For reference: Blue Barrel Dimensions and volumes

[Guest]

I recently bought a used “30L” blue barrel. I only realized that it was more than 30L when I sat it beside our 45L barrel, and when later comparing it with side by side photos of (measured volumes) 30L and 45L barrels. The new barrel is significantly taller than the actual 30L, if a bit less rotund. Time to measure the volume.

Just under 38L.

Hey, lookee there dummy, that barrel is stamped on the bottom “Innopack Industries” and has a freaking embossed dial, with an arrow pointing at “10”. Yup, whadda ya know, ten gallons is 37.85L.

Dang, I needed to look for markings on the bottom of our other barrels. Son of a. . . . I guess I never really look at the bottoms of our barrels, other than a cursory inspection to make sure they aren’t getting worn down or damaged from use on rocky sites.

The 45L has no manufacturer ID, but it does have that identical volume dial, with the arrow pointing at “12”. 12 gallons = 45.4L.

Who knew some barrels were manufacturer stamped with the volume? I’m sure some of you knew, but ya never shared that info with me dammit!

OK, the 60L has neither manufacturer name or volume arrow, just a recycling symbol. And I am surprised to find those barrel volumes indicated in gallons; seems unhelpful for folks outside Myanmar, Liberia and the US.

While I am at it, I don’t know if barrel dimensions are “standardized” in any way, but, FWIW, the (less useful) lid opening diameter, and (more useful) overall height, to fit sideways between gunwales. Measured to top of the snapped on lid, excluding my raised minicel lid cushion.

60L barrel: 25” tall x 13.5” wide at the lid rim.
45L barrel: 24” tall x 10.5” wide at the lid rim.
30L barrel: 19” tall x 10.5” wide at the lid rim.
New 38L barrel: 21.5” tall x 10 1/8” wide at the lid rim.

I am kinda curious now; what, if anything, is stamped on the bottom of your barrel?

My search for a (cheap) used actual 30L barrel continues. I willcheck for barrel stink next time, and look at the bottom for a volume indication. And bring my gallon-to-liter conversion chart.

30L should be pointing at 8 gallons.

An arrow pointing at 7? That would be a 26.5L barrel. Probably make a fine side table or footstool. I am eventually become the blue barrel version of a Pokémon collector. Gotta catch ‘em all! (My sons helped with that reference)

Hey Lance, what all is stamped on the bottoms of those used blue barrels.

 

[dougd]

But did you get the stank outta it yet?

 

[Guest]

But did you get the stank outta it yet?

Working on it; my currrent hopes are pinned on Foxyotter’s K.O.E (Kennel Odor Eliminator), or on a summer-long sunshine session of lid-off airing out.

I’ve already had $10 of experimental stench-in-plastic learning fun with this stanky barrel. Worst case scenario it becomes a rodent-proof bird seed container.

I still want a 30L barrel dammit.

 

[recped]

While I am at it, I don’t know if barrel dimensions are “standardized” in any way

Nope, at least not from one manufacturer to another. There are hundreds of manufacturers and just as many designs. I've seen some really nice ones that have a "flat" side but the rest is rounded, also different types of handles. Then you have the open head vs closed head and on and on.......

And I am surprised to find those barrel volumes indicated in gallons

I think it's like building materials, even in countries that have been metric for decades some industrial sectors still use Imperial measurements. Speaking of imperial, are your gallon numbers US Gallons or Imperial Gallons? It makes a difference!

My search for a (cheap) used actual 30L barrel continues.

If you are passing through Toronto you can pick over my excess supply and select the "perfect" one.....even better than "cheap".....actually FREE!

 

[Conk]

Just checked my one and only barrel that I believed to be 30 liters, and yup, it's stamped with an eight and matches your dimensions.
While I had it out, I thought to stick my head inside to give it a sniff. I can't say I know what urea smells like but I did detect a whiff of something that was familiar.
Several years ago, the same odor invaded my shop. Perplexed for months, I must have emptied every cabinet and container in search of the offending source, to no avail. I learned to live with the petrol chemical smell that faded somewhat with time.
Some six months later I needed to cut a mortise and went to my new mortising machine to use for the very first time. The moment I grabbed hold of the rubber grip on the actuating lever my olfactory senses screamed Ah-ah! It had been a lousy 3-inch piece of rubber from a machine built in
China. I am reminded of the cheap Chinese rubber stink every time I walk into a Harbor Freight store and today with my head in a blue barrel. I don't know about your WOOWEE barrel stank, but my stank is coming from the rubber gasket imbedded in the lid.

 

[Guest]

Nope, at least not from one manufacturer to another. There are hundreds of manufacturers and just as many designs. I've seen some really nice ones that have a "flat" side but the rest is rounded, also different types of handles. Then you have the open head vs closed head and on and on.......

