# Gama Lids



## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Just a heads up. I had five gallon buckets with Gama lids stacked in a corner of my office. They were stacked six high, actually five high with a 25 lb bucket of lard on top. The bottom bucket contains flour. Each bucket has between 18 and 37 pounds of bulk food (rice, beans, sugar, oats). The weight on the bottom lid caved it in shooting flour all over the place and causing the stack to lean slightly. The leaning is what caught my eye and then I noticed flour all over the place.

I don't know what the safe weight is but 150 lbs is too much.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

My rule of thumb for stacking the buckets is "can I carry all the buckets comfortably by hand" ... if not, it is too much weight for the bottom bucket. I learned that lesson when stacking rubbermaid plastic-bins - the lids on some of the bottom bins cracked and the whole pile collapsed.

In my store-room I have a shelf that I built so that I can have the 6-gallon buckets stored safely under the 3/4" thick ply-board. None of my buckets are regularly stacked, but, if I have to stack them (in order to reach something else) I always put the lightest bucket on the top and I don't leave them alone for any significant amount of time.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Space is always an issue with preppers!*

I only stack my buckets 2 high. I too have many on shelves so that I can easily access them when I want to.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I also stack the heaviest on bottom but some of mine are 7 high, will check em all today!

Thanks


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

Same thing with my water containers. Mine are not exactly like the one in the picture, but similar. I planned on stacking them 4 high in a corner of my basement. But when I started filling them up, I realized how heavy they were...and how their sides were already under a lot of pressure, bulging out a little.

I ended up stacking them only 2 high.

The last thing I wanted was a burst water jug. Water damage aside, that would be the end of my prepping for a while. The wife would _not_ be pleased.


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## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

We only stack two high, because that is what fits beneath our bottom shelves. We have gone with more, but only for short time periods. Thanks for the heads up though.


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

Gamma lids are a great tool .... wonderful invent .... great for eazy access to your bucket contents .... but ..... with LTS of food items that have longevity of 10-15-20-25 years ..... why do you need or even want access? .... when the bucket is adequately sealed and negative pressure applied by 02 absorbers .... you don't want access or any kind of air infiltration .....

with Gamma lids you double your seal area .... there's a seal for the standard outer bucket rim and then a secondary for the center spin out cover ...... vertical pressure/weight from a heavy stack not only can crack a Gamma but a gap can occur around that secondary seal ......

I personally recommend that the Gamma lids be saved until your LTS foods are SHTf accessed .... then set up an arranged "pantry" of buckets equipped with Gamma lids ..... transfer the stored food into the pantry buckets ..... limit the removal and re-install of Gamma lids ..... they have a limited life & flexibility and you risk damage to the seal or the lid each time you remove .....


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## offgridcooker (Mar 5, 2012)

I have had to condense two households, so I have been doing some stacking. I have found that a sheet of ply wood a little larger than the container helps strengthen the stack. The weight is bearing on the walls of the container instead on the recessed lid.Stacks of containers two or more wide are even more stable.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

offgridcooker said:


> I have had to condense two households, so I have been doing some stacking. I have found that a sheet of ply wood a little larger than the container helps strengthen the stack. The weight is bearing on the walls of the container instead on the recessed lid.Stacks of containers two or more wide are even more stable.


That might be my solution.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

weedygarden said:


> I only stack my buckets 2 high. I too have many on shelves so that I can easily access them when I want to.


That's my rule too--now that I thought earthquake casualties through!


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

I am trying 3 high, heavest on bottom.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

Tacitus said:


> Same thing with my water containers. Mine are not exactly like the one in the picture, but similar. I planned on stacking them 4 high in a corner of my basement. But when I started filling them up, I realized how heavy they were...and how their sides were already under a lot of pressure, bulging out a little.
> 
> I ended up stacking them only 2 high.
> 
> The last thing I wanted was a burst water jug. Water damage aside, that would be the end of my prepping for a while. The wife would _not_ be pleased.


A follow up to this: I was reorganizing, and noticed that the bottom jugs in my two-high stacks were getting crushed. No leaks, but the tops of them were getting pushed down in ways that cannot be good for them. I'm back to no stacking at all.

I know there is a company that has stackable water bricks.

These:









Stack into something like this:









But the cost is about double when you consider how much water you can store per dollar spent.


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