Favorite REPUROPSED Containers…

[Delmar O’Donnell]

What are your favorite repurposed containers?

EDIT: Now keeping a spreadsheet. If you submit volume and weight (oz, please) I'll add yours. The "efficiency score" is simply oz capacity divided by oz weight. Tracking lidded/capped containers only.

If I own one of these containers, I'm using my Pelouze PE10 scale for weights (two-tenths resolution) and measuring capacities with ounce-graduated measuring cups. If I don't have access, I'm simply using whatever weights and capacities are reported in this thread, and rounding up to the nearest tenth. Not gilt-edged accuracy, but gets you within range.

A few (mostly) repurposed containers, for visual effect. L to R: SoBe flavored water bottle, Grease Pot in cozy, Gatorade powdered drink container, peanut butter jar, Campbell Soup In A Cup, Old-school quart Nalgene, Boyardee pasta cup, 1L Platy (crashing the party, doesn't belong here!), Ziploc 1-cup SmartSnaps.

Dang it, just noticed I misspelled "repurposed" in the headline. Tried to fix it, the fix isn't taking.

[John S.]

I'm using aquafina water bottles and a black film canister for my sunblock.

[Daniel Pittman]

I carry an unlubricated rubber in my pack. Good emergency water storage if you have to cover an unexpected dry stretch of trail. Fill it up (easier said than done), tie a knot to close it, wrap it in your bandana, then your extra pack liner or poncho, and use it after your bottles are empty. To access the water without wasting any, poke a tiny hole in the corner of your pack liner, shake the condom into the corner, and pop it inside the bag.

[Jake D]

1. 1L powerade bottles. fit perfect in my Exos pockets

2. Campbells soup cup (looks the same as the chef boyardi one) i cut the metal rim off and my pot lid fits perfect.

3. bottom half of plastic peanut jar for water dipping cup and Squeeze protection.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

"and a black film canister for my sunblock."

Explain this concept, "film," please?

[Desert Dweller]

Small plastic pharmaceutical pill bottle for cotton balls with Vaseline.

[Brian Johns]

I like an Rx script cough medicine bottle for my alcohol stove fuel. It has ml/cup/dram/other markings on it that make it great for measuring fuel, but it's also light, sturdy, water tight, and red so it won't be confused with safe-to-drink liquids, as if it might.

[Serge Giachetti]

' "film" ' –yes this word needs clarification.

–this doesn't count as repurposed unless, I suppose you use them in your house, but ziploc has some nice screw top containers at target that are quite light and nearly water tight. good for hydrating meals, oatmeal, coffee etc. I forget the weight, but they are def light.

–I like the smartwater bottles used in combo with my sawyer squeeze filter. I'd rather just carry bags since they take up less space empty, but the smartwater bottle is the easiest to drink out of and fill up at water sources. It makes for a beautifully simple system. I like the tall and slim 1.5 liter bottles since they bulge out from your pack less.

[Daniel Pittman]

Careful with the medicine bottles though; a lot of them use a plastic-coated cardboard disc to form the seal. I use a Pepto Bismol bottle the same way, but replaced the cardboard with some thin gasket material cut to fit. I like the Pepto bottle because the triangular shape makes it easier for my hand to recognize it in the dark.

[Tanner M]

parse it as 'black [film canister]'
'[black film] canister' is not good :^|

in the future, people will talk about repurposing the blister packaging inexpensive digital cameras come in.

[Duane Hall]

And those gatorade containers make a nice wide topped midnight pee jar as well . . .

[Richard May]

eeeew on the pee jar! but then I've never experienced THAT kind of cold.

I like the 1 ounce hand sanitizer bottles. I refill them with bug dope and sun-block.

[Max Dilthey]

I have experienced that kind of cold and I still don't go with the pee jar…

It reminds me of the thread where 5-6 people admitted to using moss and leaves as TP. Different breeds of backpacker….

[Adam Rothermich]

20 oz Smart Water bottle. I love those flip-tops they have. For more water storage 1L Dasani bottles are lighter than Aquafina bottles. But the wide-mount Aquafinas are easier to pour a drink mix into.