I thought that the noticeably taller 38L barrel might be a 30L, just narrower than the other 30’s I had seen

I’ve seen a bunch of different handle styles on various barrels. The only flat sided ones I’ve seen were the rectangular ones that Eureka once sold. One flat side might be nice so the barrel fit less rolly in the canoe.

What is a closed head?

I think it's like building materials, even in countries that have been metric for decades some industrial sectors still use Imperial measurements. Speaking of imperial, are your gallon numbers US Gallons or Imperial Gallons?

Yeah, a 2x4 will always be a 2x4 to me.

US gallons, although I actually bailed out the water filled barrel with a pitcher marked at the 2 liter level, and then converted 38L to 10 gallons.

Weird that the barrels are marked with a gallon volume, but the convention is to call it a 60 liter barrel, not a 16 gallon barrel, or a 30 liter barrel, not an 8 gallon.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

So, I can carry my food -- the very sustenance of my remaining life -- in a container made of stinky Chinese rubber and multiple outgassing petroleum hydrocarbons, formerly filled with unknown chemicals, or I can carry it in American made canvas and leather.

Good thing Duluth packs were fairly inexpensive 40 years ago and I don't have to struggle with that decision. Now, they are ridiculously expensive. Very recently, they wanted to charge $17 in shipping for a $15 can of canvas cleaner, both ridiculous prices. Bye, bye, Duluth.

I must admit, too, that canoe pack volumes also confuse me, because I can't visualize cubic inches or liters for pocketed compressible packs and contents. I've just found Bill Mason's advice pretty accurate: you can always stuff one more thing in a basic Duluth pack.

 

[Guest]

So, I can carry my food -- the very sustenance of my remaining life -- in a container made of stinky Chinese rubber and multiple outgassing petroleum hydrocarbons, formerly filled with unknown chemicals, or I can carry it in American made canvas and leather.

I’ve seen this action on soft side food packs and dry bags too many times. Well, three times, but that was three times too many, always on heavily trafficked sites with habituated rodents.

P4241902 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Any place I've been has always either had some other periodic water traffic on it, or was within two walking days of a road.

For the most part, me too. But I don’t want to be in a situation where I have to beg food from strangers, or hike out hungry for two days.

There is a (perhaps misplaced) confidence in having my food in something hard sided and very waterproof. FWIW none of our other barrels stink of rubber or outgassing petroleum products. Or fertilizer.

 

[Dan Cooke]

Look up the number on the barrel look at this reference chart https://www.usplastic.com/knowledgebase/article.aspx?contentkey=743
I purchased a number of Mauser manufactured barrels from US plastics 1H2/x61/S/18/D/BAM9815-MS5
Have fun Mike

 

[LanceR]

Hey Lance, what all is stamped on the bottoms of those used blue barrels.[/QUOTE]

Good morning,Mike.

Those are manufacture date codes, not volume codes. Any similarity between the molded in number and volume is coincidental.

I was pretty sure from memory that they were date codes but looked at some of my barrels anyway. The twin to the one I sold you shows 4, my 45L barrel shows a 10 (close but no cigar), the oddball 30-35 liter ones show 1 and 3 (they are taller and narrower than usual) and I only looked at one of the five 60L barrel and it reads as 1.

So I did an online search for "plastic molding date codes" and this is the top hit. It's for date code inserts designed to be inset into the mold shell.

https://www.plastixs.com/categories/date-code-inserts

Bet regards to all,


Lance

 

[Guest]

Look up the number on the barrel look at this reference chart https://www.usplastic.com/knowledgeb...contentkey=743
I purchased a number of Mauser manufactured barrels from US plastics 1H2/x61/S/18/D/BAM9815-MS5
Have fun Mike

Thanks Dan, I am having fun. More fun than a barrel full of fertilizer.

Seriously, if the barrel had been odorless I would have dressed it up and called it done. With the sink the stink efforts my barrel education has increased exponentially.

Those are manufacture date codes, not volume codes. Any similarity between the molded in number and volume is coincidental.

I was pretty sure from memory that they were date codes but looked at some of my barrels anyway. The twin to the one I sold you shows 4, my 45L barrel shows a 10 (close but no cigar), the oddball 30-35 liter ones show 1 and 3 (they are taller and narrower than usual) and I only looked at one of the five 60L barrel and it reads as 1.

Oh, date codes. When I noticed the arrow dial on the 38L barrel pointing at “10” I calculated 10 gallons to liters and got 37.85L. Same with the 45L barrel, dial arrow pointing to 12 converts to 45.4L. I had measured how much water those barrels held, and that “coincidence” was enough to convince me that it was a volume marking.

The latest bit of education was more reading. More Barrel imprint reading. Specifically barrel lid imprint reading.

