Long Term Storage in Mylar Bags - Experience?

[hoosierpipeguy]

I read some discussion in another thread and saw a couple of comments about Mylar bags. I have about a dozen pound that I'm going to cellar this week. Thinking about using Mylar zip locks for some of it. I bought 50 10" x 10" and a 16" heat sealer. Any experience here using these for long term storage and any suggestions for best practice?

 

[ashdigger]

Only experienced on the consumer side. I purchased a pound of FVF that was stored in Mylar for almost 10 years....it was perfect.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/fvf-group-tasting-sample-reviews

 

[curl]

I just use my mom’s old iron to seal my Mylar bags.

I don’t try to vacuum seal the bags, I just want to keep what’s inside inside and what’s outside outside.

 

[balkisobrains]

Old iron + piece of wood.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

The heating unit was only $30 and looks perfect for doing the job. I'm not sure we have an new or old iron around the house. If I used it and screwed it up, even though my wife hasn't ironed anything the past two decades, I'm sure she'd act as if I just blew a hole in the side of the house.

 

[craig61a]

I've been doing it for about a year. As far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to go. I pack the bags rather tightly, then press out as much air as I can, then seal.
I've opened some bags to remove some tobacco in the last few months, and the tobacco remained fresh and moist. I don't believe it would not remain that way for many years.

 

[cortezattic]

If there was even a scintilla of doubt as to Mylar's reliability, I would not trust it for the safekeeping of 12 lbs. of tobacco -- especially when you risk the irreplaceable loss of time. There is only one fool-proof material, Mason jars.
Note that moisture isn't the issue here, it's the organic molecules that can pass right through most many water-proof plastics.
You'll need only 4 cases of half-pint jars to do the job.

 

[craiginthecorn]

I'd say to heat seal them and then weigh them with a scale that's accurate to within a gram and mark it on the bag. Weigh it again in 3 months, 6 months, and a year. If it hasn't dropped weight in a year, I'd say you're good, but would recheck once a year to be sure that the bags haven't developed a hole.
I'm conducting a controlled test of short term storage in ziplock mylar bags. Identical quantity of the same tobacco stored in a bag and a jar. It's only been a month, so it's too early to report results. My question isn't about the mylar, it's about the integrity of the ziplock. I use small mylar ziplocks to store tobacco in both my cigar lounge locker and in my floor-standing vintage Dunhill humidor. Both of those offer secondary protection again dehydration. In fact, in my locker, the bags are probably protecting the tobacco from hydration.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think it was Dan (Woodsroad) that found the flaw in the bags to be the ziplock. I have my own reasons for not using mylar bags for tobacco storage, but they are great for mailing tobaccos.

Personally, I just like the tried a true, no worries approach with jars. But, you youngsters and your risks and innovations... good luck with that. ::

 

[darwin]

The ziplock in MylarPro bags may be the "flaw" in them but nevertheless it is a substantial improvement on any other type of bag closure. Not as secure as a good heat seal of course but good enough for a minimum of six months of moisture retention. And once properly sealed in pursuit of cellaring longevity it will take some seriously energetic molecules of vapor to work their way through two layers of aluminum and 5.5 mil. of dense Mylar. We're not trying to store pressurized hydrogen here, just prevent normal vapor escape. I have a good sized bin, probably thirty pounds worth, of bulk tobacco heat-sealed in MylarPro bags and there is no tobacco odor in that bin, none, after four years. That may not be slam dunk forensic proof of the product's effectiveness but it's good enough for me.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I'm not concerned about the zip lock because I'll be heart sealing as well above the zip lock.

 

[kola]

Mason jars.

 

[cigrmaster]

Mason jars are a much better option as they are fool proof and you will never have to worry about them. With mylar bags you will always be worrying your tobacco may not be perfect.

 

[woodsroad]

With mylar bags you will always be worrying your tobacco may not be perfect.

I used to wonder if the tobacco will be alright, but I never worried. Now, after 4 years of successful trials, I don't even wonder about it anymore.
Stick with high-quality bags, heat seal them, and everything's gonna be alright.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Actually, seems to me, there is an equal amount of concerns with mason jars. Introducing mold bacteria if not washed properly. The rubber/silicon seal failing. The mason jars are heavy and take up a lot of space. I hate the cleaning process that is necessary. Even though I have a fair amount of space in the basement furnace room, at some point, I'm going to run out if I keep adding tobacco. And that isn't an if, it is inevitable.
I'm just exploring alternatives. I have 3 cases of quart mason jars purchased. I plan on using those up. I think I'll do some side by side comparisons with the mylar bags to see how the mylar bags perform. But there's other qualified folks here that apparently have already done that with success.
The other thing with the mylar bags is HU Tobaccos. I read where several people didn't trust the 4 oz painter tins for long terms storage. Not sure I agree with that assessment but I don't have any hard data to substantiate it one way or the other. So I'm thinking I'll just put the entire tin in a mylar bag and seal it. If it still screws up from there, so be it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You're storing your tobacco in a furnace room? As in a very warm room?

 

[woodsroad]

Ball® mason jars have never failed me. They are inexpensive and perfectly suited for storing pipe tobacco. High quality Mylar bags (from Sorbent Systems or similar) are just as reliable when heat-sealed. The advantages of Mylar over mason jars are several:

-Lighter weight

-Take up less space

-Easily mailable

-Can be vacuum sealed and/or nitrogen flushed
Further, you can put opened tins in Mylar ziplocs and they will stay good for over a year.
If you don't need any of those three, then mason jars will suit you just fine, and may be the better choice for you.
Mason jars are:

-Reusable forever

-Able to be opened and closed ad infinitum without compromising the seal

-Cool looking

-Traditional

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

You're storing your tobacco in a furnace room? As in a very warm room?

Yes to first. No to second. Gas furnace, fairly large room. It stays a consistent 67 to 72 degrees.

 

[craiginthecorn]

There is no real question about the ability of Mason jars to retain moisture, but it is too easy to be dismissive of any new alternative just because there's one tried and true solution. Let's not be Luddites here.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

There is no real question about the ability of Mason jars to retain moisture, but it is too easy to be dismissive of any new alternative just because there's one tried and true solution. Let's not be Luddites here.

Thanks Craig, speaking my similar thoughts. 2 months ago, I dismissed cleaning out my pipe after smoking with water. Now I pretty much do it 100% of the time and I think it offers a rather significant improvement for me. I suspect as little as 10 years ago, if someone suggested cleaning their pipe with water, they would have been hung from the highest rafters by their hard core pipe smoking brethren.