Originally Posted by staehpj1

I have used kitty liter buckets for various stuff around the house. I left a couple sitting out for a few weeks and was surprised to find the stuff in them not just wet, but actual sloshing water in them. I emptied them and made sure the seals were sealed and left them out just to see if they maybe they just weren't sealed the first time. Again, they got quite wet inside.

They were the ones with the hinged top, where you open 2/3 while 1/3 stays put and I am in Tallahassee where we have been having some pretty torrential thunderstorms, but they weren't very dry at all. Not sure if it is just the brand of bucket and others are better, but I wouldn't trust these lids with keeping stuff dry in a hard rain. I think they'd be fine if fitted with some kind of shower cap type cover for the top or something, but as is they seem to be a fail. They are bigger I'd need and heavier than I'd want any way so I am not inclined to try them as panniers, but I'd advise caution for those who do.

FWIW, they were rectangular Purina Tidy Cats buckets.

After a bit of use the hinged top tends to crack at the hinge. One had only a hint of a crack at one end of the hinge, it was hardly noticeable, the other had more of a crack. I was kind of baffled how that much water got in the one that barely showed a hint of a crack.