csp
Well-known member
Just like anything else, there are junk versions of NATO cans out there. Or maybe I should state lookalike versions of NATO cans that are junk.
And there most definitely are junk, leaky spouts that attach to NATO cans.
Gas Can storage from scrap 2x4's
- Thread starter HamAndEggs
- Start date
And there most definitely are junk, leaky spouts that attach to NATO cans.
OP
HamAndEggs
Well-known member
This are Wavian, the best quality I have found
b-boy
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Bretny
Well-known member
I use a pull from the right system. Meaning I always pull gas from the can on the right. When the right one goes empty I shift them all down. No confusion and nothing to Wright down.
I do store about 20gal of treated fuel and that goes on it's own shelf and used about every 1-1.5yrs, it's also the only fuel I stabilize that isnt for lawn equipment I'm putting away for the season.
Nice shelf btw. Keeping things organized and easily viewable really helps.
rlitman
Well-known member
Around the top shoulder of my 5 gallon cans, I wrote the numbers 1 through 12 in permanent marker. I then place a tiny neodymium dot magnet on the can indicating the month filled.
Based on the advice I gave above (regarding winter blend), anything filled up between September 15th and the end of May goes into my cars ASAP, since I don't want to store that for more than a few months, and certainly not over the summer months.
Really though, I try not to fill more than one 5 gallon can at a time. The rest I hold onto empty until needed. I have 50 gallons worth of 5 gallon steel cans, plus another 25 or so gallons I could store in plastic and smaller gas cans.
However, only a large regional weather event would be cause for me needing to stock up, and such events do not appear out of thin air. I have never heard of an Atlantic hurricane in my lifetime where I wouldn't have at least a week's worth of notice. If I'm in or near the 7 day cone, I'll get 10 or 15 gallons. Once I'm in the 3 day cone, I'll fill up. That's still 48 hours before the gas stations get packed with late comers.
toyotadriver
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Properly stored gas doesn’t go bad. As in a life expectancy of multiple years.
OP
HamAndEggs
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Mine lasts at least a year, good enough for me
OP
HamAndEggs
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No Stabil for me, seems like a waste of money
toyotadriver
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Personal experience. I only use ethanol gas in every single engine I own (other than the diesels). I use ethanol gas in my two cycle engines and when I had my boat, it got ethanol gas too. Ethanol is a great solvent and will help keep your fuel system clean. Biggest issue is to make sure your fuel systems are well sealed and even more important is to make sure your stored fuel stays well sealed....hence my MULTIPLE recommendations in this thread for real NATO gas cans. I have stored ethanol gas for up to 4 YEARS at a time with absolutely no loss in performance. The internet would have you believe that gas goes bad in less than 30 days but the internet is wrong about a lot of things including how long gas lasts. Poorly sealed gas will indeed go bad (and non ethanol gas will go bad just as fast as ethanol containing gas if stored improperly). I routinely mix 2 cycle gas mix and always mix with ethanol gas. A gallon lasts me 1-2 YEARS depending on how much I use my chainsaws. It’s just as good at year 2 as it was the day I mixed it.
Stop believing internet ********. Do your own testing if you don’t believe me. But, you HAVE to use well sealed gas cans....again NATO cans are your storage friend. Cheap Walmart gas cans will fail you. I’ve been there/done that. Never again. Yes good cans are expensive. Good cans, like good tools, are expensive. But they work for gas storage.
Bretny
Well-known member
VP racing also makes good fuel jugs. They are plastic but easily 2x as thick as the big box store ones and have gaskets on the vent and cap. O and there generally $20 each when you buy a 4 pack and fit 6gal.
toyotadriver
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While I have no personal experience with them, I have heard good things about them from people I trust.
HoosierBuddy
Well-known member
Hey I've got an opinion!
The biggest issue with stored gasoline is actually not in cans, it's gasoline stored in power equipment that sits. In particular, anything with a carburetor. The gasoline evaporates from the fuel bowl(s) leaving behind a varnish like residue that plays havoc with needle valves and other carburetor parts making it difficult or impossible to start and operate equipment (say a chainsaw) that's been sitting for months. "Bad Gas" takes the rap....but it really isn't that the gas is bad....it's evaporated.
Stabil IN MY EXPERIENCE actually helps with this. It used to be that every spring I'd get my old mustang out of the barn and fight my way through the first 50 miles of spring driving. Carburetor bowls would overflow. I'd get back firing. Bad enough it blew the power valve out of the carb one time and led to a hellish 60 mile drive home where the car wouldn't idle under 2500 RPM. Once I started adding stabil in the fall...all that went away. Spring time start ups became no issue at all.
So...I add stabil to my gas cans and power equipment (cars that are going to sit (non-EFI only), chainsaws, mowers, weedeaters) every fall and add it to my backup gasoline powered generator after every use.
To the OP.....great idea and execution. Gasoline is a very hazardous liquid and precautions must be taken...but here you are storing it in approved containers with an eye to safety and in preparation of a time when it may be difficult to buy gasoline (cyber attack, weather event, etc...) and that's important IMHO. I guess the next step would be to maybe mount the proper Class B fire extinguisher on the wall nearby? Maybe a smoke alarm? Couldn't hurt.
Oh...and the final point I have for all-y'all is how much water do you have on hand? Clean potable water is more important than gasoline for you and your family. Just sayin!
