I'm sure this has been brought up before, but where does somebody look to get a gas can that isn't one of those "safety nozzles" that through it's over complication and general crapness leak all over the everything while not doing a very good job of dispensing gasoline? The ones I've been using I've resorted to taking the spout off and using a funnel because it makes less of a mess. I've noticed that most places locally carry exactly the same terrible cans I've been using.
The only way ive been able to find the non safety spout ones locally is used. Thats getting harder because most people hate the safety spout.
You can still get "utility jugs" from race shops and the like. Get them in red and nobody will ever know you shouldn't haul gas in them. Get an extra cap and put a hose on it and it's a super great gas can. I've modified mine for fast flow for Lemons racing (You can dump 5 gallons in ~8 seconds with a modified can and modified filler neck on your race car.. :) but the basic can is good for lawn mower filling and stuff.
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/80211/10002/-1
and
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/80215/10002/-1
You buy the "repair kit" meant only for the older cans and put it on a newer one, it even includes the vent. If you live in a place where such things are banned you buy the "water" version.
That or the already mentioned racing "utility jugs". Or put down the money for a proper NATO spec cam lock jerry can, those come in 5, 10, and the regular military 20 liter size and are self venting through the spout.
In reply to BrokenYugo :
Hmm... like this one?
It really is amazing how they have managed to mandate an "eco-friendly" spout that is anything but eco-friendly...
I love the new spouts for filling things like my lawn tractor, trimmer, chain saw etc.. because I can line it up then push it open and if it is full it doesn’t leave the dribble of fuel as you line it up. If it’s leaking it’s broken....
In reply to chandler :
Of the cans that I've used, they apparently all come broken from the store, because I have never actually used one that worked the way it was intended.
That is unless they designed it to make a nice flammable mess.
In reply to chandler :
Where did you buy one that actually works? The ones from Wally World leak like a sieve. And as far as I can tell, they're the same Chinese-made cans you would buy from anywhere. I'd almost swear more gas ends up on the ground than in the tank.
I can see how the design should work, but then the bean-counters had their say and valued-engineered the tolerances out.
So I'm back to my 25 year old gas can with a plastic screw-on spout with a little snap-cap on the end that doesn't leak at all when I fill my mower.
I use metal jerry cans from the army surplus store.
Or this (Surecan), I don't have one but I have used one and they work.
You can get these from Amazon and a bunch of other retailers. The spout is pretty basic, PVC and hose clamps, so be careful because you can loose the send pipe section down in the tank. The vent is in the bottom as you pour, which is dumb and dribbles, but they are worlds better than the "eco" versions.
Cycle Gear also has some nice jugs "for off-road racing use only" but you can walk out of the store with them or order online, so its on the honor system. Depending on where your fill point is, the Ripper options could work for speedy fills.
I got mine at TSC, it’s closer to my house than Wally World. I think it’s a Briggs brand and it is cheaply made but for fuel apertures in the open it is great. On a car the nozzle seems to be shaped wrong and I can’t ever stick it (heard that before) correctly. I thought I was doing something wrong...
The plunger kind (where you invert the can and push the spout open) are amazing... for the first three times you use them, then the nozzle gets full of dust and won't close. You fill your lawnmower to the brim and it stops flowing, pull the spout out and it doesn't close, and you spray gasoline all over your privates. Imagine explaining to your brand new girlfriend why your hootus is bright red with irritation and smells like hydrocarbons.
My favorite one is the type pictured below. They have the little safety button that won't let you push the lever without awkwardly holding it, but that is fixed in two seconds with some sidecutters. Just clip out the safety button and you have an easily controlled flow that is independent of anything but your thumb. I have a few like this, and the one in the truck I keep a section of 5/8" hose for filling vehicle tanks. I have yet to find a single spout that actually fits in a car tank and lets you invert the can.
Ironically, this image is from a website called "How the government wrecked the gas can"
I use the metal "Safety Can" by Eagle. The funnel is held on by a little lab on the spout and as you pull the yellow handle it opens to pour. Tip it up and pour 5 gallons in about 2 minutes. No additional safety measures. The funnel comes off to fill the can and makes it easier to lose.
Oh how I loathe modern gas cans. Aside from the usual leaking issues, I had one slip off of the lip of the tank earlier this summer and eject the whole spout into the gas tank. That was fun to fish out 
All of my gas cans precede all of the gov't regs. So I am good to go.
I have one similar to the one IvanF mentioned, that I use most. I don't have much use for the 5 gal. one anymore.
chandler said:I love the new spouts for filling things like my lawn tractor, trimmer, chain saw etc.. because I can line it up then push it open and if it is full it doesn’t leave the dribble of fuel as you line it up. If it’s leaking it’s broken....
That is true if the spout fits into the neck of the tank. If not, you end up spilling wildly more gas then if you had a straight spout.
I bough a conversion spout for my new can.
I still don't know what was wrong with the old cans. Did the vent, that prevented them from vacuuming themselves shut while filling work to well? Did the spout get to much fuel in what you were filling instead of all over everything in a 3ft radius? Did the aforementioned vent also prevent thE cans from expoding in the sun to well? Maybe the nozzles made filling vehicles to easy?
I've taken to stabbing vent holes in the new cans to help the flow rate, but that lets it evaporate away when not in use or risks water contamination during storage.
Never ceases to amaze me how they try to keep stupid people safe from themselves.
Been a while since I've bought a gas can. All my older cans still work and don't leak.
RevRico said:I still don't know what was wrong with the old cans. Did the vent, that prevented them from vacuuming themselves shut while filling work to well? Did the spout get to much fuel in what you were filling instead of all over everything in a 3ft radius? Did the aforementioned vent also prevent thE cans from expoding in the sun to well? Maybe the nozzles made filling vehicles to easy?
I've taken to stabbing vent holes in the new cans to help the flow rate, but that lets it evaporate away when not in use or risks water contamination during storage.
small hole and a golf tee?
In reply to RevRico :
My understanding is the reasoning behind the mandate is a misguided attempt to limit gasoline vapors displaced in the empty tank from going to atmosphere and instead (mostly) going into the dispensing can.
My ex- has an early version of this type of can and it worked fairly well when I used it. Basically, the spout had a second vent tube molded into the plastic that would draw at least some of the fumes from the equipment tank as gas was being poured. Simple. No valves. No moving parts.
It's when they decided make it more complicated by added spring loaded valves and whatnot that everything went to crap. The original prototypes probably worked fine. Then manufacturers started cutting corners to meet a price point.
aircooled said:chandler said:I love the new spouts for filling things like my lawn tractor, trimmer, chain saw etc.. because I can line it up then push it open and if it is full it doesn’t leave the dribble of fuel as you line it up. If it’s leaking it’s broken....
That is true if the spout fits into the neck of the tank. If not, you end up spilling wildly more gas then if you had a straight spout.
I bough a conversion spout for my new can.
I agree, they don’t seem to fit in cars tanks.
I unscrew the spout and use a funnel.
In reply to pinchvalve :
Too funny. Buying gas cans for off-road use only.
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