Kick the Old Bucket: Review of the Collapsible Bucket

Conveyance or the ease of portability is one of the key facts when traveling in the great outdoors. Most of us would love to take everything from the house, but it is just too hard to fit into a backpack. However, every now and again a piece of gear comes out to make the impossible possible to pack.

In Dave Canterbury’s book, “Advanced BushCraft” in chapter 12 in the first paragraph on page 208 he says,

“I grouped containers and conveyances together in one chapter because they both relate to transportation: one to the transportation of goods and the other to the transportation of food.”

One of the biggest concerns that containers solve is the gathering, purifying, and storing of potable water. While our stainless steel water bottles can do a lot, a downfall they encounter is the capacity of water they can gather at one time or store after purifying. But I think I might have found a solution.

I purchased the 1.3 Gallon collapsible bucket by Ozark trail at Walmart for about $8 – 10. I wanted something that I could take fishing and ended up with so much more. Before I break down my experiments with this gear I must state the following.

“I am not being paid to endorse this item. I paid for it with my own money under my own volition. My review is genuine and accounts are from my, and mine alone, experiences with this item.” And with that, let us get on with it.

Out of the box you get a blue silicone bucket with a hard plastic rim and base to improve stability. 8 1/2 inches in diameter and 2 inches tall collapsed and 8 expanded. Attached to the plastic rim is a handle that can rest on a plastic tab with a hole in it that allows the bucket to be hung during storage. Also on the rim is a spout that allows for better pouring and a hand grip indent in the base to aid with the pouring. These features make this item a smart investment.

For my test I wanted to see if this bucket could function at least on par with a standard plastic 1 gallon bucket. I will be testing the following:

• How much it will actually hold while being carried?
• Ease of carrying, Ease of unfolding, Ease of storing?
• Holding of water and other materials?
• How does it handle the extreme temperatures?

As the name implies the bucket should hold about 1.3 gallons or 5 liters. I figured this would be a good starting test. After pouring in a gallon of water it came up to the plastic rim. Where the silicone meets hard plastic. Knowing another quart would bring it to 1.25 gallons, I proceeded to add this to the bucket. It came about a 1/3 of an inch from the lip.

This did make the bucket a little too full and caused some water to slosh out. Instead, of filling it to the brim, I would stop at the hard plastic lip this would give you the most water and with the best conveyance. The collapsible bucket weighs 12 ¾ oz. With a gallon of water inside  it weighs 9 lbs. This compared to a typical bucket which is 7 ½ ounces. and 8 ¾ lbs.

Compared to a standard plastic 1 gallon bucket, they both perform similarly. Not much could be noted differently. The biggest difference was that the standard plastic 1 gallon bucket sloshed out more water when filled than the collapsible bucket.

After all of my first measurements I decided to take it out fishing. The bucket was simple enough to carry out with the rest of my gear. A normal bucket would’ve been simple too, however with this I was able to have it folded up and tucked under my arm. Next I opened the bucket. By holding the handle in my left, then making my right hand into a fits and placing it against the base I applied force until the silicone unfolded itself. A common bucket would not have needed this step. Next I filled it up with water just like a normal bucket. After a time fishing I poured out the water using the special hand grips on the base of the collapsible bucket. A feature not found on a common bucket.

Later, I returned home and filled the bucket back up and left it there overnight. In the morning I checked the water level and nothing had changed. I would expect a common bucket would also do the same. A few weeks later I used the bucket in making clay cups and bowls. I ended up with about a cup of clay left in the bucket. Accidentally, I left it out in the elements for about 10 months. I am happy to report the bucket received no damage whatsoever during this time. The water even froze and thawed during this time and still work just fine. I have had common buckets crack under these circumstances. It even had developed rust stains from having metal in it. All was later cleaned using only water and a toothbrush.

The only real way a common bucket could beat this collapsible bucket is in the use as a seat. This bucket being collapsible makes it unable to hold up weight at all. Using weighted plates, only 5 lb could be support and I would guess not for very long. However, a common plastic bucket can hold my weight 250+.

In summary, the collapsible bucket gives the user the ability to move a gallon or more of water for some distance. It can be stored on or in a backpack easily and would not add much weight. I even got the bucket to hold water at 195 degrees F without damage to the container. It could even be used as a latrine, like Dave Canterbury suggest in Journal of the Yurt video 2 at 0:44.

“I’ll empty this bucket out tonight and use it as a urinal.”

It could hold items, obviously after washed out, or even used to mix dough for cooking. Apply a little wood ash and you have a hillbilly washing machine, plus you clean the bucket. And while you may think this last idea is silly, it could be used to keep the rain off of your head should you need that. The only ability it lacks when compared to a common bucket is being used as a stand. Make sure you keep one to cross off your bucket list, and so the old plastic one can finally kick the bucket. Next week I’ll be taking a typical Walmart rectangle tarp and improving it, you won’t want to miss it. As always feel free to comment, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.