2022 test13 productsOutdoor Power Equipment
Which Gas Can Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 13 gas can options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Ranked first
Briggs & Stratton Garage Boss
Price shown in test: $25
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Weight | Made In | Side Leak Test | Flow Drain Test | Tip Over Angle | Vehicle Stability Test | Vehicle Refuel Test | Drop Test | Material | Overall Drain Speed Leaderboard | Construction | Handle Load Test | Weight Load Test | Corrosion Test | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Briggs & Stratton Garage Boss$25 | 2.6 lb | USA | no leaks | great flow for 7 seconds then slowed; finished in 3 minutes 2 seconds to drain most of the 5 gallons; a few ounces trapped inside due to the flame mitigation device | 34 degrees | toppled over pretty easily, eliminated in the first round alongside the Scepter Military Style | spout design limits the tip-up angle, a lot of fuel left in the can; over 16 lb (about 2 gallons) of water remained after subtracting the can's weight. Transcript states the can weight subtracted here as 2.7 lb, which conflicts with the 2.6 lb weight stated earlier for this same can; kept both figures, flagged as an unresolved discrepancy. | transcript mentions 'the Shot Boss has a couple of pretty significant dents' during the drop test section; interpreted as a caption mishearing of 'Garage Boss' since no other candidate brand fits, flagged as an inferred resolution | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Scepter$25 | 2.6 lb, described in the closing recap as the lightest can tested | USA | no leaks | started off great, slowed slightly after several seconds; finished in 1 minute 55 seconds, over a minute faster than the Garage Boss; a few ounces trapped by the flame mitigation hardware | 39 degrees, about 5 degrees better than the Garage Boss | survived the first two elimination rounds ('still standing'); eliminated in a later round together with the plastic Midwest can | can and water combined weighed over 27 lb, close to 3 gallons of water remaining | transcript states 'the Scepter has sprung a leak' in the drop test section, immediately after a separate mention of the Scepter Military Style holding up well; interpreted as referring to this standard Scepter can, distinct from the military-style version, flagged as an inference | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3Briggs & Stratton Smart Fill Fuel Filling System$28 | 2.7 lb | USA | no leaks | great start, slowed a lot after about 5 seconds; finished in 2 minutes 45 seconds, 50 seconds slower than the Scepter; a small amount leaked onto the test stand from too much pressure on the press-and-pour spout | 35 degrees, almost the same as the Garage Boss | not tested | spout allows a high enough tilt angle to drain the tank; did very well with only a small amount of fuel left inside | not tested | plastic blow-molded | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 4Midwest plastic$29 | 3.2 lb | USA | no leaks | slow start with poor venting when tilted nose-down; finished in 2 minutes 40 seconds, 5 seconds faster than the Briggs & Stratton Smart Fill, moving into second place at that point in testing; almost no water trapped, by far the best draining yet at that point | 35 degrees, about the same as the Briggs & Stratton Smart Fill | survived the first two elimination rounds ('still standing'); eliminated in a later round together with the Scepter | spout has plenty of length and a good angle for fueling a vehicle; can was nearly empty after the test | held up well, but there's a lot of damage to the spout. Interpreted as this plastic Midwest can rather than the Harbor Freight metal Midwest can, since the narrator does not use a 'Harbor Freight' qualifier at this point in the drop test section; flagged as an inference. | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 5Scepter Military Style$39 | 3.9 lb, described as the heaviest yet at that point in testing | Canada | no leaks | started with a very nice flow, but the self-venting spout ventilated poorly and the tall, narrow profile hurt performance; slowest yet at 3 minutes 30 seconds; best draining yet at that point, less than an ounce trapped inside, no fuel spillage | 25 degrees, about 10 degrees less than the other brands, worst result up to that point in testing | toppled over pretty easily, eliminated in the first round alongside the Garage Boss | well designed for adding fuel to a vehicle, only a small amount of water left