Phil
The biggest issue with stored gasoline is actually not in cans, it's gasoline stored in power equipment that sits. In particular, anything with a carburetor. The gasoline evaporates from the fuel bowl(s) leaving behind a varnish like residue that plays havoc with needle valves and other carburetor parts making it difficult or impossible to start and operate equipment (say a chainsaw) that's been sitting for months. "Bad Gas" takes the rap....but it really isn't that the gas is bad....it's evaporated.
Stabil IN MY EXPERIENCE actually helps with this. It used to be that every spring I'd get my old mustang out of the barn and fight my way through the first 50 miles of spring driving. Carburetor bowls would overflow. I'd get back firing. Bad enough it blew the power valve out of the carb one time and led to a hellish 60 mile drive home where the car wouldn't idle under 2500 RPM. Once I started adding stabil in the fall...all that went away. Spring time start ups became no issue at all.
So...I add stabil to my gas cans and power equipment (cars that are going to sit (non-EFI only), chainsaws, mowers, weedeaters) every fall and add it to my backup gasoline powered generator after every use.
To the OP.....great idea and execution. Gasoline is a very hazardous liquid and precautions must be taken...but here you are storing it in approved containers with an eye to safety and in preparation of a time when it may be difficult to buy gasoline (cyber attack, weather event, etc...) and that's important IMHO. I guess the next step would be to maybe mount the proper Class B fire extinguisher on the wall nearby? Maybe a smoke alarm? Couldn't hurt.
Oh...and the final point I have for all-y'all is how much water do you have on hand? Clean potable water is more important than gasoline for you and your family. Just sayin!
Phil
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Don't put the fire extinguisher close, better for it to be on the other side of the room.
OP
HamAndEggs
Well-known member
The only devices I have that are gas are cars which get driven, my mower which gets used ALL THE DAMN TIME, and soon to be a gasoline generator which I will maintain rigorously, so I'll still skip the stabalizer
Fire extinguisher already ahead of you! Look near the door
Fire extinguisher already ahead of you! Look near the door
HoosierBuddy
Well-known member
The only devices I have that are gas are cars which get driven, my mower which gets used ALL THE DAMN TIME, and soon to be a gasoline generator which I will maintain rigorously, so I'll still skip the stabalizer
Fire extinguisher already ahead of you! Look near the door
I can't tell what type extinguisher it is from here.
Phil
OP
HamAndEggs
Well-known member
Its an ABC, should be good to go on almost anything
OP
HamAndEggs
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Thanks, I'll have to check those out
Youngandfree
Well-known member
The mechanic at my Scag dealer says Starron stabilizer is better than Stabil. It's a blue liquid
firebirdparts
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Jealous of those cans. Those are nice.
toyotadriver
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I think you mean Star Tron. Another good stabilizer in my opinion is PRI G. It's hard to find in stores so most people have to order it online. There is some dispute as to the value of fuel stabilizers in fuel and I don't know of any definitive studies that prove or disprove that fuel preservatives work. Some people recommend Seafoam as a preservative but Seafoam contains NOTHING that would preserve fuel.
Busted Knucles
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If those cans catch fire that fire extinguisher wont do chit. I would run before I tried to put those gas cans out. That place will explode if the cans ever caught fire.
That much fuel should really be stored in a flame proof enclosed cabinet, vented properly and have containment. Im not a safety freak by any means but I do believe in common sense but do what you are comfortable with, hopefully you will never have a problem.
That much fuel should really be stored in a flame proof enclosed cabinet, vented properly and have containment. Im not a safety freak by any means but I do believe in common sense but do what you are comfortable with, hopefully you will never have a problem.
toyotadriver
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The fire extinguishers are for fires near the gas cans. If that much gas catches fire, no fire extinguisher will put it out. That said, those metal gas cans will last longer than anything if a fire starts nearby them. The cans themselves will not be catching fire. See the video posted earlier in this thread.
OP
HamAndEggs
Well-known member
I'm much, much more concerned about the 15K rounds of 556 in my closet in the house catching fire
Sweetcorn
Well-known member
Yup, NATO cans do not compare to Home Depot or other generic fuel cans.
I have left NATO fuel cans full of gasoline in an SUV (multiple times) in the summer and never even remotely smelled fuel fumes.
Good fuel cans aren't bombs waiting to go off when someone flips a light switch...
toyotadriver
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For what it’s worth, sounds like the US just got resupplied with NATO Wavian/Valpro cans. Two different places I have set up to notify me they have cans in stock sent me emails today. Check Atlantic British if you want to buy some of these types of cans
OP
HamAndEggs
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I do need to get a few more so my shelves are even 
ddurrett896
Well-known member
Got a link?
larry4406
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Jerry Cans - 5 To 20 Liter Jerry Cans
View Jerry Cans you can buy online. Order from our selection of cans, sizes 5 liters to 20 liters. Red and olive green.
www.roverparts.com
toyotadriver
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These aren’t cheap because they have the stupid CARB compliant spout. But they have them in stock.
https://wavianusa.com/
https://wavianusa.com/
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HamAndEggs
Well-known member
How I transport them. Bed divider is just a piece of old 2x12 setup to hold 4 can cans on the left. It just turns out I can also fit 5 on the right perfectly
