I recently gained some information the hard way on the effects of
extreme damp on your gear. This post gives the surprising or thought
provoking effects.

The situation: Bag of equipment sorted into groups in ziplock bags,
contained in a Cordura bag packed in an O-ring sealed plastic
container along with 4 "Aquablox" water packages (cardboard "juice
box" style packaging).

Over the course of a New England winter the freeze/thaw cycle
evidently burst the Aquablox boxes and my equipment spent an unknown
but probably multi-month time sitting in 1" of water inside a sealed
container.

I'll give the quick lesson for those who don't want to read the whole
list: vacuum pack things and think about silica gel. Zip-locks don't
cut it and even things that you might think are impervious aren't.

The big killer of the environment was mold/mildew rather than straight
water.

Here's what I found, in rough order of interest.

* Small signal mirror (Coghlan's LTD, grid type): mold grew between
the glass and reflective laminate resulting in opaque black "worm
tracks" between the layers. Mirror was still semi-functional but
certainly impaired. The aiming grid was "fogged" with mold making
the "spot" aiming impossible. Still usable using "hand" technique.

* Silva map compass: mold had infiltrated the liquid of the compass
and collected on the needle (mostly the S pole) and was visible as a
"fog" along the whole wetted surface. Compass operation unaffected.

* Magnesium block fire starter: block itself showed corrosion
(surface covered with hard white substance). The inset artificial
flint was a gooey paste on the lower 1cm (the part that had been
soaking). The remainder of the flint was sufficient to produce
bright sparks but wore down noticeably in 5 minutes or so of
sparking against a cheap mora. I'd hate to bet my life on it in
this condition.

* Fishing kit (allegedly stainless steel). Packed in a
divided plastic container and wrapped in plastic wrap, the contents
of the lowest compartment (may have been *in* the water) were a
solid block of rusted hooks. Also, I had wrapped fishing line
around a metal sewing machine bobbin and placed it in the top of the
container. That was rusted but the line would probably have been
usable.

* BCB wire saw: Completely rusted along the middle 3 inches.
Appeared to retain strength but I did not try it out.

* Diamond sharpener: This was evidently a diamond/ceramic over steel
and the end caps exposed the steel, which rusted. Usable.

* Mag-lite 2xAA flashlight: Gunk in the knurling (probably from the
magnesium block). Butt cap frozen on I think due to pressure
differential required Leatherman to open. Butt cap O-ring
significantly deformed, but batteries inside in fine condition (I
store it with one batt. reversed). Worked just fine, but with the
shape of the O-ring I'm concerned that it would not now survive
another episode. There are disadvantages to storing it so that you
have to unseal it before using. Had I been one-handed I would not
have been able to reverse the battery.

* Instruction sheet: Was not laminated, but was stored inside
zip-lock. Contents mildewed but readable.

* SAS Survival Guide book: Stored in zip lock bag. Has musty odor
but no visible damage. I guess I was more careful about sealing
this one.

* Irrigation syringe: No visible mold or mildew, but I'm concerned
that spores would be unpleasant if it were used to irrigate a
wound. Still, mildew better than foreign matter, so I'd consider it
"usable". Any thoughts from you medic-types out there on this one?

* Sam splint starting to delaminate. Completely usable, just
strange. My guess is that this is due to head cycles in the trunk
of my car and has nothing to do with water/mold environment.

* Matches in "el-cheapo" plastic waterproof container: Container
actually proved to be waterproof. Matches and paper-backed striking
surface inside are just fine. Striking rod set into bottom of
container also just fine.

Other notes:

* The bottled water in an identical box (containing a change of
clothes and more first-aid supplies) survived the same environment
with no problems. That container is still good to go. I'm ditching
Aquablox and picking up Poland Springs <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

* No, there is no knife in this kit, so I can't report how it faired.
Yes, I should probably toss in at least a couple of cheap Moras.
The "good blades" are in my hiking kit and EDC. I wonder how the
Moras would have survived.

dewey,

Thanks for the writeup. I was thinking of getting some Aquablox for my truck, but it gets cold here, too. I've never had a Poland Spring bottle spring a leak, and they get bounced around quite a bit. Sorry you had to find out the hard way.

dewey:

I understand the desire for convenience and a single "Grab & Go" container, but knowing what water can do, why pack it in the same container as non-water containing items.

Since the water could burst from any number of reasons from any container, it seems a better bet to pack it in its own easily identifiable (IE: Different color or water printed on the container.) container so that even if you only have time to Grab & Go with one container, you can make your choice at the moment of need.

Bountyhunter