Five-gallon buckets are part of every prepper’s stockpiles in one manner or another. From food grade buckets to secondhand bargain buckets used to store non-edible preps, the handy containers are stacked tall in the basements and garages of prepping families across the country.
You can make the most of both your prepping storage space and growing area by using five-gallon buckets to create homemade emergency kits, container gardens, rotating compost bins, and a host of other things for your homestead or prepper retreat.
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Top 5 ways to use five-gallon buckets in your prepping plan
Christmas is the perfect time to once again approach the subject of preparedness with non-prepping friends and loved ones. Unlike gifts purchased at the local mall, homemade gifts provide not just a surprise adorned in colorful wrapping paper, but a useful present from the heart. This holiday season, and during special occasions throughout the year, why not buy a five-gallon bucket in a festive color and make an emergency survival kit for those you hold dear but who have not yet fully grasped the importance of prepping for a disaster?
Each year my husband and I make a kit for several folks, and they have never failed to accept with a smile. More importantly, it’s furthered our discussion about prepping and self-reliance. When a teenager in the family gets their driver’s license, they also get an emergency kit from us to put in their car, and they actually like the survival gift!
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Unlike the all-important bug-out bags, which are designed to be lightweight and carry only the essentials, the five-gallon emergency kits can be filled with heavier items and stored in vehicle trunks for sheltering in place. (Think the panicked folks stuck on the highway for days in the first episode of The Walking Dead.) These kits can also hold short-term disaster survival supplies, or they can be grab-and-go buckets for bugging out.
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Five-gallon bucket emergency kits
Create two detailed inventory lists of all the items inside the five-gallon bucket emergency kit, by category, and tape it onto the side of the bucket and under the lid. Including a folder containing a list of emergency information and copies of important documents, including photo identification, is highly advisable.
Suggested items for five-gallon bucket emergency kits
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Glow sticks
• Candles and matches
• Emergency thermal blankets
• Hand crank emergency radio
• Hand and foot warmers
• Compass
• Whistle
• Binoculars
• Sewing kit
• Paper and pens
• Manual can opener (P-38 can openers are sturdy and take up little space.)
• Zip ties
• Duct tape
• Gloves (It gets chilly at night even during the summer months.)
• Socks
• Knit hat
• Paracord
• Scissors
• Dust/doctor’s masks
• Tarp
• Trash bags
• Soap
• Toothpaste and toothbrush
• Sunscreen
• Bug spray
• Tea tree oil (nature’s antibiotic)
• Shampoo (Waterless shampoo is a big plus.)
• Water filtration straw or portable filter
• Feminine hygiene items
• Latex gloves
• Comb, hair pick or hair brush
• Wash cloth
• First aid guide
• OTC pain medication
• Benadryl
• Cough drops
• Triple antibiotic ointment
• Burn cream
• Imodium AD
• Insect sting relief
• Instant ice pack
• Tweezers
• Extra ammunition
• Gun cleaning supplies
• Maps for area counties
• Medical adhesive tape
• Bandages
• Superglue (It is great for closing wounds.)
• Hand sanitizer
• Gauze pads
• Butterfly bandages
• Fire starters
• Knife
• Potassium iodide tablets
• Long-term food storage packets or MRE bars
Five-gallon bucket water filter
With just a couple of five-gallon buckets and a little bit of PVC pipe, you can build a bio-sand water filter. The water travels through the gravel, sand, and charcoal placed inside and is filtered and ready to boil and use for drinking, cooking, or medical care.
Five-gallon bucket rocket stoves are easy to make, as long as you can find a metal bucket at the local hardware store or a yard sale. Rocket stoves are extremely efficient and can heat both water and food quickly. The stoves are fueled using just small dry branches, underbrush or twigs.
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Five-gallon bucket water carrier
When used as a water carrier, make sure you are using a clean, food-grade version of the buckets. The bucket lids fit firmly, making them perfect for water packing duty. Invest in a wheeled-trailer or several wagons for use when hauling drinking water, or when using the buckets to remove unwanted water from the low area of the homestead.
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Trash removal
After the SHTF, garbage collection will come to a rapid halt. The spread of disease and unsanitary conditions could wipe out an entire neighborhood quickly. Use two five-gallon buckets as a trash compactor by putting the trash inside one bucket, place the other bucket on top, and then step inside to compact the debris. Once it is more compact, it can be tied into a small bundle if solid or used to help increase nutrients in the soil if it is made of organic matter.
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Firefighting
Fires will likely blaze unchecked during a long-term disaster, such as a power-grid failure due to an EMP attack or solar flare. As previously reported by Survival Based (link insert) fire preparedness is a must for both rural and urban preppers. An old-fashioned bucket brigade can be used to prevent brush fires from spreading and overtaking your home, barn and other storage areas that house vital preps.
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Rainwater harvesting
Place five-gallon buckets beneath rain gutters on the home, barn and storage buildings to collect rainwater for drinking and cooking, as well as watering your garden and livestock.
Water heating
Gather one five-gallon bucket and another bucket that is slightly smaller in diameter. Place the smaller bucket inside the larger one and fill it two-thirds full with water. Place the lid firmly on the five-gallon bucket and put the off-grid water heating system in a sunny spot for about two hours. Use a black or dark-colored five-gallon bucket if possible. The water inside will be nice and hot and ready for use to cook long-term storage food or for other tasks. Use only clean food-grade buckets if the water is intended for consumption.
Ice house
Fill five-gallon buckets with water and then place the lid firmly on top. Put the buckets in the room that you want to be an ice house. The number of buckets will depend on the size of the makeshift ice house. Filling as much of the room as possible with buckets while still allowing space to store food is advisable.
A basement room, root cellar, or metal or concrete storage building are ideal ice house structures. Place saw dust or straw around and on top of each bucket. The buckets can be stacked on top of each other in tight rows. After the water freezes and the overall room temperature cools, add non-shelf stable food and beverages on top of the buckets or build rows of wood shelves and alternate what is stored on the units by placing a row of buckets beneath each row of food. sheInsulating the walls of the structure with foam panels will help keep the temperature cool into the summer months. If you live in a warm climate, such as Florida, thick insulation will be a must and even then the odds of the water staying frozen will be fairly slim during the late spring and summer months.
Portable toilet
Place several livestock feed scoops’ worth of sand or cat litter in a trash bag and put the filled sack inside the five-gallon bucket. Cut a hole in the bucket lid or place a standard commode seat over the bucket, and then use the inexpensive prepping toilet at will. Replace the trash bag of litter or sand regularly to avoid an unpleasant smell.
Off-grid shower
Make a camping or prepping shower using only a five-gallon bucket, a PVC ball valve, a little PVC pipe and a nozzle. The bucket holds enough water to take a relaxing seven-minute shower. Place the bucket of water in the sun before washing off to heat the water.
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Wash clothes
Pour some water and detergent into a five-gallon bucket and then scrub the clothes with your hands or agitate using a clean bathroom plunger. A second bucket can be filled with water for rinsing.
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Growing food
Maximize your space for growing food both indoors and out by using five-gallon buckets for container gardening. Miniature fruit trees have successfully been grown in buckets, as have dwarf coffee trees and a host of other common garden fruits and vegetables.
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Five-gallon buckets make great multi-use emergency and prepping gear on a budget!