How to Make a Cooler With a Recycled Bathtub

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Keeping soda and other drinks cold when you are camping can be difficult. You can fill multiple coolers and keep filling them with ice, which is time-consuming. Here is a solution that allows you to recycle a bathtub into a huge cooler, which is big enough to handle drinks for an entire extended family and it frees up the traditional coolers for your salads and meats.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

One used fiberglass bathtub in decent shape
Shallow creek
Drinks in cans or bottles
Large size plastic bags
Truck for transport
Electric drill
Screwdriver
Strong males for transport

Step1

Acquire the used bathtub, from a home, which is being remodeled. This needs to be a full size tub and it does not need to be perfect. It can have dings and dents. It doesn't need to be pretty. It needs to hold water.

Step2

Set the tub on a picnic table at home and do the prep work. Remove the drain, leaving a hole in the bottom of the tub. Remove the faucet, drain handle and everything but the tub itself. You can easily use a screwdriver to do this. All of these areas will remain open for water flow.

Step3

Drill a few holes in the opposite end of the bathtub from the drain hole. Make several holes in the tub at different levels. This is where the water will flow in. If the water level in the creek drops, you still want the tub to function. That is why you need to drill holes high and low. You will also need to drill a few holes on the end where the drain is. The water needs to enter the tub and emerge on the other side so that it is not stagnating.

Step4

Load the bathtub into your truck, drive to the campsite, and park the truck as close to the water as you can get. Carry the bathtub to the creek and set it in the water. You want the water level to be at least halfway up the side of the tub so that the water can flow inside. If the water does not flow inside the tub, change its location.

Step5

Place soda and other drinks into plastic bags and put them in the tub to cool off. The bag will keep your drinks clean and allow for a quick pick up at the end of camping. Since your bags are watertight, you can keep ketchup, relish, mustard and other condiments in this bathtub cooler.