# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Cooking, Food Storage, & Preserving >  How to vacuum pack your 5 gal. mylars w/o oxygen absorbers

## linkmissing

Save some money.

I can now vacuum pack my mylar lined 5 gal. buckets with my foodsaver better than oxygen absorbers can!

1. Do everything normally up to the pt of filling mylars in bucket.
2. Use a hair straightner iron to seal the bag but leave a tiny corner open for the hose on your vacuum sealer.
3. Press out as much air as possible.
4. Put about 1 inch of hose in the little hole.
5. Use a strip of electrical tape (about 1 1/2") and seal around the hose and the hole. Press the tape down completely around the hose and the hole edges of the bag.
6. Turn on your vacuum sealer and it will vacuum pack it better than the oxygen absorbers do. When done, use your hair iron to seal just below the hose, edge to edge. Remove the hose and finish off the sealing of the hole.

This works with any size mylars.

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## crashdive123

Nice idea.  Thanks.

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## Trabitha

But aren't the oxygen absorbers the cheapest part of it?

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## KhonHd

Is it safe to assume that if using mylar bags you don't have to use food grade pails with o-ring seals?  Since the mylar bag is the containment and the pail is just the structure...

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## SARKY

Where do you get your mylars from

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## rebel

That's a nice instructional.

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## JPGreco

I've always considered if I was packing stuff that I wanted to really seal up to get some dry ice and make a bucket of CO2.  Drop the bag in there for a few minutes and hopefully the CO2 replaces the O2, then vacuum seal it while its submerged in the gas.  Not sure if it would work, but it has a lot of practical applications if it could be worked well.

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## Peggy

where can I buy oxygen absorbers without buying them on line? does anyone know?

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## crashdive123

> where can I buy oxygen absorbers without buying them on line? does anyone know?


I've never looked for them in a brick and mortar store, but would think that if you have an Army/Navy type store they might be able to order them for you.

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## Renatus

deleted....

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## mr.harvy

> where can I buy oxygen absorbers without buying them on line? does anyone know?


Try at your local Feed store : or  Quote (the Mormons, or Latter Day Saints (LDS), are preppers.  One of their beliefs is that everyone needs to stockpile at least a one year supply of food for their own family. As such, they have lots of helpful resources and are happy to share with non-Mormons.) Unquote
ALSO  >Honeyville sells oxygen absorbers.
Walton Feed sells oxygen absorbers.
Sorbent Systems sells oxygen absorbers and Mylar bags.

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## hillbill

i need a basic run down on storeing in a 5 gallon pail,thanks

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## grokh5499

I saw a video recently on how to store water without the mylar bags on five gallon buckets. The guy added snap on ring so he could just screw on a lid. I 'll have to find the video and link it.  Where would one get those? I am currently actively using one five gallon bucket for pantry goods, and getting in and out of it is a pain. I figure if I had an easier access method like in the vid I saw I might expand more of my dry goods storage. I don't want to go too crazy as we will probably be moving in about 2-3 years, but sometimes buying in bulk has it's advantages!!!

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## crashdive123

Those are called Gamma seals and lids.  Lots of sources for them on the net.

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## hunter63

LM thanks for posting.
Chemical hand warmers for absorbing oxygen?......any one heard this one?

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## grokh5499

> Those are called Gamma seals and lids.  Lots of sources for them on the net.


 Thanks Crashdive123

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## crashdive123

> LM thanks for posting.
> Chemical hand warmers for absorbing oxygen?......any one heard this one?


http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...t=hand+warmers  :Whistling:

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## hillbill

have a question when storeing 10 lb bags of beans or rice in buckets can you mix them and should the bags be left closed or make a small hole to remove the air out of the bags.thanks

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## hunter63

> http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...t=hand+warmers


Yeah, I know,....This was a new batch of posters......

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## finallyME

I buy oxygen absorbers at either the local grocery store, or at the LDS church distribution center.  The ship for free, by the way.
http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stor...003_-1__195877

I buy my gamma lids from either the local grocery store, or from emergency essentials, or from Industrial Container.  Of course, I just walk into these stores.

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