Reduce all your stuff to a five gallon bucket

[offroad]

http://sectionhiker.com/lightweight-backpacking-the-five-gallon-challenge/

Could you reduce the stuff you own? Yes this is just about backpacking, but still we all need less stuff.

 

[compassrose]

It would be real hard to put the cedar chest David made me for a wedding present 35 years ago into a 5 gallon bucket. Nor would I want to. I have lost almost everything I owned in a house fire years ago (the cedar chest was in our shop having a little cosmetic work done to it). I am not owned by stuff. But I do have stuff I like and prefer to keep. You want to live in a 5 gallon bucket? More power to you. I figure I have scaled down enough as my home is about 250sf.

 

[Almost There]

http://sectionhiker.com/lightweight-backpacking-the-five-gallon-challenge/

Could you reduce the stuff you own?  Yes this is just about backpacking, but still we all need less stuff.

Nope, not even close...not even on my backpacking or canoe trips! But that's because I use synthetic quilts instead of down. They don't compress into balls the size of baseballs like down does. Mine are more like basketballs.

That said, yes I can get everything I need for a summer trip into a 60L dry bag except for the PFD, paddle etc.

But that's only for a few days trip not for a lifetime.


That's why I have a van...so I can carry enough of my stuff to live with on a long term basis.

I've decided that I'm keeping the cargo trailer I already own so that some of my more precious stuff won't have to be discarded. It will stay parked while I wander the continent. When I make the eventual move to the west coast, I'll take it with me cross country and find a new parking spot for it.

When the day comes that I get way too old to wander, I'll either gift the precious stuff to the kid cause I'm headed for a nursing home or have it to clutter a permanent home again.

 

[Wabbit]

Could I do this? Yeah, I could. I am not attached to really much except some sentimental trinkets. I don't eBay or Craig list stuff I am done using, I give it to someone who can use it or to the nearest Goodwill store. Not looking for praise lol, just saying that monetary stuff is easy for me to leave behind. I would have to spend some money to make sure I had what I needed in that bucket, but I could and prob at some time in the future will for excursions into wooded areas or what not. Things can be replaced easily enough, not sentimental things, but for some people, sentimentality is not what it is to other people.

 

[jimindenver]

I couldn't do it.

 

[skyl4rk]

Could you also use the bucket as a toilet?

 

[Wabbit]

Could you also use the bucket as a toilet?

No idea why, but this comment ambushed my funny bone...spent a few minutes laughing. I think the challenge is more about demonstrating what you can get to fit inside the bucket. I don't think you actually backpack with the bucket. But if you did and you wanted to, poo away in a bucket!

 

[Tinman74]

Sky,
Good one, I like that!!!!
Bob

 

[akrvbob]

I agree with Compassrose, I can't do it nor do I want to. I understand the sentiment behind it, I even admire it as a goal. But it isn't how I want to live.

I do know a guy who has lived on a bike for over a year, and he can't do it either. It all fits in a duffle bag and a day pack, but not in a 5-gallon bucket.

We all need some level of comfort we aren't willing to go below as a life-style. That level is different for all of us and there is no right or wrong to it. None of us can pass judgement on anyone else for having "too much."
Bob

 

[compassrose]

When I am sick, I want all the comfort I can get. Oh heck, I am all about the comfy all the time!

 

[scooterdog]

Can do, with room to spare.  But, I've been backpacking for decades. 

This is a great idea for the first time backpacker.  My sister is going with me on a week long trip to the Grayson Highlands in Virginia.  I am buying her a shiny new 5 gallon bucket to help her in planning her gear.  It will be a great learning aid, thanks for the tip.

My sister's current gear and the "pack" it fits in, lol.

 

[LeeRevell]

Good idea for a backpacking trip. Not so good if you are planning to live that way. If I get to that level, it's because I've become a refugee.......

 

[offroad]

Can do, with room to spare.  But, I've been backpacking for decades. 

This is a great idea for the first time backpacker.  My sister is going with me on a week long trip to the Grayson Highlands in Virginia.  I am buying her a shiny new 5 gallon bucket to help her in planning her gear.  It will be a great learning aid, thanks for the tip.

My sister's current gear and the "pack" it fits in, lol.

Food not included. Water not included. That's still a lot of room.

 

[GotSmart]

I was rolling on the floor because Bob gave a talk at RTR about the potty tent, 5 gallon bucket, and taking your stuff with you.

Eventually all my "stuff" ends up in the 5 gallon bucket~~~

 

[ccbreder]

I am a van dweller. I can fit me and my stuff in a van. The bucket has other uses.

 

[akrvbob]

The original post was a little tricky to follow but the question we're talking about is "Can everything you OWN fitt into a 5 gallon bucket", not what you take on a backpacking trip.

How many of us can fit everything we OWN into a 5 gallon bucket?

I'm sure none of us can. But, what is the smallest space you can fit everything you OWN into?

And what would be a reasonable goal if you wanted to reduce it?
Bob

 

[Wabbit]

Well, there is everything I own, which easily fits into a minivan. That includes stuff like tents, screen tent, camping gear, tools, ext. Then there is a bug-out bag which I can grab and has all I need(for the most part). My bug out bag is a TETON pack. See link at bottom. I could go through that and bring it down to a 5 gallon bucket. In fact, if I squished hard enough lol, could prob already fit everything in BO pack into 5 gallon bucket.

http://www.amazon.com/TETON-Sports-...nkCode=w13&linkID=&ref_=assoc_res_sw_result_1

Can I fit what I currently own into bucket? No. Could I reduce what I have into a bucket? Yeah. Not optimal lol, but that would be a sure way to add some crazy adventures into life!

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

Can I use Imperial gallons ?........(sorry, I just had to).
KinA

 

[cdiggy]

Just the amount of food I keep on hand would not fit in a bucket. It would take three buckets (which is actually what I use to store the food). As a rule you should have enough food and water to last a month on hand at all times. I would fail when it comes to water. I probably have a months supply of food at all times. 5 gallon bucket for everything is a pipe dream unless you are talking a big out bag or Armageddon bag. Then it still might be a pipe dream.