Gas Can or Jerry Can?

S

soapboxpreacher

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Apr 3, 2010
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So being in the survival mood, I would like to get a gas can or 2. Something around 5 gallons. But is it work getting a heavy metal jerry can or a plastic lighter that wont rust gas can? Let me know what you guys think. jerry/gerry cans are expensive as well!
 
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Personally I like the metal NATO cans. If you choose to go plastic I would take a look at Sceptor mfc's. Unfortunately both are expensive (thanks to the EPA).
 
I've used all plastic for some years now. Any of them will sweat to some degree if not kept full. Plastic ones will last a very long time if kept out of the sun. But storing any of them in the sun has never been a good idea anyway. Also, I find that for my uses, multiple cans of less than five gallons are easier to handle, store and rotate than the five gallon ones.
 
Should I just go with a hardware store/home center can? I am having a hard time justifying the expense and what the benefit is to the metal or an actually jerry can. I know they have the 3 handles and people say they are a little easier to handle but still how much easier?? I was going to do a rotation also. Gas stabilzer is something I looked into as well. I cant seem to see if gas last longer in metal as it does in plastic. So not a ton of info to make a decision on it.
 
Personal preference I suppose more than anything. With my smaller cans, I can just dump them into one of my cars or my truck and refill them to rotate. But I also use them in my work for concrete saws, compressors, pressure washers, trash pumps etc. The newest plastic cans with the vent built int othe spout are a pain in the arse to use, but I guess they are safer than the ones with a seperate vent. I haven't used the big metal cans since the 1980's. And I don't bother with stabilizer since I rotate often. Any moisture would wind up in my vehicle tank and I dump a bit of seafoam into them occasionally anyway to make up for moisture in the station tanks and sweat in my metal vehicle tanks.
 
I have four old metal jerry cans and a handfull of old spouts my dad gave me. He uses plastic cans now for his quads and I know why. The gaskets on the old spouts have dried out and the vent is right on the mouth and gas dribbles out and no matter what I do there's still several ounces of gas in the bottom of the can. I do like the shape of the metal cans more. They take up less room and they stack alright when empty. Keep in mind these cans are probably older than I am so there's probably some better, updated metal cans.
 
Qmike is spot on. The only can which fulfills this mission profile is the NATO cans. They are in a league of their own!
 
The military cans are a pain to use. I don't care for the new ventless plastic cans, but I have a number of them. Gas cans are like knives, the number keeps growing.
 
I would go for plastic, and pick a size relative to what you are filling. filling a truck from a 5 gal is doable, but filling a chainsaw is painful. 2.5 is a good medium, with some 1gal for little equipment. I prefer the vented ones, as the ventless ones never really worked for me. if you stick to the same brand you'll get a better fit for spouts. bendy spouts are the most common(the best are the kind that hold a bend), but the valved ones work well too. I used a jerrycan hand pump thing at one place I worked "eze-pump" or some such. it was a pain for pumping uphill, but for filling the boats it worked to start a syphon from the can to the boat tank, then you could easily pour the last third of the can.
Unless you are going to be hauling fuel a lot, I wouldn't bother with the NATO ones. The normal home consumer ones are fine, I've used lots of the sceptor brand ones and they seem to seal well, and are very tough. Also, it helps to designate cans for clean and mixed fuel, just prevents any problems, and on buggy days, just run the old mixed fuel in the mower for a little extra anti-bug pollution!

Fuel longevity is based on oxidation, so better sealed gas lasts longer. However you should still be rotating the fuel every six months or so, I consider the stabilizer to be cheap insurance.

If you can't find something you like at your local hardware store, try a chainsaw or ATV dealer, they might have better stuff.
 
If you have the bucks go for the Jerry cans. In a survival situation they will resist damage better than the plastic ones. They will also resist heat better. I am not sure about static build up. For every day use the plastic ones are just fine.
 
