The Ever Useful 5 Gallon Bucket
How useful is the ubiquitous 5 gallon bucket? Let me count the ways.
But first a shout out to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Those that read this wonderful tale will recall the protagonist and his ever useful towel, “A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”
Until interstellar travel is commonplace, our simple 5 gallon bucket will have to suffice!
First, the bucket can hold things. You may notice the blue cone – that is a clothes washer device, but I digress:
Next, if you take a round plank of wood, router a groove to match the top rim of the bucket, and cover the plank with some cushion and nice vinly material, you get a seat cushion:
Next is a step stool. Notice the bottom ridges on the bucket. Take another plank of wood, router some grooves on one side, and use some anti-slip stickers on the other and you have a one level step stool.
For our next magic trick, install a couple of short carriage bolts opposite each other and make your favorite Frankenstein joke. We’ll use those bolts to hold the handles of just about any store’s insufferably thin plastic bag. In this manner, our bucket becomes the kitchen trash can.
Another use is for washing clothes. First fill the bucket with water and add your detergent:
And then use the aforementioned blue plastic thing to agitate the dirty clothes:
Did you count the number of uses for this one lowly bucket?
Oh, and I forgot to add: With one of these lids from various sources (I recommend Emergency Essentials) and the correct bags with a special compound, you can also make your 5 gallon bucket into an awkward but appreciated in an emergency, toilet.
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