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So as part of rather involved project here not too long ago regarding a revamp of some "deep storage" items and facility, we started changing packaging.
Paper or plastic?
Long term- I'm going plastic.
Why?
Longevity of packaging, allergens, water resistant packaging.
While everyone loves to talk about the "ideal" storage conditions, it's rare to get them for larger stocks. Sure a 2 month supply can be stuck in a closet. A couple years worth for a large family? Not so much....
Enter the ideas that people come with wherein they make "can racks" as part of their beds, stick MRE's between the couch cushions, take the legs off the kitchen table and put 5 gallon buckets in their place, etc.
While we store a fair amount of food in our dwellings, the space comes no where near close to what we require for food storage.
So the compromise is between having the "ideal" storage space and LIMITING how much food your family has to eat in bad times and storing more food, albeit in possibly "less than ideal" circumstances.
The choice for me is simple- my family and loved ones are not going to starve one day simply because I believed some pogue's "faq" telling me that "rice will only store six months" (unbelievably bad advice!!) and that if storage food wasn't kept at the magical 70.1 degrees that it would somehow implode on itself...
That being said, just as you must be willing to accept some losses with any INVESTMENT, you may face some losses in less than ideal conditions of food storage.
For us, that has been due to the STORAGE AREA much more than the storage method or the product itself.
For example- a shipping container in the southeast that sweats will rain that sweat down on product in the container. If the product is #10 cans inside a cardboard box, it will over time, affect the cans.
Some light rust is to be expected under these conditions LONG TERM. It won't happen over night but it will happen.
The primary blame for this -outside of the problem with the sweating of the container- is the cardboard. It offers no moisture protection and will hold the moisture.
The cardboard can and often does also bear white mold from this. A further recipe for problems.
You'll see soon in a series of threads how I'm dealing with this, including a lot of pics. We have attacked the problem on all fronts, including bettering the storage facility itself however I realized that it was time to change from PAPER TO PLASTIC.
This wasn't cheap..... The Rubbermaid tote you'll see in the pic, the small one, is around $6. each. Compared to $2. or 3. for a new #10 can case box, it seems silly. Multiply that times....
It seems silly until you see the damage caused over time from the cardboard holding moisture...
So we changed over to totes like this- and larger totes for storage of #10 cans, MREs, etc.
My goal is ZERO cardboard in this container.
The advantages include a slightly easier to carry package, with the totes having handles. A semi waterproof container to hold the cans and various other product. I've left things out in the weather in totes like this for years to go back and find them bone dry. For even the potential of a bugout (and there is ALWAYS the potential of that), it's reassuring to know that these totes can sit in an open trailer, back of a truck, on the ground somewhere, etc. for an extended period of time and still maintain the product.
The Mold was addressed in a number of ways, of which I'll detail in another thread. But the removal of the cardboard was a key thing in helping that. And if the mold reappears, it won't have the growth medium that the cardboard seemed to be.
Paper or plastic? For me it's gonna be all plastic.
Paper or plastic?
Long term- I'm going plastic.
Why?
Longevity of packaging, allergens, water resistant packaging.
While everyone loves to talk about the "ideal" storage conditions, it's rare to get them for larger stocks. Sure a 2 month supply can be stuck in a closet. A couple years worth for a large family? Not so much....
Enter the ideas that people come with wherein they make "can racks" as part of their beds, stick MRE's between the couch cushions, take the legs off the kitchen table and put 5 gallon buckets in their place, etc.
While we store a fair amount of food in our dwellings, the space comes no where near close to what we require for food storage.
So the compromise is between having the "ideal" storage space and LIMITING how much food your family has to eat in bad times and storing more food, albeit in possibly "less than ideal" circumstances.
The choice for me is simple- my family and loved ones are not going to starve one day simply because I believed some pogue's "faq" telling me that "rice will only store six months" (unbelievably bad advice!!) and that if storage food wasn't kept at the magical 70.1 degrees that it would somehow implode on itself...
That being said, just as you must be willing to accept some losses with any INVESTMENT, you may face some losses in less than ideal conditions of food storage.
For us, that has been due to the STORAGE AREA much more than the storage method or the product itself.
For example- a shipping container in the southeast that sweats will rain that sweat down on product in the container. If the product is #10 cans inside a cardboard box, it will over time, affect the cans.
Some light rust is to be expected under these conditions LONG TERM. It won't happen over night but it will happen.
The primary blame for this -outside of the problem with the sweating of the container- is the cardboard. It offers no moisture protection and will hold the moisture.
The cardboard can and often does also bear white mold from this. A further recipe for problems.
You'll see soon in a series of threads how I'm dealing with this, including a lot of pics. We have attacked the problem on all fronts, including bettering the storage facility itself however I realized that it was time to change from PAPER TO PLASTIC.
This wasn't cheap..... The Rubbermaid tote you'll see in the pic, the small one, is around $6. each. Compared to $2. or 3. for a new #10 can case box, it seems silly. Multiply that times....
It seems silly until you see the damage caused over time from the cardboard holding moisture...
So we changed over to totes like this- and larger totes for storage of #10 cans, MREs, etc.
My goal is ZERO cardboard in this container.
The advantages include a slightly easier to carry package, with the totes having handles. A semi waterproof container to hold the cans and various other product. I've left things out in the weather in totes like this for years to go back and find them bone dry. For even the potential of a bugout (and there is ALWAYS the potential of that), it's reassuring to know that these totes can sit in an open trailer, back of a truck, on the ground somewhere, etc. for an extended period of time and still maintain the product.
The Mold was addressed in a number of ways, of which I'll detail in another thread. But the removal of the cardboard was a key thing in helping that. And if the mold reappears, it won't have the growth medium that the cardboard seemed to be.
Paper or plastic? For me it's gonna be all plastic.
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