Esoterica Drop

[mingc]

They're good for perhaps 7 years and then watch out. With a round tin, the seal pressure can be equalized all along it's circumference, but with square and rectangular tins, no way. It's strongest at the corners.

Most of these tins are slowly leaking from the get go. Here's a simple way to prove this. Take a number of your square and rectangular tins and place them in a tupperware container with a tight sealing top and leave them for a few weeks. Put the Virginias together in one container and English/Orientals in a different one. Then pop the top and take a sniff. You'll smell the tobaccos. They're leaking out of the "sealed" tins.

Over time the pressure equalizes and the seal fails. That's one reason that I don't spend money on vintage tobaccos that come in rectangular tins that are older than 10 years. The percentage of failures goes up.

Greg Pease wrote about this and no longer advocates leaving tobaccos to age in these tins, bur recommends immediate transfer to jars for long term aging. He found too many failures in his own cellar.

I have found that even mason jars leak. I keep mine in closed cabinets and can smell the tobacco when I open the doors, even though I obsessively tighten all the lids to the point where I'm afraid I'll crack the glass. The lakeland and latakia scents seem irrepressible.

Mylar bags don't have that problem though.

 

[mingc]

I have seen some seal the edge with tape.. either electrical or the metal HVAC tape. I wonder if that would help?

Mylar bags. Stuff the whole tin in them.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I have found that even mason jars leak. I keep mine in closed cabinets and can smell the tobacco when I open the doors, even though I obsessively tighten all the lids to the point where I'm afraid I'll crack the glass. The lakeland and latakia scents seem irrepressible.

Mylar bags don't have that problem though.

Lakeland doesn’t leak. That crap eats the rubber seals.

 

[ofafeather]

W

They're good for perhaps 7 years and then watch out. With a round tin, the seal pressure can be equalized all along it's circumference, but with square and rectangular tins, no way. It's strongest at the corners.

Most of these tins are slowly leaking from the get go. Here's a simple way to prove this. Take a number of your square and rectangular tins and place them in a tupperware container with a tight sealing top and leave them for a few weeks. Put the Virginias together in one container and English/Orientals in a different one. Then pop the top and take a sniff. You'll smell the tobaccos. They're leaking out of the "sealed" tins.

Over time the pressure equalizes and the seal fails. That's one reason that I don't spend money on vintage tobaccos that come in rectangular tins that are older than 10 years. The percentage of failures goes up.

Greg Pease wrote about this and no longer advocates leaving tobaccos to age in these tins, bur recommends immediate transfer to jars for long term aging. He found too many failures in his own cellar.

Wow. That’s interesting. Guessing I’ll go back to rooting through my cellar and throw some tins in Mylar. I’d hate to have to open them.

 

[ofafeather]

I have seen some seal the edge with tape.. either electrical or the metal HVAC tape. I wonder if that would help?

Any more info on that? Sounds promising.

 

[americaman]

Wow. That’s interesting. Guessing I’ll go back to rooting through my cellar and throw some tins in Mylar. I’d hate to have to open them.

Don’t stress too much. There was a 1980s tin of Rattray’s and a 1980s (maybe 1990s) tin of Original Balkan Sobranie opened at the West Coast Pipe Show last year. Both were absolutely fantastic. Granted, the Balkan Sobranie was an older painted tin (maybe tins were better made back then), but the Rattray’s tin looked exactly the same as the tins they’re using now.

 

[ofafeather]

I have found that even mason jars leak. I keep mine in closed cabinets and can smell the tobacco when I open the doors, even though I obsessively tighten all the lids to the point where I'm afraid I'll crack the glass. The lakeland and latakia scents seem irrepressible.

Mylar bags don't have that problem though.

Seals on Mason jars technically have a Shelf life of about a year and a half according to the canning instructions. I’m not sure if that’s just as long as they’ll guarantee the quality of preserved food or if they expect deterioration of the seal.

 

[ofafeather]

Don’t stress too much. There was a 1980s tin of Rattray’s and a 1980s (maybe 1990s) tin of Original Balkan Sobranie opened at the West Coast Pipe Show last year. Both were absolutely fantastic. Granted, the Balkan Sobranie was an older painted tin (maybe tins were better made back then), but the Rattray’s tin looked exactly the same as the tins they’re using now.

I think those types of tins might have a better seal because they don’t rely on a gasket as the twist top and square/rectangle tins do.

 

[BROBS]

Seals on Mason jars technically have a Shelf life of about a year and a half according to the canning instructions. I’m not sure if that’s just as long as they’ll guarantee the quality of preserved food or if they expect deterioration of the seal.

I believe they are talking there about a heat sealed wet food product...

 

[pantsBoots]

I believe they are talking there about a heat sealed wet food product...

This. Whether hot-bathing or pressure canning, Mason seals are made to become hot - perhaps slightly melt - and then cool, forming the seal. I would assume that's why they're so thin while tobacco tin seals are a bit thicker.

