Starter
$49.99
1-Bag Kit — preserve a single grail.
- 1× heavy barrier vacuum bag (shoebox-sized)
- 1× one-way valve
- Argon micro-canister (1 fill)
- Desiccant + humidity indicator card
Drop 01 · Pre-order · Argon Vacuum Kit
VAULT YOUR
GRAILS.
Your grails are rotting in the box. Lock them in time. A vacuum bag, a shot of argon, and a desiccant — the same gas museums use to preserve artifacts, now sized for a shoebox. Seal it. Vault it. Keep it deadstock.
Museum-grade argon Stops hydrolysis + oxidation Charge-at-goal · refund if we miss
$0pledged of $15,000 goal·Be backer #1
Founding pricing locked for early backers — first in, best price
Campaign ends in
--Days
--Hrs
--Min
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The problem
Why your
grails are rotting.
Air is the enemy — both the moisture in it and the oxygen itself seep into the foam and break it down. The OG pair you've been saving is already dying in the box.
Two reactions, one box
Reaction 01
Hydrolysis
Moisture in the air attacks the polyurethane foam in midsoles — bonds snap, the foam hardens, then crumbles into powdery chunks. That's the dreaded sole crumbling and separation. Worse in humidity.
Reaction 02
Oxidation (+ UV)
Oxygen breaks polymer bonds in EVA and PU and forms chromophores — the chemistry behind yellowed soles and cloudy icy outsoles. UV light accelerates it.
The fix
Pull the humid air out. Backfill with argon — an inert noble gas used in museums and food packaging. Lock the humidity at the floor with a desiccant. Both reactions slow to a crawl.
Honest framing: we dramatically slow the two reactions that rot sneakers in storage. Nothing stops aging forever — but this is the best you can do short of cryo.
The precedent
Museum-grade
preservation,
for sneakers.
Conservators have preserved irreplaceable artifacts for decades by sealing them and replacing the air with an inert gas — argon or nitrogen — dropping oxygen below ~1%. Established practice, not a theory.
U.S. National Archives
Stores the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in sealed, argon-filled cases.
Getty Conservation Institute
Pioneered inert-gas (argon/nitrogen) anoxic storage research for artifacts.
Northwestern University
A chemistry professor pointed to exactly this for sneakers: store them in "an airtight vessel filled with argon" — its low reactivity stops PU from degrading.
Shoe Vault brings that same method to your collection: vacuum out the humid air → backfill with inert argon → lock low humidity with a desiccant and a humidity card you can actually see working.
Sources · the science⌄
- Getty Conservation Institute— Nitrogen/Argon anoxia research for artifacts.
- U.S. National Archives— Anoxic encasements for the Declaration and Constitution.
- Library of Congress— Anoxic encasements program.
- Studies in Conservation (ScienceDirect)— PU ester foam hydrolysis — store at low RH.
- Grist— Northwestern chemist: store grails in argon.
How it works
Three steps. Sixty seconds.
01
Bag it
Slip your pair into the heavy barrier bag. Drop in a desiccant pack and humidity card.
02
Vacuum out the air
Any household vacuum hose hits the one-way valve. Pull the humid atmosphere out.
03
Argon-seal
A short pulse from the canister backfills with argon. Bag stays soft. Oxygen: gone.
Pledge tiers
Pick your vault.
Charge-at-goal. We only collect if we hit $15K. Full refund if we miss. Early backers get the Founding Backer badge.
3-Pack
$99
Lock down the rotation.
- 3× barrier vacuum bags + valves
- Argon canister (3 fills)
- Desiccant + humidity card per kit
- Founding Backer badge
Collector
$199
The vault. For people with a problem.
- 6–10 barrier bags + valves
- Argon canister + extra refill
- Bulk desiccant + 4 humidity cards
- Founding Backer badge · #'d engraving
Back the idea
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