This was in the comments earlier.

Well, two is one so four must be two, right? I ordered up a four pack, w/ gasket and spout, for $241, w/ ‘free shipping’. (In quotes because, really, shipping isn’t free…they just fold it into the price.)

Anyway…ordered up this afternoon and had a FedEx tracking number four hours later. So..fingers corssed, but looks like a decent deal that is good to go.

Since I’m beating the topic of fuel cans to death with these last few posts, lets get all the fuel can related stuff done:

Spouts v. Funnels – I don’t usually bother with spouts. Unless they fit and seal perfectly 100% of the time (which they never do) they are just a bother. I use long, plastic funnels that you can usually pick up at an automotive store for five or six bucks. I buy one for every two fuel cans and paracord them onto one can so they are always there. (I am told, but have not tried it, that you can improvise a funnel in a pinch from a plastic pop bottle.) Some people prefer to use a siphon pump of some type, and they certainly have merit if you have trouble holding a 40# jug of gas at sternum height for the time required to fill your tank. I don’t have that problem (yet) so I just use a funnel.

Date tags – Anything you write on is going to fade in the sun and rain. I cut a small metal tag of soft aluminum from a pop can and use a nail to ‘engrave’ the date on the tag. Tag gets corded to the can so I know how old the gas is. Its worked quite well for me.

Can preservation – the bottom of the can comes into contact with the ground, concrete, truck bed, etc. That constant contact, impact, and friction will wear and chip the paint away after a while exposing bare metal. I bought a spray can of that rubber coating they use for ..well..whatever you normally rubber coat…and sprayed the the bottom third of the cans all around. (Didn’t have it when I originally did it, but FlexSeal would probably work well for this.)  It doesnt change the dimensions of the can enough to cause problems fitting in a gas can rack or holder, but it protects the bottom of the can from damage and moisture.

Lock and cable – Gas cans will walk away under the most benign and peaceful circumstance. In a crisis, when everyone needs fuel, they’ll fly outta your truck the minute your back is turned. I use a bike cable and a ‘Sesame’-type padlock to keep things from going away. I dislike keyed locks because the keys are a failure point. Yes, these types of locks are susceptible to picking but so is a keyed lock. When I need to grab fuel and go, go, go, I don’t want to be scrambling for keys. And don’t say “Just keep the key on the same ring as the truck key”. There are plenty of scenarios where I’d need the fuel but not the vehicle, so having the truck keys with me at that moment is not a sure thing. Or I have the keys and am elsewhere and someone needs the fuel outta the truck. And its easier to tell someone a combination in texting or over the phone than it is to arrange a key drop.

Cover – Up to you, but a cover of some type to protect things and perhaps conceal them a bit might be in order. Google “jerry can cover” and you’ll see a nice mix of ideas and products. Getting outta Dodge, in your Dodge, is a lot easier when the five jerry cans ratcheted against the tailgate in the back of your truck are obscured or hidden from view by some type of non-gas-can looking cover.

STFU – When it really comes down to a crisis where people are desperate for fuel, you really don’t want everyone in the neighborhood knowing you have some tucked away. It doesnt have to be TEOTWAWKI….even something as mundane as a blizzard or hurricane can put your neighbors on your doorstep asking (or demanding) ‘just a little bit’ of your fuel. Only you know the level of discretion and camouflage youre going to want. What you don’t want is every idiot in the area coming by because they bought a generator ‘just in case’ and completely neglected the fuel side of things.

Stabilizer – I’ve gone over this a buncha times but short version is: I use PRI-G. Stabil probably works just as well but I’ve read more good things about PRI-G than I have Stabil. Really, either one will work but I’ve used PRI-G and since I’ve never had any problems, even with six year old gas treated with the stuff, that’s good enough for me.

Inspection – You absolutely must do this. Must. MUST. I’ve had surplus military cans that were quite serviceable but had a dent or two here and there. After a couple years of expansion/contraction from being out in the heat/cold there would sometimes be a pinhole leak develop if the dent exposed the metal, it got rusty, and time went on. Inspect every can, especially the bottoms. Try to store them on a surface that lets air flow beneath them. If at all possible, store them in a manner that protects them from weather exposure and ground moisture. Heck, build a little ‘gas can coop’ or something. I built a rack out of 2×4 that is nothing more than a crib that holds five cans side-by-side a few inches off the ground. I cover them with a vinyl shower curtain and use a couple bicycle inner tubes as giant rubber bands to keep the vinyl wrapped around them,. Cover with a camo tarp and call it a day.

And although it is only tangentially related, when it comes to fuel for your vehicle, I always give a 50% margin. For example, if I have 10 gallons of gas and my vehicle gets 15 mpg, the math would say those two five-gallon cans will get me 150 miles of distance towards (or away from) whatever I need. I err on the side of extreme caution and calculate 50% of that… I figure between idling in traffic, having to backtrack, take detours, getting lost, having to ‘take the long way’, and all the other possibilities of what could go wrong ‘bugging out’, I’ll be using a lot more fuel than I would in ‘peace time’ to cover the same distance. So..I build in a 50% margin.

I’ll post about the arrival of the cans when they get here. Pretty confident these will be just what the Zero needs to continue the relentless slog towards resilience, but we’ll know for sure this weekend. (Assuming FedEx does their part.)
————————
By the by, if you find these sorts of posts and explorations of topic useful, amusing, or at least mildly entertaining, please give a thought to kicking in a few bucks to help appease the gear gods and keep the domain hosting going.