Don’t know about you guys, but our family puts up our own food for emergency food storage and survival supplies. One of the main issues for me is where to stick all the storage buckets, especially if you live in a home with limited space, oh! and I’m a neat-freak to boot.
I like to calculate costs to the dime, so I’m mindful that its not just about price at the expense of quality.
Option 1: Standard 5-Gallon Pails (Food Safe)
The stand-by for emergency food storage solution for preppers around the world. As with all the food storage buckets I evaluated, these use FDA Compliant Resins (food safe) and have gasket lids. I benchmarked a few vendors for these. I tried getting shipping quotes from a few emergency preparedness stores but was placed on hold for so long that I gave up (sorry, but I speak truth).
| Vendor | Quantity | Cost (each) | Total for this quantity | Ship Cost | Price (ea) including shipping | Total including shipping |
| Uline | 5 | $6.09 | $30.45 | $13.00 | $8.69 | $43.45 |
| 50 | $6.09 | $304.50 | $66.00 | $7.41 | $370.50 | |
| 240 | $6.09 | $1,461.60 | $147.00 | $6.70 | $1,6060 | |
| Amazon | 3 | $6.73 | $220 | $11.80 | $10.67 | $32.00 |
| Bob’s Red Mill | 5 | $7.00 | $35.00 | $10.32 | $9.06 | $45.32 |
Option 2: 5-Gallon Screw Top Pails (Food Safe)
An interesting choice for emergency food storage, but not one I’ve personally used. If you have, please drop a comment and let me know. Again, I like Uline‘s prices and quick shipments – they call these “Vacuum Tight” but do not recommend these for liquids.
| Quantity | Cost (each) | Total for this quantity | Ship Cost | Price (ea) including shipping | Total including shipping |
| 5 | $13.00 | $65.00 | $14.00 | $15.80 | $79.00 |
| 50 | $11.00 | $550.00 | $67.00 | $12.34 | $617.00 |
| 240 | $11.00 | $2,640.00 | $167.00 | $11.70 | $2,807.00 |
Option 3: Square Buckets
Square buckets are sold all over the place, but they’re not the best for emergency food storage in the long term. Most have lids that are without gaskets, so this keeps them from being air-tight. However, their efficient size still makes them attractive for shorter-term food storage (I uses these for flour/sugar/rice that I keep in my pantry and use up within a few months) and for gear. Uline had the best price I could find on these.
| Quantity | Cost (each) | Total for this quantity | Ship Cost | Price (ea) including shipping | Total including shipping |
| 5 | 6.45 | 32.25 | $11.00 | $8.65 | $43.25 |
| 50 | $5.90 | $295.00 | $63.00 | $7.16 | $358.00 |
| 240 | $5.90 | $1,416.00 | $11.00 | $5.95 | $1,427.00 |
So there you have it, my quick analysis of emergency food buckets. If you have any other great sources for buckets, please drop a comment!
Image: Food storage buckets. Courtesy Tim Patterson via Flickr.
Try your local bakery or grocery stores. I get my 5 gallon buckets & lids from the local grocery, FREE, and they clean out the frosting, etc that was in their buckets for me.
That’s great, m! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve tried this before myself, but no luck. I wonder if there’s a secret code word to use!! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!