyway, so the moment you puncture the seal, the vacuum goes away and it just becomes a regular plastic bag.
And if you are careful in cutting them open (and used them on a clean object), you can reuse the vacuum sealer bags, they will just be smaller, so a different item may have to go into it… or leave extra to begin with.
I love my sealers. I waiver between dry bags and sealed bags at times, but for long term affordable storage, vacuum. I have a test going with energy bars right now.
Flight-ER-Doc, nice advice.
Used sealer for 22 ammo too, kept it quiet.
You got .22 AMMO????
Local Gander Mountain stores have had tons of 22lr available. Also many many tons available online for 6-7 cents per round which seems to be the lowest current price.