[pct-l] vacuum sealers

[Roger Carpenter]

Kurt,
I agree with Roberta on the brand (FoodSaver) and the various uses and
benefits of a vacume sealer.  The FoodSaver bags are sturdy and your food
will keep for months in resupply boxes while they await mailing to you on
the trail.  The bags are a little expensive but you can save money at places
like Costco and Target.  The lowest cost is with the rolls which you cut to
any size.  I have stored all my homemade trail foods such as tomato leather
and stuff like olive oil, herbs & spices, trail mix and other bulky items
and they have come out relatively fresh even after months of storage.  In
resupply sites I often repackage the bulky nuts or trail mixes into zip
locks so I can easily re-seal them on the trail.  Unfortunately a lot of
vacuum bags end up in the trash, but I've never had the illusion that long
distance hiking is a trash-free activity.

In addition to food I will store powdered laundry soap and even hair
shampoo.  I discovered the hard way that odor emitted by laundry soap in the
resupply boxes will leach into some foods especially chocolate.  The vacuum
bags completely sealed in the odors and there was no cross-contamination.
Packaging my own laundry soap saved me from spending $ on those little boxes
in Laundromats.

Another nice use for vacuum bags is to seal some emergency matches or fire
starter materials.  In wet weather you don't want to find those items soaked
like the rest of the contents of your pack.

Roger Carpenter



> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net
> [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Kurt Herzog
> Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2008 7:14 AM
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l] vacuum sealers
>
>
> I am contemplating buying a vacuum sealer (like
> the Rival Seal-a-Meal) to repackage dried meal
> components.  I would appreciate anyone with
> experience in doing this to post tips,
> suggestions, etc.  I have been using a non-vacuum
> sealer for many years to good effect, though the
> vacuum method looks superior on paper.
>
> Thanks . . . Kurt
>
> Kurt P. Herzog
> Grants Pass, Oregon
>
>
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