spacebag

[onotoa]

hi,
anyone out there using spacebags (Space Bag – Vacuum Seal Storage Bags) ???
have a good day,
onotoa

[drew.ward]

It seems like these were discussed on here a couple of years ago. They do seem perfect for storing bedding and clothes on a boat. I'd hate to see what would happen however if somehow some mold got into that sealed environment.

[cabo_sailor]

Yep, we use the big bags for bedding and such. We usually throw a fabric softener sheet in before sealing.

We also use the small, relatively high vacuum, food storage bags. Works well for reducing packaging and pre-packaging meal size portions. Also works well for sealing spare parts, particularly electrical or metal parts that would otherwise rust.

[onotoa]

hi,
what about cold/wet weather (winter in the med) - can you store your clothes in these bags for a longer time???
thks......

[cabo_sailor]

They're vacuum sealed so they don't care what the weather is outside of the bag. As to longevity - the bags do slowly lose their vacuum and it would be necessary to re-vacuum them from time to time. They should be fine for as long as vacuum is maintained.

[ssullivan]

These bags aren't nearly as good as they look on TV infomercials.

The zip lock part tends to come open and they tear very easily.

We used them for one year, then switched to regular old garbage bags, tied tightly.

The "vacuum seal" is nothing but a marketing trick. There is still ambient air in the bag after you seal it. A household vacuum does not work like a vacuum pump in a lab does. There is still air in the bag after your "vacuum seal" is done.

Save some $$ and pick up some Hefty bags and tie them so no air can get in or out.

To save space, squish stuff down yourself.

[cabo_sailor]

I agree with your points ssullivan. I've not had problems with them tearing but the ziplock is a problem. We usually only store spare bedding and such in them. I wonder if using electrical tape on the ziplock would improve them.?

[hellosailor]

The quality varies with the brand. I've had some of the knockoffs open up, but not the real things, they're pretty robust and even WalMart carries them these days. Great for making sure the dry change of clothes will be dry when I want them, but since they also seal in whatever moisture is there, pretty gruesome if you try to return used clothing to them afterwards.

Even if you don't use a vacuum and just press the air out--they work very nicely. You could do the same thing with the XXL ziplock bags (also in WalMart and supermarkets) that range up to about 2x3 feet in size, but those are going to pinhole much sooner.

[opsailor]

Any quality trash or garbage bag (lots of sizes available) and a vacuum stuck down the "throat" will provide excellent results. Using the vacuum is better than just "sitting on the bag." Just know that sealing the bag is the trick.

[Latitude9.5]

I've got a dozen of them, we store a lot things in them, like the bedding for the v-berth, cold weather clothing (wut little we own ), etc.... They work quite well, keep everything dry, take up a little less space and everything smells clean when you bust them out. You can get them at places like walmart and target pretty cheap too.

[Tellie]

For garbage, we use this little thing called a bag button for our plastic garbage bags. On a longer trip this is a great space saver and can be used over and over on any garbage bag to shrink it down considerable less than you can squeeze out the air by sitting on the bag. It won't seal well enough for food but I can put two garbage bags in the space of one and you can't beat the size of the thing. BagButton.Space bags Storage Bags almost free.