What are chests made of?

[katataban]

I just realised something rather odd about chests.Ultimate equipment claims that a huge chest is 8 cubic feet. So in many cases it would be 2ft by 2ft by 2ft. (60cm by cm by 60cm for those who've caught on to the metric system.) but has an empty weight of 250LBs (roughly 110KG) So apart from it not being really huge, it is incredibly heavy. Now if it was a solid block of oak it would come out to about 300 pounds, but considering you need to be able to put stuff in it, I'm guessing chests aren't solid so I'm wondering what they are made of.

[alexd1976]

Wood reinforced with metal.

or...

Stone.

or...

Whatever GM says.

[Efreeti]

Chests are made of flesh, reinforced by elongated bone structures.
I thought everybody knew that.

[Cycada]

Wood banded together by iron/metal. Take a look at any fantasy movie/game/artwork and you'll find that to be the standard.

It's also used in the real world the same way. Anecdotally, I had a old fashion steamer trunk for my toys as a kid, which for all purposes I can tell is just a lighter version of a proper chest.

[alexd1976]

At the listed weight, iron is an option as well.

[Jokem]

Efreeti wrote:

Chests are made of flesh, reinforced by elongated bone structures.

I thought everybody knew that.

OK, roll Perform (Comedy)...

[Wheldrake]

Just google iron-bound chest. Those suckers can be pretty danged heavy!

Still, 250 lbs / 110 kg is a mistaken exaggeration, unless they meant to include a typical load of old clothes, rusty swords, dead mice and ten-year-old trail rations.

[master_marshmallow]

BOOOBIES!!!!!!!!!!!

[Charon's Little Helper]

Efreeti wrote:

Chests are made of flesh, reinforced by elongated bone structures.

I thought everybody knew that.

Don't forget about chest hair and manliness.

[katataban]

Yeah, see the problem is, that the size is only 8 cubic feet, so even an iron bound chest wouldn't weigh 250 LBs

[Avenger]

Sometimes they are made of CR4 aberrations.

[VRMH]

Or silicone.

[darth_gator]

A cube shaped chest with 24" sides at 1/2" thick, which provides 8 cubic feet of storage space, would be the equivalent of 1 cubic foot of building material. 24" x 24" X 3" = 1,728 cubic inches or 1 cubic foot. Wrought iron weighs 480# per cubic foot.

katataban wrote:

Now if it was a solid block of oak it would come out to about 300 pounds, but considering you need to be able to put stuff in it, I'm guessing chests aren't solid so I'm wondering what they are made of.

Actually, 8 cubic feet of white oak weighs 400#. Other varieties may be less dense and therefore lighter.

An iron bound chest made of white oak would probably weigh around 250#. If the sides are 2" thick (not unreasonable for a chest you intend to be secure; most exterior doors on homes are 1 1/2 - 1 3/4" thick), you end up with 4 cubic feet of oak which weighs 50# per cubic foot. It's not unreasonable to assume you'd have about 50# of iron hardware on such a chest. And you wouldn't want to make it out of anything much less dense than oak (hickory is 49# per cubic foot, hard maple is 43#).

Also keep in mind that the dimensions provided above account for a chest that's 8 cubic feet total displacement/volume rather than internal storage capacity (to keep the maths simpler). The dimensions would need to be increased by the chest's sides' thickness in at least half the pieces/dimensions to provide the full storage capacity.

So, it's perfectly reasonable that an 8 cubic foot, iron bound chest would weigh 250#.

[dragonhunterq]

If I have done the maths right (by no means guaranteed) this is just under 4.5 cu feet (external dimensions) and 140lb
Maybe not as exaggerated as first appears?

[Crimeo]

It actually describes it in painstaking detail in the book:

Quote:

Treasure Chest A treasure chest begins as a common wooden chest, and is then treated with resin to make the wood water-resistant. Metal bands, usually bronze to prevent rusting, are strapped around the treasure chest for extra reinforcement, and the lock is also made of bronze.

So that would be default, though like anything you can custom build or order out of special materials from the base default.

[katataban]

I guess if you make it out of 2" of White oak, with your measurements, then perhaps this is correct. I personally can't imagine it being 2" but yeah, I see your point.

Dragonhunterq, that's a metal box you're referring to.