I notice this morning that the 38L barrel, bottom stamped Innopack Industries, with a dial arrow pointing at 10 gallons has a lid stamped Blowcan Industries, with a dial arrow pointing at 8 (I thought gallons). Oddly that different manufacturer lid fits the barrel perfectly.

Curiouser and curiouser. Time to “read” the other barrel lids.

The lid on the 45L barrel has zero markings. I tried it on the 38L barrel just for funsies; almost fits, but not quite.

The 60L barrel lid has lots of stamped markings. A manufacturer name in a barely readable stylized logo font, Imuncik if I am deciphering it correctly. And the usual volume dial gauge, with the arrow WTF point at “4”. That lid is even stamped inside the dial with a “04”.

That had me flummoxed. 4 or 04 what? 60 liters/16 gallons equals 4 what? Winchester bushels? A Vertel? A Schefffel?

The amount of cow patties produced by four grass fed Holsteins in a day?

 

[Odyssey]

Oh man, just when I thought this Covid quarantine cabin fever couldn't get much worse. Ha ha.
But just for fun I might succumb and go check for coding on the bottom of my barrels. For comparative ballpark assessing I could guesstimate gear volume and the requirements, but mostly I just gather and pile my stuff...and then see if it fits. After a few trips and years I have a fair assessment of what fits where. No need to know what the exact capacities are, 115L dry pack (lotsa stuff), 115L canoe pack (lotsa stuffing), 115L barrel (lotsa lite stuff), 100L canoe pack (big bag 'o goodies), 30L barrel (food, just the food mam), 40L dry pack ( BOB)...The choice in packs/barrels reflects the choice in trips/gear. No pie charts and zen diagrams. But I never did know how to have fun. Better go check my barrel bottoms.

 

[Guest]

115L barrel (lotsa lite stuff)

You have a 115L barrel? That must be a two person carry.

I have no use for our 60L except on 4-person family trips when one of my strongbacked sons carrries it.

Even on multi-week solo trips the 45L barrel is enough. And, maybe soon the 38L.

 

[Odyssey]

oops. 60L barrel. It just feels like a 115L. lol
It actually works well for lighter gear like sleeping bags etc.

 

[Guest]

oops. 60L barrel. It just feels like a 115L. lol
It actually works well for lighter gear like sleeping bags etc.

That brings up a curious point though. We have a couple of 115L dry bags, and a 60L barrel. With the dry bags stuffed quite full and roll top secured they are nowhere near almost twice the size of the barrel.

How the heck is dry bag volume measured? Filled all the way to the tippy top unclosed?

I’m not filling a 115L dry bag liter by liter to find out, but tomorrow I may do so with a 30L or 50L dry bag, just to see.

 

[scoutergriz]

I suspect that's the case. I had some drybags where I needed to know the exact capacity ( for a scouting activity) and they were supposed to be 20l. when I filled it to the minimiun needed for it to seal, I was surprised to discover it actually only held 12L

 

[Guest]

I suspect that's the case. I had some drybags where I needed to know the exact capacity ( for a scouting activity) and they were supposed to be 20l. when I filled it to the minimiun needed for it to seal, I was surprised to discover it actually only held 12L

Griz, I just found that at least the SeaLine Baja bag volumes are correct. I took my toy sailboats out of the bathtub and filled a 20L and 10L dry bag with water all the way to the unsealed tippy top.

Filled to the brim unrolled the 10L held 14 liters of water; with the top folded and rolled three times, purging water as I went, it held almost exactly 10L. Same with the 20L, 26-ish liters filled to the open top, right around 20L when rolled down and snapped closed.

With those two dry bags out side by side I was reminded that the 20L does not appear to be twice the volume of the 10L. I had first noticed that when testing the ice retention of the 10L and 20L DIY soft side coolers (old photo Post #21). The DIY 20L “cooler” holds almost twice as many bee. . . .cans of soda as the 10L.

https://www.canoetripping.net/forums...e-cooler/page2

The 20L is only 1” wider in diameter than the 10L, and a couple inches taller when sealed. Pie are square circumference and all that I suppose.

I’m not filling the 115L with water for a test. I stuffed it full of blankets and couch pillows, rolled down the top and sat it next to the 60L barrel. Kinda like the 10L vs 20L appearance contrast, the 115L bag when rolled shut is a bit wider all the way around, not (_) tapered, and a bit taller than the barrel. I don’t usually pack the 115L bag that full to the minimally rolled down top, which also helps explain why the 115L bag doesn’t look like almost twice the volume of the 60L barrel.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some dry bag manufacturers played loose with their volume designations. We have a couple of cheap dry bags, including a weird TexSport bag which I hate, it is squat and very wide, more of an envelope shape; not a great design when the roll down seal is twice as wide as the bag is tall.

I may have to take my bath toys out again.
(Never mind, the weird TexSport bag is not imprinted with a volume.)