Make your own sandbags

Rice is just as stable —and lighter – than sand

Sandbags are a necessity for hunters when sighting in their rifles. And there are plenty of commercial options available.

But you don’t have to spend a lot of money — you can simply make your own.

All you need are a pair of old jeans, a couple of bags of rice and a few plastic cable ties.

“Wait, why rice?” you might ask. Well, rice is a lot lighter than sand, and it provides all the same benefits as long as the bags are packed tightly.

Here are the steps:

1) Cut off the legs of a pair of old jeans — each leg makes one sandbag.

2) Gather one end of a pant leg, twist the material and tightly cinch a cable tie to seal that end of the leg.

3) Pour rice into the pant leg until it is about three-quarters full.

4) Tightly twist the open end of the leg as closely as possible to the rice (to really pack it in), and seal with a couple of cable ties to prevent the rice from falling out.

Repeat the process with the second pant leg, and you’ll have a steady, stable rest to sight in your rifle for opening day.