How Government Wrecked the Gas Can | Jeffrey A. Tucker

I recently purchased a Honda generator/inverter with a tank size of .95 gallons. All my gas cans were 5 gallons or more except my 40:1, and 50:1 gallon and a quarter cans, so I went down to my local box store to pick up a couple of smaller gas cans. Here's where I ran into a problem, just as in the story, all my cans were pre 2009. No vents, but they were not the self closing types, so I pick up two containers. One with a green collar, 2.5 gallons, I figure I can use this one to fill up the small 1 gallon can with the push button switch so I don't spill gas all over my generator.

Now I had played around with the green collared van before I bought it, I had it figured out, it looked fairly simple, shouldn't leak as long as the seal was in place as you screwed the lid in place. So I filled this from one of my 5 gallon jugs, it does have a vent, they call them 'Hazmat' containers.
So I make sure the seals in place, I turn the green collar to unlock the spout, I stick the spout in my lawn mower and push to open the flow, $&@")(;:()$&&@
Gas all over my glove, my lawn mower, my boots, and the ground. What the geniuses who designed this thing didn't take into account is the angle of the spout when used.
The gas did come out of the spout to fill my tank, but it also came out from around that stupid green collapsible collar that is supposed to automatically relook itself when you're done filling your tank.

So now that gas can sits in the gravel in the lean-to, I took the lid off and poured the gas back in the 5 gallon 'Hazmat' jug.

I have a 10kw whole home generator for when we lose power, we live in the boonies, I took one of those siphon hoses with the ball in the end that you shake up and down to get the flow going, I zip tied it to a 1/2" dowel. When I need to fill the big generator I just put the 5 gal jug on top and use the siphon method.
That's how I will be filling all my equipment from now on, let's see if the government can screw that up for me.

The push button can seems to work just fine though, wish I had gotten 2 of them from the start.

Hate these new ones. I’m sure they are safer, it’s near impossible to open them.

Reminds Me of the old adage, if it isn't broke don't try to fix it !