My bucket

[Spider]

Alright, so because my backpack won't hold certain items like grenades and health stims and keycards, etc, I put a bunch of that stuff in a bucket at one point so I could carry it all elsewhere. Was working great until I had to set the bucket down to clear out some Combine. Went back to my bucket, and most of the stuff that was in it was missing and nowhere nearby (so it wasn't merely knocked out of the bucket somehow). Tried it again later and set the bucket on top of a trash can, came back and everything was gone with the exception of two keycards that were down inside the trashcan.
Long story short, looks like buckets don't keep their boundary/clipping indefinitely, allowing items to fall through them at some point. Too bad, because it felt kinda like a game mechanic that was almost supposed to be there.

[-Rabid67-]

Maybe if you set on the floor in an open area

[Brucecat]

Most times prole have done that the game has crashed probably to much for the game to handle

[Spider]

Tried that the first time actually, no luck.

[Spider]

I'd like to point out that the latest patch appears to fix this (I haven't had a chance to try it out yet).

[Viper]

Game is about inventory management. Deciding what 2 items are most important to keep in your wrist pocket is part of the game. You don't need to have everything.

[IanL]

My daughter first noticed this on the balcony at the start of the game. She's 9 and decided filling the bucket with items and carrying them around was fun. But we soon noticed as soon as she moved to another area the items disappeared. It was like they de-spawned once moved from their original spawn location.

[Viper]

Most likely that is not saved when you move to another area. It basically is generating a new map or level. The developers want you to be in a known and planned for state for there story. Carrying a bucket full of grenades gives you an advantage that ruins there planned experience..

[RitchieJ]

Buckets are bad - the small blue open-mesh plastic crates work best for me.
The smaller ones with 12 internal divisions are perfect for grenades.

[Spider]

I will try plastic crates for my grenades!
I get the other point about inventory management, but at the same time, seriously, can't have grenades strapped to my chest, belt, whatever? And a backpack that only holds 2 types of items? Come on... It's not like being able to put grenades in a bucket or crate is somehow immersion-breaking. I mean, I'm pretty sure that works in real life too, no?

[Godrik Underscore]

Previously carrying item around in a bucket would crash the game. This was addressed in patch 1.2.1 but it may be that instead of the game not crashing the items merely go missing now. Seems like the game was not designed with people carrying items around in buckets in mind however surprising that may be.

[Spider]

I did notice after playing just now that it does seem indeed that items go missing. I know for a fact I had placed more than 3 items in a bucket, but upon checking said bucket, the number was only 3. Ah well, at least I get that much.

[Bastila Shan]

Headcrabs stole it

[Seamus Mcgee]

i keep seeing so many posts about carrying items in buckets and crates and truthfully i wouldnt be so sure that it is intended for you to fill it up with items and carry it around. with all the posts about crashes and despawning items it really doesnt seem intentional. ive seen streamers look away for one second only to see their items gone so clearly they dont expect you to carry it with you.

[Spider]

Check the latest path notes though--they intentionally fixed it, which would seem to indicate they do intend people to use them if they want. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a core game mechanic, but in a pinch, it's handy, like if you find a bunch of grenades or health packs and want to carry the stuff to a more strategic location all at once instead of one at a time.