Mylar Advice

[HammerandPipe]

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Hello pipe people! Got another question I’d love to ask y’all.


I’m interested in using Mylar for long-term storage, but I’m not entirely sure the system I have in mind actually makes Mylar viable, so I’m looking for some advice from the hive mind.


I don’t have a huge cellar yet, but I do have plenty of space. My main rotation is half-pint jars. I also have a few pint jars that I scoop from, mostly because that’s how I started. Lately, though, I’m realizing I prefer the half-pints. I smoke slowly, so the pints I have are taking forever to dwindle.


My original plan was to store bulk in pint jars and use those (along with tins) to feed the half-pints. Now I’m starting to worry that the extra headspace in the pints isn’t great for the leaf in the long run.


So I’m thinking maybe bulk should go into Mylar instead, with bag sizes that make sense for feeding half-pint jars. The downside is that this would probably mean a metric ton of Mylar bags sitting in lots of bins as the cellar grows.


Does anyone here run a similar setup, or have suggestions?

 

[sablebrush52]

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Hello pipe people! Got another question I’d love to ask y’all.


I’m interested in using Mylar for long-term storage, but I’m not entirely sure the system I have in mind actually makes Mylar viable, so I’m looking for some advice from the hive mind.


I don’t have a huge cellar yet, but I do have plenty of space. My main rotation is half-pint jars. I also have a few pint jars that I scoop from, mostly because that’s how I started. Lately, though, I’m realizing I prefer the half-pints. I smoke slowly, so the pints I have are taking forever to dwindle.


My original plan was to store bulk in pint jars and use those (along with tins) to feed the half-pints. Now I’m starting to worry that the extra headspace in the pints isn’t great for the leaf in the long run.


So I’m thinking maybe bulk should go into Mylar instead, with bag sizes that make sense for feeding half-pint jars. The downside is that this would probably mean a metric ton of Mylar bags sitting in lots of bins as the cellar grows.


Does anyone here run a similar setup, or have suggestions?

I use 7mil metallized mylar for blends I'm not going to be touching for a year or ten. Otherwise, if you're doing a constant feed into your 4oz jars, just buy some 16oz jars or 1 gallon metallized gusseted Mylar bags that you don't heat seal, because you'll be opening them to feed your 4 oz jars. You could also just dump the 4 oz jars and fill your pipe from Metallized gusseted Mylar bags in quart sizes while putting away other stock for the long term in larger heat sealed Metllized gusseted Mylar bags.

 

[Brad H]

Make sure you get a Mylar sealer. The food saver ones do not create a seal good enough to keep a seal. Also don’t use food saver bags. They tend to leak sometimes.

 

[HammerandPipe]

I use 7mil metallized mylar for blends I'm not going to be touching for a year or ten. Otherwise, if you're doing a constant feed into your 4oz jars, just buy some 16oz jars or 1 gallon metallized gusseted Mylar bags that you don't heat seal, because you'll be opening them to feed your 4 oz jars. You could also just dump the 4 oz jars and fill your pipe from Metallized gusseted Mylar bags in quart sizes while putting away other stock for the long term in larger heat sealed Metllized gusseted Mylar bags.

Aging isnt something I seek to do
On purpose but known it will happen because quantity and how slow i smoke. So yeah I guess it would be easier to just convert to bags for long term storage and feed from them as well.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I have used both. If I had it to do over, I would use 100% mylar bags. I don't understand your statement about metric ton. Mylar is much lighter than mason jars. I use 7 mil ziplock mylar bags and seal them with a clothes iron. Has worked well, I'm presently smoking a couple of blends that have been in mylar over 5 years.

 

[HammerandPipe]

I have used both. If I had it to do over, I would use 100% mylar bags. I don't understand your statement about metric ton. Mylar is much lighter than mason jars. I use 7 mil ziplock mylar bags and seal them with a clothes iron. Has worked well, I'm presently smoking a couple of blends that have been in mylar over 5 years.

metric ton meaning large quantities in this case. Are you smoking the blends out of the bag?

