vacuum sealer

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nomad211

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Aug 9, 2005
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Does anyone have any experience with using vacuum food sealers to waterproof gear with? Do they work well with smaller items, such as cotton balls or other tinder material?
 
I've wanted to try that for a while now just don't have the equipment to do it. I have used wide clear packing tape to seal up items. Just lay a strip down sticky side up, put the items on making sure you have space around the items, then lay a matching piece of tape, sticky side down to make the seal. I guess this would be the poor mans method. :p

Soup
 
nomad211 said:
Does anyone have any experience with using vacuum food sealers to waterproof gear with? Do they work well with smaller items, such as cotton balls or other tinder material?
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I have only used these for meat cuts but I think it would work great for waterproofing small items as you outlined. Good idea.
 
I've got a Black & Decker on my counter, I use it for sealing meat and coffee beans. I imagine it would work well for waterproofing your gear, having 5-10 small bags in a tight space.
 
I have one and use it to put one good change of clothes. ie. wool socks, gloves stocking cap, and silk long underwear. I put stuff like matches and such in a water tight container that I can open and reclose while I am in the field. Once you open those vacume bags you no longer can re-seal them properly. They do wonders on your clothes for space saving, what I have listed for my change of clothes, takes up about much room as a 12oz pop can.
 
Yeah, I knew that such a package would not be resealable. I just want a way to waterproof small items for one time use, such as tinder. I know that it'll work on larger items, just not sure how well it would seal small individual items & was curious if anyone has tried it (before I bought one). Thanks for the input.
 
Since we're on the topic, what are some products and prices out there for vacuum food sealers. If they aren't too expensive, I might be inclined to make a purchase. I would love to seal up a change of clothes and other small items. Great ideas!!!! :thumbup:
 
pastorsoup said:
Since we're on the topic, what are some products and prices out there for vacuum food sealers. If they aren't too expensive, I might be inclined to make a purchase. I would love to seal up a change of clothes and other small items. Great ideas!!!! :thumbup:
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Here in Japan where housing space is very limited there are huge zip lock bags for sale that people vacuum seal futons and bulky clothes in for the summer time. All you really need is an X-Large zip lock (prefferably with 2 locks) and a vacuum cleaner and the smallest attachment.
 
There are a ton of online vendors selling the Tilia (tv infomercial unit we bought) and other brands of vacuum sealers. Do a Google search on "vacuum food sealer" to find them. You can compare prices of vacuum sealers on this page from pricegrabber.com:
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=1465/

The vacuum sealers are very handy for compressing and waterproofing items. I figure them to be God's gift to kayakers and canoists, as well as hikers and hunters. :thumbup:

FWIW, the bags used with the sealers are quite sturdy IMHO. I've got a bunch of long deck screws rolled up in one of the Tilia brand bags that's been carried in a tool tote for at least a couple of years. It's not vaccumed, just rolled and stashed in the tote. But the bag has kept the sharp points of the screws from poking through the material much and hasn't torn from edges & corners of other tools rattling around inside the tote.
 
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