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Seattle Sports Pocket
Bucket Field Test Report
June 27, 2004
Thomas Vickers
36 years old
Male
5 feet 11 inches tall (1.8 meters)
170 lb (77 kg)
redroach@pobox.com
Southeast Texas, Houston Area
Background:
I grew up in the piney woods
of southeast Texas. Camping was a quick trip into the mosquito-infested woods behind the
house. I started hiking in my college years
and my style has evolved over the past 17 years - from my discovery, heavy gear, period
(internal frame packs, sleeping bags and tents) to - believe it or not - heavier, more
expensive gear. Over the last 3 or 4 years, I
have begun to take a lighter weight approach to hiking gear (I still use sleeping bags and
tents, just lighter versions) and I have rediscovered the pleasure that can be involved in
being outdoors with your gear. While I have flirted
with lightweight hiking, I feel that I am more of a mid -weight hiker now. My philosophy
is one of comfort, while carrying the lightest load possible
Manufacturer Details:
Website: www.seattlesportsco.com
Weight: 4.5 oz (128 g)
Colors: NA
Capacity: 3 US gal (11 L)
Diameter: 9.5 in (24 cm)
Height: 10.5 in (27 cm)
Year of Manufacture: 2004
Details from Tester: (all measurements are approximate)
Weight: 3.5 oz (99 g)
Color: Blue with Black bottom
Capacity: 3 US gal (11 L)
Diameter: 9.5 in (24 cm)
Height: 10.5 in (27 cm)
Testing Location:
So far I have been able to test the sports bucket in two locations:
Southeast Texas – Little
or no altitude.
Arkansas (Eagle Rock Loop Trail) – Altitudes of 500 – 2000 ft
(152 to 610 m)
The trips have ranged in length from simple overnight
stays to a three day trip in Arkansas.
Testing:
I do not think there is much I haven't done so far with the Seattle Sports Bucket.
It has been used to carry water around the yard (watering plants), carry
water to camp, and to store water while in camp.
During my trip to Arkansas the sports bucket turned out to be a life saver. I
usually unpacked it at night and brought approximately 2.5 US gallons (9.46 liters) of
water back to the campsite. I either filtered the water for cooking directly from
the bucket, or I hung the bucket from a branch and filtered the water in the
morning. When I was done filtering, I used the extra water to pour on the remains of
the fire.
It was a joy to see how small this item packed. Not only does it pack small, it can also
be packed "flat" which makes it very easy to get into various pockets on my
pack. I can pretty much stuff it anywhere, either as a small 'package' or folding it
into a larger, but flat shape and fitting into a pocket.
Stability:
Through a trial and error method I have discovered that 2.5 US gallons (9.46 liters) is
about the maximum load that can be carried in the Seattle Sports Bucket without spilling a
great deal of the water. It could be me, but I think this is just the
comfortable level of water when moving more than a few feet. I could get more in the
bucket if I was just going to set it on the side of the stream, but I only did this once.
Every other time I used the Sports Bucket to carry water at least 25 yards (23 meters).
I have also found out that the Sports Bucket tends to fall over when I get below 1 US
gallon (3.79 Liters) of water. It just doesn't seem to remain rigid enough when the water
drops below this level. More water in the bucket tends to keep this from happening,
but I can't keep the bucket full if I am filtering water out of it.
The bucket also needs to be placed on fairly level ground, no matter what the water level
is inside the bucket. I have made the mistake of putting the Sports Bucket down on a
rock or uneven ground on several occasions and been rewarded with the bucket slowly
falling over and spilling the water.
Due to the size/nature of the bucket, once one side collapses my water was mostly gone.
There wasn't usually enough left inside to do much with, so it was off to the
stream again.
Overview:
I really like the Seattle Sports Bucket. It is lighter than many other similar items
that I have seen on the trail, it holds a considerable amount of water, and is very easy
to fill from streams. I would prefer two handles instead of the single loop of
webbing, but that is more a personal preference than a design flaw.
It has made carrying large amounts of water for filtering and cooking a much easier task.
Usually one member of my hiking group has to spend quite a bit of time by
themselves near the water source until the entire group's water supplies are filtered.
With the Sports Bucket I can carry enough water back to camp to keep the entire
group happy for an evening and I don't have to worry about getting lost in the dark
because I am away from camp filtering.
The construction of the Seattle Sports Bucket has proven to just as sturdy as it
looks. The handle remains strongly attached despite my usual hard handling of
equipment.
Further Testing:
I am still going to be using the Seattle Sports Bucket to chemically treat water when I go
to Colorado. This should save me time in the morning that is usually spent filtering
water. I am also still attempting to figure out how to keep some sort of
gravity filter system attached so that I can hang the Sports Bucket and allow nature to do
the rest of the work.
Read more reviews of Seattle Sports gear
Read more gear reviews by Thomas Vickers
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