We've always kept quite a bit of food on hand but recently we decided to increase our food storage/rotation program. Living in the humid subtropics we had pretty much 'hit the wall' on food storage and in order to go any further we were going to have to make some changes if storing additional food was going to make any sense.

I started doing research on manual vacuum sealers. Vacuum sealing does not replace traditional canning methods for wet pack, high acid foods but it may be handy in high humidity environments to protect many types of dried foods from oxygen, humidity and insects. I wanted a manual sealer because I don't have the counter room for an electric unit and I'd rather have something that will still work when there's no electricity.

The Alvin vacuum sealer is just a brake bleeder kit from Harbor Freight and a Tilia Mason jar sealer accessory for one of the FoodSaver units.

The total cost of the Alvin sealer is about thirty USD and it's use is pretty straightforward. (See above article) It's biggest limitation seems to be how much squeezing your hand is up to. It takes quite a bit of pumping to evacuate a jar with the Alvin but on the positive side it pulls more of a vacuum than many of the much more expensive, electric models -- and it works anywhere without electricity.

The second manual vacuum sealer I bought is the Pump-And-Seal which I like very much. It is inexpensive, fast and very easy to use. It pulls a very deep vacuum; deeper than ALL consumer grade electric sealers and in addition to sealing Mason jars it will also seal any glass jar with a metal 'lug' top with a plastisol liner ring inside. A small hole is poked in the lid and a 'check tab' is placed over the hole. A supply of these tiny, band-aid like check tabs comes with the Pump-And-Seal but there are many on-line who comment that it is a simple matter to make your own check tabs from scratch out of electrical tape.

Once the hole has been punched and the check tab is in place the Pump-And-Seal is placed on the lid and the plunger is pushed up and down for a few seconds. When the Pump-And-Seal is removed you just push the check tab down a bit with you finger to insure that you've got a good seal and that's it. The jar may be reopened by using a toothpick to let the air back in through the check tab and it all may be resealed over and over again. It is a cool system.

I was impressed that the Pump-And-Seal came with an order sheet that seems to include every single part that it is made of. Nice touch.

After using both sealers for a couple weeks on things like dried rice, beans, spices and the like I can say that I like the Pump-And-Seal better than the Alvin. It is faster, easier and more versatile. I did find that the Alvin seems to make a better seal for me for some things that are extremely fine and dusty. I have some cheddar cheese powder that I was able to seal with the Pump-And-Seal but had great difficulty RESEALING because of the dust being sucked into the check tab and preventing a good seal. The Alvin works well for the fine dusty things. I'm glad I bought both sealers.

I usually let freshly sealed jars sit out where I may keep my eye on them for a couple days to make sure that they have a good seal. Once a sealed jar is put away it should be checked periodically to make sure that the seal is still holding.

I've been sealing dried beans and rice lightly coated with diatomaceous earth (as a little added protection against insects) in canning jars and I'm happy with both sealers but especially the Pump-And-Seal.