There are many ways of storing your belongings, and whether you’re getting ready for bugging in, bugging out, living off the grid, etc. you need to think about storage. Whether it is food, household items and whatever else you need for prepping. And how preppers store their food continues to evolve as we get better and better technology. Here we will talk about a kind of storage method which you might be familiar with, since so many preppers use it. It’s a simple piece of technology that we’ve come to embrace here at Prepper Base involving specially engineered gaskets on removable lids, commonly called a gamma lid. Also called “gamma seals” or a “gamma seal lid,” these lids spin on and their specially engineered gaskets ensure airtight protection.
In this post, we will cover everything you need to know about gamma seal lids and how they can come useful in a survival situation. We will also include a starter list showing you some of the foods that you can store with them for long-term storage.
What is a Gamma Seal Lid?
Gamma seal lids, also called as “gamma lids”, are lids which can transform ordinary 12” diameter buckets into reusable food storage containers. Once installed, they offer a leak-proof and airtight seal, which is clearly ideal for long term storage. And they have an easy open-and-close mechanism to avoid the trouble that some traditional snap-on lids have.
Furthermore, gamma seal lids are made of high durable, heavy-duty polyethylene plastic perfect for long term storage. And they usually fit 3.5, 5, and 7 gallon buckets with different size diameters, usually 12″ being the standard.
A quality gamma seal lid is going to be BPA-free high density polyethylene HDPE construction, have resilient elastomeric gaskets (usually made of stuff called styrene butadiene rubber copolymer), and will be able to fit on any perfectly good bucket. Don’t forget that you should have an easy opening lid, even though it turns a bucket into an airtight container. You’re still going to need easy access to whatever you have stored in your gamma seal bucket.
It’s easy and affordable to buy gamma seal containers, and they make a unique reusable plastic container. But one of the great things about using a gamma seal lid is that the heavy duty gasketed lid can be used with nearly any plastic bucket. All you need is a normal 3.5 to 7 gallon bucket and a lid that corresponds to the opening size. You can simply snap the adapter ring onto your bucket and use a rubber mallet to settle the gasket adapter ring onto the bucket. Once you’ve installed your ring, you have an air tight container whenever your removable lid is properly sealed.
Where Can I Get Gamma Seal Lids?
How to Install Gamma Seal Lid and How They Work
Installing gamma seal lids is easier than it might seem. Here’s what you need to do:
- Separate the ring from the inner threaded lid by spinning it.
- Insert the ring on top of the bucket while making sure there is a seated rubber gasket inside the ring.
- Apply pressure while using a mallet to successfully tuck the ring into the bucket until it clicks in place.
- Screw the threaded lid into the ring.
- Now, you’ve got yourself a bucket with a gamma seal lid on.
Its main function is plain simple, you just have to unscrew the inner threaded lid from the ring by spinning to open it and screw it back in to close it.
Why Should You Use Gamma Seal Lids?
Using gamma seal lids can be convenient in a SHTF or other survival situation. It can come in handy as part of your bugging-in stockpile, or it can be a useful container for your survival cache. You can make use of buckets with gamma seal lids as containers for your long-term food storage, since food is one of the chief perishable necessities you need in order to survive. When storing supplies in bulk, you may run out of your regular storage containers—which is why gamma seal lids make the perfect alternative to prolonging their shelf lives without having to worry where to store them. Just toss whatever you have inside your gamma seal lid containers.
Replacement gaskets are usually available for gamma seal lids, which is a handy feature. They are usually completely recyclable if you end up breaking one in an accident. There are literally thousands of storage applications for the gamma seal lid and it all starts at standard buckets or a plastic pail. At such an affordable price, you can’t find a better way to turn standard buckets into a leak proof container with an airtight seal.
These are some of the are the many features that gamma seal lids have, giving them a serious advantage over other containers:
Food Safety
Gamma seal lids are suitable for long term food storage with the help of their rubber gaskets inside their ring and around the lid. Direct food contact is no issue. The BPA-free and heavy metal free plastic construction makes them food safe. Although it might not be 100% submersible, they can still prove to be far more helpful than conventional containers.
Ease of Use
With their basic mechanism, anyone can use them without any prior experience. As mentioned, you just have to screw and unscrew to open and close them.
Security
Instead of laying your valuable belongings around, you can safely store them inside the containers with gamma seal lids to ensure their safety.
Space Saver
They can be stackable which creates more room for your storage space. But when you’re planning to stack them up, make sure to not stack them up too high and the ones on top are not too heavy as it will put pressure on the threads of the lids and could compromise them.
Organized Storage
Gamma seal lids are available in many colors which you can use to organize your storage. You can definitely use labels as well, just in case you forget which color a certain thing is stored in.
Speed
The ability to turn a 5-gallon bucket into a secure storage container is a huge advantage when SHTF. The speed combined with their ease of use makes gamma seal lids a no-brainer for prepping.
BPA-Free and Food Grade Safe
Legitimate Gamma seal lids are BPA-free and made of food grade plastic, so you do not have to worry when storing foods inside them. Just make sure that the bucket you’re using along with your gamma seal lid is also BPA-free and food-grade plastic if you intent on storing food.
Here are some good food choices for long term storage with gamma seal lids:
- Pastas
- Flour
- Oat
- Cereals
- Wheat
- Rice Grains
- Coffee
- Sugar
- Salt
- Beans
- Popcorn
- Corn
- Seeds
- Pet foods (for dogs, cats, birds etc.)
Here are some different prepping items you can store in gamma seal containers:
- Extra knives
- Spare Paracord
- Charcoal
- Mini Bug-Out stash of gear
- Outdoor Survival Tools
- Survival Tarps
- Garden fertilizers
- And a whole lot more
The Final Word on Gamma Seal Lids
For preppers, buying in bulk is an ideal thing to do since you have to always plan for the worst-case scenario and be prepared for as much as you can. The next thing you are going to worry about is how to store the bulk supplies, given that you only have a limited quantity of small storage containers. Good thing gamma seal lids and high-quality BPA-free food-grade containers can save you from this trouble and you can just store whatever food or household items you want inside them. Just remember the rule to store things in safe, secure places. Whatever you store under a gamma seal lid will stay dry as a bone and you won’t need to worry about it. We think they are an indispensable tool for preppers today.