When I decanted my stash for long term storage, it looked like people were split on whether using argon was actually necessary. Now that my bottles are all put away in the freezer, it seems like everybody's saying "definitely use argon". I left maybe a couple millimeters of open space at the top of each 4oz bottle before screwing the cap on, and after capping, there was maybe a pea sized air bubble before freezing. Was argon topping this miniscule headspace ever going to do anything? I can see there's more "air" (probably vacuum) in the bottles at freezing temp, as the PG has contracted, but I'm kind of doubtful argon topping an almost entirely full bottle before capping would have done anything?
I'm currently mixing out of a bottle of nic from Wizard Labs I put in my freezer in 2013 with no Argon. Almost as fresh as the day I bottled it.
Damn, thats awesome! I've been kind of thinking "should I have used argon" since I bottled it, but when I was filling it up, I was looking at the top of the bottle like, there's almost 0 headspace here - I'm pretty sure i'd just be spraying argon over the sides of the bottle anyway... I get it in a wine bottle where half the bottle is filled with air, but in a 4oz bottle of nic where there's 2mm of space from the very top of the threads...
All you're trying to do is create a thin barrier between your nicotine and oxygen. As long as the bottle isn't agitated stirring up the argon layer, it could be 0.1mm thick and still do its job.
Regardless, properly-stored high-quality nicotine will last a long time without that anyway.
I think it’s useful but not necessary unless you’re going for the long haul, 5 - 10+ years, don’t quote me though, and I don’t live in the US. If you do use argon with nic in the bottle neck, be careful as the pressure from the can can spray your nic everywhere including your eyes. I read somewhere the easiest way is to spray it into an empty bottle and it’ll sit on the bottom. Then funnel your nic on top of that. The argon will rise to the surface, displace the oxygen, and form a protective layer from any remaining oxygen to make contact with the nicotine. Don’t quote me on that either. I never used argon. The mail ban only affects me slightly
I used argon on all my nic as an extra insurance policy, but I honestly don't believe it is an necessity, when it's being stored in the freezer. If you were storing in the fridge, or even more so, out of the fridge, then I feel that topping with argon would be more crucial.
Store in glass (never plastic for long term).
Leave a little head room - don't want the nic touching the cap or any polycone piece (potential long term leaching, even with "good" plastics).
In my case I put a piece of self sealing silicone tape around the cap and glass neck once the cap is screwed all the way on - this avoids the cap accidentally unscrewing when handled.
Store the bottles vertically (again, to avoid long term leaching).
Don't sweat bottle color. The inside of a freezer is dark.
Do mark the bottles, so other people know what is in them
As long as you do the above, resist opening them to see how fresh they stay, they'll stay fresh. The tiny amount of air left in the neck won't have a large impact on the nic base, there's not enough oxygen to cause significant oxidation. A properly screwed on cap should seal fine, and the little wrap of silicone tape will provide yet another seal on the only potential air intrusion point.
I probably wouldn't worry about it man. Topping with argon is one of those things that might help, and definitely won't hurt, and for a reasonably low price can help to at least buy some peace of mind over the long years of storage; but if you only have a small bit of air in the remaining space (and especially if you're not opening and closing the same bottle over and over), then you're the amount of extra oxidation that you'll see is going to be miniscule and you'll almost certainly not notice a difference