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Asking input from experienced mylar bag packers and users

15K views 35 replies 21 participants last post by  baley  
#1 ·
I have been prepping for a few years now, but it took a much more serious turn this year with the addition of freeze dried and dehydrated items, mostly in #10 cans. Also have added some other non-food supplies to my prep items such as medical supplies.

Now I have a decent supply of rice, beans, sugar, salt and so on, but all of it is still in the original bags. I want to move this to mylar bags in buckets for ease of storage and perhaps to prolong the quality of the stored items.

My question is, (and I am asking input from those who store goods in mylar and have used from that storage) when storing beans or rice (and sugar and salt) in mylar and then into 5 gallon buckets, is it better to use just one 5 gallon mylar bag to fill with rice (or other product) or to use smaller, say 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon bags of mylar to store the items in. It is only me and my wife and possibly a couple of grown kids and spouses to care for.

We live in the Houston area, where it is not as cold nor as dry as in some other areas, and it seems to me it would be a better idea to store these items in the smaller bags since opening the larger bag would expose the remaining content to moisture, bugs and possible degradation. The cost of using only 1 of the 5 gallon mylar bags versus the cost of say 5 of the 1 gallon bags is not an issue. I am trying to find the right balance of keeping food stored for the day we need it and yet keep it in good condition once it is opened. This leads me to think that the use of the smaller bags, thus opening a bag to satisfy the needs for a shorter period of time leaving all the remainder still sealed in a mylar bag is the best way to go. I've even seen some of those flat bottom, zip seal mylar bags of the 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon size that caught my eye. I would use the zip seal then heat seal the top of that, but would be able to use the zip seal to keep what's left "fresh" after the initial opening of the heat seal.

But I would like to hear from those that have experience with this firsthand.

Thanks for your input.
 
#2 ·
is it better to use just one 5 gallon mylar bag to fill with rice (or other product) or to use smaller, say 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon bags of mylar to store the items in. It is only me and my wife and possibly a couple of grown kids and spouses to care for.
If you are just starting out, start with 1/2 and 1 gallon bags. Also, go with the upright bags with the ziplock seal. The ziplock seals cost a few cents more, but they are a lot easier to work with then the non-ziplock seal bags.

Follow this link to a thread I posted about storing food in mylar bags


I have done 2 1/2 gallon bags with no ziplock seal, 5 gallon bags, 1/2 and 1 gallon.

The 1/2 and 1 gallon with ziplock were by FAR the easiest to work with. Seal the seal, and then run an iron over the extra 3/4 of mylar material for a double seal.

Instead of buying different sizes in oxygen absorbers, I bought 1,000 units. That way they can be used in smaller bags, and put 2 or 3 of the 1,000 in a 5 gallon bucket.

Salt does not have to have an oxygen absorber in the mylar bag.
 
#3 ·
Kev,
Thanks for the quick reply. Actually, it was your posting of this video that I saw a few weeks ago that I first learned about the flat bottom resealable mylar bags. Thanks for posting the video and sharing your valuable information for all of us, especially those of us new to this part of prepping.

We eat rice and beans all the time just cause we like it, but we usually buy the one pound bag of each and they just don't last that long around our house. So, the food won't go bad just being a small portion. My concern was that opening a 5 gallon mylar bag of either rice or beans to get one cup out of it, how long would the rest of it still be good to go. I really like your idea of the smaller bags vs the bigger ones.

Another advantage I see, is that if I want to share with someone that is not in my home with me, I can just get a smaller bag and hand it over to them.

Thanks again for sharing from your vast experience. We appreciate you.
 
#4 ·
My concern was that opening a 5 gallon mylar bag of either rice or beans to get one cup out of it, how long would the rest of it still be good to go. I really like your idea of the smaller bags vs the bigger ones.
That was the same concern my wife expressed with the larger bags. She did not like the idea of opening the mylar bag, then then having to find something like a chip clip to hold the bag shut.

The bigger bags that fit in a 5 gallon bucket were a hassle to deal with. The largest I think I am going to mess with are around 2 1/2 gallon.


Thanks again for sharing from your vast experience. We appreciate you.
Your welcome, but there are lots of people around here that know a lot more then me.
 
#6 ·
I wanted to chime in here too, Kev. I learned alot from your video on food storage in mylar bags.

I had already ordered 100 8"x10" bags and the same amount of 300cc o2 absorbers, but I'm going to be taking a page out of your playbook and getting the resealable bags and the 1000cc absorbers. When you drop the kind of cash we do on storing food, it makes sense to pay a little extra to make sure it stores well.

I also found this video:

http://youtu.be/S-aTHVEgGa8


I think I'll try that with my upright vacuum hose. Seems like a good way to quickly verify whether or not your seal is good.
 
