What the hell is silica gel?

My guitar controller for Guitar Hero III came with a couple of packets of Silica Gel.

https://waskstudio.com/products/sealed-fate-candy-packets

Eh. So much stuff is shipped in cargo containers across oceans, where the air is notoriously damp (and sometimes those containers are stored right on the deck where waves can break over the rails), that those silica gel packets are cheap insurance that the contents will mostly arrive in good shape.

I like them. As I reside in a humid swamp, internal mold is a real risk to expensive things like camera lenses, so they and other things (my backup HDs) get stored in an airtight containers with silica. Others have been used to prevent internal condensation in things like underwater casings. While I've bought the little packets in bulk, any of them can be restored to perfectly dry condition by boiling off trapped water in an oven. 250 F for 30 minutes will do if you're not dealing with huge amounts.

http://files.explosm.net/comics/Rob/pepperoni.png

Thats from 2007 and it was the first thing I thought of seeing this thread haha.