Storing strip wood; durable rubber bands, an oxymoron?

[Tomculb]

Several posts on this board reveal some great ideas for storing and especially organizing quantities of wood strips.  Often I find it useful to put say all 2mm thick strips in one tube or bag, then separate in that tube or bag the 4mm and 5mm wide strips using rubber bands.  But a year later when I need a 2 x 4 strip, the rubber bands have disintegrated into hard brittle pieces.  Does anyone know if there is such a thing as a durable rubber band, that will serve its purpose more or less indefinitely? I haven't found one. 

[En-Dan]

Hi Tom

I like to use cuts of used bicycle tires.

They cost nothing and can be obtained in a multitude of diameters from a local repair bike shop 🙂 

Kind regards

[Tomculb]

On 10/29/2025 at 11:30 AM, En-Dan said:

I like to use cuts of used bicycle tires.

I suspect what you really meant was bicycle tubes, not tires, as you really can't stretch bike tires. Tubes are much more stretchy, so if you cut a few 1/8" bands from a tube, you might have something like a rubber band.  I usually have reasons to visit bike shops with some frequency, so I'll give that a try. My only concern is their durability, if they are in fact made of rubber like rubber bands are. A bike tube lives a very long time (assuming you don't get a flat), but it lives in a sealed environment, unlike rubber bands. Let us know if you've used your bike tube bands long enough to know whether they won't deteriorate after a couple of years or so.

 

Doing some Google sleuthing, I learned that the best bands for durability are silicone bands. They are widely available on Amazon.  They are used for a variety of purposes, including cooking, since they do not melt at temperatures used in cooking. Their downside is that they don't stretch very well.  I bought some 3" long ones, seen in the picture below.  Triple banding one so as to hold the roughly 3/4" diameter bundle of strips in the picture below took enough force that I was afraid I might crush some of the wood.  Double banding was too loose to hold the wood together. Bottom line is that they don't work very well for my purposes.

[tmj]

I don't like using rubber bands nor tape. I simple keep different sizes of stock 'loose' in different poly bags/sleeves... and store those individual bags of 'sleeved' stock in labeled round cardboard tubes, in an air-conditioned home environment. Works like a charm!  

Edited 3 hours ago by tmj