[Morrow]

Ichabod, thanks for clarifying.
Weezard, I like the dots you connected there, hmmm
Well I have the capabilities to either vacuum seal, down to 25hg or CO2 purge. Was hoping there'd be more info on purging as vacuum storage is fairly established as a solid method. Maybe I'll do both and see what happens.

[Morrow]

I can't help myself, sorry if I'm splitting hairs here. From what I've read a 25hg vacuum (Hand pump) should leave about 20% of the original atmosphere in the container. Assuming O2 is about 20% atmospheric volume it would follow that after you pull a 25hg vacuum you're left with 5% of the container's volume being O2. I want to compare this to my CO2 from dry ice flush but I can't find any information on the saturation point of CO2 at room temp. ie when it's pooled in a container is it 100% CO2? I'm obviously shooting for the lowest level of O2 possible with-out having to pull a deeper vacuum, which I can't.

[Morrow]

In the spirit of trying to take theory into reality I've just sealed all of my summer outdoor grow in Pint mason Jars. Half are vacuum sealed. And the other half were gas flushed with CO2 from sublimating dry ice. This was all done at about 1.5 months from harvest with the cure just starting to get the flavors to bloom.
Through some experimenting I think the strongest Vacuum I'm able to contain is 15hg. My Mityvac hand pump does pull a solid 25hg but when using a food saver mason jar attachment the process of disengagement is releasing some of the vacuum during the millisecond it takes to pull the lid down tight onto the jar. A more responsive valve might need to be found/built.
The CO2 was attained after taking in consideration the above concern for moister by putting the dry ice in a jar with a hose attached to the top. The dry ice's sublimation very quickly starts pushing CO2 out the tube. To ensure my jars were full I took a baseline measurement of how long it took to fill one of my empty jars to the top, as measured by a long stem lighter, resting at the top, being snuffed out as enveloped in CO2. Roughly 15 seconds and again confirmable whith the lighter when full of herb.
So that's about it. Right now I'm smoking off all my bulk reserves intended for BHO later this month. Once that's made I'll start cracking jars as I need them. I'll give some updates at 6months and then 1yr. I think the 1 year mark will be a big teller of efficacy as sealed untreated storage typically looks very brown and all the top end floral and fruity smells and flavors have mostly degraded to the hashy spectrum. I'll repost and resurrect this thread when those dates arrive. Thanks

[Morrow]

Six month update on my Co2 Flushed vs. Vacuum Sealed mason jar long term storage. I did a quick re-seal and re-flushed last week just to ensure there were no vacuum leaks or Co2 depletion. Vaccums looked good, holding strong. To test the Co2 I stuck my long stem lighter into the jar. The flame quickly snuffed out at the very surface of the jar. That's perfect! Seems the Co2 wont deminish/degrade during storage. Regardless I then flushed with more Co2 from sublimating Dry Ice. Now for the comparrison. I dont think this shows very well on camera and through the jars, i should of taken pictures before I sealed them back up, regardless the Co2 purged looks a bit greener and the vacuum sealed is starting to show the dull brown coloring. Not a stark contrast but looks promising. So for now I wait. Update will follow in another six months and I'll do a propper pic comparison w/ good lighting out of the jars.Both jars contain C99 harvested at the same time, dried and jarred togather. Only difference is their storage. 1st pic is the Co2 Purged the second is the vacuum Sealed.

intresting stuff!

[Mikell]

Nice follow up, stoked for the eventual smoke report

[Morrow]

Hi All, I'm back, a year after starting this thread, as there weren't much information on this topic I decided to do my own side by side comparison of CO2 Purged vs Vacuum sealed for long term storage.
Below is a picture of the two storage types, along with this years current crop for color comparison.
What do you think?

Not much of a difference. I'm thinking the CO2 is a bit greener, and it smells better. It's easier to see live and when in the jars. Here's a pic of them in their jars, CO2 is on the left and traditional vacuum seal on the right.

Not night and day, but I looking at it in natural light I can definately see a difference.
Smoke Report: CO2 still had some of the floral/fruity, higher-end notes with the addition of a deep hashy-Earthy note. The vacuum sealed was full on hashy- earthy notes, no floral/fruity notes. Both were about the same in potency, I'd say 75% original, but definately much more mellow compared to it's racey beginings in Oct."14. Both were creamy smooth to smoke, obviously, uber cured.
Not the drastic obvious winner I was hoping for, but interesting and IMHO worth some more exploration.
Hope this helps someone.

[shredGnar]

Cool shit bro, thanks for doing that and actually following up

[paper thorn]

well, it seems that terpenes are preserved better with co2

great thread