silica gel

[shakesmyteeth]

As part of my job, I sometimes have to provide people with temporary footwear.

 

I've noticed our footwear packs contain little sachets of silica gel which would otherwise be thrown away.

 

Do you think it would be a good idea to leave one in every cache I come across in an attempt to keep the cache drier ?

 

I don't think they have any odour and they're only 3x2cm.

 

Whaddya think, eggheads ?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Temporary solution, at best.

The small packages soon saturate, becoming just more cache "junk".

They need to be heated or baked to release the water, the smaller they are, the more often the maintenance.

 

There are large containers meant for gunsafes and the like. They too need regeneration.

[+StarBrand]

Those things only hold a few drops of water. If the cache is wet on the inside - most everything will have also absorbed the moisture. Muche better to have a nice sealed container and finders smart enough not to open them in the rain.

[+drfred]

Can't hurt. Wouldn't make a big deal of it.

[knowschad]

This has been debated many times here in the past. Opinions on the matter are diverse, and facts are non-existant. Personally, I liken it to putting a dry sponge in a cache to keep it dry. The sponge will soak up a certain amount of moisture, but then it becomes wet itself and a source of moisture. Neither the sponge, nor the silica gel, actually makes any water "go away".

[+DragonsWest]

By the time water is an issue in a cache it has easily overcome the capacity of Silica Gel or other desiccants and, like the dog with glasses says, are just more slop in the cache.

 

While ziploc bags wear out with use they are more effective.

 

The best solution of all is watertight caches, properly closed.

[+kunarion]

Whaddya think, eggheads ?

If it might keep a log sheet drier a little longer, go for it. Particularly if the log and silica pack are in a ziplock bag. Along with a new pair of nice shoes

[Andronicus]

My thoughts are that they would be best suited for reducing condensation in a cache. By removing the humidity after the cache is closed, condensation will not form when the outside air gets cold.

 

How long it will help for is not known, and how much gel you need to properly protect your cache is unknown.

[+Maingray]

No point. The gel will be saturated very quickly. Often trash out little soggy bags of silica gel.

[+dbrierley]

A recent thread on the subject:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...9&hl=silica

 

A silica gel packet probably will not last long if its just placed in the cache container; it may work in a well-sealed environment. To do this, place the cache items in one or two freezer bags and the log in its own freezer bag. (Freezer bags have thicker/more durable plastic than the plastic in sandwich or snack bags.) Place a silica gel packet in each bag and put the sealed bags in the cache container. For a 1-quart freezer bag, look for unused packets that contain 3 to 5 grams of silica gel; packets that have been used for shoes or other purposes are probably exhausted or don't have enough material. The more silica gel in the packet, the less frequently the packets need to be changed. I find that a 5-gram packet easily lasts a year in New England; I swap them out each fall -- after the summer's humidity has gone. Your results may vary, depending on local humidity and the frequency of the cache being opened. The packets can be found on eBay from people who sell coin collecting supplies; a common brand name to search for is "Sorb-It."

[+Harry Dolphin]

As part of my job, I sometimes have to provide people with temporary footwear.

 

I've noticed our footwear packs contain little sachets of silica gel which would otherwise be thrown away.

 

Do you think it would be a good idea to leave one in every cache I come across in an attempt to keep the cache drier ?

 

I don't think they have any odour and they're only 3x2cm.

 

Whaddya think, eggheads ?

 

I've never understood why anyone would put silica gel packets in shoes, or jacket pockets. In an open environment, it is completely useless.

At work, we use the one pound bags in a military packing method formerly called Method II. Seal the machinery in a vaporproof barrier. Before sealing, insert the silica gel. Evactuate as much air as possible, using an air evacuation device (also known as a vacuum cleaner). Seal the bag. This is rated as being good for one year to protect the machinery from moisture.

Silica gel works best in a sealed environment. In a cache, unless it is completely seald, and not opened. The silica gel will absorb water quickly, and return the water to the environment when it is heated by sunlight.

Completely worthless in that situation.

[Andronicus]

I put one in a small cache. Almost a year later it has never been opened, (anyone want an old FTF?) so probably doing a good job. Once the cache is opened, and new non-dry air gets in, who knows if the packet has any more capacity to dry the air.

[Hazelette]

I've never understood why anyone would put silica gel packets in shoes, or jacket pockets. In an open environment, it is completely useless.

The shoes/jackets/clothing/whatever are boxed or bagged, boxed again, put on a pallet with its siblings, and then the whole mass is usually shrink-wrapped together. So having 1-2 packets in each small box is is an effective distribution of material to keep the goods in peak condition. (Used to work in retail clothing and processing incoming shipments of this size was a PIA.)

Edited May 29, 2010 by Hazelette