The other thing worth mentioning is the fact that the mass of the container doesn't stick out beyond where the handles are, which means when carrying them you can let your arms hang by your sides, instead of having to hold your arms away from your body because the handles are in the middle of a larger container. May seem like a small thing, but after you have carried 200 of them and put them on a truck, I can assure you it is not a small thing. :) Wonderful video.
Even having not done that, as a person who has to haul books and education equipment up several flights of stairs I can appreciate keeping containers close to my body!
This surprised me because my experience with bicycle panniers is the opposite. With a handle attached to one side only, the center of mass hangs outside and presses the bottom edge of the pannier into my calf. It gets painful before too long. Thinking about it, the culprit must be the reinforcing rib fitted to the bottom edge of the same side as the handle. On the bike, it presses against the mounting frame helping to keep the pannier from slipping around, but when carried by a person, it's a pain.
Having lifted one or two Jerry cans whilst serving in the British Army, I did not think I would find myself sitting through an entire 30 minute video detailing the history of said can. Well done, you have convinced me to subscribe.
I don’t think Jerrys call themselves Jerrys. Might even be a racist slur, like “Polack” or “Nip”. I’m a Pole, so can attest to Polack being a derogatory term, but we use it all the time!
@@davemccage7918 i expect that they do t call themselves Jerries, but might be aware of the term considering the prevalence of Hollywood. In regards to racism, Nip is certainly considered racist, and like Jerry it is simply a shortening of a normal word, Nippon, where Jerry is from "German", I believe. While neither of these innovations seem very offensive, those that didn't do well in the war seem to find such terms very offensive, while those that won seem to have no problem being called Tommy or Tommies, for example. In any case, I would guess that the British and German's are the same race.
@@ML-sj3gi “Nip” is short for Nippon, which is actually used in Japan referring to their country. It's printed on Japanese money, precisely “Nippon" in roman letters. So “Nip” is just a short, slang term for someone from Nippon. Not a slur unless you use it as one.
One design aspect of the German can was the slight "bulging " of the sides which the American cans never had (according to my uncle). As this enables cans to be removed from the centre of a line of cans. The flatter sides tend to stick together making it almost impossible with some other designs.
Probably also why they have the indented sections run right to the edge of the bulge: allows air to get in when they're tightly packed, so they come out easier.
We get army surplus here in Australia from overseas so no idea what gets used by our forces, but we get used German cans, and can say they last the distance and they do actually have that "bulge" that flexes. Similar to what you would see under a brake Reservoir cap, an accordion type of film that allows pressure or vacuum to be created whilst still sealing. Because of the swages (embossed seams) it allows for that flex. The ones without the square in the middle are very rigid. You will see this method on custom cars used to make flat sheets rigid over a span. TLDR: its hip to be square
Ah so that explains why the big square in the middle is completely flat it's so that when they stack up they're still on a flat level surface so they may wiggle a little bit but it's not like they're going to be a pain in the butt to keep from sliding. Very very neat thank you for pointing that out
I really thought the person with a torch looking through the window would come back somehow or cut to a advert but nah just never mentioned. Great video. I love finding out about all these details.
So odd, I was left wondering if Callum had even noticed. Although, with all those takes and rewrites, he probably couldn't face going back and doing it yet again!
Great video. The air bubble hump at the back of the can may have other uses apart from allowing it to float. Any container that is 100% full of liquid will be incompressible and likely to fail if dropped. That air gap chamber acts like a shock absorber if the container is compressed. It also allows for thermal expansion and contraction along with the pleated sides.
During the desert campaign, the Germans found another use for their can. Since they knew that the enemy (mostly Great Britain) was foraging for these cans, it wasn't uncommon for a small stash to be 'left behind'. Touching any one of them could result in an explosion sufficiently violent to kill or injure any one close enough. In short, they had been repurposed as IEDs!
Yes I remember hearing about that, the Nazi's were sneaky like that. My grandfather served in one of the mechanised tank divisions of British Army in North Africa. He would tell me stories like that. He also said the German tanks were far far superior to theirs and our losses were astonishing, something like 5 tanks to every 1 German tank as their armour was good and their bigger longer range shells capable of going straight through allied tanks. The German's coined a name for allied tanks 'Tommy burners'!
