Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
One of my favorite ways to preserve food is to seal it in Mylar bags and store them in food–grade buckets. With this method you can store a lot of food in a small space, your food will have a very long shelf life, and you can reuse the buckets as many times as you want.
But there’s another bonus to using buckets that many people forget: In a long-term disaster, you can use them for all sorts of other things. This post describes 21 uses for buckets (especially five-gallon buckets), and after you read it you’ll never throw a bucket away again.
You can always buy buckets online or at a home improvement store, but there are many cheaper alternatives. I just did a search for buckets on Craigslist and found several for a couple of dollars each in my area. Chances are you can find some in your area, too. You may also find them for as little as a dollar at your local flea market.
If you’re a smooth talker, you might be able to get some buckets for free. Restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, delis, coffee shops, doughnut shops, and most other places that sell fresh food might have leftover food-grade buckets they don’t need.
You could also check car washes, construction sites, gas stations, soap makers, wine stores, and anywhere else that uses buckets. But if you get buckets from any non-food-related businesses, don’t store food in them unless you’re sure they are food-grade.
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How to Identify Food-Grade Buckets
Although most of the uses for buckets listed below will work with any type of bucket, you still need to know how to tell the difference between food-grade and non-food-grade so you don’t mix them up. First, look at the recycling symbol on the bottom.
There should be a number between 1 and 7 inside a triangle made of arrows. The numbers that indicate food-grade are 1, 2, 4, and 5, but the best is 2 because it means the bucket is made of high-density polyethylene, one of the most stable forms of plastic.
If there isn’t a number on the bottom of the bucket, check for other symbols such as a cup and fork (food-safe), radiating waves (microwave-safe), or a snowflake (freezer-safe). All these indicate the bucket was designed to contain food. If none of those symbols are there, look for a price tag or manufacturer’s label for information. The bucket in the picture below is definitely not food-grade.
If you can’t find any indication that the bucket is food-grade, do not use it to store food or water. Some plastics could leach harmful chemicals into your food, and that is not worth the risk. Now on to the list.
21 Brilliant Uses for Buckets
1. Build a Rocket Stove
Large metal buckets are great for making rocket stoves. In case you don’t know, rocket stoves are cheap to make and incredibly efficient. They heat up food and water very quickly and run on small branches and twigs. If you’ve never built one before, here’s how.
2. Build a Water Filter
A few buckets and some PVC pipe can be used to build a biosand filter. With these, the water filters through gravel, sand, and charcoal and comes out free of heavy metals, bacteria, and viruses.
It only takes a few pounds of charcoal and lasts several months before you have to replace the charcoal. This PDF has detailed instructions.
3. Carry Water
If there is no running water, you might have the carry it from the nearest source. Buckets are the best thing for this. Even if you have a wagon or something, you’ll still need buckets. Jars and pails are usually too small. Another thought: If there is a flood, you can use large buckets to bail water.
4. Crush Your Trash
If garbage collection companies become unreliable or cease altogether, your trash will pile up quickly. To save space until you can properly dispose of it, use two five-gallon buckets as a trash compactor.
Simply put the trash in one bucket, then put the other bucket in the first one and push it down with your foot. This will halve the space taken up by your trash.
5. Fight Fire
If you don’t have a fire extinguisher, buckets are a good alternative. Use them to pour water or sand on a small fire. Obviously, this won’t be enough if your whole house is ablaze, but if you keep a couple of buckets near your grill and campfire, you can stop fires before they get too big.
6. Grow Food
People have been known to grow entire gardens in five-gallon buckets. To make this even easier, you can build several Alaska Grow Buckets and connect them to a water reservoir that only needs to be refilled every week or two.
7. Harvest Rainwater
Put buckets at the bottom of your gutters and use the water to wash clothes or water your garden. You might be able to drink this water provided your roof isn’t too dirty and you filter the water. This post has more information.
