Oh, how these archival storage/display issues drive me nuts!!!! 
Don't get me wrong. I really can't get enough info about how to preserve my stuff. I also greatly appreciate a forum devoted soley to it's discussion. However, it just drives me bannanas--yes, and nuts too--trying to finally get it all figured out. I must admit that this thread evolved from an initial singular response to the other thread about the use of Riker mounts and the polyester batting. I'm using some of those right now, so I almost fell out of my chair as I was reading it. Since I just kept on and on with my response to that thread, I finally just decided to post this whole thing as a separate thread.
Now to begin this, I really do think about and research all the best archival everything, because I, like most people, am very serious about preserving my collectibles. However, just when I think I've figured it out, and have spent considerable time, money, and effort organizing a safe and attractive display and/or storage, I find out something else has to be changed again.
On the subject of the Riker cases, I am currently using these things with the included polyester batting. I even have some of my prized artifacts resting directly on top of the polyester batting, as I type this.
So, after a point, I begin to ask myself where I can go next with this. It seems that virtually everything I use is eventually found to be harmful. Ironically, even expensive cases that are made specifically for the storage and display of artifacts are found to be made of unsafe materials. On what exactly can I safely lay my stuff?
To make matters worse, when I go to major military shows, I see many dealers(some very well-respected) displaying their inventory and display-only pieces on and in things that are considered to be nonarchival. This is especially true with the use of foam rubber in display cases. It is excessively common. I cannot count the times I have seen a prized SS Chained Dagger pressed between the case glass and a colored foam rubber insert. Even if the dagger is seperated from the foam rubber by a material of some sort, it cannot be protected that way from the build-up and containment of gases from the deteriorating foam rubber within the case. Yes, realistically I believe that this is an issue that is just as important to consider--that is, if things are to be considered from a wholistic rather than a pinpointed viewpoint.
As for the issue of properly putting a helmet on a helmet stand, that has created a headache for discussion in another thread entirely--something not made of styrofoam, that doesn't fill the inside entirely (as this will prevent ventillation and promote mold growth), but does support the liner, without putting stress on the 70-year-old-threads, that only makes contact with the metal of the top of the helmet (with an archival material), so as not to put pressure on the fingers of the leather liner, but that somehow supports the leather fingers to prevent them from succumbing to gravity and sagging over time, and on, and on, and on, and....This series of conflicting requirements for helmet display is not anything I made up. They are actual suggestions that I have gathered from a variety of respectable sources, both on and offline, over time. Oh well, like I said, a discussion for another thread entirely someday...
I guess that's what drives me so bonkers about all of this. It sometimes seems that I spend as much or more time thinking of the very important, ever-changing issues of preservation. I can't even stop to enjoy my collection long enough, before I have to start worrying again about my display method and how I'm going to do it differently. I'm sometimes even afraid to read the conservation section of the forum; I might actually learn something I don't really want to know. I could probably buy another nice piece for my collection with all the money I've wasted on display materials that are not suitable for use.
Just posting my general thoughts and frustrations with archival preservation allows me some cathartic relief. However, I will appropriately end this with a question to hopefully also create some discussion. Is it just me, or is anyone else out there sometimes or often driven over the edge with the headaches of ever-changing info on what should and should not be done to just keep your stuff safe--if nothing else, just for the duration of your own lifetime?
Don't get me wrong. I really can't get enough info about how to preserve my stuff. I also greatly appreciate a forum devoted soley to it's discussion. However, it just drives me bannanas--yes, and nuts too--trying to finally get it all figured out. I must admit that this thread evolved from an initial singular response to the other thread about the use of Riker mounts and the polyester batting. I'm using some of those right now, so I almost fell out of my chair as I was reading it. Since I just kept on and on with my response to that thread, I finally just decided to post this whole thing as a separate thread. Now to begin this, I really do think about and research all the best archival everything, because I, like most people, am very serious about preserving my collectibles. However, just when I think I've figured it out, and have spent considerable time, money, and effort organizing a safe and attractive display and/or storage, I find out something else has to be changed again.
On the subject of the Riker cases, I am currently using these things with the included polyester batting. I even have some of my prized artifacts resting directly on top of the polyester batting, as I type this.
So, after a point, I begin to ask myself where I can go next with this. It seems that virtually everything I use is eventually found to be harmful. Ironically, even expensive cases that are made specifically for the storage and display of artifacts are found to be made of unsafe materials. On what exactly can I safely lay my stuff? To make matters worse, when I go to major military shows, I see many dealers(some very well-respected) displaying their inventory and display-only pieces on and in things that are considered to be nonarchival. This is especially true with the use of foam rubber in display cases. It is excessively common. I cannot count the times I have seen a prized SS Chained Dagger pressed between the case glass and a colored foam rubber insert. Even if the dagger is seperated from the foam rubber by a material of some sort, it cannot be protected that way from the build-up and containment of gases from the deteriorating foam rubber within the case. Yes, realistically I believe that this is an issue that is just as important to consider--that is, if things are to be considered from a wholistic rather than a pinpointed viewpoint.
As for the issue of properly putting a helmet on a helmet stand, that has created a headache for discussion in another thread entirely--something not made of styrofoam, that doesn't fill the inside entirely (as this will prevent ventillation and promote mold growth), but does support the liner, without putting stress on the 70-year-old-threads, that only makes contact with the metal of the top of the helmet (with an archival material), so as not to put pressure on the fingers of the leather liner, but that somehow supports the leather fingers to prevent them from succumbing to gravity and sagging over time, and on, and on, and on, and....This series of conflicting requirements for helmet display is not anything I made up. They are actual suggestions that I have gathered from a variety of respectable sources, both on and offline, over time. Oh well, like I said, a discussion for another thread entirely someday...
I guess that's what drives me so bonkers about all of this. It sometimes seems that I spend as much or more time thinking of the very important, ever-changing issues of preservation. I can't even stop to enjoy my collection long enough, before I have to start worrying again about my display method and how I'm going to do it differently. I'm sometimes even afraid to read the conservation section of the forum; I might actually learn something I don't really want to know. I could probably buy another nice piece for my collection with all the money I've wasted on display materials that are not suitable for use.
Just posting my general thoughts and frustrations with archival preservation allows me some cathartic relief. However, I will appropriately end this with a question to hopefully also create some discussion. Is it just me, or is anyone else out there sometimes or often driven over the edge with the headaches of ever-changing info on what should and should not be done to just keep your stuff safe--if nothing else, just for the duration of your own lifetime?
I wrote the above posting in a very extreme moment of pensive frustration. I am currently at peace with this issue; I have finally reached a happy medium of compromise and appreciation. 
I am just about to tear out the styofoam today.
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