Film canister alternatives

[Alan Gage]

I still see people recommending film canisters for a multitude of different uses when camping and I have to wonder where they're still finding them?

I went to the drug store and got some pill bottles to use instead (thankfully I didn't have any of my own). I use them for salt, sugar, cinnamon, fishing jigs, and anything else I want in a small and water tight package.

Any other ideas out there?

Alan

 

[Guest]

I still see people recommending film canisters for a multitude of different uses when camping and I have to wonder where they're still finding them?

I went to the drug store and got some pill bottles to use instead (thankfully I didn't have any of my own). I use them for salt, sugar, cinnamon, fishing jigs, and anything else I want in a small and water tight package.

Any other ideas out there?

The only thing I miss in retirement is access to laboratory supplies. Not just disposable gloves and gasket seal buckets, but all of the wonderful little containers.

Scintillation vials, durable, leak proof vials in a variety of sizes, shapes ad styles.

http://wheaton.com/lab/vials/scintillation.html

 

[Mihun09]

We tend to use these as they are inexpensive and readily available. Christy uses a lot of empty peanut butter jars for larger food dry items as well. She uses an old plastic coke bottle for pancake syrup, it is the same colour as the original liquid so we must be careful what we drink, ha ha.

http://www.coghlans.com/products/contain-alls-8525

 

[Alan Gage]

US Plastics is a good place to find storage bottles of various shapes, sizes, and materials.

http://www.usplastic.com/

Usually no minimum order size and they also have the hard to find 6 and 7 gallon buckets (which will take a gamma lid).

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/ite...3470&catid=752

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=1859

Alan

 

[Guest]

She uses an old plastic coke bottle for pancake syrup, it is the same colour as the original liquid so we must be careful what we drink, ha ha.

Empty Coke bottles work surprisingly well. The little 8 OZ pony bottle are nice. Coke is fairly aggressive, used for removing rust and even (apocryphally) dissolving pennies.

None the less they were still a failure at containing liquid bleach for a group dish wash disinfectant rinse.

If you can find it bleach powder is the bomb. Plus a little lit sprinkled atop each offering in the groover does wonders for stink control.

 

[Alan Gage]

Pop/soda bottles will likely be joining me on future trips. I can't count the number of times I've tossed them around and, either missed by myself or someone else, they went crashing into or skidding across the concrete/gravel and never sprung a leak.

Alan

 

[Mnoutdoorfunguy]

I like the Nalgene bottles of all sizes.
The Lexan ones are the only ones I now use.
Spices, oil, salt, rehydrating meals in the pack during day, water, etc.
They have worked without fail and clean up great by hand or in the dish washer.

 

[Cookannapurna]

Try Amazon, i was looking for small containers and I had to quit looking because it was to overwhelming!

 

[Greywolf]

Wally world still carries Fuji 35mm film at least the one here does.

 

[Guest]

I use the film canesters from an old "Advantix" film camera I used to have. They are oval rather than round and pack better. waterproof too. I'm sure they aren't avalible,by some horder might have some.
Turtle

 

[Seeker]

My local Walgreens has a film processing counter... the kid who works back there will give me a box full of canisters for the asking. "We just throw them away."

I use Coghlans and Nalgene canisters for a lot of things. I also use prescription bottles, especially for vaseline-impregnated cotton balls for tinder. I like used spice containers for things like salt and sugar for a weekend. Cinnamon works best, imho, with little residual taste or smell... pepper, nutmeg, and allspice all leave a strong smell. Old parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and peanut butter containers work well for larger quantities.

Altoids, Fisherman's Friend, and Sucrets have good metal tins. Altoids Smalls come in a REALLY small tin. Mentos candies come in a nice plastic container. My mom gave me some sort of glucose-tablet container once that I use for a hiking-sized repair kit, much like a prescription bottle.

I have a really cool old brass film canister with a finely-threaded top (not the normal pot-metal film canister with screw-on lid), but haven't found a use for it yet... those you find on ebay... they also sell 16mm film canisters, roughly 1"x 4", but they're not cheap.

Plastic travel soap dishes make good containers for things like First Aid Kits and Repair Kits.

In the Army, we had something called an M256 decontamination kit (with the BLUE training inserts (alcohol pads), not the GREEN real decon solution pads). It was a roughly 2x3x4 container with a gasket-sealed lid and a strap that kept the lid and body together, with a hook on it... these are nice and waterproof, but heavy.. I have one, but still haven't found a use for it yet.

 

[Guest]

I also use screwtop plastic tang containers. they come in two sizes are waterproof, an don't come open in your pack.
turtle

 

[Muskrat]

I like centrifuge tubes in 15 and 50 ml, but I realize they at hard to come by if you dont work in lab. I order them in bulk from Amazon, but they can probably be ordered in bags of 25. The celltreat brand are nice and usually the cheapest.