11 Ways to Repurpose Five Gallon Buckets
By Dan Sullivan
In a critical survival situation or long after the dust has settled, it’s important to do your best with what you’ve got. Oftentimes, that means repurposing certain items to get the job done. Nails, rusty tools, and rugged clothes might worth more than gold when you can’t get any news stuff.
Duct tape, Mylar bags, Paracord, tin cans, bandanas – these are just a few multi-purpose items with dozens of survival uses. But the one I want to talk about today is the often overlooked 5-gallon plastic bucket.
You probably use it to store your food inside Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers but did you know that you can do a lot more with it? Plus, let’s not forget that, in a post-collapse world, plastic and metal buckets are going to be very hard to find and impossible to manufacture under self-sufficient conditions.
So let’s see some of these alternative uses…
#1. As a garbage can
This one is obvious so I’m just gonna leave it at that. Don’t forget to always keep the lids of your buckets because, if you decide to store your trash inside, you’re gonna wanna keep the smell inside.
#2. To harvest rainwater
Things aren’t simple when it comes to rainwater harvesting (since each state has its own laws) but, in a survival situation, surely you can collect some free rainwater to quench your thirst. The more buckets you have, the better but I strongly suggest you consider a true rainwater collecting system that will allow you to store hundreds of gallons.
#3. To store your emergency kit
If you don’t like the idea of putting all your emergency items inside your bug out bag or around the house in strategic places, storing them inside a 5-gallon plastic bucket is easier. Plus, if there’s an emergency, you can quickly take it with you, put it in your car and just drive.
Since 5-gallon buckets are airtight, they make excellent first aid kit “bags”. Of course, this means you’ll have to make your own first aid kit which is, in fact, better than buying those pre-packed ones.
#4. As a mouse trap
This use is probably the most ingenious of all. You will need a tin can, some food such as peanut butter to smear it with, a metal dowel and a wooden ramp.
The idea is simple. The mouse climbs the ramp which leads to the top of the bucket. In order to eat some of the peanut butter, it has to jump on the can that’s placed horizontally at the top of the bucket. The can starts spinning and the mouse falls into the bucket.
#5. To Wash Clothes or Dishes In
Another obvious use, I’ll say no more.
#6. To heat water
You can only do this during hot, sunny days, but the process is easy. Pour the water inside, put the lid on and let it stay in direct sunlight for a couple of hours. If you could paint the buckets black, even better.
In addition to these, there are dozens of other uses to 5-gallon plastic buckets, including:
#7. making a beehive
#8. making a rocket stove
#9. making a washing machine
#10. as a toilet stool (useful particularly inside a safe-room in the likely even that you’ll be trapped there)
#11…and even to grow mushrooms inside!
Truth be told, there are DOZENS of other 5-gallon bucket uses that I didn’t mention and you can find all of them right here. Enjoy!
Natural Blaze thanks Dan Sullivan, founder of Survival Sullivan, where you can find other highly informative articles on prepping and survival. Like on Facebook
