I use my vacuum sealer often in my kitchen but never thought much about just using the heat sealer part of the machine.

Those sturdy plastic bags that hold things like bread make great feedstock. I can put nuts and bolts in the bag and heat seal it with the heat sealer option. If the bag is too wide, I seal it longitudinally first. I've even used this trick to seal bags of food.

Don't bother trying to use the vacuum feature. The bags are not stiff enough for that.

Rick