 

[sablebrush52]

metric ton meaning large quantities in this case. Are you smoking the blends out of the bag?

I smoke mine straight from the bag. They’re resealable so no reason not to.
Finished off a 22 year old 8oz bag of GL Pease Haddo’s Delight earlier this year, straight from the bag. It was splendid from the first to the last smoke.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

metric ton meaning large quantities in this case. Are you smoking the blends out of the bag?

Yes. I buy the ones with the zip lock. Heat seal above the zip lock, cut that off when opening, then use the zip lock to seal the bag in between smokes. Works great.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Just my opinion:

Don't do it.

Mylar is a fad. Glass jars are tried and proven.

 

[RL Bucktails]

I have so many glass jars already. Where would one find 7mil sealable Mylar bags?

 

[sablebrush52]

Just my opinion:

Don't do it.

Mylar is a fad. Glass jars are tried and proven.

GL Pease was releasing his blends in Mylar over 20 years ago. We're just catching up. The 22 year old bag of Haddo's that I bought earlier this year was in better shape than any of my old tins, including the ones that held up.

 

[sablebrush52]

I have so many glass jars already. Where would one find 7mil sealable Mylar bags?

Here's where I buy mine:

https://www.topmylar.com/

 

[mtwaller]

7 mil Mylar is the truth, the light, and the way I just heat seal mine with a hair straightener and it seems to work just fine. And yeah if you smoke through stuff in a reasonably short amount of time, you can still keep a jar’s worth in the opened Mylar for quite a while. I’ve had some bulk Mixture No. 79 in unsealed Mylar for about a year and it’s still super good to go. Just my experience.

 

[ziv]

Is 7 mil a strict requirement?

I just found out that what I bought is actually a 5 mil (they put 10 mil in the product title on Amazon, but when reading the description, it turns out that 10 mil is the combined thickness for both sides ).

 

[sablebrush52]

Is 7 mil a strict requirement?

I just found out that what I bought is actually a 5 mil (they put 10 mil in the product title on Amazon, but when reading the description, it turns out that 10 mil is the combined thickness for both sides ).

You'll be fine, as long as it's fully metallized with no clear window, etc. That GL Pease bag I referred to was probably 5 mil. It was a little thinner than the 7 mil I use, but much thicker than the Mylar that Germain's uses, which has a tendency to open up holes along the folds. That's why I bag the Esoterica bags.

 

[HammerandPipe]

You'll be fine, as long as it's fully metallized with no clear window, etc. That GL Pease bag I referred to was probably 5 mil. It was a little thinner than the 7 mil I use, but much thicker than the Mylar that Germain's uses, which has a tendency to open up holes along the folds. That's why I bag the Esoterica bags.

So whats the math for tobacco to pouch size?

 

[mtwaller]

Is 7 mil a strict requirement?

I just found out that what I bought is actually a 5 mil (they put 10 mil in the product title on Amazon, but when reading the description, it turns out that 10 mil is the combined thickness for both sides ).

Probably not a requirement. I think people who’ve been using it for a long time have found that 7 mil is the sweet spot in terms of effectiveness vs. weight and price. More than that might be overkill? Not sure.

 

[sablebrush52]

So whats the math for tobacco to pouch size?

It's going to vary on the pouch type. Stand up gusseted bags are easier to fill and to pull from. I find that most 1lb bulk goes easily into a gallon bag. 8oz goes into a half gallon bag, etc.

 

[HammerandPipe]

It's going to vary on the pouch type. Stand up gusseted bags are easier to fill and to pull from. I find that most 1lb bulk goes easily into a gallon bag. 8oz goes into a half gallon bag, etc.

Thats about all I needed. Thanks my friend

 

[sablebrush52]

Thats about all I needed. Thanks my friend

Quart sized are also handy, if you want to smoke some, and keep some back, and have slightly smaller bags for storage layering.