inside | other than the spout, held up very well | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 6No-Spill$42 | 3.1 lb | USA | no leaks | decent flow rate at first, ventilation slowed it after a few seconds; drains faster than most other brands; finished in 2 minutes 5 seconds, moving into second place behind the Scepter Military Style at that point in testing; a small amount of fuel spilled from the base of the spout; fully drainable after removing the spout | 40 degrees, took the lead at that point in testing; finished 2nd overall in the final tip-over-angle recap behind the Eagle's 47 degrees | one of the last cans standing, but 'lost its balance and almost tipped over' just before the Eagle was declared the winner, effectively finishing as runner-up in this test | not designed for refueling a vehicle and really struggled; over 3 gallons of fuel still inside after the test | just one dent, otherwise still in great shape | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 7VP Racing$45 | 3.7 lb | USA | no leaks initially, but the vent was opened too far and started leaking; reduced ventilation helped | fastest yet at that point in testing, finishing in 1 minute 53 seconds; best draining so far, less than an ounce of water left, no sloshing; the fuel vent is located too close to the fuel spout, likely to leak if poured quickly with a full can | 33 degrees | 'did well, but is finally out of the running' in a middle elimination round; the transcript's headcount drops from 8 remaining cans to 5 remaining cans in this round while only VP Racing is named as eliminated, meaning two additional unnamed eliminations also happened here that the transcript does not identify; flagged as an unresolved gap | very well designed, no problems draining the fuel | still in great shape with no visible damage | not tested | 3rd fastest of all 13 cans in the final recap at 113 seconds, behind the Wavian (87 seconds) and Eagle (90 seconds) | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 8Midwest metal, sold at Harbor Freight$45 | 8.9 lb, described as by far the heaviest yet at that point in testing | Latvia | no leaks or spills | started off well, but ventilation became a problem quickly; needed very close to the same time as the Scepter Military Style at 3 minutes 30 seconds; didn't drain quite as well as some other cans, but the rest of the fuel came out after removing the nozzle | not tested | transcript refers to 'the Midwest military' tipping over pretty easily in a round alongside the Stark and the Wavian; interpreted as this can, since it is grouped elsewhere in the video with the Stark and Wavian as the three 'military style' metal cans; flagged as an inference since the transcript's exact wording is 'Midwest military' rather than 'Harbor Freight Midwest' | no problems draining the fuel | transcript uses the nickname 'Wavian knockoff' ('a lot of damage to the knockoff, the handle is destroyed, and there's a lot of dents on the can'), immediately followed by a separate reference to 'the can from Harbor Freight' also sustaining 'quite a bit of damage'; interpreted here as describing this same can twice, since its construction was earlier directly compared to the Wavian's; flagged as an inference, not an explicit transcript statement | not tested | not tested | first of four metal cans tested; solid weld attaching the handle to the can, and the entire seam connecting the two halves is also welded | handle broke at over 2,000 lb | described as 'definitely capable of taking on more weight,' no specific failure figure given | no corrosion after the test; interior is painted; noticeably thicker metal than the Stark | not tested |
| 9Stark Jerry can$53 | 8.7 lb | not tested | no leaks or spills, but prone to spillage when poured quickly at full tilt since nothing holds back the flow | flow slowed after several seconds; significant ventilation issues like the other military-style cans; finished in 3 minutes 5 seconds; did a great job draining the rest of the water | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | handle broke at 864 lb, the weakest of the three metal cans tested for handle strength; the spot welds held on | held up fine at over 2,800 lb | interior not painted, metal not galvanized; quite a bit of rust had already formed within about an hour of the test, the worst corrosion resistance of the metal cans tested | marketed for rugged off-road use; anti-corrosive coated paint claimed inside and out; spot-welded (not solid-welded) handle, some welds unpainted; self-locking lid |
