honey packets - how do they hold up, long-term?

[TurtleNomad]

I'm thinking of buying some bulk individual honey packets (probably the "Kraft Pure Honey, 9-Gram Packages (Pack of 200)" from Amazon ($16.06)).

The unlimited shelf life of honey is mighty attractive, plus pure energy is good.

My main concern is how do the packets hold up, long-term, particularly when stored in a car in a mixed climate (the MidWest USA, with a symmetrical temperature range of about -40C to 40C)?

Does anyone have any experience with this?
Have you ever had packets burst?

I've had MRE strawberry jam leak, so figure a civilian pack item is more likely to be "problematic".

Fortunately, even before the strawberry leak, I had gotten into the habit of sub-bagging like items.

Speaking of which, I just bought a set of "Aloksak O.P. Sak (Odor-Proof) Bags", to rodent proof my car TEA bags in, and will post a preliminary review, soon.


P.S. "TEA" = Tactical Emergency Antioxidants, aka Dark Chocolate.

[Name_not_found]

The honey will be fine, it wont freeze or expand unless you are in some unnatural conditions, or maybe N or S poles.
High heat will degrade the taste.

The plastic is pretty tough but not the best choice, it degrades not so much to failure, but can leach some nasty's in to the honey after repeated heat cold cycles (like BPA)

Get a glass mason jar of appropriate size and store that in a thick sock in the trunk it will be safe unless you toss loose bricks in there.

OP sak's are great, but do wear out after hard use so if you plan on putting something like a map in one make sure you can read it through the bag.

[Treesuit]

Have you checked out the long term storage items at MRE DEPOT.com? They usually have good stuff.

[TurtleNomad]

The honey will be fine, it wont freeze or expand unless you are in some unnatural conditions, or maybe N or S poles.
High heat will degrade the taste.

The plastic is pretty tough but not the best choice, it degrades not so much to failure, but can leach some nasty's in to the honey after repeated heat cold cycles (like BPA)

Get a glass mason jar of appropriate size and store that in a thick sock in the trunk it will be safe unless you toss loose bricks in there.

Thanks Name!
That was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.
Based on your advice, I've decided to skip that Amazon purchase.

I was thinking strictly in terms of a rotating stock of small packets for my car kits and for multi-week work Away Missions, not long term storage. I had planned to leave the bulk of the packets at home, and replenish, with that quantity lasting several years.


Does anyone know of a source for 1 or 2 ounce sized plastic bottles of honey?
Again, my goal is to keep something in the car, so it should be able to stand up to multiple freeze heat cycles.

What about "honey sticks"?
I've never tried them (or even seen them in the store), but have read mentions of them on various forums, and Amazon has lots of those, but no close up pictures.

Treesuit:
You're one of the top scroungers on the forum, so if you come across anything, please give me a shout!

OP sak's are great, but do wear out after hard use so if you plan on putting something like a map in one make sure you can read it through the bag.

Thanks again, Name!
I bought the special OP strictly for use with aromatic foods (i.e. chocolate), to reduce the temptation of critters being attracted to my car emergency food.
Everyone keeps chocolate in their car kit, right?

I'll post up pics of one of my T.E.A. bags, soon.

[dirtbag]

Does anyone know of a source for 1 or 2 ounce sized plastic bottles of honey?

If you have a 99 cent store nearby, they have some pretty small plastic squeeze bottles of honey.

[Treesuit]

If you have a 99 cent store nearby, they have some pretty small plastic squeeze bottles of honey

I can't understand why I didn't think of that earlier in a post. Dirtbag is quite right. I have a Dollartree near my house (i.e. 99 cent store) and they have a large kitchenware section. I bet if you look around you might be able to find some squeeze bottles that size for cheap.

Also if you have a local sporting goods store that has specialty camping items, I know Coleman's or Coghlman's (sp?) have squeeze bottles for more modern outdoor cooking, say if you doing car camping. The squeeze bottles can be used for toiletries as well.

[dirtbag]

At the 99, you not only get the bottle, they're filled with honey!
Grocery section...

[Golgo13]

I'll have to second that recommendation to avoid plastic containers for long-term storage of honey.

Unless specifically advertised as not having it, all plastic contains Bisphenol-A (BPA), a carcinogenic endocrine disruptor that the body treats as estrogen. Plastic also photo-degrades, meaning it breaks down with exposure to sun.

Your best bet is to go with a thick glass container that is well protected. Wrapping a glass jar of honey in thick bubble wrap & using packing tape to secure it would probably suffice.