Mr. Rawles
The man who bought the military gas cans with the latches and no vent hole, sounds like he [might have] bought five gallon military water cans. That also could explain why he found unknown liquid instead of gasoline in the cans. Love your site. OBTW, I’m a Unimog survival vehicle owner. J.P. in Montana
Sir:
Joe is probably referring to the German style fuel cans! They are a very well designed can that vents with a passage from the cans opening up though the handle to the humpbacked air chamber on the back of the can behind the handles. This air chamber also serves as a float chamber if you want to throw your full cans overboard and allow them to float ashore.
With good seals these can will travel tied down even upside down (if you want) and can take a beating. There is plenty of good info on the web about these cans and their history if he wishes to learn more about them. The Allies were losing a very large percentage of their fuel to spillage until they stole the Germans idea of a Jerry can but even with the Brits and US making cans they where poor seconds to the original until the Brits just straight out copied the German can design. Thanks for the good informative Blog! – SC in WV
James:
The screw down lid that comes with the GI cans has a wide flange that covers, and seals the vent hole. The spout that you screw in has a narrow flange, allowing the can to vent during the pouring. If you will look at the rubber gaskets on the cap and spout you will see the difference in the outer diameter. The spout gasket has a smaller outside diameter. – TCH, in Oregon