Desiccant are those wonderful beads that absorb moisture from the air where you need it dry. They are widely used in packaging to keep humidity, mold, rust and other problems at bay. Gun guys know desiccant well as a way to keep ammo and firearms from being moisture damaged.
Problem is the expense. By the time you pay the shooting gear store prices, you become convinced to treat it like precious metals (gold, silver and lead). Most of us know to spread our moistened desiccant on a cookie sheet in a warm oven until it turns from its wet pink color back to its dry and ready-to-work blue.
Less well known is that a really inexpensive source of dry desiccant are big bags of silica kitty litter. You have to read the ingredients on your bag as many of them use additional stuff pleasing to cat owners. But some brands are simply pure silica. That’s what you want.
Put them in clear plastic containers in your gun safe, little packets of them in your ammo cans and anywhere else you may want dry air.
Here’s a handy You-Tube video of a guy making porous-paper desiccant packs from kitty litter, paper coffee filters and tape.
