Yeah. I have a big bag of the stuff that turns blue (from white) but I should get some of the little ones. I remember that Doc said that you can bake those packets and use them over and over. I don't really see them as much anymore though (now that I could use a few!). That's probably the result of "just in time" stocking policies.
If you live in an area where the humidity is really high, the best thing to do would be to store your tapes in a cabinet with doors and use a large bag of it to keep the humidity down. I live in an area that's pretty dry most of the year. I bought some nice looking Ikea cabinets that are stackable and expandable that have glass doors and while it's not even close to air tight, I think it acts as a buffer to heat and humidity. I also pack my tape boxes in a plastic bag rather than the reel itself. I don't have any evidence of plastics doing harm to the tape (I've opened sealed tapes from the early 70's where the reel was in a plastic bag with no problem) but with all this stuff lately about chemicals in plastics (don't microwave in plastic, don't drink from plastic bottles etc) I'd rather just seal the whole box. It gives me a place to put stickers with notes about the tape for future reference without harming the box.
For 7" reels, this guy on eBay has some great ones;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=300264358266&Category=618&_trksid=p3907.m29&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2His prices just went up but they're worth it. I wish I could figure out where he gets them but,.. hey, the guy's always been straight with me so I don't mind supporting him.
There's such a thing as
drying the tapes too much since it can lead to loss of lubricant. They can be rehydrated but I think that using a packet in every single box might be going a little overboard.