I found two alternatives. One is the No-Spill brand can...if you do vehicles you need the extension for it....but it seems to work extremely well if you are merely filling a generator, mower, chain saw and so. It is better than any other plastic can I have seen. As for steel...eagle...no CARB compliant crap to deal with! Eagle makes a tank!! Steel cans do not need to be compliant with CARB standards. The problem I have found is that the new carb compliant cans have a new ventless design that make the nozzle pressure activated. None of them work without spilling, leaking or breaking. This includes the new plastic jerry can nozzles! Briggs cans are garbage! Blitz are ok and midwest are also fair at best. It all has to do with the nozzle being carb compliant. This has pretty much screwed the industry!
 
I have a few and I noticed one is missing from behind my garage. My neighbor is remodeling and I assuming one of the workers might have sticky fingers! It was my small 1 ga chainsaw can that went missing but at least it was empty.

I normally keep one 5 gal can at home for emergency and rotate it about every 6 months. I just used it for my truck and will refill it next I need gas. It's a metal can by Scepter. It came with a plastic cap and a separate filler pipe and straight pipe that holds the flapper open on my truck. It's heavy and a bit awkward to handle.

I doubt my wife would be able to handle this 5 gal can on her own. I wonder if a couple 2.5 gal cans is smarter size for emergencies?
 
I find that having several smaller cans works better for me than a large one. I have three one gallon cans and a pair of 2.5 gallon ones. I do have a 5 gallon one but I only use it if I have to emppty a vehicle tank to replace a fuel pump and my smaller cans and other vehicles won't hold it all. They all have their place on a shelf in my (locked, ventilated) tool shed, so I know if one is missing and can grab the right one for mixed gas. My most abundent storage is my extra vehicles. I try to keep them all at 3/4 tank or above. That is just shy of 100 gallons all told including the cans.
 
I read about some guy who was pouring gas into his car. His metal gas can somehow sparked. He found himself laying in a puddle of flaming gas. IIRC he did live through it, but damaged.

Since I read that I’ve never used anything but plastic cans.
 
Raymond1000 said:
I read about some guy who was pouring gas into his car. His metal gas can somehow sparked. He found himself laying in a puddle of flaming gas. IIRC he did live through it, but damaged.

Since I read that I’ve never used anything but plastic cans.
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Something can go wrong with anything. The metal cans have decades of safe use behind them. The new "spill proof" containers consistenly leak and spray gas all over the place when used, I'm not sure how that is either "safe" or "spill proof".

There are two companies importing brand new NATO jerry cans. I got a few and love them.
 
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I've got three old gerry cans that I would give away, but they are gonna make nice little wood stoves;)
The problem I see is in the stability of the fuel. Todays gas is only good for about 4-6 months IIRC. My solution is to blend it
with AV gas; stable for about 3-4 years. I don't know if anyone really needs to keep fuel that long, but it's nice to know it's not
rotting in the can.
 
I suppose that the addition of alcohol and other additives to gas has some effect on how long it stays good. We had a 1,500 inground tank and a 500 gallon above ground tank on the farm (1950's-1970's) and I don't recall any storage problems.
 
As long as the jerry cans are well sealed airtight, and kept in the dark it will last a very long time. I found a jerry can that was at least 2 years old way back in the shed. I smelled it and it was still fresh. It ran the snowmobile and generator perfectly just like it was fresh from the gas station. I do put stabilizer in all the fuel I buy. When prices are low I stock up and store several months worth to get through the high price spikes.
 
IMHO, "airtight" is a misnomer. Cans and tanks have to be vented because of expansion and contraction of the contents. Otherwise, the cans will crush or bulge with temperature changes. When the liquid expands, some vapor is forced out. When it contracts, some air is drawn in along with whatever moisture is in that air.
 
I like my Eagle 5 gallon can. For my 2 cycle motors, I use Coleman fuel 1 gallon cans. No way my fuel can last long enough to go bad in a little can like that ;) and 2 cycles are very fuel sensative. There is a stack of the old Standard Can Company 5 gallon cans at the farm but pour nozzles have all pisadeared.. I need to find a supply. Ther are good for storage if kept out of the sun and in a stable temperature environment. Root cellar was always a good place for them.

Bill
 
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