Three Storage Bags That Make Good Gifts

To protect and to store, these “something extra” Christmas gifts will keep on giving long after they’ve come out from under the tree.

HOLIDAY 2011 | It’s all but impossible to imagine storage bags would be at the top of anyone’s Christmas wish list—or tacked onto the bottom of it for that matter. But the clever containers featured here perform their intended tasks so well that anyone lucky enough to receive one or all of them as “a little something extra” for Christmas will silently thank the giver a thousand times over whenever they put them to work.

Sack It To Me

LOKSAK: Transparent, flexible and industrial strength, Loksak bags (pictured above) are resealable elementproof storage bags featuring a hermetic seal that prohibits water, air, dust or humidity from permeating its closure. The “world’s best outdoor iPhone accessory [because it continues to work under its wrap],” is how National Geographic Adventure Magazine’s west coast editor Steve Casimiro has described Loksak bags, but he might well have added tablet computers, some laptops and e-readers plus myriad other devices to his list.

Besides safeguarding your precious tech from the elements, a Loksak will also shield it from sticky-fingered children—while remaining fully operational, of course.

In Vancouver, you’ll find some Loksak products at MEC; visit www.mec.ca. To view and purchase the full range of products, visit www.loksak.com.

Better Than A Bread Box

BREAD ARMOR: Do you live in a house where half-eaten loaves of bread—particularly those pricy shorter-shelf-life artisanal types—get chucked in the garbage routinely? I do, and I’m not proud of it. I’ve tried all kinds of things to cut down on this waste like putting my bread in the fridge, storing it on the counter in a paper bag, even sealing sliced pieces in Ziploc. None of these tactics has worked very well.

Bags specifically designed to store bread have produced better results than anything else I’ve tried. Bread Armor’s resealable, reusable bags made of a multilayer film that really does extend the shelf life of bread come in sizes that work perfectly for handcrafted loaves such as baguettes, ciabatta, boules and bâtards.

Find Bread Armor products online at www.breadarmor.com and  www.amazon.com

Winning The Space Race

SPACE BAG: Hardly a new product, Space Bag compression storage containers are an evergreen no-brainer gift. The brand’s space-saving system enables anyone with a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment to squish bulky clothing items and linens into a plastic-protected shadow of their former size.

The Space Bag official website features incredible deals that don’t seem so sweet once you factor in international shipping costs (if it weren’t already so close to Christmas, I’d suggest asking someone in the U.S. to quarterback an order for you). In Canada, Bed, Bath & Beyond sells a variety of Space Bags. A good starter kit contains three large and three medium space bags for $24.99.

Checkout the Space Bag website at www.spacebag.com. Find the nearest Bead, Bath & Beyond location at www.beadbathandbeyond.ca —Ruth Rainey