8. Heat Up Water
Get two black five-gallon buckets, put one inside the other, fill 2/3 of it with water, put the lid on, and place it in direct sunlight. After an hour or two (depending on the temperature outside), you will have a bucket of nice, hot water.
It might even be a little too hot, in which case you can add some cold water (this is why I don’t recommend filling it all the way). Don’t drink this water or use it for cooking unless the buckets are food-grade.
9. Make a Backpack
You can attach straps to a bucket to turn it into a backpack, or you can just purchase a bucket backpack like this one. It would be very useful while gathering food or supplies.
10. Make a Toilet
Pour a few scoops of kitty litter into a 10-gallon trash bag and put it in a bucket, then sit down and do your business. Here’s more info.
The only problem is that you can’t exactly sit on a lidless bucket, and it’s difficult for some people to squat over one. The solution is this toilet seat which was designed to fit on most buckets. It’s surprisingly comfortable.
11. Raise Chickens
If you have backyard chickens, you can use buckets as chicken feeders and waterers. Just drill holes near the bottom edge, put the buckets in foil roasting pans, then fill the buckets with chicken feed or water.
You can also turn buckets sideways, cut away 2/3 of the lid, and put straw in there to make some good chicken nesting boxes. Here’s how.
12. Store Dry Supplies
If you have supplies that need to stay dry (paper towels, toilet paper, kindling, fire starters, tinder, etc.) but you want to store them in the garage or attic or somewhere they could get wet, just seal them in air-tight buckets to keep out rainwater and humidity.
13. Store Water
A pallet of five-gallon buckets (3 wide and stacked 3 high) full of drinking water would last the average family at least a month and wouldn’t take up much space. Just be sure to put the pallet on a concrete floor and make sure they are food-grade buckets.
14. Take a Shower
This video explains how you can make a camp shower using a five-gallon bucket, some PVC, a PVC ball valve, and a nozzle. With a low-flow nozzle, it can last up to 8 minutes before you have to refill it.
15. Wash Clothes
Put your clothes in a bucket along with hot water and detergent and close it with a Gamma Seal Lid. Shake the bucket back and forth for a few minutes, drain the soapy water, wring out your clothes, and repeat the process with fresh water. Here are more detailed instructions.
16. Store Fish
If you’ve ever gone fishing before, this should be an obvious one. Plastic buckets are among the most practical tools for storing caught fish and then transporting them back home or to your campsite.
17. Do The Dishes
You can also just as easily use normal buckets to do the dishes as well. Simply pour warm water and soap into the buckets, and have another bucket with cold water for rinsing. Just make sure that the buckets are thoroughly clean beforehand.
18. Ammo Storage
Buckets make for an excellent ammo storage device as well. Simply pour loose rounds into the bucket, and close tightly with a lid.
Keep the ammunition stored at normal room temperature in a dry location. Only use one bucket per caliber for organizational purposes, and write the caliber stored in the bucket on the outside.
19. Solar Still
You can also use a bucket to build a solar still to collect clean drinking water. Dig a hole deeper than the bucket and around two feet wide. Place a bucket in the center of the hole, and surround the base with green vegetation.
Lay a tarp or plastic sheeting over the bucket, secure it at four corners with rocks, and then place one more rock over the center to weigh down over the bucket. Condensation will drip down the tarp and into the bucket. Wait around 24 to 36 hours before coming back to check on progress.
20. Make A Survival Kit or Cache
A bucket can be used as a surprisingly good survival kit, which you can either transport with you, keep in storage at your house, or bury out in the backyard or in another location as a survival cache.
Virtually anything that you would put in a bugout bag or a survival kit you could also put into a plastic bucket, such as blankets, a first aid kit, tools, fire-starting materials, rope, food, paracord, and so on.
21. Planters
Last but not least, plastic buckets also make for excellent planters. Simply puncture a few holes at the bottom and then fill up with soil.
You can also use the handles to suspend them up over the ground. This is best reserved for older buckets that are approaching the end of their usefulness; cleaner and newer buckets should be reserved for other purposes such as dishes or laundry.
