*Space Bag Storage*
By: RedDon
01 June 2011

I recently found a great deal on bath towels, hand towels and washcloths. Being the "prep-minded" individual that I am, I bought a life-time supply, and then some. These were the thick over-sized towels that I really like.

But how was I going to store all of these towels that I won’t be using for a long time? I initially put them in garbage bags, but I didn’t like this method for long-term storage. You know how cloths get that sit around unused for years. So, I thought I would give the Space Bag concept a try.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but I went online and placed an order that included 3 jumbo cubes, 4 extra large cubes, 2 large cubes, 4 large bags, 4 medium bags and 2 travel cubes. I actually just wanted a single order but was sucked into the "super-size" offer, which doubled the size of the order. The following picture shows the bundled package that I received.

As a special offer, the deal also included a free Space Bag Organizer. But the organizer isn’t very big and won’t hold all of the filled space bags. The whole order came to just under $70 including shipping. Initially, it seemed to me that this was a bit pricey for a bunch of over-sized zip-lock bags.

Each bag is basically a big double zip lock bag with an air valve assembly as shown in the next picture. They are made of bi-axial layers of polyethylene and nylon and are airtight and watertight. The thickness of the bags is 2.2 millimeters.

For demonstration purposes, I chose a Large Cube bag. Each bag has pictorial instructions stamped on them. There is a printed white line just below the opening, which is the "fill to" line. Overfilling can stretch and damage the bag when vacuuming the air out. The valve shown in the next picture is a simple flap valve allowing air to be sucked out while not allowing air to reenter.

The instructions stamped on the bags shows how to fill them. On the cube bags, there is an unfolding bottom and the instructions show the bag being filled while it is in the vertical position. The instructions on the regular bags show the bag being filled while it is in the horizontal position. I prefer to fill either type in the horizontal position as in the next picture. For me, it just seemed easier to do it that way.

After filling the bag and closing the zip top slide, I went and found my shop vacuum. But the nozzle on my machine didn’t fit to anything on the valve. In fact, there really isn’t anything on the valve to fit any kind of vacuum nozzle to. At least not to any kind of vacuum nozzle I have.

So, I just pressed the vacuum machine nozzle against the valve and that did great. The bag compressed to about half-size as the air was vacuumed out. The towels I used where pretty thick so half-size was great. But, I wasn’t really worried about space as much as I was about keeping the towels protected.

According to the specs, the bags will hold their vacuum for 12 months and can be resealed. It is also suggested that the bags be periodically reopened, the contents re-fluffed and re-sealed.

Advantages:

• Space bags are air and watertight.
• When used properly, the sealed bags will retard moisture, mildew, dust and bugs.
• They compress the contents, allowing you to fit more in the same storage area.

Precautions:

• As per the manufacturer’s instructions, do not store in temps greater than 130 degrees F. or below 0 degrees F.
• Also, don’t pick up a filled bag by the edges. Always grab ahold of the contents of the bag when moving, or else the bag may get damaged.
• Finally, do not over fill as the bag may stretch.

Problems:

• Of the first seven bags I used, two would not hold their vacuum, even after retrying several times. One of the two bad bags was the very first bag I started with.
• On the first bag, I thought maybe I did something to the bag because it took several attempts to get the contents placed the way I wanted. I was real careful and followed the instructions. But, when the second bad bag wouldn’t hold a vacuum, I decided to contact the company with the problem. I left a message explaining the problem on their "Contact Us" section of their web site. They responded by apologizing for my problem and indicated that they will replace the defective bags free of charge for up to one year after purchase.
• Their instructions stated to cut out the space bag emblem from the defective bags and send them to their factory at: ITW Space Bag, 7520 Airway Road, San Diego, CA 92154. Their company logo is the square that looks like it is slightly tilted with the words "Space Bag" written inside.

Conclusion:

• At $70 for 19 bags, I initially thought the bags were a bit pricey.
• If I didn’t have problems with some of the bags, I would have thought that this would have been a fair price considering what I wanted to use them for.
• Since I did have problems, I’m not too sure.
• Bag replacement, however, is not that hard.

If I don’t have any more problems, then I will say that I am glad I tried them out.
RedDon

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