Sandbagged

Here is one I ran across years ago in a hunting magazine and I know everyone can not only use but do themselves.

I was chucking things out when I found some old jeans so torn up they had to go. When I was about to throw them out I remembered reading an article about making sandbags for the range from the legs. I had a few minutes, some old jeans and some sand outside so I decided to make a couple. This is all it takes.

Cut the legs off of your jeans a little below the knee. You can make them a bit longer if you want but any shorter makes them hard to sew. Next turn them inside out and sew one end closed. I didn’t have a sewing machine so I just ran two rows of stitches across by hand, be sure to use at least 2-3 rows. Next step, sew the other end about ¾ of the way closed, leaving a section to add your sand. Turn the pouch you made right side out and you are ready to add sand.

It is best to use play sand rather than contractor’s sand since it has all the small stones removed or you can run the contractor sand through a screen to get most of them out.
Add sand until it is close to full but leave yourself enough material to finish sewing it closed. Stitch the opening closed with at least two rows of stitches and there you have it a sandbag for almost nothing. If you have a sewing machine these take just a couple of minutes to do but even by hand they don’t take long. The technique is exactly like making a pillow for those of you that know how to sew, well except for the sand which would make a rough pillow.

There you go, another on the cheap useful item to add to your goodies. These work great on the range, out chasing yotes or ground pigs.

P.S. Just for fun I made one full of bubble wrap to see how it worked. Hoping it does since it is super light weight and easy to carry in my pack.