As you can see, buckets are very valuable during a major disaster. I’ve heard that in third-world countries buckets are so valuable no one would dare throw them away. Don’t let this versatile tool go to waste.
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I have the old galvanized wash tubs on the stand. They have a drain hole with a hose to drain and a clip on the side to keep the water in. I bought a wringer and attached it to the middle of he tubs and it is like an old Maytag washer. I have a close plunger for the washing. We heat with wood and if you string a clothes line across the room and hang the clothes they dry really fast.
If you want to use a 5 gallon bucket for a toilet as suggested, use a pool noodle sliced lengthwise and put it around the top for sitting comfort or around the handle.
Should pass these out in New York , California and Illinois all states spending your tax dollars and run by demonrats with pressure washing crews MAGA 2020 BABY !
How’s Covid on the MAGA run States, babe?
Thank you–I would have never thought of this!
A lot of helpful suggestions above, good things to know because one person never knows it all, but many people can have some unusual ideas that are not within the usual scope!
I use empty tide bottles ( do not rinse) and fill with water. Clean hands are so important in
warding off disease so I plan to use this soapy water for cleansing. Tide bottles are very thick
plastic. I have some in my garage dated 2015, bottles still firm and our summers are 110 ^.
I also store emptied clothes washing bottles that are not washed, but filled with water. I’m thinking that would be good enough to wash clothes and not have to use too much clean water to rinse all those soapsuds out. They are very sturdy and if thick detergent doesn’t degrade them, I think I’m OK with water.
I have a flat portion of roof and the roof drains freeze over in the winter, I am thinking a black bucket upside down with areas cut out on the lower rim for water to flow would keep them open as the sun hits it in the winter. a cinder block on top should keep it in place. Anyone ever try this?
Have been using a bucket to wash clothes in my RV for 40 years if water is short don’t rinse just use less detergent dry overnight under awning, Happy travelling!
I do the same thing.except I don’t use soap I use distilled vinegar
Washing cloths I use a BIG potato masher. Got one at an Army Navy surplus store about 2 feet long and 8 inches square. Small hole in the top of the lid and off we go!
You could also use a brand new plunger. Both viable options
Drywall mud mashers work well too.
I get my buckets from the bakery at Krogers. If I call at 6 A.M. they will save them for me for an hour or two. I just have to clean the frosting out of them.
Tidy Cats buckets used for cat litter are food safe, very sturdy,with hinged lid and handle.
Ask a friend with cats that uses that brand to save them for you.
I loved those Tidy Cat buckets, but lately, they’ve been using boxes, which aren’t really good for much except starting a fire.
The cat litter and store brand laundry detergent buckets are food grade, rectangular and space saving. Once they are washed they are very handy. Use them in pantry, food storage, craft storage,etc. Also use the litter ones with hinged lid for pet food. Have never thrown one away, and have seen some people throw them out with trash. A Little soap and water works wonders. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
DIY Swamp Cooler Bucket Air Cooler for Camping and Other Uses
https://offgridsurvival.com/offgrid-airconditioner-diy-bucket-air-cooler/
Another possible use would be to use your buckets to make ice in the winter if you don’t have access to a pond, but you want to set up your own ice house. Fill your water buckets half to 2/3rds full, (because ice expands) and leave overnight to freeze. Pack your giant ice cubes in sawdust or straw to keep them frozen. You could also reuse gallon water jugs, and if they’re clean and you use potable water you can drink the contents after it melts down. Keeping the ice in the containers also keeps your ice box or cooler from needing a drainage system/drip tray. Of course, you’ll need a lot of containers to make this worthwhile, but in an off grid situation it should work well enough to justify trying it out.
Buckets can be used to hold emergency evacuation supplies, such as 2-3 changes of clothes, solar radio, pocket knife, solar lantern, extra meds, etc. We keep one for each family member & pet (name on bucket) stacked where we can grab & go, & rotate contents seasonally.
