I use the food saver brand alot to freeze bulk food. It works well, but you need to check the seal to make sure it is complete. I do wish the heating element was closer to the vacuum chamber to avoid the wasted bag edges.

I did vacuum pack a roll of gauze for my med kit to reduce bulk. It took a couple of cycles to vacuum, seal, trim to reduce the packaging to a managable size (~2x2 in), but it worked. That particular item has not lost vacuum yet, but I have had others do so. Part is the quality of the bags. I like the food saver ones, not so much the black and decker bags.