Airtight glass jars are recommended for anything longer than a couple of months.
http://pipesmagazine.com/python/pipe-tobacco/pipe-tobacco-storage/
Of course, any good prepper would also consider this.
I have doubts about long term storage of tobacco. Seeds are cheap. Or just buy tobacco leaves every three years and store them the best you can. They have the advantage of not being taxed as a finished product.
Roll it all into cigars. Put them into a cedar box, and keep them at 70/70. ...and that’s all I know.
I read some pipe smoker boards where they store the tobacco in canning jars to age it. They had a good seal and kept it in a cool dark location.
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My legal mind altering drug of choice is coffee and my SHTF plan is to be content to chew a few stale whole beans in the AM. Bear in mind, of course, that the day will come when the last shred is gone. There's a plan.. that's a plan. |
Even if you don’t smoke, tobacco could prove useful for barter. I stock extra toilet paper for barter and hope I never have to use it for that. If not, I’ve got a lifetime supply :)
If the container is airtight, it will retain existing moisture and not dry out. Adding moisture would likely induce rot, especially if you used unsterile water. I think a good container would be glass canning jars with new lids.
Cigar fans store 100% tobacco for months or years with do-it-yourself projects:
http://www.igtc.com/~pmm/tupperdor.html
Cigar shops do sell products to humidify the box or bag or whatever you’re using if need be (if the tobacco starts to dry out). Some of them look like tubes of gel. I sometimes use these in my cigar humidifier. My guess is that if you keep it air tight you’ll be fine. Keep it in a dark cool place.
Get a mason jar or other clear air tight container. Get a good hygrometer to check humidity, obviously not battery powered. And lastly, get some treated humidor pads and some desiccant.
Place tobacco and hygrometer in the container at room temperature. Wait one day and check. Place desiccant or humidor pad inside. Check once a day until humidity is at proper level. Remove pad or desiccant and seal container. Check to make sure the humidity stays stable every few days. Then just keep the jar at a stable room temperature. It should last at least 10 years.
Proper humidity for short term storage of tobacco you want to smoke is 60-70%. For long term, around 12-17%. You should moisten stored tobacco with humidor pads before smoking.
Get a Food Saver and vacuum pack the tobacco. You can leave it in the bag it is already in, and just seal over it.
Keeping tobacco for a long period of time isn’t going to be easy. It might still be smokeable after a few years, but it will eventually go stale and not taste very good. I’d guess a root cellar would be your best option in a prepper scenario, to keep the temperature and humidity variations to a minimum.
Just to be clear, putting cured tobacco in airtight containers will only work if the tobacco is sterile, which it isn’t. That’s why tobacco humidors use propylene glycol and distilled water.
Having smoked 55 years, I have stored Two 5 gal pails with mylar bags and O2 absorbers... Just at 5# of tobacco in each. (it is a tight fit, but works)
I also store 25 cartons of tubes and a couple of injection machines... as long as they stay dry, they are good... 2 1/2 cartons per pound works out just about right.
Since I was finally able to quit 3 months ago,(vapor ecigs did the trick and am now down to 0% on nicotine too)
I figure tobacco is better than gold as barter, and it will keep for many years under a no oxygen, partial vacuum, away light storage. (I had a bag that was 5 years old that I had sealed with the FoodSaver machine... couldn’t tell it from fresh, except it had a richer, smoother, more mellow flavor.)
Anybody who ever used a cloth bag of Bull Durham knows that even though it may be super dry, it is still a good smoke when you don’t have anything else... LOL
It don’t matter. If it comes to that, you’ll be happy to smoke whatever you have.
Before Michigan added a 25 dollar tax per pound on loose cigrettes, I picked up over 25/ 1 pound bags and kept them in the freezer. They stayed fresh, but once you open a bag to roll your own, make sure you close it tightly. If it tends to dry out, I finger flick some water on each side of the bag, close it and put it in the refrigerator...you don’t flick a lot of water, just wet your 5 fingers and flick on the side of the bag, not on the tobacco....been doing it for years. good luck. My kids would open my freezer and just laugh...
Don’t know about pipe tobacco, but several years ago, before cigs went up by 20 bucks a carton I bought about a year’s worth of cartons, and kept them in a deep freeze at 20 below zero. They were fine.
And it was so handy to just go get a carton out of the deep freeze.
Buy it by the plug or twist. It will store much longer.