Turn your bucket upside down,,sit on it, and think of all the possibilities!
use glow-in-the-dark tape to locate them in darkness
Storing water for an average family for a month will take a lot more than 45 gallons. Use 3 55 gallon food grade containers.
Also, use 2 buckets to make paper fire logs. put paper in one, add water sand stir, Cut holes in sides near bottom of the other. Press the second one into the first and drain the water. cut the paper bricks into smaller sized logs.
https://urbansurvivalsite.com/15-brilliant-uses-for-buckets/#comment-17114
The problem with 55 gallon barrels for water storage is portability and algal growth.
One gallon of water weighs 8.33 pounds, 5 gallons weighs 41.65 pounds and 55 gallons weighs 458.15 pounds, not counting the container. Plus you still have to transfer the water to the dahmer barrel (Milwaukee speak for these plastic food grade 55 gallon barrels as Jeffery Dahmer used one to dispose of body parts in one filled with acid). You also have to have the hand pump to get water out of them. Sadly nothing is ever as easy as we want it to be.
A hint on making paper logs, presoak the paper, and pulp it up with a paint mixer of the type used in an electric drill (use a hand crank drill or a brace)and if you have it available, add some dish or laundry detergent, preferably liquid or powdered dissolved in hot water, as this will break down the papers binding agents and allow it to rebond with the new pulp you are making, adding to the quality of the paper mache’ like bricks you are making. If you are industrious you can also make a roller and use full wet sheets of newsprint to make logs. or if you weld, you can make a rectangular press. Back in the day when I was a scoutmaster and the price fell out on newsprint, We still kept up the paper drives for recycling first for making our own “wood” for camping, using this method, as well as supply a local factory that would give a generous donation for the open clean sheets to use for shipping packing material.
Im not picking on your post! You just hit on two of the most important Ideas so I’m sticking with your lead!
On the topic of water, skip the complete nome brew Water filter Since we have to get the buckets before hand, Go to the local home improvement store and pick up the necessary fittings and tubing to attach the ceramic and carbon filters you can pick up there to build a much better water filter, that is in the exact same class at the filters you pay several hundred dollars for online for in your survival gear dont forget to keep track of how many gallons of water you are putting through them so you know when to replace them with the replacements you have also purchased. No they are not cheap, but after you purchase the primary set and one replacement set, you can sit back and watch for them to go on sale and stock up after that, as you will be covered for at least 6months to a year, and if you have to you can build the gravel & sand filter to prefilter really cloudy water.
And here is another Water thought. If you live in a house with a HOT and dark attic you can via siphon, set up a “hot water heater” by simply keeping containers of water in the attic. Be careful if you intend to use this for personal sanitation, do not use it directly, instead run it into another container and use that after you have adjusted the temp with cold water. If you are industrious you can build a solar operated pump to fill a 55 gallon barrel if the height you have to go isnt too far, you may have to stack several pumps at different heights but, these are things to figure out ahead of time, and if you have children, turn it into a learning experience for them. And remember the weight of a 55gallon barrel of water is close to 500 pounds so make sure if you use one, that the floor can hold it… 3/4 or one-inch plywood properly used…
A five-gallon bucket can also be used as stilts for reaching or working on things overhead. The drywall repairmen we hired placed standard home improvement store five-gallon buckets, without lids, upright on our hard surface floors, then stood on the rims, balancing with one foot on each side. They could “walk” the buckets around the floor as they worked, without having to get down from the buckets.
What great ideas! Thank you, like the garden one too. Michelle, how do you make you’re own laundry soap, would like to try.
For #10, the toilet. Rather than buy a toilet seat for this, make one by splitting (halfway through) a pool noodle and fit it around the rim for cushioning. Cheap, just a buck at dollar stores.
Great .
It all sounds good except shaking the bucket to clean clothes. That’s really impossible.Water is too heavy. I have to wash my clothes by hand and I’ve tried everything. You could if you wash one or two shirts, but not jeans and towels. Best to use the bucket with a long stick and swirl clothes.
