More From The Guru

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The friend that I call "the guru" wishes to remain anonymous, but he IS a very wise fellow (in everything but politics).

The reason I mentioned the gallon-sized parmesan cheese container storing the ice-melter was it was on my mind (just re-filled it last Monday from the 45 pound bag I keep sealed in the basement), and the fact it seals air-tight so the salt does not adsorb water from the air and clunk at the bottom in a puddle like melter-salt does if you leave it open to the air.


Reusable food-grade wide mouth screw-top sealable storage containers are also good for in-use flour, etc. (and what we use them for). Why spend money on canisters that don't seal well in the first place when you can get them free?

Also, the reason for distilled water is while it might not taste that great, it has nothing in it and off-the-shelf sealed gallon containers of it keep for many years before anything grows in it. I used to keep the milk-jug-type-distilled water that way. Filtered or bottled water in the gallon or 2.5 gallon jugs does not seem to keep as long. As for filtered bottled water in the wasteful throwaways, I do not know how long it will keep before it goes green.

Also, if you store toilet paper in a sealed paint/mud bucket (especially carefully squashed) you can store a whole lot in just one bucket, yet have dry, usable, TP when you need it.

Here's a tip that makes owning one of the vacuum sealing units worthwhile: simply take your grains directly from the store-sealed bag, put the grain(s) into the vacuseal bag, and vacuum seal it. They will keep ten times as long that way. If you do it to instant rice, oats, etc., you have a self-made longish storage and yet toteable supply. For camping years ago, I used to vacuum seal Uncle Ben's, Ricearoni, mac&cheese, potato flakes, etc. boxes (get rid of the box, pour the contents into a vacuseal bag) — they became relatively-quick-to-make, TINY, easily backpackable for camping, meal packets at a tenth the cost of the virtually instantly-made freeze dried foods (hey, to save quite a few dollars by spending a few minutes longer in preparation is well worth it).

I have even vacuum sealed a spare roll of toilet paper to get it to fit into a backpack — it works when space is at a premium!
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