I'm going to start storing some bulk food for long-term storage but I'm concerned about the efficacy of using plastic pails with mylar bags inside. I'm worried about rodents chewing through the pails and getting into my food. Are plastic pails good enough, or are steel pails worth the extra cost? Has anyone had issues with plastic being chewed through? Anyone use metal pails and have a cheap source?
Thanks
There is a thread on the Ontario board. I had asked plastic compared to metal.
http://internationalpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=898&hilit=mice
We don't have rats here in Alberta, but I've had everything chewed into or through from mice except plastic pails, glass jars, or metal containers. If required for long term storage in boxed/cardboard type packages, place them into rubbermaid tubs with lids.
I use plastic and have never had a rodent chew through one. Although I believe that is due in part to keeping the pests under control. I have a cat, and use mouse traps where I see droppings. Also, I am about to build a walk in pantry and plan on making it as rodent proof as possible. In short, to keep rodents from chewing through your containers, keep rodents away from your containers.
As I said in another post, I am terrified of rodents. I throw up, panic, pass out when I see one in the house. Outside, I run for the hills! I had a relative that would torture me with rodents. I will never get over that fear.
I have grains and food stored and have rodent proofed my preps as much as I can.
DO NOT put food in a basement. It never ends up good.
Clean the packaging with hot soapy water and a drop or two of bleach, rinse well and always use a CLEAN towel to dry it, not the one you used for the dishes or the kitchen counter that day.
Mylar bags, sealed containers, use bay leaves in packaging to deter bugs and critters.
I have rice in 2 liter pop bottles... washed out thoroughly, dried til bone dry (took 2 days), added 2 bay leaves to the bottom (just push the dried leaf through the bottle opening) and pour in the rice, leave room for 2 more leaves at the top, put the bottle lid on it, mark the outside with the date of packaging.
Pasta is in mylar bags, 2 cups per bag, sealed and labeled(kind of pasta, date of packaging), placed in a rubbermaid container and stacked in the closet. I keep the closet vacuumed out, no food remnants in the closet and I pack and unpack in the kitchen... and only in the kitchen.
Grains are done the same way pasta is, dried beans are in pop bottles like the rice is for now.
If you have a rodent problem that can get through those, traps and poison are needed. They carry diseases and are dangerous creatures. Seal up your closet as best you can as well with silicone and spray foam.
I am not fond of rodents and I don't intend to feed any if I can help it. Usually in the fall we see a few signs of mice in the basement. We have poison out for those times.
I have some vacuum sealed bags in plastic buckets and have never seen any sign that they have been targeted. We do have a cat that likes to go to the basement. I hope it is to hunt, but I have never seen any sign that he was doing anything else.
I have started to use glass bottles though. The fact that I have so many has made that an easy decision.
Food will get you through times with no money, but money will not get you through times with no food.
When I bought my house, there was a mouse problem when we first moved in. They were all over, and I found nests in pantry.
A few traps in the garage, I invested in a package of plug in mouse repellers (Home hardware) to try - and they seem to work really good as long as they are plugged in. Been plugging holes from the outside as I find them. My house cat is as useless as boobs on a snake - she just stared at them when she saw them.
Also, I don't know if there's anything to it, but in areas where I did find the nests I stuffed old dryer sheets that I had slept on - for getting human smell on them. I use these in the barn too, tacked near the bottoms of the barn doors. Seems to keep things out. Still testing this out though.
Took about 7-8 months, but the problem is solved. I get perhaps one or two a year now, as I still keep a couple of traps going in the garage. They seem to come to the house in the fall, as it starts to get cold. I watch for them mostly then.
My very new storage section is in my basement. I don't keep the pails on the floor, to avoid transferring moisture into them. I suppose I could solve that by bagging, but I plan (hope really) to rotate the food before that comes to be a problem. I keep the pails on pallets. I found some smaller ones, with a pretty tight deck on them - no huge slots in them.
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