One of the tasks I performed the other day was reviewing and inspecting the various items I have stashed away in the vehicle for those unseen emergencies. Among all the items is a complete change of clothes. That stuff has been packed away, freezing and roasting, for the last several years and I figured it’d be a good idea to check on them and see how they’re doing.
Answer? They’re just fine. However, I did unpack the shirt and jeans and discover that the plastic bag had imparted a wierd smell to them. Not offensive, just odd…a vinyl-y plastic smell that, after a few hours in the open air, seemed to fade away. Other than that, clothing held up just fine…as I expected. I re-vacuum-sealed everything and put it away for the uncertain future.
Why the vacuum sealing? Well, biggest reason is because if you need a change of clothes somewhere other than home that means you probably got wet, messy, bloody, dirty, or some similar ugliness. That being the case, youre most definitely gonna want clean and dry clothes. And, of course, vacuum sealing also reduces the ‘footprint’ of the clothing by compressing everything down as much as possible. But, when you’ve had to change a tire on a slushy and wet roadway while freezing rain is soaking you through, that bit of vacuum sealing is going to seem more like a Nobel-worthy idea than it is overkill.
Other goodies in there stored equally as well, although I discarded and replaced all batteries just to be safe. And I I updated the spreadsheet I keep of this sort of thing to reflect any changes.
What do I keep around in the vehicle for emergencies? Well, you can get the links to that epic series of posts here.
And, in other news………
How did the sizing hold up after 5 years? I have heard that clothes tend to shrink over time.
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Thats one of the reasons I wanted to check things out. Fit fine.
As history shows, and human nature proves, shrinking clothes are not the problem, it’s the fit-ee growing thats the problem…. Gravity rules!
Vacuum packed TP stashed away in several places (especially in the Git Home Daypack) in the vehicle will also have yourself strutting around like a big dog with 2 dicks.
I want to do this. What kind of vacuum sealer do you recommend?
I just use the one they sell at CostCo but I’ve been thinking of getting a more ‘industrial’ one by Weston.
Weston Pro 2100 is what i use. Takes 15″ bags/rolls.About 2 years old and no trouble whatsoever.
Ditto on the Weston. Mine is about 5 years old and works just fine.
I never thought about shrink wrapping clothes. I just used a kitchen garbage bag and taped it shut.
A vacuum sealer is one of the most important items that you can have.
CZ, have you considered taking the clothing out of the plastic once a year and running them through a dryer with a sheet of fabric softener? I do this with the change of vacuum-packed clothing we have in our get home bags. I take the clothes out of the plastic every fall/spring seasonal change to air them out and replace them with seasonally appropriate stuff.
I don’t really see a need to swap them out annually..for me, anyway. As replacing with seasonally appropriate stuff, I’d probably just put the seasonally inappropriate stuff off the to the side until next season and replace them with sealed seasonally appropriate stuff rather than repack stuff every season.
I use the Foodsaver unit to vacuum-seal. You’d be surprised what will fit in those bags! The bags are fairly tough, too.
I keep a change of clothes vacuum-sealed in the get-home bag as well. If you roll the pants and shirt before sealing them, they’ll actually unroll fairly wrinkle-free!
Other things that benefit from vacuum-sealing are things like first aid supplies and such.
I do this as well. Works great and is easy to shove behind a car seat or in a bag as described. I also have a small blowout trauma kit that I put together vacuum sealed to reduce the size of so that it fits easier in a back pocket or cargo pocket. It’s amazing what you can come up with to vacuum seal when you think about it.
Years ago was working for a tanker company and was soaked head to toe in waste oil/water/metal shavings from a loose hose. After getting sprayed with degreaser(probably now illegal cancer causer)was given a tyvek coverall to finish the job and get home(clothes were unsaveable). I have used the HF vaccumable storage bags to store out of season clothes for years(just use vaccum cleaner instead of sealer). They also make ones that roll the air out of and were a godsend for packing for the field(uniform and grunt roll(t shirt/underwear rolled into a pair of socks) ready/clean/dry)and reusable
If you are vacuum sealing medical gear, or anything that you would typically only use part of the contents, consider putting them in zip-lock bags first, or include some zippy bags to reseal item after opening the vacuum bag or the inner bag or container. Container redundancy of important stuff may make all the difference in fixing problems while away from home/work/base. Band-aids and similar adhesive products really store well for many years in sealed bags. Press them flat before sealing to reduce the air (oxygen) inside.
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BTW, for those who have dry nitrogen available for displacing air in storage cases, be aware that there are some rubber components that turn to DUST in such an atmosphere. NOT an exaggeration. Some common 0-rings fall in this category. Check listings for 0-ring materials to get accurate data on this. Some lubricants may also react badly to this situation.
Ran into that reaction problem in Silicon Valley in the mid 80’s, and still had difficulty years later with high-tech companies that wanted to be cheap. Expensive lesson for them!
Anyone have any suggestions about inexpensive blades of some sort that can be stored with vacuum sealed items?