Moisture: the safe deposit box's worst enemy.

[the 'stache]

Just bumping this, now that spring is here, and summer is drawing near. Are any of you guys trying something different with your safe deposit boxes? Just curious if anybody has had any more horror stories, or great ideas. Since I place both modern and vintage/pre-war in there, I'm always looking for information.

I'm going with the little Tupperware container poked with several holes, and some silica packs inside. Cards are placed on top of an archival sheet. I am ordering some new ones from Bags Unlimited.

Thanks!

[JollyRoger]

We get some fairly high humidity in my part of the country, but I've never had any issues with moisture in my safe deposit box. Sometimes I'll go 3-4 years without checking on my cards, and they've always been fine. We soak and dry our cards, so I don't see where a little moisture would have a devastating effect on them. I've seen dessicant packets turn into a mess before, so I wouldn't trust them. I've heard a piece of chalk can absorb moisture, never tried that. The way I see it, my cards have survived 100+ years on their own, why change things now!

[rjackson44]

Ive never used anything in twenty years bill,,never a problem ..

[the 'stache]

Octavio, I don't think I'd have a problem without something. The bank is climate controlled. I just know how humid it is down here, and especially as of late, we've had terrible storms in the Dallas metroplex, and a lot of power outages. I'd hate to get a burst of humidity with an outage. I know it's a low chance, but it's worth spending $10 to protect a collection worth thousands of bucks.



Do any of you guys use these? I figure that this is a completely contained unit, so no need for a Tupperware container, and no batteries. They seem to get some good ratings, too.

[Jobu]

I have had the blue-to-pink version of silica gel in this case along with me during field work in tropical forests (also just the raw silica as I think I mentioned) but never had one of these in with cards. The cases are pretty tough and I think this would probably work well for you.

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Do any of you guys use these? I figure that this is a completely contained unit, so no need for a Tupperware container, and no batteries. They seem to get some good ratings, too.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Octavio, I don't think I'd have a problem without something. The bank is climate controlled. I just know how humid it is down here, and especially as of late, we've had terrible storms in the Dallas metroplex, and a lot of power outages. I'd hate to get a burst of humidity with an outage. I know it's a low chance, but it's worth spending $10 to protect a collection worth thousands of bucks.



Do any of you guys use these? I figure that this is a completely contained unit, so no need for a Tupperware container, and no batteries. They seem to get some good ratings, too.

Hey Bill, I'd used a couple of those in my box and storage, but decided to take everything out after my desiccant meltdown in my off site storage unit. These did seem to work well though, and I may start using them again if it looks like moisture is creating an issue. I still use the larger boxed (beads in a pouch) desiccants for my storage unit at home.

[Paul S]

In 1974, just before I was moving from L.A. to S.F., I stuck all my cards in a Gallo Hearty Burgundy box (still have it!), wrote my name on it, stored in a mini-basement, and told my Mom not to touch it. There it sat on a shelf next to the furnace and water heater, until about 9-10 years ago when went to retrieve it -- condition-wise, they looked the same. Survived two earthquakes and a mudslide. Worked for me