Vacuum sealing or heating sealing?

[Yoyo]

In the past, most of my cooking has been done FBC style. I have a cheap dehydrator (which I probably should upgrade) and have used it, with some success, in creating my spaghetti dishes and the like. But I'm now thinking of switching over to cooking-in-the-pot style this year. My rationale is as follows: (1) I hate eating out of plastic bags. (2) The weight of the "freezer bags" I was using will add up, not to mention the moist food residue left inside. While this may not factor in the UL backpacker's "Base weight," the weight of one's trash can be rather considerable. (3) It's just a big waste of plastic. (Admittedly, (3) is lower on my list).

So, for the above reasons, I'd like to carry my food in the most compact, lightest plastic available. I'm trying to decide between vacuum sealing or heat sealing. Both of these options allow you to customize the size of the bag to the size of the food. So you'll in many cases be carrying upwards of 50% less plastic around. With regard to the latter, I was thinking of trying this one out (thanks Rincon):

http://www.amazon.com/Easyway-Heat-Sealer-Impulse-Spare/dp/B003ZG0ERU#productDetails

Would going this route save me weight over vacuum sealing? And how will shelf life compare for these two options?

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