Buy a toilet plunger to wash the clothes. Make a hole in the lid for the handle to pass through .Add clothes ,water,soap and plunge away.
Brilliant!
Agree with the toilet plunger, just make sure it’s NEW. Much easier to leave the bucket on the ground.
I use a plunger in a bathtub of soapy water for washing small throw rugs.
Smart idea!
You can use a bucket to wash a lot of clothes, even jeans. Pour water and detergent in it. Stand and use your leg and foot to wash them, not your hands.
Just put the bucket in your car or truck, fill with clothes , water & soap, press on the cover . Drive around, do errands , go to work. By the time you get home, the clothes will be much cleaner. Just pour out and add fresh water to rinse. Just a bachelor- lazy- man style. Works for me !
Lol that’s funny…Im going to try this out. I’m always looking for short cuts that free up time allowing me to get more done in the time I’ve saved! Thanks for the hack!
I doubt in a survival situation that there will be plentiful fuel to waste driving around the neighborhood in order to wash your clothes.There may not even be much water available for washing clothes…only drinking, cooking and bathing use.
why couldn’t you use a toilet plunger to wash your cloths, the up and down motion is a lot less work and saves wear and tare on your arms and hands.
and no gas wasted if use toilet plunger
I have been using a sponge mop handle T shaped (sponge remove) in a 5 gallon pail for years now. Started using in on holidays while camping Now it saves time and money having to use the clothes washer in my apartment building as the clothes go directly on a extra shower bar in the shower with window ventilation to dry . This eliminates the 45 min of electricity the clothes dryer used What a energy hog
I also close the door to the bathroom in the summer to keep the humidity lower while drying the clothes
You could lay your clothes out in the sun and UV will kill any bacteria left behind. This what I did in Somalia in 94.
we are a food plant and we throw about pails constantly.
More info please? what state, and/or town?
I would like food grade buckets that are being tossed out for free.
But, where is this located ? I am in central Ohio, and bet you are not near.
The local donut shops, restaurants,stores with bakeries and delis usually throw away 5 gallon buckets constantly. A quick call or visit can get you all you can handle
you can get food grade buckets with lids at Fire House Subs for $3.00 and the money they collect for the buckets they use to buy equipment for fire houses
#4–also use scissors on anything you can cut successfully.
A toilet seat can be made by using a pool noodle. Cut a large slit the length of the noodle, put it on the top of the bucket for a cushion. Cut residual noodle.
These are pricey, but an awesome idea. A decent handyman could come up with a homemade contraption that works similarly. https://www.liquidplanet.com/product/airscape-bucket-lid/
make a mouse, rat trap…ramp to a set up of a walk the plank trigger that has bait on the end of it…rodent walks the plank…the plank tips and the rodent falls in to the bucket that has water in it
There’s a video of that on youtube, using a 5 gallon bucket, but they didn’t put water in it. Once the mouse falls in the bucket, you can take that cute little nasty buger, and let him go, far far away from….you. Drowning them, and killing them, does NOT need to be done, when you can let him go free in the wild to continue being food (for a hawk, for example), in the circle of life…
In a SHTF situation yo NEED to kill the rodents to prevent disease vectors from affecting humans. if they have been living in close proximity to humans consider them infected with anything that we can get allowing them to be eaten by any other animals just increases the possibility of creating a pandemic, even if one hasnt started yet, just look at whats happening right now with the flu.
The wild and free usually translates to farmers and do you want them in your food supply. The old saying that if you see a mouse or rat there are 100 more that you can not see.
So who do you hate that you would let them loose in their neighborhood? I know farmers would not appreciate the ‘gift’.
For us older folks who can’t easily pick up and shake a bucket with water and clothes, I have the 5 gal bucket and lid, but I cut a small hole in the lid that will allow the handle of a toilet plunger to fit through, fill will soap and water and clothes and plunge away, drain, fill with more water and repeat to rinse out.