And for what it's worth, the seals are often better for longer than the year and a half. Year and a half is a factor-of-safety length of time that they sort of guarantee they'll last (warning: expressed guarantees are not actual guarantees but are best guesses given typical storage conditions. Prices and participation may vary).

I think you may be on to something with the tape. I'm going to give some of my old builder buddies a call and see what's on the market now that might fit the bill. I know back in my building days, Nashua duct tape was THE stuff when you had to use duct tape for something. I could also see a high-dollar electrical tape being the answer, or perhaps gorilla tape? I've never used gorilla tape, but seen it for sale and wondered what that adhesive was all about. Clever marketing for the same old duct tape? Or a new revolution in sticky technology?

 

[logs]

The only evidence of it I can find online is this fellow who stated he saw a Pelican tin. If it was a circular tin it would tell us with fair certainty that it was a re-release of Pelican. @logs was the tin circular?

Esoterica Drop :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

Ugggg ... where's the Ramsgate?

pipesmagazine.com

The picture showed the old square style. Don't know what actually got shipped.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

You're talking about tobacco here, not some delicate food substance that you eat and could spoil. There are no perfect seals, even hermetic seals. What you're doing is accepting that a very slow "leak" from the container (mason jars or mylar bags) will still adequately preserve the tobacco for years, even decades. No question, there will occasionally be a catastrophic failure. From my own limited experience and what I've read, that failure rate is perhaps 1 to 3% at worst. In other words, acceptable level of waste. I swear, pipe smokers have to be among the most pessimistic and anal retentive group of people on the planet. I think many must wear a belt and suspenders and still spend half their time grabbing their butt to make sure it is covered.

 

[ofafeather]

You're talking about tobacco here, not some delicate food substance that you eat and could spoil. There are no perfect seals, even hermetic seals. What you're doing is accepting that a very slow "leak" from the container (mason jars or mylar bags) will still adequately preserve the tobacco for years, even decades. No question, there will occasionally be a catastrophic failure. From my own limited experience and what I've read, that failure rate is perhaps 1 to 3% at worst. In other words, acceptable level of waste. I swear, pipe smokers have to be among the most pessimistic and anal retentive group of people on the planet. I think many must wear a belt and suspenders and still spend half their time grabbing their butt to make sure it is covered.

Back before forums it wasn’t a problem, lol.

 

[artvandelay007]

I have seen some seal the edge with tape.. either electrical or the metal HVAC tape. I wonder if that would help?

I haven’t really done much of it yet but I think grouping tins in larger mylars is the way to go.

 

[greeneyes]

The picture showed the old square style. Don't know what actually got shipped.

Oh you bought this online?

 

[logs]

Oh you bought this online?

I bought a tin of Kingfisher at a B&M, the Pelican I saw online and didn't buy it. I suggest emailing Arango if you want to know about the current status of Pelican. I don't have any other information.

 

[spicy_boiii]

Still some stuff at the tinderbox website...

This has been an elongated drop. 4 straight days of online availability. I'm sure those that are searching can still find stuff with some calls to some B&Ms in the days to come

 

[sablebrush52]

Don’t stress too much. There was a 1980s tin of Rattray’s and a 1980s (maybe 1990s) tin of Original Balkan Sobranie opened at the West Coast Pipe Show last year. Both were absolutely fantastic. Granted, the Balkan Sobranie was an older painted tin (maybe tins were better made back then), but the Rattray’s tin looked exactly the same as the tins they’re using now.

That happens, but you also get a canister tin of 1990's Rattray's that looks perfect and is completely dired out when opened.
The vintage tobacco market is a crap shoot, a spin of the wheel, a roll of the dice. Sometimes you hit the jackpot and sometimes you don't.

I sealed up everything I'm not going to smoke any time soon in .7mil mylar which I then heat sealed. I also did that with every one of my Eso bags, since they are known to develop pinholes at the folds.That's why I know I've got about 38 pounds of it.

 

[sablebrush52]

You're talking about tobacco here, not some delicate food substance that you eat and could spoil. There are no perfect seals, even hermetic seals. What you're doing is accepting that a very slow "leak" from the container (mason jars or mylar bags) will still adequately preserve the tobacco for years, even decades. No question, there will occasionally be a catastrophic failure. From my own limited experience and what I've read, that failure rate is perhaps 1 to 3% at worst. In other words, acceptable level of waste. I swear, pipe smokers have to be among the most pessimistic and anal retentive group of people on the planet. I think many must wear a belt and suspenders and still spend half their time grabbing their butt to make sure it is covered.

Wait a minute. Don't YOU seal your tins and bags in Mylar???

 

[SpookedPiper]

I have found that even mason jars leak. I keep mine in closed cabinets and can smell the tobacco when I open the doors, even though I obsessively tighten all the lids to the point where I'm afraid I'll crack the glass. The lakeland and latakia scents seem irrepressible.

Mylar bags don't have that problem though.

I wonder if your over tightening the lids on the ball jars and worsening the seal on them, not actually "locking it down." If you have a food saver they make some with and air hose that removes the air and seals the lids fantastically and then lightly screw the lid down.