[forest gnome]

So the reason I am thinking of gettin one is to shrink pack my clothing, to save space......and to re-pack my dehyd, food...I would allso pack my sleeping bag liner material that I got at seattle fabrics. what are ya using yours for? packing fresh food the first few days? let's hear how you benefit from usage....packing that dehydrated water????

[ree]

I have the Food Saver. There's also the new Vacuware product. I vacuum seal... er... sardines, oysters, and other canned foods or meat to take in the woods. Also I vacuum seal individual servings of minute rice, and also cup of soup. I'll write cooking instructions in marker on the sealed food.

[LostandFound]

Just a thought. If you vaccume your clothes and sleeping bag and stuff in your pack then use it when you are out in the wild; how are you going to get it back in your pack since there is no electricity in the outdoors?

[Brian Curtis]

For long trips I vacuum pack single serving packets of different things. One of the biggest side benefits is that the vacuum pack protects cookies so they don't break into crumbs. I also repackage the soups that come in their own serving containers and recreate the old Bacon Bars by vacuum packing real bacon bits. Only do food, though.

[sarbar]

I use my Food Vac to do a lot. If I dry whole meals, I seal it up in the bags, and then pop them in the freezer (keeps them fresh for at least a year). I also sealed our GPS in it (you can still use it!) and our emergency stuff in pack and at home to keep water tight. I use my Food Vac more for home stuff (keeping fabric like new in my sewing area, prepping big amounts of meat, etc, etc), but for getting meals to fit in my Ursack when I am carrying a lot, it helps. And just like freezer bags, you can "cook" and eat out of them

[iron]

are there any updates to currently preferred vacuum models for 2009?

[sarbar]

[straydog]

I have a Foodsaver that I use all of the time. Being single, it's hard to find things packaged for one, so it allows me to buy 'family size' and repackage for individual meals. It's also great for cooking food on the weekend, then reheat for dinners during the week. I also use it for trail foods occasionally and emergency food. Besides the vacuum bags, they also make vacuum containers that seem to keep food fresh a bit longer and work great for marinating meat and veggies.

[Obi Tony Kenobi]

[sarbar]

[Slugman]

I use my Foodsaver by Tilia for everything in my food bag that doesn't come in smell-proof packaging already. To me, the vacuuming out part is cool, but the best part is the smell resistance of the bags. Keeping odors to the minimum makes for safer food storage. And I can keep my garbage in the same Ursack as my food. I bring an extra bag for my non-food scented items. Simply twisting the bags closed and using a twist tie works well, but the best thing to have is a Eurosealer. I had one, but it is lost now, so I'll have to get another. What a little miracle worker that thing is!

[Magellan]

The crows dug through 2" of snow to steal two vacuum sealed packages at Camp Schurman on Rainier.

[nuclear_eggset]

[509]

[quote="sarbar Not unless you had the Ziploc bags and the hand pump they sell :lol:[/quote] Are the Ziploc vacumn bags larger than 8X11.5?? I bought the Reynolds vacumn bags and pump since I can put a magazine or map inside the bags and seal them. But it appears that WalMart has quit carrying the Reynolds system.

[sarbar]

Not sure if they sell a gallon bag for the Ziploc one......