Does anyone pack clothes, electronics, or ??? for long term, water-proofing or 'other?' Are there bigger bags for bigger stuff? Do you add silica packs anyway?

Thanks

I'm going to put in silca packs in with our emergency meds, and thinking about the logistics of vacuum sealing the meds as well.

(we sometimes dip into the emergency stash when I forget to get a script filled and it's after pharmacy hours.)

While not a Vacuum Bag, I like the Space Bag type of product. Since there is typically nowhere to plug in the vacuum sealer in the boonies, and the space bag type product lets you re-compress the package.

Perfect.... nope, but woks in a pinch.

I've gone a little nuts with mine, and sealed all kinds of things. Best use? All my first aid supplies. It really reduces the bulk, and keeps things safe, dry and easy to sort through. I notch the edges of the packets, and they do tear open quite easily.

I keep one of the big 15X15 ziplock bags in my laptop bag,
incase it rains.

I use a couple of LockLock boxes for chargers and other
small stuff, and an otterbox 2000 for my PDA, and a
small witz case for ciggaretts and a lighter.

While I don't really think the ziplock is needed for
short trips in light rain, say, from the car to the office,
I keep it around since it weighs hardly a thing, and
if it's needed, it would be really bad if I didn't have it.

Mogg

Um, I sorta hate to admit this, but I recently did a box of matches using my vacuum sealer, doing each match individually. I now have 10 strips of individually vacuum sealed strike anywhere matches. My reasoning: if I needed a match I didn't want to open a bagful and compromise them all at once.

Well, that and I was a bit bored and OC that day.

Matches individually vacuum sealed?

That's even more OC than me (I bow to your superior OCness).

I always say "if it doesn't scare the kids, stampede the livestock, or wake me up, I'm cool with whatever".

At least you know your matches are dry no matter what.

I vacuum seal first aid supplies, ammo, TP, personal meds and vitamins. I often vacuum seal a suitably sized zip-lock bag in with the vacuum sealed item(s).

I do mine in groups of 5 or 10, and include a striker with them. Yes I put a striker in with SA matches.

Extensively.

My son recently went on a camping trip with his school off in the woods in central PA. I vac-sealed some first aid supplies, fire-starting equipment, dry socks and some batteries. Two reasons.

In my jeep I keep some tools I don't use frequently and stuff that I don't mind re-packing when I need them (like a poncho). Even though I'm not a fire/rescue guy anymore, I still keep the same emergency kit in my truck that I used when I was active.

Yeah, for me that's the best use too - trauma stuff, quick open and always clean and dry.

I bought both, the Reynolds and zip-lock system ,and i like the zip-lock because it doesn't need batteries. But either work well.

Is the walmart vacuum packer a good choice ?

ok, now I want one. To seal up food, socks, first aid gear, electronics, etc...

I use it to pack up individual daily cloths packets.

I put the following in a single pack

1 pair of socks
1 pair of underwear
1 undershirt
1 wash cloth

Roll the whole thing up around the undershirt an then vacuum everything up. This way you get a daily pair of clean undies and washcloth to towel wash if needed.

I keep a pair of pants/shorts & shirt in a bags by them selves as these only get worn every other day.

The ZipLock system is totally manual, so you can do it anywhere without batteries, and you can re-seal the bags.

I was surprised how well they worked. I also wash and reuse them, and they still hold their seal (which I did wonder about), but I did wash them by hand with hot tap water, not a dishwasher. The only thing I don't care for is the scored design of the plastic bag itself (inside and out) which may trap food particles. And I would never reuse them after raw meat.

Sue

Just added diapers to the shrink-wrap set. (See my other post in Campfire)

I have both the ziplock system and a food saver. I prefer the food saver, the bags are thick and I have had only a few bags not seal the 1st time around. I have done just about everything menchend here.


later
jmd