The bucket toilet is a game changer for anyone who can’t squat. The seats are a huge improvement as well.
However, in many outdoor places ie camping or the back yard after a disaster makes using the indoor plumbing unusable, you can separate purposes by using two toilets. For urinating, wear heavy gloves for safety, use a big knife to cut a hole in the bottom of a plastic bucket, roughly 1/3 the diameter, and add several small boulders or bricks for stability. If possible, set it up near something solid, like a post, tree, or corner of a building so people who are unstable have something to grab as they get down and back up.
For the other bucket, add kitty litter. If you can double bag that one, so much the better for disposal.
Of course, you are best off keeping the toilets away from your source of drinking water.
Get an eight or ten foot length of 4″ diameter pvc pipe. Drill holes all around the bottom 18 inches of the pipe. If you don’t have a drill, you can heat a metal rod and melt holes. Dig a hole and bury 4 or 6 feet of the pipe in the ground. If you have pea gravel, put some pea gravel in the bottom of the hole. You now have a tube that can be urinated in. If you wire a piece of screen on the top of the pipe, you will keep insects out of the pipe. If you have a well or a spring, of course, the tube should be located away from your water source.
I’m thinking for us older folks revisiting the old-time commode chairs might work. Essentially it’s a wooden box with a door in the front for removing the waste/cleaning, with a hinged lid covering a hole. You can see really fancy ones in museums and antique shops, but the box approach is adequate, especially if your woodworking skills need practice.
Last winter my well water line froze up and as I live in central Minnesota It was buried over 4 ft. deep and frozen solid. Also plastic pipe so thawing it with A welder wouldn’t work. I was out of luck for indoor plumbing for about 2.5 month’s!
I had an old wood cabinet that I got at an auction so I cut A hole in the side and put A plastic trash bag liner in A plastic bucket. It worked like A charm and as I live alone I only needed to change the liner once A week. I tore up newspaper to put over my filth and always urinated in an empty laundry detergent jug before using the “outhouse” that was housed in my basement bathroom. I used the toilet seat off the basement toilet.
I put the bagged excrement in the trash every week ( my area burns all it’s trash in steam boilers for disposal) and took the urine jug to be emptied in the woods when I went to get my mail.
I hope the water line don’t ever freeze again! Apparently I can’t go away for any length of time in the winter!!
use a piece of pool noodle onthe top of the bucket for a easy potty seat.
Make snow forts
To heat water faster in a bucket paint the outside flat black it will not only get hot but REALLY hot.
OOOrrr…just have some black ones, bought already…now I can do something else, with the black paint.
the flat black paint will cause the water to heat substantially faster than the plain glossy black plastic will due to the reflective surface of the bucket, and sanding the surface of the bucket will cause it to break down substantially faster as it will allow the plasticizers to leach out of the bucket.
I make my own laundry soap and keep it in a 5 gallon bucket. With a family of 5 this is a great way to save money. It turns to gel so I just scoop it out and there ya go. 🙂
Enquiring minds wanna know…HOW do you make your own laundry soap?
There are many recipes, but I mix together equal parts borax, washing soda, and grated bars of soap. Then I use two heaping tablespoons per load. Works great!
what is your recipe for laundry soap??
Not sure if it’s a survival tool, but as kids we made a raft out of 6, 5-gallon buckets (with lids, obviously) and some 2x4s… the buckets were the ‘pontoons’…2x4s were tied in place. Can’t think of a reason I’d need it if the SHTF, but it worked great going down Mill Creek with 3 kids aboard!
As for the toilet seat, slit a pool noodle, wrap around the bucket top and you have a cheap and comfortable toilet seat
Great idea, Phil!
I get mine from Costco and they are free. And food safe. I use them for all my dry goods and lots of other things. I use some in my vehicles filled with emergency items. They are mostly temp. stable. I keep a dog kit in one, (blanket, food, treats, pictures etc.)
Best bucket article I have read! Thanks for the ideas. I downloaded the water filter PDF and shared your post with my friends!