Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

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bigtee
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Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby bigtee » Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:21 pm

So I read that vacuum sealers can increase the shelf life of pretty much all foods, regardless if they are frozen or just left out because they take most of the bacteria that spoils food out of the container.

That being said, we do a lot of hunting and fishing in remote areas that don't have power. This can make it difficult for us when we harvest a deer the first day out, and we have several more days of stay. Would it be a worthy investment to get a vacuum sealer capable of this portability to get a couple extra days out of the meat without worrying about it going bad? This way we can get a longer stay out of a trip in the event we do find something our first day out.

Does anyone else have similar experiences? This being about outdoor survival I figured I might be able to find some like minded guys in here.

Right now I'm looking at this fish and game vacuum sealer which can run on wall outlet or off a 12v battery.

https://outriggeroutdoors.com/collectio ... processing

I am open to suggestions.


Rich M
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby Rich M » Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:41 am

Not saying it won't work - not sure if it does work. Concept seems sound.

I usually keep quartered deer/venison in a cooler for 7-10 days before processing it. Drain off water and add ice as necessary, or just drain off water if no new ice is available. If its cold enough, leave cooler open.

The only thing I use a vac sealer for is long term fish freezing - everything else goes into a ziplock.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby buttonbuck » Sat Jan 30, 2021 3:26 am

bigtee wrote:So I read that vacuum sealers can increase the shelf life of pretty much all foods, regardless if they are frozen or just left out because they take most of the bacteria that spoils food out of the container.

That being said, we do a lot of hunting and fishing in remote areas that don't have power. This can make it difficult for us when we harvest a deer the first day out, and we have several more days of stay. Would it be a worthy investment to get a vacuum sealer capable of this portability to get a couple extra days out of the meat without worrying about it going bad? This way we can get a longer stay out of a trip in the event we do find something our first day out.

Does anyone else have similar experiences? This being about outdoor survival I figured I might be able to find some like minded guys in here.

Right now I'm looking at this fish and game vacuum sealer which can run on wall outlet or off a 12v battery.

https://outriggeroutdoors.com/collectio ... processing

I am open to suggestions.


I vacuum seal and find it to be the best for long term. There is another method of using saran wrap and butcher paper you could find a video on. I have some done like that and still waiting results. Last night I opened back strap from 2019 and it was perfectly fine. Few notes on vacuum sealing. Buy the cheaper seal bags or you'll spend a fortune on them. Don't buy a cheap vacuum sealer if your going to use it a lot or for many years. Borderline commercial is best. Commercial if your living off the land. I take a quarter of meat from my cooler, section it by muscle group, clean it and then seal it.
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buttonbuck
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby buttonbuck » Sat Jan 30, 2021 3:28 am

Rich M wrote:Not saying it won't work - not sure if it does work. Concept seems sound.

I usually keep quartered deer/venison in a cooler for 7-10 days before processing it. Drain off water and add ice as necessary, or just drain off water if no new ice is available. If its cold enough, leave cooler open.

The only thing I use a vac sealer for is long term fish freezing - everything else goes into a ziplock.


I use the same method and love it, I typically keep a deer in the cooler for 3-6 days. I try to have the meat out of my coolers so I can put new deer in every weekend.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:46 pm

I dunno about one without electricity.
I have one of the commercial grade ones that plugs into wall socket food savers I use it all the time. Has held up over years of use very well.


I do know their is adaptors for cigarette lighter car outlets that turn it into a plug in . Never tried running a fod saver off my car battery but it should work ok.

A commercial high quality one runs 150 plus but it is worth it longterm. You can buy the cheap plastic ones at China mart but they don't hold up to years of use.
Last edited by Tennhunter3 on Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby Jonny » Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:49 pm

Tennhunter3 wrote:I dunno about one without electricity.
I have one of the commercial grade that plugs into wall socket food savers I use it all the time. Has held up over years of use very well.


I do know their is adaptors for cigarette lighter car outlets that turn it into a plug in . Never tried running a fod saver off my car battery but it should work ok.


