Practical Vacuum Sealer for Boat

[Pelagic]

On my shopping list for moving back on board
Lots of reviews out there but for those who are using a Vacumn Sealer on the boat, for food/parts etc, could I have some advice and your recomendation.

1 what are your key uses?
2 Cost effective Bag type and sizes?
3 Your product recommendation?

Thanks for the advice

[SailRedemption]

I saw this somewhere on a forum, here or maybe an overlanding one.. But I see it gets good reviews, you just need to but the resealable zip lock bags that come in various sizes.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/FoodSaver...ystem/15777783

[Lepke]

I have a food saver 4400 series. I buy the rolls on Amazon or ebay, sometimes in combo packs and sometimes single rolls. Whatever is cheaper. Works great. Stops freezer burn. When I tuna fish, I cut a bunch of steaks and package in 1s & 2s. Also salmon & cod fillets. I buy Costco beef and split it into small packs. Food Saver was easily paid for in a season.

I also use mine to bag spare parts. Pumps, injectors, etc. I usually throw in a silica gel desiccant pack with parts. Keeps impellers fresh. Stops surface rust or corrosion. Silica Gel about 50¢ each in bulk on ebay.

[sailorboy1]

I use a basic seal a meal. I use it only for food and feel it is a great thing to have on board. Allows buying the family size meat packages and sealing into couples sizes and freezing. Never had a freezer meat package go bad using it.

[a64pilot]

They are actually good for all kinds of things, pretty much anything you really really don’t want to get wet you can vacuum bag, batteries for the ditch bag etc. and of course food, no freezer burn if vacuum bagged, but rice, beans, pasta and all kinds of food items just seem to keep better and longer if vacuum bagged. We have even vacuum bagged crackers, just don’t crush them.
One of the most useful things we have in the boat, I bought the roll of different sized bags on Amazon, whatever ones that you can get a deal on, and they work fine. I bought the tool to seal jars with, but haven’t tried that yet, so don’t know how well it works.

Just wish the bags weren’t plastic

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Just wish the bags weren’t plastic

Yes, that's the part that environmentally bothers me, but so much more space efficient than reusable containers.

Is there a type of bag that you can cut cleanly inside the weld and vacumn seal again?

[Jdege]

I used a Sinbo DZ-280.

It's the only consumer model I've found that uses a snorkel. It's a bit pricier than the food savers, but it's a lot sturdier built.

And it works with plain plastic bags, instead of the expensive micro-channel bags the others require.

[SSgtPitt]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Is there a type of bag that you can cut cleanly inside the weld and vacumn seal again?

I buy the Foodsaver bags from CostCo and reuse them until the bags get holes in them.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Is there a type of bag that you can cut cleanly inside the weld and vacumn seal again?

All of them that I've used as long as you made it long enough to start with. To me the hardest part of using a vac sealer is to resist cutting the "bag" too short in an effort to not waste too much.

[svHyLyte]

In re: Food Saver Bags, make them somewhat larger than necessary and they can be washed out and reused several times. Further, one can actually use common Zip Lock freezer bags with a Food Saver by laying a strip of the textured Food Saver bag over the locking lip of the machine, between the layers of the Zip Lock bags, and activating the sealing process. I tried this when we were running low on Food Saver bags and it actually worked reasonably well.

FWIW...

[Mike OReilly]

Foodsaver here as well. I use it for leftovers and for the dried food that we carry on board. I bought the 12v version, so easy to use. Also does 110v.

[Jazzrockskier]

Cabelas has precut heavy duty zip lock bags for food saver/ seal a meal ( owned by same parent company ). These work well for individuall frozen item like shrimp or vegetables take out what you need put bag back in freezer.
Clyde
M V SEA FOUR
Ex S V ISLAND LADY
S V FAST FORWARD

[CarinaPDX]

As I wrote on a similar thread my new Food-Saver brand died after a few uses. I opened it up to see if I could see the problem and was more than a little surprised at what I saw. In contrast to the attractive and sturdy plastic case, the innards were less than impressive. There was a small electric motor turning the vacuum pump, a cheap little PCB with a few components, some clear plastic tubing, and a whole lot of space. Based on cost this should sell for $100 less - or about what the classic Seal-a-Meal costs. Save your money...


Greg

[Pelagic]

Thanks Greg,..... Not unusual for a good product made in China to become popular, then they cut costs in production.

I always try to buy quality if possible, but unless you take them apart at the store[emoji4] ....
How can you tell?

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

As I wrote on a similar thread my new Food-Saver brand died after a few uses. I opened it up to see if I could see the problem and was more than a little surprised at what I saw. In contrast to the attractive and sturdy plastic case, the innards were less than impressive. There was a small electric motor turning the vacuum pump, a cheap little PCB with a few components, some clear plastic tubing, and a whole lot of space. Based on cost this should sell for $100 less - or about what the classic Seal-a-Meal costs. Save your money...


Greg

After all the great replies I have to say we had similar issues with our food savers. We had a total of 3 of them over the past 15 years. They would work for a period of time then not seal. Plus they seemed to get bigger and bigger.

After the 3rd one crapped out after 6 months we said “Never buy a Food Saver again”. It’s not like we could just order it and have it delivered. Living overseas it meant that they took up valuable baggage space only to be thrown out..... grrrrr

What other vacuum sealers do people use that really work and last more than a year or two

Chuck
Jacaranda