Winter - Humidity, Fungus and Cameras

I live in a very humid area.. the estuary. So many days air humidity is above 95%.
I fear of getting fungus in the photographic equipment... it's not a so uncommon problem and it can be ruinous.. don't expect to pay cheap if you need to have to send your lens to a professional to clean it in the inside.

Even if the air is not humid there's a good chance to get your backpack humid for going out in the wet days. backpacks are no good to store gear at home for that reason and also because in a backpack you store your gear in the dark... fungus love dark and damp.

Even if you don't live in a high humidity area, the box is very good and useful to dry your equipment after a session of shooting out in a humid/wet day...

There are "dry cabinets" with prices starting at around 100-200 pounds.. it makes sense to buy one.. after all the camera bodies and lenses costed far more than that, and expect to pay a similar or greater sum of money if you need to clean a lens.

Anyway here where I live it's not easy to buy a dry cabinet, and I don't even know if Amazon ships this stuff to Portugal...

So I did my own "dry box" after some research in the internet... I did my version with some adjustments in the materials used..
I did TWO boxes for less than 20 euros... some stuff I was already having around the house.

If you feel like to do one yourself here are the instructions... and how I did it.

1. A crystal clear storage box - Don't get a dark box.. light is key .. fungus love darkness.

2. Seal the border with that tape used to seal windows (rubber tape is better than foam) It's key to have an hermetic box. So when you buy the box avoid those with ventilation holes or handles in the lid. No holes anywhere allowed.

3. Silica Gel. There are silica gel containers.. I could not find any in local stores . So I am using 100% SILICA GEL.. for CAT LITTER BOXES
. It works absolutely fine and it is very cheap. .. note: 100% SILICA GEL.. not that regular sand for cats.
Silica bags are no good.. you can't see the silica, so you don't know when the silica is saturated... silica gel changes color when it is saturated. Anyway if silica gets saturated you will see the box is not working correctly. Silica Gel can be dried again in the microwave (for 30 seconds.. air it.. repeat process till it's dry and with normal color again)
I did my box for the silica with a small food container and a bit of net fabric (from an old pair of shorts) , for better ventilation of the silica in box.

4.A cheap higrometer from e-bay

5 - A swimming pool spaghetti foam tube... cuted in pieces and opened in two parts
.. provides padding and avoids my lenses to roll around...
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Key Ideas to have in mind....

A - Humidity in the box should be around 50-55%.. if it gets to dry you risk to dry the rubbers of the lenses and also dry the lubrification. (add or remove silica gel to calibrate this)

B - light is key - Cristal box, stored in a place where it can get good light. Fungus grow better in the dark.
B.1 - Store lenses without the cap, let the glass get light for the same reason. Dust should not be a problem as the box is hermetic.

C- Seal the rim of the box.. box has to be hermetic. Mine has also a heavy book over to garantee good insulation.

Google "fungus humidity photography" to know more.