5 Gallon Bucket

[CamoCachers]

were about to place a cache to celebrate our 200th find. we wanna do something different. we have lots of 5 gallon buckets and we think it would be awesome to hide a cache that big. weve placed a few so far but use ammo cans/decon containers. using a new container, we have 2 concerns

 

first is the watertightness of the containers. the ones we have used to have laundry detergent in them. the lids seem to make a very tight seal. theyre fairly hard to pry off with bear hands. does anyone have actual experience with these? do they leak?

 

second, and the bigger concern. especially with the post thats going on elsewhere in this forum discussing discarded meth lab materials. which mentions buckets and coolers as main things to look out for. as long as we have the container clearly marked as a geocache, does anyone see a problem with using a 5 gallon bucket?

[+Miragee]

I have found a few 5-gallon bucket caches. One of the problems is the deep indentation in the lid. It accumulates dirt and debris which seems to fall into the cache when people lift the lid.

 

Also, one of the buckets had gotten wet inside and had a strong smell of mold. It might have gotten water inside if the person lifting the lid wasn't careful and there was water on the lid . . . or if the lid wasn't put on really tight.

 

Hiding a bucket will be a challenge . . . the ones I found were . . . buried.

[CamoCachers]

our plan was to try for the inside of a large hollow tree. or a huge mess of downed trees. definately not gonna bury it

[bogleman]

Go to the hardware store in the drywall section and look for a lid lifter. This will help open the container. If it is anything like a drywall bucket it will be a pain to get the lid off. I have peeled a couple of nails back (very painful) trying to get the lids off. I have one I will be putting out soon. I tested mine by filling it full of water then placing the lid on and turning it upside down for 24 hours - lid did not come off and no leaks. The bucket I have was a food service bucket with a rubber "O ring" gasket. No food in it just an empty bucket.

[+Wacka]

I have found 2 in almost 2000 finds. One was disguised as a tree stump. Great camo.

[+Renegade Knight]

I hid one in a rock pile. That way people had a fighting chance...It was stolen before I could ever see how it held up. Maybe the replacement is doing better. No complaints from finders.

[+ParrotRobAndCeCe]

were about to place a cache to celebrate our 200th find. we wanna do something different. we have lots of 5 gallon buckets and we think it would be awesome to hide a cache that big. weve placed a few so far but use ammo cans/decon containers. using a new container, we have 2 concerns

 

first is the watertightness of the containers. the ones we have used to have laundry detergent in them. the lids seem to make a very tight seal. theyre fairly hard to pry off with bear hands.

That's a good thing. You don't want bears getting into your caches, after all ;-)

[magellan315]

Never quite liked 5 gallon buckets, hard to open and you have to make sure its sealed by whacking the lid with your hand. You might want to see if you can track down ammo can of this size:

 

Its used for one of the Project APE caches, looks really big and easy to open and close.

[+frivlas]

were about to place a cache to celebrate our 200th find. we wanna do something different. we have lots of 5 gallon buckets and we think it would be awesome to hide a cache that big. weve placed a few so far but use ammo cans/decon containers. using a new container, we have 2 concerns

 

first is the watertightness of the containers. the ones we have used to have laundry detergent in them. the lids seem to make a very tight seal. theyre fairly hard to pry off with bear hands.

That's a good thing. You don't want bears getting into your caches, after all ;-)

At least they would be clean bears!

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

I have found two buckets, in widely different parts of the country, but both in rugged wilderness settings, and both were fine. Interestingly, each had been in place for years, and yet was still doing fine.

[+denali7]

LemonFreshBear

[+briansnat]

Once you have the container, just try the bathtub test. Throw some paper towels inside, fill your tub and sink the container in it. If the contents are still dry the next day then you have a good container.

 

Or better yet consider one of these.

[+blackjack65]

Someone had put one up in our area, filled with regular and small

lock-n-lock caches, ready to use with logbook, pencils and content.

Everybody loved it, and it helped our province get past the 1000 caches mark.

It was called the "La Cache a Clones" or "The Clones Cache",

and generated 38 clones.

[+Fergus]

Large Cache = Good

[+StarBrand]

I've yet to actually see a 5 gallon cache but I look forward to finding my first one! Also have a good idea of where to hide one of my own when I get around to it.

[+Moose Mob]

My spin on this is that the container fits the environment. 5 gallon buckets don't fit well under a lamp post, but they work great for a couple years in between big rocks or under some old logs.

 

Note: anything plastic will dry out and crack.

[+Markwell]

Wasn't the first cache in a 5 gallon bucket?

 

Just make sure it's well camo'd. Or hide that white bucket in the snow.

 

This ancient thread talks about making a fake stump out of a 5 gallon bucket.

[+KKTH3]

I've yet to actually see a 5 gallon cache but I look forward to finding my first one! Also have a good idea of where to hide one of my own when I get around to it.

If I remember correctly, you mentioned you would be in the Casper area over Thanksgiving. If so, there is our Mardi Gras Cache up on the mountain. Granted, there will likely be snow out that way, but still should be accessible with a bit of a hike. As an aside, we will be out of state for the next week and a half starting tonight, so our temp. disabled caches won't be up (I need to rebuild containers and need time to do that) - so you will need to visit again later in the winter when I do have them back in action.

[Mvillian]

I have used various types of buckets! The best are the ones that the lids screw on! I have one cache that is a 10.1 gallon CHLORINE container with the screwtop lid http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...71-6b10771bc9bf

Edited November 19, 2005 by Mvillian

[+Old Sailor]

I've openned 5 gal. pails this way; push down with your knee in center of lid and pry-up from side at same time.

[Hugh Jazz]

The Five Gallon Bucket, in Hugh Jazz's world, is a Medium-sized Container. I use 50-cal Ammo cans for my Micros.

 

I provided the design specifications for 35 mm Mega-Micro (GCQX2R) in Austin, it's a 5-gallon bucket painted Black with a Grey lid. Inside is one of those industrial rolls of restroom paper towel material, and a 'pencil' made from half a baseball bat. It's a Hugh Jazz sized micro!

[+treasure_hunter]

just try the bathtub test. Throw some paper towels inside, fill your tub and sink the container in it. If the contents are still dry the next day then you have a good container.

 

Wouldnt it float? You would have to wedge it somehow.

 

 

I have never found a 5 gal bucket. Sounds like fun though. You could put at least 100 Mac Donalds toys in it.

[+WascoZooKeeper]

I think the bigger problem with 5-gallon buckets will be that some finders will not reclose them tightly.

 

I'm frequently finding Rubbermaid containers that a previous finder was "unable" to close securely. A 5-gallon bucket's got to be worse in that regard.

[+tands]

fill your tub and sink the container in it.

Of course, sinking a 5 gallon bucket's gonna require inviting your friend the bear over to hold it under water!!!!

 

- T of TandS

[bogleman]

I love the mega micro - now does Groundspeak make a lable that big? That's a cache for the charter members of the he-man-micro-haters-club.