Those adapters suck. I run my laptop for work off one and half the time it doesn’t seem like it has enough juice to power the inverter. Either need to plug it in while I’ve been driving for awhile or have to have the truck off to power it. I always tried running into a shop or control tower if possible instead of using it.

Newer vehicles are starting to have them built in and they work a lot better. At least Ford has them built in their trucks and I think the 2021’s have an outlet by the tailgate which would be sweet.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby sloughdog » Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:53 pm

Fill a large stock pot with water. Put the meat in a freezer bag of your choice. Submerge the freezer bag with meat inside the bag up to the zipper and then zip it shut.
The water pushes all the air out of the bag and essentially vacuum seals it. Used this a lot living/working in extreme remote areas of Alaska.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby muddy » Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:11 pm

I have a regular old FoodSaver brand and love it. I'll leave sealed meat in the fridge for 2 or 3 weeks and it's just fine when I open it. I've heard that called "wet aging". Makes a huge difference on meat in freezer too, love it.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:14 pm

I would just do dry ice in that scenario.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby JP BowHunter » Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:46 pm

I will echo what a few others have said already. I vacuum seal my meat and have had excellent results. A sealer is one of those things where you get what you pay for… so if you’re able to, spend the $ for a quality one.

I’ve never run one off of a 12v source so I can’t comment about how that will work.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby Ol Split ( ) Toes » Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:31 am

I have lost way to much meat to my vaccume sealers , I was very disappointed in them. Seals never held up on both of them I bought, used every different brand of bag imaginable, tried double sealing, 3 months later freezer burnt. For a remote trip just bring coolers.

Best way to freeze venison is Wrapped in plastic wrap then wrapped in freezer paper imo..
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby muddy » Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:33 pm

Ol Split ( ) Toes wrote:I have lost way to much meat to my vaccume sealers , I was very disappointed in them. Seals never held up on both of them I bought, used every different brand of bag imaginable, tried double sealing, 3 months later freezer burnt. For a remote trip just bring coolers.

Best way to freeze venison is Wrapped in plastic wrap then wrapped in freezer paper imo..


I had that issue but now seal each bag 3x on each end. It has been a major difference. Should you have to do that? No, but it made things near 95% sealed success for me
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby MuskieHunterDave » Thu Sep 08, 2022 5:49 am

I just got into the vacuum sealing game a couple months ago. I primarily got one to stop food from having to be tossed as much (big family = lots of leftovers that only I end up eating). But it was a secondary goal to use it for deer this year. I've never butchered my own, but I'm excited to give it a shot!

The model we got is the Avid Armor A420 - just a step below commercial. So far, it's been great.
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Re: Thoughts on vacuum sealer for camping

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Thu Sep 08, 2022 2:01 pm

bigtee wrote:So I read that vacuum sealers can increase the shelf life of pretty much all foods, regardless if they are frozen or just left out because they take most of the bacteria that spoils food out of the container.

That being said, we do a lot of hunting and fishing in remote areas that don't have power. This can make it difficult for us when we harvest a deer the first day out, and we have several more days of stay. Would it be a worthy investment to get a vacuum sealer capable of this portability to get a couple extra days out of the meat without worrying about it going bad? This way we can get a longer stay out of a trip in the event we do find something our first day out.

Does anyone else have similar experiences? This being about outdoor survival I figured I might be able to find some like minded guys in here.

Right now I'm looking at this fish and game vacuum sealer which can run on wall outlet or off a 12v battery.

https://outriggeroutdoors.com/collectio ... processing

I am open to suggestions.


Better do your research on that one. It sounds like you're contemplating vaccum sealing the meat and leaving it at ambient temp? When you vaccum seal, you are removing oxygen from the bag. The bacteria that produces botulinum toxin(botulism = deadly) is anaerobic and is present in soils. A little bit of dirt, a bag without oxygen, and no refrigeration to limit bacterial growth could be a really bad combination.


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