I use a film canister to store my vaseline-coated cotton balls. (I still shoot film BTW. Much like the ska show I went to a few weeks ago, its not dead yet!)

When I use an alcohol stove I keep the alcohol in a 4oz contact solution bottle. It doesn't leak and the nozzle makes it easy to control the flow.

Eye-drop bottles make great containers for liquid soap, Aqua Mira, hot sauce, etc. Just make sure to label them really well or use different shapes/styles of bottles. You wouldn't want to end up with Tabasco in your eye if you grab the wrong bottle in the morning.

Adam

[Daniel Pittman]

Shoot, I used to live on a sailboat in the middle of San Diego harbor. I had a pee and poop jar! No matter how much you flush and pump a boat's holding tank you can never get rid of the smell. So the thought of a pee jar to use while camping doesn't even faze me. However, I will at least stick my heiny out of the tent to drop a deuce. Gotta have good manners and all.

[Jim H]

The single-serve food containers are awesome. I even drank too much koolaid and measured a bunch of different ones too recently. [link to my blog post]

Someone in another thread on here mentioned the little plastic containers that taco shops give you salsa in, that come with a lid. Turns out my local outdoor store uses those for selling flies, and they didn't mind me grabbing a few extra. They work great as a mini tackle box.

One that I haven't tried yet but was considering: Some pre-shredded cheeses at the grocery store have a pretty solid re-sealable zip-loc closure, and they are designed to stand up on their own. I was wondering whether one of those would make a good bowl/rehydrating bag.

[Duane Hall]

The beauty of those Gatorade containers is that they have a very secure (water/pee tight) screw top. I wouldn't mess around with something that might easily spill.

[Tanner M]

Bad day on Blue Bayou to settle in with your jar only to learn Hertz has given you a free upgrade to a deuce and a half.

[Mark Ries]

I've said it before the nisson chow mein dinners my preference being the beef teriyaki bowls make a great very tough reuseable bowl I eat the dinner the first night and add some sweet and spicy tuna then reuse the bowl for the rest of the trip they are available in Walmart weigh 1oz empty 5 oz with noodles and flavor packs. Skip the microwave directions and add one cup boiling water with noodles and veggie pack stir at 5 minutes at 10 minutes add flavor pack stir then eat

[Daniel Pittman]

That's why you poop first, then dig the hole. If you dig first, the hole might not be big enough.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Back to containers, gentlemen, if you please…

[Matthew Black]

Evian 1 liter bottles at 30 grams. I get through a season or more with a single Evian bottle, I just found that CVS store brand 1 liter water bottles weigh in at 27 grams and I'll find out if they are as durable.

[Jesse Anderson]

I'll see your gatorade powdered drink container and raise you a Talenti Gelato container. It holds a pint, is clear (I like seeing inside), is leak proof, and has straight easy to clean sides. I wish I could tell you the weight of the container, but I don't have an accurate scale at the moment.
'
Bonus points for the original contents being fantastic. I love the Argentine Caramel flavor.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

"I'll see your gatorade powdered drink container and raise you a Talenti Gelato container."

I fold! That looks as nice as a purpose-built Nalgene. The size is getting up into the peanut-butter jar or mayonnaise jar range, so it'll take some competition from that neighborhood. Regards the contents, no contest.

At the urging of BPL'ers, I finally got off my duff and found the 1-cup Ziplocks, and hoo-haw, they nest around a SuperCat, I can fit up to two of them (if necessary) into my Grease Pot with room to spare for the windscreen, and still insert the top strainer and close the lid. The Ziplocks weigh a skinny 0.4 oz each, with lid, for 8 oz capacity. Happy.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

I've made a spreadsheet. Have added weights and capacities if they were mentioned. The "efficiency score" is simply capacity in oz divided by weight in oz. Please feel free to submit. Units of oz easiest for me to add to the spreadsheet.

Wait, I'm going to add this to the original post so it's easy to see when opening the thread.

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