There are few things more convenient than a bucket when out camping or hiking. Buckets are great for hauling water, washing dishes and cleaning up. But standard plastic buckets can be difficult to pack with other camping gear because of their size. A strong gust of wind can also blow away plastic buckets.
Meanwhile, metal pails can be heavy. While these are good if you don't want them to get blown away. Their added weight makes them hard to carry around. You generally want to pack light if you don't want to hurt your back or your knees.
This is where collapsible buckets come in. Collapsible buckets, also called portable buckets, can be folded away for easy storage. Lightweight but durable, they can be handy for all kinds of tasks at a campsite or while hiking.
Here are seven ways to use collapsible buckets:
1. Save water bottles
Some people reuse their water bottles to store non-filtered water. It only takes one drop of water with bacteria to make you sick. Stick to keeping filtered water in water bottles and use your collapsible bucket when hauling non-filtered water.
2. Filter water
Preppers sometimes stick their water filters into a lake, pond or puddle. But this can stir up mud and silt, making filtration more difficult. Instead, use your collapsible bucket to collect water instead. Bring the bucket back to camp and wait for the sediments and dirt to settle down. Then, run the water through your filter.
3. Collect water
If you're making camp for a few days, stick a collapsible bucket under the edge of a tent, tarp or anywhere you might get water runoff.
4. Take a bath
While taking a bath in a pond or puddle feels refreshing, it does little to clean your body of dirt. Thankfully, a collapsible bucket also comes in handy for bathing outdoors. Fill it with water and wait for the water to settle. This allows sediments present in the water to settle at the bottom.
5. Wash clothes
If you packed light, then you'll likely need to wash your clothes after a few days. You'll also want a clean change of clothes if you stained yours with things like mud, blood from cleaning game and the like.
A collapsible bucket allows you to do laundry outdoors more efficiently. Soap washes away quickly in a pond or stream. That's not the case with a collapsible bucket. To wash clothes, fill the bucket with clean water, then add eco-friendly soap. You can also use hot water to remove stubborn stains.
6. Do the dishes
As is the case with washing clothes, washing dishes in a pond or lake doesn't really get them clean since soap is easily washed away by the water. A collapsible bucket allows you to wash your dishes more efficiently.
Here's a quick guide on how to wash dishes with a collapsible bucket
- Wash – Fill a quarter of a collapsible bucket with warm water. Add eco-friendly soap. Start from cleanest to dirtiest. Once the dishes are clean, shake off excess suds.
- Rinse – Empty the bucket. Fill it again a quarter of the way with warm water and rinse.
- Sanitize – Empty the bucket. Fill a quarter of the way with warm water and add a sanitizing agent. How much you add will depend on how much water you used. The generally accepted ratio is 2 teaspoons of bleach for every gallon of water. This step is important if your cookware and utensils handled raw meat.
7. Extinguish a fire
A collapsible bucket comes in handy for when you need to put out a fire, especially one getting out of hand. It wouldn't be wise to waste important drinking water on a fire. (Related: Do you have a safe source of water for a SHTF situation? Top 5 water purification mistakes.)
Learn more about collapsible buckets and other backpacking essentials at SurvivalGear.news.
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