There is no reason to spill gas on a hot motor or the ground while filling the tank as there are more and more modern gas cans that give you control over the pour while meeting all kinds of tight regulations related to gasoline safety. The old, no-longer legal cans, had an air relief cap that you opened in order to pour the gas. They also usually had the spout inside the tank and you had to pull the gas wet tube out of the tank, reverse it and put it back onto the tank. All messy and gas dripping actions – getting your hands or any cold weather gloves covered in gas.
My favorite gas canisters, which I have used for several years now, are the No-Spill Gas Cans. They are made in the US and satisfying all the norms, including a new fire safety screen called a FMD (Flame Mitigation Device), the first of these devices made for consumer gas cans.
They come in various sizes, the 1.25 and 2.5 gallon tanks that we usually use to fill small gas motors have a transparent stripe on the end to let us see the level of gas left in the tank. All of them have an incredible pushbutton valve to dispense the gas. This works exactly like the automobile nozzles at the gas station, when the gas rises enough in the tank for the gas to close off the tip of the nozzle, the gas flow stops dead. That is how you fill your car without spilling gas all over. Now you can fill your lawnmower, your snow thrower or your skidoo with the same ease. You don’t need to be able to see the gas coming to the top, it stops when it hits the nozzle. There is a great little video on their website NoSpil.com – and it is not faked. You can in fact tip the tank up and fill a shot glass without overflowing, and then let go of the button and put the tank down!
I am happy to see that they are available on Amazon.ca so no more border problems.
Lee Valley Tools has located an interesting gas can as well, called the SureCan Fuel Canister. It has a spout coming out of the bottom that swivels down and a thumb trigger to open the flow – although you have to pay attention carefully to not overflow as usual. I think I prefer the NoSpill that stops by itself without me having to see if the gas is approaching the top. The big advantage with the SureCan is that you don’t have to tip the canister. Available only at Lee Valley retail stores – but also available from Amazon.ca for almost double the price. I love Amazon but you must always price check as they are often more expensive than elsewhere.