#7 ·
When it comes to beans and rice and such, I can't justify going with 1 gallon bags. It lasts just fine after opening. And if you're eating out of your buckets, it's going to get used in plenty of time anyway. I live by myself and I eat out of my stores. I have yet to have a problem with beans or rice in 5 gallon amounts. Even by myself, they get used up in plenty of time.

Where the smaller bags are handy are items that don't do so well after opening, or foods that you won't be using as much of. Tomato or peanut butter powder for example. Or perhaps finely milled foods like bisquit or pancake mix. Powdered milk absorbs moisture from the air relatively quickly, so it might benefit from smaller bags too.
 
#9 ·
When it comes to beans and rice and such, I can't justify going with 1 gallon bags.
My first experience with the 5 gallon buckets was not too good. I will probably go back to 5 gallons buckets for rice, beans and whole oats. But for right now I want to practice with the 1 gallon bags.

My thread about homemade superpails


I think there were 2 issues with my 5 gallon buckets:

1 - the mylar bags were too big. The store said they would fit a 5 gallon bucket, but the bags looked like they were for 6 or 7 gallons.

2 - the buckets were not filled "all" the way up. I had to push a lot of air out of the bags when I sealed them.

The next time I do a superpail, I am going to overbuy on the beans and rice, and fill the bag all the way up to just below the lid.
 
#12 ·
Wind Breaker
I use https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/ they're great and have a lot of info. I use 1 gal Ziploc bags I can usually get four into a 5gal bucket. In more than a few buckets I stuffed the empty voids between the bags with all kinds of stuff, silver dimes, matches, candles, can openers, salt, pepper, measuring cups and a lot if odds and ends just incase we had to take off with a only few buckets or if we got separated we'd have some basics. be careful if it’s something sharp wrap it in another prep.
kev
I think the 5gal bags work for 6gal buckets too. I fold the bag over the edges of the bucket to keep them clean while I'm filling them, so it should be bigger than the bucket. it sucks when you get, lets say baking powder onto the part of the bag your going to heat seal and it wont seal right.

P.S. Sam's club sells bulk food already sealed for long term storage, when you check the website look for food storage and emergency
 
#16 ·
Hey Don,
Thanks for the link. Lots of good info there. Some of that is such a time saver as it tells you how much of certain items you can fit into different size containers. This helps to plan how many bags, buckets and O2 absorbers you will need for a particular session.
Plus lots of other great info for a newb or maybe even for the not so new prepper.

Thanks again.
 
#14 ·
I use the smaller bags for a different reason: Portability.

I don't have too many bug-in options. The food I stock in my house is for if I lose my job, or there some small-scale thing that I think I can weather in my condo, and because the price of food stands to get ridiculous.

Either way, my plan is to try to make my buckets stand alone units. That is to say, each bucket will have a little bit of everything in it, as opposed to a bucket of flour, a bucket of coffee, a bucket of salt and so on.

By the way, I tried to suck the air out of a a mylar bag with some salt in it just for fun. I got a bunch of salt in my vacuum. Drawing board.
 
#19 ·
Thanks for those two videos. That answers another question of mine which was couldn't you just use the plastic food saver bags with an oxygen absorber inside to vacuum seal them, then insert those into a mylar bag for light proofing and better protection? I had known that mylar bags alone were difficult to vacuum seal due to the smooth interior of the bags. So, I was thinking a belt and suspenders type approach, but these two vid clips show that there are ways to do it efficiently and economically,

Thanks again for your input.
 
#21 ·
To the OP- you want to pack your grains as soon as possible after you pick them up. That's the best and most effective way to protect against bugs.

Buy from a store with a good turnaround- i.e, Sam's versus a 20 lb. bag of rice that's been sitting on "BillyBob's Gas N Sip" store for six months.

Then pack it as soon as possible.

If you don't already have a vacu sealer thing, do not buy one just to seal mylars. Waste of money when an iron (cheap and you probably already have) does the job better. If your going to do a real quantity, then consider a clamshell heat sealer like I used in these original packing videos-

 
#29 ·
I am curious how to combat the temp problem we have. Also from east texas, It's HOT & HUMID here. The only way to keep long term food storage for the longest possible shelf life, we need temps WAY lower than what we ever get here, and on a reg basis at that. I do not have the room to store inside the home & dont have an outbuilding that we want to climatize. What sugesstions does anyone have? I do not want to spend the time & money w/mylar & o2's etc for it to ruin b/c its an average 95 (in the shade) for 10 months outta the year. UG? I believe our elevation is approx 130'. Iono is UG is an option or not.
 
#33 ·
Do you mind me asking why you wrap tin foil around your half gallon jars? I have a case of the same jars and haven't heard about wrapping them after they're full. Thanks.
Maybe,

1. To protect them from EMP.

or

2. So the gubermint can't see what's in the jars with their x-ray anti-prepper spy equipment.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. :D: