How much moisture is in the bag

[mikew09]

Have to agree, camera bags are not airtight but I do think they provide an relatively controlled airspace and still worth a silica pack. Not really planning to use my bag as the actual storage unit. I have a timber cabinet with glass doors ( much like the camera shops) that I am setting up for general storage and the bag for outings etc.
Anyhow, I am working to supresee my paranoia :-), maybe it is not as scarey as my first impressions as long as you take some simple recautions.

[peterb666]

Note you can re-generate your silica gel by popping them in the oven for an hour or two at 120 to 150 deg C.

[mikec]

While I agree most camera bags are not hermetically sealed, I'm pretty sure air doesn't extactly flow freely through mine (unless I leave it open).

You have only to roll down the top of the bag inside a box of corn flakes to keep them fresh, you don't need to keep them in sealable plasticware.

I certainly don't go as far as keeping my gear in a dry storage cabinet but keeping some dessicant (that has an indicator so I can see when it needs recharging) in my kit is some cheap, as I said, peace of mind.

While air won't freely flow through the bag, the enviroment inside a normal camera bag will adapt to what the outside enviroment is as it isn't air tight, it will have a similar humidity to that of the outside air, just a slightly delayed one as the bag will cause a lag in the humdity changing within the bag. You'll actually find too that your cornflake pack is much better than a camera bag at keeping humdity out as it isn't permiable and rolling the top over a few times will do an ok job, much better than the zips on a camera bag or the material.

While on that, free flowing air is actually better than no air flow, its the same as the underside of a house, you need airflow to ensure the moisture doesn't accumulate and cause mold / mildew to build up. The reason your silica bags are changing colour is because it isn't a sealed enviroment.

Look I'm not an advocate of dry cupboards, my gear lives in its camera bag, I'm just saying if you are serious, get a proper case that can be sealed. If I lived far north QLD or somewhere similar I would worry about it though.

[tim71]

Hi Mike,

have a look at/search this forum for a post by Dwarak 2/3/2010 on Pelican dry cases and for a post by Tricky 20-12-08 on fungus, you might find the second page of Trickys post more useful than the first.

I found the threads in these two posts very useful wrt to battling humidity.

cheers,

Tim

[mikew09]

Hi Mike,

have a look at/search this forum for a post by Dwarak 2/3/2010 on Pelican dry cases and for a post by Tricky 20-12-08 on fungus, you might find the second page of Trickys post more useful than the first.

I found the threads in these two posts very useful wrt to battling humidity.

cheers,

Tim

Thanks Tim, worth a read for sure. I consider one of those hard cases before I upgrade my kit - which is happening soon - woowhoo.