Mylar will be here tomorrow, cant wait!

[ElevenBravo]

I ordered several 5 gal and 1 gal mylar bags, the 1 gal bags will be here tomorrow, and I cant wait!

This should go well with my bucket setup.

First off, fill a 5 gal bucket with individual mylar bags filled with bleached water and date stamped.

Then, to make sure my little buddy is good to hook, a few bags filled with dog food... but Im waiting on my hot hands to get here before I do food goods.

I already got a real cheap hair straightner, will be working on a vacuum system to evacuate as much air as I can.

Anyways... that is all for now...
EB

[bacpacker]

Sounds like a good plan EB. Where did you get your mylar from? Prices?

[4suchatimeasthis]

What I like to do (I use a cheap hair straightener as well, lol) is start at the outside edges, and melt the ends together from the outside edges in. That leaves you with say an inch or two in the center of the seam. Then I push/suck all the air out, and melt that last little section. Make sense? It's a lot easier than trying to go all the way across from one side of the seam to the other, while keeping the air out.

HTH

[ElevenBravo]

I got 1 gal 5 mil here:
http://stores.ebay.com/silicadesiccantsandthings
20 for $14 and free ship



I got 5 gal 5 mil here:
http://stores.ebay.com/discountmylarbag
10 for $16 and free ship


I hope 5 mil is thick enough for me, this is my first mylar experience... Other than opening a Doretos bag!

EB

[ElevenBravo]

I think in the future, Ill just get them here:
http://www.discountmylarbags.com/categories/Mylar-Bags/

And, they take PayPal so my funds from ebay sales can cycle right back into prep goods!

EB

[AlphaTea]

What I like to do (I use a cheap hair straightener as well, lol) is start at the outside edges, and melt the ends together from the outside edges in. That leaves you with say an inch or two in the center of the seam. Then I push/suck all the air out, and melt that last little section. Make sense? It's a lot easier than trying to go all the way across from one side of the seam to the other, while keeping the air out.

HTH
Pretty much the same as I used to do and it works well.
Then I bought a cheapo clothes iron at walmart for about $10.
I use a 2 foot section of 2x3 laid across the top of the bucket as an ironing board.
Set the iron on high and put about a 2 inch thick seal across the top of the bag except for the last inch or so.
Push out any excess air and seal up the rest.
Never had a 'bad' seal and never melted a bag.
I used to vacu-suck the mylar bags but the O2 absorber will do that for you.

[4suchatimeasthis]

Yeah, agreed, I still always use the O2 absorbers, but I get out as much of the air on my own as I can. But, Alpha, I have to say, your 2x3 and clothes iron idea is a good one.....hhmm....I may have to give that a shot next time and see how that works. I bet it would be faster.

Oh, and you can reseal the mylar, so always use the very end, because when you cut it open, you only lose whatever you cut off, and can re-seal it again, as long as your bag itself isn't damaged.

Supposedly you can boil water in the stuff as well....never tried that though. Not sure I would want to.

[ElevenBravo]

BAGS ARE HERE! I GOT TO PLAY!

Both my 5 gal and 1 gal bags showed up today. Scooted out and got some HotHands.

The 5 mil thickness is perfect IMHO.

So, I bagged three 2 lt bags of treated water (Each in one 1 gal bag), in the 5 gal bucket, there is room for at least three more bags! So that can be 12 lt of safe drinking water!

Then, I did a bag of dog food, split two ways between two 1 gal bags... tossed in HH and sealed up, no problems!

I got excited so I did the two packs of quick oats and the one big bag of rice. Each of which fit nicely in 1 gal bags! Of course, the HH went into these too...

I used my $13 brand new hair straightener (I know, I paid too much!) and it worked like a CHAMP! It was easy and did a GREAT 1" seal!!

I hope to do a video on *how* I fill the bags... I also cut out the cooking destructions from the oats and rice and just tossed them in the bucket.

My stash is pathetic, way small... as Ive just gotten a good start... but at least NOW what I have stashed will be good for at least a year (??).

EB

[ElevenBravo]

I ordered 40 more 1 gal bags... I like the idea of smaller individual bags in a bucket... for numerous reasons.

EB

[AlphaTea]

Curious. Why are you bagging water?

[ElevenBravo]

Bagging water offers a few advantages.... A 5 gallon bucket will hold about 4 gallons of water. A single bucket is much easier to move than several 2l bottles that I was storing in Additionally the bucket is another tool once empty.

I have several other water storage systems already in place, this is just an alternative.

These are my thoughts...

EB

[Echo2]

We bought all the dry spice ingredients for soups and stews...along with powdered milk and thickening agents like corn starch....and sealed them up in bags.

Add water and whatever else you can find....it makes a lot of things a bit more palatable.

We mixed for a 12 quart pot.

You can also take one of the above packets and tape it to a pasta or rice bag....add meat and water(meat optional....pending hunting)....simple is good....your brain will be doing other things.

EB....You should drop by Jamison's Orchard.....check out their soup mixes....it will give you some ideas....they also have some really good "basic" cook books and "preserve" books. Go straight on Grandin Rd EXT....past orchard trees...on left. They also can regrind knife edges and they will be wicked sharp...:)

[ElevenBravo]

Thanks for the tips E2, Ill have to visit them..

EB

[rentprop1]

Curious. Why are you bagging water?


yea ??

a 5 gal water cooler jug sounds so much easier ??

[ElevenBravo]

Because, with individual bags.. if the need arose, I can divy out 2l bags to *3* different parties traveling in 3 different directions.

Theres as many reasons to bag water... as there are to not bag water.


Its also an experiment...


"Its my mylar and what I do with it is my business" ;)