Choosing a Time Capsule Supplier

Why Choose Future Packaging & Preservation?

Who We Are

Future Packaging & Preservation is a small, experienced company that cares about quality, integrity, and honesty. Yes we have ethics.

We have provided time capsules to customers for over 25 years.

Future Packaging and Preservation: We're family owned and operated. We take a personal interest in each time capsule we sell. Even our employees are like family.

Our shipping person is also a retired quality aerospace engineer who inspects all items and they must meet 12 points of stringent quality standards before shipping to you. Sometimes we think he's too picky, but while we've had him, there's been no complaints about our quality (or our packing)!

Our Service

Our time capsules come with complete instructions, and you can call or email us directly for more info.
Each of our time capsule boxes (the bolted model and the capped cornerstone model) includes a limited warranty that covers workmanship, materials and more.
We listen to your comments and suggestions, and that's one reason we have  different kinds of time capsules. It's also why our preservation kits have changed over the years.

Time Capsule Materials and Designs 

Material

We use 304 stainless steel material for all the time capsules we make. Stainless steel makes a better time capsule than other materials. Aluminum is too soft. PVC and plastic material changes over time and becomes too brittle. Some of our competitors sell time capsules made of composite materials? Exactly what materials are in the composite?

Sealing

A note about bolted time capsules: If you choose any other time capsule that’s bolted, be sure to pay attention to how the other company's time capsule closes. Ours are painstakingly made with attention paid to details – including BLIND bolt holes that do not open into the capsule’s interior. To our knowledge, none of our competitors’ bolted capsules is designed in this way.

Questions to ask:

How does it seal? If the capsule has an O-ring or gasket, is it flat or round? Does the O-ring go into a machined groove specifically designed to fit it? What’s the material of the O-ring? We use silicone because it has the best aging properties and is inert. Do not use a time capsule that has a foam gasket or a plain rubber or 'butyl' gasket. That's where your time capsule will leak first.

Preservation Kits Assure Protection of Time Capsule Items Inside

We have developed our preservation enclosure kits using a variety of archival materials that should meet your needs in a sound, archival closed case storage environment. We purchase our supplies from archival suppliers. Be careful of materials you may purchase from suppliers that say 'acid free' but which are not and have not been tested. We know what conservation quality means. Enclosures that you use for photos should be safe and do no harm - the materials should have passed the PAT test for photo activity.

Compare Apples with Apples

Please compare apples with apples - in other words, compare stainless steel boxes with stainless steel boxes, not stainless steel boxes with aluminum boxes or cylinders and not stainless steel cylinders with PVC or composite cylinders. They are different materials and yes, you get what you pay for.

In the same vein, compare the marking methods fairly as to the materials used. Aluminum is a soft metal and it is cheaper to mark than stainless steel is.  Fancy sticky labels are just that - labels. They won't last very long after aging.

We have tried to keep our costs reasonable without loss of quality.

Choose Polishing (or not)

We asked, "What does polishing do to the longevity of a time capsule?" The answer was simply, "Nothing." Yet everyone knows that a polished piece is nice looking, so we offer that as an option for our box time capsules. The cylinder capsules were made all at once and we had them polished all at once, too. But let's talk about cosmetics. Cosmetics don't mean a lot in the long run when you bury a time capsule. What you want and need is a quality time capsule made well enough to protect the important stuff - your contents - over time. Polished time capsules are nice, but polishing does nothing to protect the metal over time. Polished time capsules are beautiful, and make a nice display time capsule. Add the option to your order for any of our time capsule boxes.

If cosmetics are important to you, choose to have us give your time capsule box a "mirror polish." It's beautiful. Ask for a quotation. But if you simply want a high quality container that will protect your contents and serve as a protective time capsule over time, you don't need the polishing option. All welds are shined, and the material we use for making the boxes is a satin polish finish.

These are just a few of the reasons we think you should choose our company. Thank you for considering us!