Hi everyone,
I just read some pages of Cody Lundin's book and he indicates to rotate some of your items:
1. Matches: Do you change your NATO wind/water proof every year or so? If I have to order some will I have to order them every years?
2. Duct tape and Super 33+ electrical tape : do you have to change the vinyl tape around your PSK every year? And your Duct tape?
3. Zipper lock bags and garbage bags... ("plastic becomes brittle over time")
What is your experience with these kind of items about shelf life?
Thanks in advance.

The brit made lifeboats left in the white container have a very long shelf life. These are hand made , heavily laquered and more robust than common strike anywhere matches. I've noticed when I stock a few in a PSK they are more prone to damage. Duct tape's shelf life depends on how it is stored in different environments. Ziplocks do break down over time. It's not a bad idea to periodically check all kit items anyway. But I wouldn't toss gear out except for specifically dated medical items, and even some of these retain a good percentile of potency after expiration. This stuff isn't like milk or yogurt, but it doesn't hurt to periodically renew bonds with your button compass either.

Checking everything in your kit from time to time is a good idea. The shelf life of most things depends on how and where it is stored, the duct tape in my bob is in the factory package and stuffed in a zip lock. I live in Florida and the tape after a while will leave sticky everywhere if it is not wrapped well, so it gets replaced on a regular occasion. In a cooler climate i doubt that you would need to replace it as often. Also if you vacuum packed anything unpack it from time to time, i recently broke into my bob for a clean shirt, ripped open the vac package and the shirt had a nice musty odor to it. And no the packaging had not been broken. Of course it still smelled better than the shirt i was wearing.

what if you put something in the bag you vacume pack to give it a better smell like old dryer sheets or something?

anythings gotta smell better then musty.
wonder if it would affect anyones allergies to mold?

Those vacumn bags are not true vacumn.

If you want almost true vacum (More than 29 inches of mercury column by HVAC standards.), you should attach an refrigerant vacumn pump to it. The bag still would not seal well enough to maintain the vacumn. You could include a dissecant pouch in there, flush it out with CO2, or helium gas before you seal it. The dryer sheet may mask the odor to a certain extent, but I do not believe it will stop the process that gives out a musty odor.

Bountyhunter

Pete, i didn't think about a gas purge. Have some mix gas (CO2, Argon) in the garage, will have to give it a try. I haven't put a vacuum gauge on the vac sealer to see how much vacuum it does pull, and it doesn't pull long enough to get any residual moisture to boil off any way. The fragrance in dryer sheets makes me sneeze so i will avoid that. Thanks.

Actually, if you were to pursue those lines of thinking, instead of using CO2, which contains oxygen and as I am sure most are aware Oxygen is a corrosive, use Nitrogen. N2 gas is pure, non-corrosive, and will actually absorb moisture. When in the Navy, we used it often to purge a system. We would evacuate the system to as low a vacuum as we could achieve, and then put a N2 charge of no more than 5 psi on the system and close it up. This process is known as "nitrogen blanketing" and is very effective.

iljeepguy:

When you're right, you're right!

The oxygen in CO2 would tend to allow mildew and mold growth also, but I believe it would be at a slower rate (Any bacterialogists out there?.).

We don't use the blanketing type of evacuation anymore because of the Montreal Protocol regarding refrigerant recovery and the accompanying "FIRST TIME FINE OF $25,000.00 USD" if caught. They give the person that turns you in a bounty of 15% so compliance tends to be absolute.

Nitrogen is what we use to seal systems for storage after they have been evacuated of refrigerant properly. Because of nitrogens high pressure and expensive regulators and tanks, it is not something I would want a novice to play with, but as you said, it would be the best solution.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

It depends upon the organism; many actually prefer a CO2 enriched environment. Pete

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