Anyone know of good uses for old 2-liter bottles?

[TwoGuns]

Maybe this has already been addressed here but I have been trying to come up with good uses for two liter plastic bottles for years. If any of you have a good idea about this I would appreciate hearing about it.

Just some of the things I do with them: As a bachelor with a deep freeze I wash them out and fill with water and place in the bottom part of my freezer. On a couple occasions when the power went off the frozen 2 litter water bottles kept the food from

spoiling. Also makes a good supply of survival water if needed.

They make great bird & squirrel feeders with a few modifications.

Screwing the caps to the bottom of shelves in my shop allows me storage

space for things like nails, screws or just about anything that fits in

the mouth. Since the caps on the 16oz and 1 liter bottles have the same

threads I can use the appropriate sizes. Transparency make for easy I.D. of contents.

Make great rockets with the proper air pump etc.

Great molds for wax candles. Leave in the bottle to protect against insects and rodents until needed. To remove use utility knife to cut around the bottle then place in hot water and pull bottle apart after a

minute or so.

Remove the caps and crimp four or more small diameter wires on the cap with the slightly (inwardly) curved wires extending into the bottle three inches or so. Place a dollop of peanut butter or other bait inside the bottle and you have a great live trap for mice and other small critters. Makes a great execution chamber with appropriate chemicals and cap on or transportation method to a safe release area.

These are just a few of the uses I have found. I would appreciate any ideas anyone can add.

T.I.A, Dennis

[B a r r y]

I return 'em for a nickel.

Barry

[gfretwell]

They make a halfway decent suppressor for your gun.

[larrygfox]

I throw them into my trash can when I am done - they make nice filler to make sure I am getting my money's worth from my trash collectors. Sorry, I could just not resist. :-)

Ocassionally, in the summer, I will wash them out, fill them with water and freeze them. When it is frozen, I give it to my dog and he lays on it under a shade tree to keep cool. He really seems to like it.

[mac davis]

We use several of these during the summer to water plants:

Maybe this has already been addressed here but I have been trying to

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[bremen68]

They make great reactive targets.....Fill em with water and the kinetic's demonstration of a large calliber bullet hitting them can be rather spectacular. Depending if you enjoy that sort of thing. Shotguns make a pretty good show too.

You can hang them from a tree with a bit of twine too.

Another item is take and shred enough alluminium foil to cover the bottom, add a certain liquid (I'm not enabling any injuries here, if you know what it is it's not my fault if you injure yourself) and the ensuing chemical reaction can be interesting. As the reaction releases gas it fills and expands the bottle. It's impressive how big some of them can get.

To show I'm not totally destruction oriented. You can make some pretty nice bird chasers for your garden from them too. Use a utility knife to make cuts down the length of the bottle with cross cuts of about 1/2 inch or so on the top and bottom of the initial slice (this makes a flap you can turn out) Do this the entire way around the bottle and turn them all out about the same amount. You should end up with a bottle that looks like a paddle wheel...You can then turn the the bottle upside down and slide it down onto a dowl rod pole and use a finish nail to tack them down, after you drive the nail thru the middle of the bottom of the bottle wiggle it to loosen it up so it turns freely then paint to taste....put it in the garden and when the wind blows it spins...

There are a couple of diffent ways to make the pivot mechanism for better spinning action....

[FunkySpaceCowboy]

Make your own soda! Head down to your local homebrew shop and ask for a soda making kit. You'll get a bottle of soda extract (comes in many different flavors) instructions and some yeast. After you mix up the extract, water and sugar (you can use real sugar, not corn syrup) you add a little bit of yeast, seal the bottle and store in a cool, dark place for a few days.

The yeast starts eating the sugar, producing CO2 which will pressurize the bottle and carbonate your soda. It will add a little bit of alcohol to the mix as well but only something like .1%

Of course you can also use them to condition (carbonate) beer too, but the soda setup is much cheaper (~$5) if you're not already into homebrewing.

Cheers,

Josh

[Dave Hinz]

Target area gets pretty muddy after not too many, though. Metal paint cans full of water are fun - large and slow projectiles launch the lid pretty well, column of water, lots of fun.

[No]

I googled this and there are lots of fun things you can do with Al. Interestingly the best info I found on pyrotechnics with Al was on a government website!

[fredfighter]

Do you have boat? You can keep the cap on them and throw in whereever there is unused void space for addtional flotation.

You can put a little sodium hydroxide solution in them then add aluminum foil to make hydrogen to fill your Hindenberg replica. Leave the cap off and collect the gas in a plastic bag. (The solution will heat to boiling and lye is nasty, exercise appropriate precautions.)

You can toss them into your attic for extra insulation.

[FriscoSoxFan]

Disposible funnel - for car oil, getting the thinner back in the can, etc.

Good for paint. Cut em in half. Turn the neck upside down into the base and use it as a funnel to pour paint into the bottom part out of the gallon can. When youve used up most of the paint, use the neck part as a funnel to pour into a mason jar.

[George]

My "grandpuppies" as my daughter calls them, love the noise and the speed of an empty bottle over the floor. When they've finally bitten and perforated it, it goes back to the shredder at the store for a 10 cent refund.

[Dave Balderstone]

We no longer have a pet rabbit, but filling them with water and freezing them makes a great way for a rabbit to cool off on a very hot day. They stretch out beside them for a nap...

Punch a few small holes on the sides, cut the top off and sink them into your pumpkin or melon hills as a great way to get water to the root systems.

[Dave Hinz]

...would explain why you don't have a pet rabbit anymore.

Yes, that also, is bad for rabbits.

Dave "Or, did I miss a topic-shift somewhere?" Hinz

[mike hide]

Sell them back to the french !!

[Morris Dovey]

| Maybe this has already been addressed here but I have been trying to | come up with good uses for two liter plastic bottles for years. If | any of you have a good idea about this I would appreciate hearing | about it.

Add four ounces or so of water and a handful of dry ice pieces. Screw the top on tight and toss 'em where the kids /aren't/.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[D. J. MCBRIDE]

How DO you sight down the barrel or through the scope with a two litre bottle taped around the muzzle?

[D. J. MCBRIDE]

I've been told (though never tried) that deer will learn to kick them in order to get the shelled corn inside out onto the ground.

[mike hide]

, and thats true ........

[World Traveler]

Cut the bottom off, turn the bottom piece upside down and put it over the vent opening on an outboard motor gasoline tank. It still allows air in but is added protection against rain or dirt sneaking through the vent. (From a local Florida boat dealer.)