Build It Yourself Plans for Army Footlockers


MilShooter

MilShooter

New member
Most of you probably remember the footlockers we had (at least in Basic Training) in the Army. (I also had them in AIT - Advanced Individual Training - on Ft. Gordon as an MP.) They were constructed of plywood, painted OD Green and had a removable tray. They had a steel hasp for locking them with a padlock.

I want to build some of these for storage of my emergency supplies and gun maintenance supplies, but I have been unable to find plans for them anywhere. I am not interested in the fiberboard or cardboard footlockers that are available commercially. I want something sturdy that I can customize for my needs.

So I'm asking if any of you have such plans and whether you would be willing to share them with me. Honestly, I don't know if the Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force had these things, only because I only served in the Army. But if you were in a different service and had something similar, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.
 

MilShooter said:
Most of you probably remember the footlockers we had (at least in Basic Training) in the Army. (I also had them in AIT - Advanced Individual Training - on Ft. Gordon as an MP.) They were constructed of plywood, painted OD Green and had a removable tray. They had a steel hasp for locking them with a padlock.

I want to build some of these for storage of my emergency supplies and gun maintenance supplies, but I have been unable to find plans for them anywhere. I am not interested in the fiberboard or cardboard footlockers that are available commercially. I want something sturdy that I can customize for my needs.

So I'm asking if any of you have such plans and whether you would be willing to share them with me. Honestly, I don't know if the Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force had these things, only because I only served in the Army. But if you were in a different service and had something similar, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Click to expand...

Try this: http://www.2ndrangerbattalion.org/files/footlocker_crate.pdf
 
That looks similar to what I remember. In the plans, they mention that the top and bottom are made from 2 pieces of wood, but my memory recalls only 1 piece of plywood for the top and 1 for the bottom. Also, I don't remember having "feet" on my footlocker, although I may be wrong. Finally, it is missing the top (removable) tray. And I have no idea about the assembly hardware - what are "split rivets"?

Thanks for the link - I may be able to customize it - at least I have a general idea as to dimensions now.
 
MilShooter said:
That looks similar to what I remember. In the plans, they mention that the top and bottom are made from 2 pieces of wood, but my memory recalls only 1 piece of plywood for the top and 1 for the bottom. Also, I don't remember having "feet" on my footlocker, although I may be wrong. Finally, it is missing the top (removable) tray. And I have no idea about the assembly hardware - what are "split rivets"?

Thanks for the link - I may be able to customize it - at least I have a general idea as to dimensions now.
Click to expand...

The diagram is basically like the old footlockers we had and the top, sides and bottom were one piece of wood. The old ones did not have the two pieces on the top in the diagram. Ours only had two hinges for the top, the hasp and a small wooden handle on each end. On the inside of each end was a small strip of wood to rest the tray on. The tray should be simple to make using the inside dimensions and you can make it any depth you want.
 
Babarock said:
Army/Navy Surplus store ? Buy one an tear it apart to create your own plans.

Alternatively unless you really want to DIY consider
Large Army Footlocker by CaseCruzer or
Pelican Large Cases - PelicanCases.com or
Link Removed

Amazon can be a resource as well Link Removed
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggested links. I spent quite some time hopping around the Interweb, using your sites as launching pads and found some good ideas. I actually ordered a surplus wooden footlocker from Coleman's Surplus. But I also found some interesting "modern" variants made of thermoplastics like this one from Plano which is in my price range or this one from Link Removed which is NOT in my price range even though it is spectacular in its appearance and features. Finally, I found this Wheeled Storage Locker by Link Removed which is also priced rather well.

Thanks to everyone for their ideas. When I receive the surplus locker from Coleman's, I will try to reverse engineer the thing to develop detailed plans to (perhaps) build more of them. If I successfully put together plans and a materials list, I will make it into a PDF and make it available to all.
 
Foot Locker Arrived

As an update, I received the wooden foot locker from Coleman's Surplus. Check the link for a photo.

It arrived intact, packed very well. It took me quite a while to cut the box off of the foot locker. Aside from having the two trays as pictured, it is almost identical to the foot locker I had in the Army. My Army foot locker had a single tray, but no problems with having 2 smaller trays. Further, my Army foot locker had wooden handles on it. This one comes with nice metal handles - much easier to grasp and lift. As I recalled, it was quite rudimentary, but I think it will be sturdy enough for anything I choose to store in it - mostly shooting, hunting and camping/survival supplies.

I'm quite satisfied with the $80 purchase. Over the next few weeks, I'll get around to doing precise measurements and create a materials list, together with some assembly instructions.
 
I use my grandfather's old Army footlocker for a coffee table. It still has his name and rank stenciled on it, and a tag from the last train ride it took.
 
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