| 10Eagle$59 | 5.4 lb | USA | no fuel leaks or spills | fastest yet at that point in testing, finishing just after 1.5 minutes; small amount of water trapped; unrestricted fuel spout gives a big speed advantage | almost 47 degrees, the best result of all 13 cans tested, taking the lead from the No-Spill | winner of the moving-vehicle stability test, the last can still standing | funnel angle was barely enough; probably would not work well with some vehicles | a lot of damage, handle torn off, quite a few dents | not tested | 2nd fastest of all 13 cans in the final recap at 90 seconds, almost as fast as the Wavian's 87 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | galvanized metal held up really well, no rust | 24-gauge hot-dipped galvanized steel, baked-on powder coat finish, double interlock no-weld bottom seam, flame arrester screen |
| 11SureCan$63 | 3.9 lb | USA | no leaks or spills | pretty good start, fuel spout size held it back; finished in 2 minutes 45 seconds, a little longer than average; a few ounces left but drains completely without issue | 38 degrees | not explicitly named in the elimination narration; the transcript's stability section has an unresolved gap where the headcount drops by two more cans than are individually named (see VP Racing), so SureCan's exact elimination point could not be determined from the narration; flagged as unresolved | offers a lot of flexibility, no issues | held up just fine, no damage | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | hand grips on the bottom, thumb trigger release on top controls the flow |
| 12Justrite$104 | 8.4 lb | USA | no leaks or spills | the 1 in spout made much better progress than most other brands, no ventilation issues after several seconds; finished in 1 minute 56 seconds; small amount of water trapped | 39 degrees, tied with the regular Scepter for the 3rd-best result | eliminated ('couldn't hold on any longer') in a later round, shortly before the No-Spill nearly tipped and the Eagle was declared the overall winner | pretty long spout helps a lot, no problems draining the fuel | loose handle, a lot of dents | not tested | tied for 5th fastest of the top 5 fastest cans in the final recap at 116 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | constructed of galvanized metal rather than painted; no corrosion after the test | small amount of assembly required; includes a 1 in hose for quick refueling; squeeze-handle valve |
| 13Wavian NATO fuel can$140 | 10 lb, by far the heaviest of all 13 cans tested | not tested | no leaks, but quite a bit of spillage caused by the tester's own initial pour technique ('I didn't do the best job of getting the Wavian started') | by far the fastest and best-draining fuel can, emptying the entire contents in only 87 seconds, the fastest of all 13 cans tested; did a great job completely draining the tank | 20 degrees; tall, narrow profile, one of the worst results, similar to the Harbor Freight Midwest's 19 degrees | 'the Midwest military, Stark, and the Wavian fuel cans all tipped over pretty easily,' eliminated in the second elimination round | no issues fully draining the fuel during the vehicle-refueling test | just a small dent, the best result among the cans drop-tested | not tested | not tested | solid weld attaching the handle to the can, and the entire seam connecting the two halves is also welded, similar to the Harbor Freight Midwest; no manufacturer information printed on the can | handle broke at 2,081 lb, the strongest of the three metal cans tested for handle strength, barely edging out the Harbor Freight Midwest's over 2,000 lb | 'no problems' holding weight, no specific failure figure given | no visible corrosion after the test; interior is painted like the Harbor Freight Midwest | not tested |
How it was tested
- flow rate / drain time test (5 gallons of water, filler-neck test stand)
- leak test when tipped on its side
- static tip-over angle test (using an angle finder)
- moving-vehicle stability test (elimination-style, cans left standing in the bed of a moving vehicle)
- vehicle refueling test (simulated recessed gas port, water weighed before/after pour)
- drop test (approximately 12 ft drop)
- handle failure load test (metal military-style cans: Stark, Harbor Freight Midwest, Wavian)
- top-load weight capacity test (metal military-style cans: Stark, Harbor Freight Midwest, Wavian)
- corrosion resistance test (hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and salt solution; metal cans: Stark, Harbor Freight Midwest, Wavian, Justrite, Eagle)