I absolutely love my foodsaver. Aside from the rather mundane use for food, I vacuum seal a lot.

My first rule: seal nothing that you need to grab and use instantly. So I wouldn't seal a light or whistle.

Cotton balls - sure. But NOT if you've slathered them with vaseline. My sealer will suck that gunk into itself. So with my vaseline-cotton balls I make a tiny bag and just heat seal w/o the vacuum.

Matches - sure. I have packets of sealed matches with strikers strewn everywhere.

Medications -sure. No problem.
I have a very tiny FAK (little more than liquid bandaid and real bandaids, a bit of tape, moleskin, and a few other trinkets. This is sealed in a vacuum bag the size of a credit card and around 1/2" thick and always in my pocket if I'm in the field.

I take a roll of the 6" bagging material, seal one end and cut off about 18" of this stuff making a sturdy open-end bag to put water in if I have to. My PSK is inside the bag, rolled up and a ranger band around it. Yes.. more bulk than a Gerber breast milk bag. But I have rolls and rolls of the stuff around here. (By the way, you can't boil water IN the vacuum seal bags.... but you can put your rat or rabbit in the bag and the bag INTO boiling water to cook!)

But the neatest thing I do with the vacuum sealer has to do with clothing! In my car BOB and my major "shelter-in-place" locker, almost all clothing is vac bagged. For instance: a wool watch cap, heavy socks, and wool gloves will suck down to a brick hard, tiny package that will stow anywhere. A set of expedition weight duofold long underwear sucks down to a package little larger than a magazine. This is just so compact and convenient you folks have to try it. Space blankets... heat sheets...etc. Even stuff you don't need to remain waterproof: my rain suit sucks down into the smallest, tightest, easiest-to-pack flat bag you can imagine.

The only problem I've ever had was when I did this for all my clothes on a 2 wk back country trip. Getting my stuff (primarily clothing) back here after it was opened and expanded took a lot of stomping and stuffing!

I'm a pipe smoker. I vacuum and seal tobacco blends and they store and "age" this way. I seal a vacuum bag around my liter of Irish Whiskey before it goes into my luggage. When I take out the vacuum sealer my wife runs and the neighbors quake. ...I'm out of control. You'll love it!