magnesium to protect stored items

this is an idea i have seen else where, you use magnesium it bond the oxygen in a storage container. magnesium is the most easily oxidized metal so you place a small container of magnesium in the container and thus deplete the oxygen in a sealed container. yes i realize that magnesium is very easily ignited but that should not be a problem in a storage situation or would it, thoughts?

aren't silicon based gels or other similar stuffs commonly used in that job? So i doubt magnesium would be more effective or it would be in commercial use...

well that's sort of where im coming from on this, i don't think it would be superior but that it's perhaps something that would be available in the long term when other things are depleted. i'm not really up on the shelf life of the gels and i know you can recharge them with heat but they are ( at least i think they are ) for moisture and i was thinking that mag would be a acceptable oxygen remover. but agin I'm not an expert in that area and am looking for opinions and feed back on this idea.

I think I would go with the silica gel packs. I'm not sure about the shelf-life, but they have different sizes for different volumes.

Another method is to pump Nitrogen gas into the container and seal it, but I've heard the nitrogen can damage plastic (makes it more brittle) if it comes into direct contact with the plastic -- what I heard from some who use PVC pipe and nitrogen to store cached weapons.

How can nitrogen gas damage the plastic, when most of the atmosphere is nitrogen already?

I'll look into that further and see if I can send you a link or more info...

I work with valuable museum artifacts and Silica gel, powder, or sheets are often used to help minimize moisture inside artifact cases. They do nothing for oxidation.

Nitrogen flooding is perhaps the best way to avoid oxidation. The problem mentioned earlier about it making plastic brittle is incorrect. The only way that would happen is if they were foolish enough to use liquid nitrogen, which would cause many problems due to the extremely low temperatures. Nitrogen gas is inert and does not react with other materials. By flooding the case with nitrogen gas, and displacing any O2 from the atmosphere, you should be able to improve conditions for long term storage.

I couldn't find the link about using nitrogen for storage. In this particular case, it was regarding burying firearms in the event of a SHTF scenario. Upon further reflection and remembrance, it was regarding the use of liquid nitrogen...

Using a large PVC pipe as the outer container, flush the pipe with liquid nitrogen, and as the liquid became gas, it would force out the O2, and then one would place the firearm (which was encased in a vacuum-sealed plastic bag) and then cap off the PVC pipe.

The concern was that the plastic bag might come into contact with some still-frozen Nitrogen, making the plastic bag brittle.

Originally posted by Nygdan
How can nitrogen gas damage the plastic, when most of the atmosphere is nitrogen already?

Originally posted by Nygdan
How can nitrogen gas damage the plastic, when most of the atmosphere is nitrogen already?

When storing food in plastic buckets for long term storage, I use dry ice. Pretty simple operation. Put a few bay leaves in bottom of bucket, pour in beans, rice, whatever, place chunk of dry ice on top and let the nitrogen (heavier than oxygen) displace the oxygen. Gotta "burp" the lid occassionally. If you're storing other stuff, there are those plastic bags with the suction machines that suck out all the air. Air and moisture are the biggest destroyers of long term storage items. Put your stuff in those plastic bags, suck out the air then put it in something waterproof (plastic buckets are great for ammo and small stuff. When considering water damage, you have to also account for condensation. WHERE you store it is an important consideration. Extremes of heat/cold will cause condensation and all your good effort is wasted.

Dry Ice is made from Carbon Dioxide and not Nitrogen. Dry Ice is not a good method for long term storage as the O in CO2 will react with whatever is being stored. In addition the extreme cold of Dry Ice can cause cracks in any plastic container. You may not see them but in time they can open up and cause outside air and moisture to get in. Even a tiny crack too small to see, is problematic. Stay away from any method that involves extreme cold unless the container is specialy made for that purpose and never use plastics in conjunction with deep cold.

My bad. I had Nitrogen on the brain after reading the posts and typed Nitrogen rather than Carbon Dioxide. Anyway, I've used the plastic buckets for years now (about 18) and they're fine. Helps to store them indoors in a climate controlled environment. I've known guys that bury them and dig them up when they need the food and the "shelf life" on them is considerably less than in a climate controlled environment. About a year-year and a half as opposed to 4-5 years. Still, a year and a half is not too bad. Better than nothing and you can get bulk foods for dirt cheap as well as dry ice and plastic buckets. I use food grade quality plastic buckets and not recycled paint buckets. I've never had any buckets crack or get moisture in them. The food is always good and fresh tasting. I suppose the problems you mention are a possibility but, for me, they've not occurred.