My honest review of the 6″ portable Mylar bag sealer by KF-Constant Heat after almost three years of moderate use with the pros and cons of the product.
Today I’m doing a gear review of the portable hand sealer by KF-Constant Heat for Mylar bags that I use for long-term food storage.
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I purchased the 6″ Portable Hand Sealer through Amazon back on July 14, 2017. So I’ve used this Mylar bag sealer dozens of times in just under three years and it’s still going strong.
What Is A Mylar Bag Sealer?
The easiest way to understand it is the sealer simply applies high heat to both sides of the Mylar material creating a seal.
Below you can see an opened commercially sealed Mylar bag of potato chips. Yes, I opened this bag just for you. I am willing to ruin my health just to bring you the best gear reviews possible. 😉
What Do I Use The Portable Hand Sealer On?
Personally, I’ve only used the portable Mylar bag sealer on Mylar bags. It works beautifully.
The Amazon description shows,
“Will seal thick side gusset coffee bags easily also or Poly Bags up to 10 mils & Polykraft Paper poly in fact any heat sealable bag”.
I actually didn’t realize you could use this tool to seal poly and paper poly bags until I started this review. I’ll have to give that a try one day. For now, I love Mylar bags and just placed another order to replace those I used last week.
Does The Mylar Bag Sealer Work Well?
Above is a bucket of rice sealed in a large Mylar bag that I put together back in the Fall of 2017 – just months after I purchased the portable Mylar bag sealer. As you can see, after two and a half years it’s still sealed.
In fact, last week, since I’ve been quarantined and didn’t have much else to do, I checked all of my long-term food storage containers. I found a couple of mason jars that lost their seal but none of the Mylar bags had been compromised.
Are There Cheaper Solutions To Seal Mylar Bags?
Absolutely. You can use a clothes iron or hair straightener to seal the top of the Mylar bags.
Cloth’s Iron – It can be difficult when sealing a large Mylar bag inside of a bucket with a cloths iron because you need a back surface like a piece of wood. Personally, I wasn’t having the best of luck with this method except for smaller bags.
Hair Straightener – I had better luck with a hair straightener to seal the top of the Mylar bags. This is a good option, especially if you’re just starting out and not sure how long you’ll be needing to seal Mylar bags.
I did go through a couple of hair irons, although I bought one of them used from the Good Will store. A few bags did lose their seals but, overall, it was a decent alternative.
Brian’s Review – The 6″ Portable Mylar Bag Sealer By KF-Constant Heat
Overall, I’m giving the 6″ Constant Heat Portable Hand Sealer five stars. I have to base that on the fact it hasn’t failed me and I have zero regrets about making the investment.
The Pros
It Didn’t Die – Obviously, it has lasted for me.
Listen, it’s mechanical. It’s electrical. It will break. This one I have has lasted almost three years and still works like brand new (Watch, I probably just jinxed myself and it will break now).
We both know that one experience doesn’t mean every one of them will last but that is all I have to go with for the moment.
Just Two Settings – Three if you count the off position. It’s simple to use without complicated buttons and settings. Turn it on, select high or low and wait a few minutes for it to heat up.
I learned early on the trick is to allow the portable sealer to get good and hot before using it. You can’t rush it.
I use it on high heat for the 4-mill and 6-mill Mylar bags I have. I’m guessing the low heat setting is for the poly bags?
It feels heavy-duty – This is a completely irrational method of judging a product you’re not using to hurt someone with but it just feels solid and heavy in my hand.
Serrated Jaws – I’m certain the serrated jaws increase the effectiveness of holding a seal. I haven’t seen any studies but it stands to reason that it would create a better seal.
The 6″ portable Mylar bag sealer has Teflon coated serrated jaws. It has never stuck to the Mylar so I imagine that is the idea behind the coating.
The Cons
Not U.S. Made – One thing I want to mention, right out of the gate, is that this sealer is made in Taiwan. If that’s a big deal to you – don’t say I didn’t mention it.
Expensive – Also, these Mylar bag sealers aren’t cheap. Well, at least a hundred dollars is a lot for me.
These are actually far less expensive than other Mylar bag sealers I looked at and if you want to go commercial – dig deep into your pocket because those are thousands of dollars.
C Rated Fakespot Report – I checked Fakespot and the 4.1 stars rating went down to 3 stars.
If you’re not familiar with FakeSpot, their automated review analyzer looks for suspicious review patterns that could mean fake and purchased. While helpful, it’s certainly not conclusive. I use it as a part of my research before making a purchase but I never base my decision on an algorithm.
The Bottom Line
I look at it as an investment. Not only in the equipment itself but in the many hundreds of dollars of food I’ve sealed with it.
I also knew I would be needing a bag sealer many times over for many years. If I was going to seal a dozen buckets of rice and beans as a back-up of long-term food storage and nothing more – I’d bought another hair straightener.
Honestly, I don’t see a lot of other low cost (comparatively) consumer-level Mylar bag sealer options out there. KF-Constant Heat has just two models on Amazon and that looks like the only product they offer. The other model they offer is a little more expensive but I don’t see any difference in the product.
If this gear review has helped you make a buying decision, I’d appreciate you using my link. It doesn’t cost you a penny more and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I NEVER promote a product that I don’t personally own and use.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
The 6″ Constant Heat Portable Hand Sealer by KF-Constant Heat.
Thank you,
Stay safe and prepared,
Hawkins Out.
