annoyingrob

I'm sure I'm not the first to come up with this idea, but: I picked up a few military surplus ammo boxes at Princess Auto (canadian industrial surplus store) for a bit over 5 bucks a piece. They're water tight, and very heavy duty. Currently one is holding all of my tie-down straps, and tow rope, the other is holding jumper cables, and other random necessities. They also fit under the rear shelf in my xtra cab They will also fit in front of the wheel wells in the bed, if I could figure out how I wanted to lock them so people don't steal things in them. Funny thing, I told my buddy in the military, and he told me he could have gotten them for me for free. Oh well, 11 bucks for a pair is pretty good in my book! Opinions?

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ocdropzone

you are not the first but you are correct that they are a great deal. I have several from my Army days, from 5.56 to .50 cal to 40MM cases, probably 20-25 assorted boxes all over my truck and garage.

you might also want to paint over the ammo type, some law enforcement types forget you can use them for other than ammo...

From Personal experience please come up with a way to secure your ammo boxes. In off road situations they hurt when they get airborne...Ask the back of my head....

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~Robb
'81 Trekker The B4Runner Build
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riverrat

I've used ammo cans of various sizes on river trips for 25 years. They are great- I even keep my expensive camera equipment in one that I added foam padding to the inside of- a poor man's Pelican case.

I always spray paint mine after scuffing them up with coarse sand paper and wiping off the paint dust, usually either white or light yellow to keep them cool in the sun and tell them apart from each other.

I also use a small one for a first aid kit, fits nicely in the rear panel of my 4runner.

One time after stopping to take pictures on a river in central America, I got behind the other boats and in my haste to catch up forgot to strap my camera ammo can back down in my raft. A big wave washed over us in the next rapid and peeled it off the boat. It floated into an eddy where I was eventually able to retrieve it. $3k worth of Nikon gear remained bone dry (whew!)

Another use for the bigger ones is poop cans for our river toilets, and you can believe that a good seal is important in that application. Little bit of Clorox II powder with each use to keep things sort of under control, a toilet seat on top, make sure people don't pee in them (#2 only) and you are good to "go"....the first box to get filled up stays sealed for another week or so, carried downriver until the end of the trip. Afterwards we take them all to a porta-potty place where some lucky soul gets to don a full suit and mask, then suck all the poop out with a big hose, and into the sewer system, then clean them out with a high pressure hose. This system is NPS approved and has worked well for commercial river outfitters for many years, even in desert environments.

When buying ammo cans, check them carefully- the best ones sometimes let out a "pfft" when you open them, indicating a good rubber seal. But some of them have dents and bad seals, avoid those. And with heavy use (e.g. commercial river trip clients for a few years) they will eventually lose their seal. But ammo cans are one of the best deals out there for camping and boating gear...