So last summer one of our local farm and ranch supply stores was having a big summer blowout sale and I grabbed a few plastic gas cans which they had marked down cheap.
Well, the first time I went to fill them up, the bastards leaked all over the back of my truck on the way out to the ranch, then they wouldn’t pour worth a shit, etc., etc., etc.
Anybody that’s bought one of these new CARB-EPA-WTF compliant gas cans knows how shitty some of the designs are. I was ready to throw the cans I bought in the dumpster.
But I ran across this video posted on another forum with a rather nifty way of installing a tire valve stem as a relief valve so the cans pour properly (and also dismantling all the “locking” shit on the cap).
He blames Blitz, but Blitz made great cans right up until the California decided these things were a great idea and it went nationwide. There are dozens of cans out there that have various types of the stupid no vent systems. Nobody is exempt.
We keep several of these around http://www.supersyphon.com/SuperSyphon.html and we don’t have to worry about the vent free cans anymore. Not only that I don’t have to lift the cans up to fill anything. These syphons are almost as fast as the old cans pouring, and twice as fast as the vent free cans.
If you REALLY want a good can, these work fantastic. They are also twice as thick as a standard gas can. I use these with my snowmobiles since the cans spend a lot of time in the back of my truck. http://www.vpracingfuels.com/containers
Nice video, but fuel is going to eat the shit out of the tire stems rubber. This isn’t anything special, we’ve been doing this for years. Screw the tire stem, run a big screw in the can and loosen it some when you need to fuel. Tighten it for storage.
If these are you stumbling blocks for a survival situation, your going to be someone’s food.
Nothing beats milspec scepter 5 gallon cans. Although no longer available new, Supply Captain in NY has plenty of excellent used ones. Just give them a call, they can even put the correct red or yellow cap strap and new gasket in them. I’ve got 10 and they came in pretty handy fueling my generator during the 8 days power was out during Sandy. A supersiphon is also a big help.
Gasoline will NOT eat the rubber valve stems. For those of you who do not believe this take a valve stem, submerge it in a cup of fuel and leave it for as long as it takes for you to be convinced! It would take a century for this to be an issue.
I bought a small gas can for my lawnmower recently. I heard all of the complaints about the new design, but I was surprised when I had no problems using it at all. I actually liked the on/off lever design, I didn’t spill a drop.It didn’t leak either.
Are people having problems with the large gas cans only? Is this a flow rate problem? Maybe a large % of defective cans and I got lucky?
I think the Scepter MFCs are pretty good. You do have a point about leaking when pouring, though. I usually get a little bit of leakage when I rotate the fuel.
These days I wouldn’t buy them due to price, but I am happy with the ones I bought before the ban…with one exception. The cap can be damn near impossible to remove. I need to get one of those ‘wrenches’ for them.
Point of note, I have a super siphon and the metal end piece is too large to fit through the hole in my car’s gas tank. Guessing it probably works for most, but you might want to try it out prior to when you have to use it.