Yeah during my time in the Singapore Armed Forces, we learned how to make a directional explosion with 5 bricks of explosives tied around the Jerrycan with detonation cord and igniter.
you don't even need to make it blow up, just contaminating a few cans with water or just the wrong kind of fuel (like putting diesel in) would go unnoticed until it completely fucks up the engine beyond repair, one or even several enemy vehicles disabled because some guys pissed in a couple fuel cans.
@@windhelmguard5295 You're missing the point. The aim wasn't to inconvenience _the enemy,_ but to actually kill them. Both sides did similar things: The British 'Dirty Tricks Back Room Boys' manufactured fake elephant dung that incorporated anti-tank mines for use in the African Campaign! They even came up with explosives that were edible to enable guerrilla soldiers to carry them around on sabotage missions. Gentlemen don't wage all out war, bastards do, and they usually win!
iirc they also hid bombs in the wall and covered it with a crooked painting, some poor soldier with OCD would then straighten the picture, detonating the explosives.
The ergonomics are also very well thought through, besides the three handles already mentioned. The rather tall and narrow shape means you dont have to bend down very far to pick up the can, yet when you carry it, it hangs from a straight arm without touching the ground. It is narrow enough so that you can walk witout it bumping into your leg. A full jerry can in each hand is a pretty heavy burden, but it is absolutely possible to carry two cans for limited amounts of time. By carrying one can in each hand, the weight is balanced so that it is in fact easier to walk than with just one. Carrying weight is more than just a matter of mass, strenght and stamina. Weight distibution is extremely important. Again, the tall, slim shape means that the mass stays close to your own center of gravity, wich means you have to use less effort to keep your balance.
No, the tall shape of the can means that its centre of mass is farther from yours -- the longer shape means that the cenre of mass of the can is farther from the handle. And the centre of mass of something held with a straight arm is not at all close to yours: the centre of mass of a jerry can is somewhere near your knees, and it's that low centre of mass tha makes it easy to balance.
@@beeble2003 I'm pretty sure he meant that the narrow shape means that you can carry it with your arm straight downwards, which means the force the canister's mass imparting to you is also pretty much downward (as opposed to a can you have to hold with your arms extended to any degree, which would mean there is a force pulling you away from your center of gravity). So in a purely horizontal sense, a slim shape DOES allow the mass to stay close to your center of gravity (imagine looking at it from a bird's eye perspective.)
@@random.3665 Possible but he already made that point in his first paragraph. I doubt he'd try to make the same point again, and do so in a less accurate way (talking about height when it's actually the width that's significant for that point).
There's a section in the great book by Eugene Sledge (from the Pacific TV show) where he talks about the two different types of ammo crates his unit had to work with. One had nice robust rope handles and was fairly easy to carry over even awful terrain, the other had no handles and just a lip that you could hook your finger / fingers undo, meaning that when they were carrying heavy crates over rocks while being shot at, it kept slipping and falling. Sledge mentioned his unit spent a lot of time thinking up horrific tortures for the people who designed the bad one. Just goes to show how important the little design details are.
Totally remember reading that and thanking God we had the gear we deployed with back in '08. It always amazed me previous generations of Marines made war with a t-shirt, helmet, a single action rifle, and an e tool. Semper Fi, hangm high at 8th and I.
The government was the ones who requested those worse crates. The side panel has a lip made by plunging a dato stack into it. No rope means quicker to make Quicker to make means cheaper Cheaper means more More more more All contracts were approved by some general
Haha yeah that part in the book I really sympathised. Given how exhausting moving around with your gear let alone those impractical crates. Logistics really does play a key role in warfare.
As informative and well researched as this video is, no one is mentioning the various sight gags. The neighbor you stole fuel from looking in the window, the fact that you cut away just as you flick a lighter to light the supposed fresh gasoline you just poured everywhere. Don't stop with the little touches.
1:50 What you failed to mention about the weld is the joint configuration, the way the edges are folded means that when the two sides are mated together you have a joint that is extremely easy to weld to a high quality. Welding around the edge of two pieces of sheet metal stacked on top of each other is much easier than two pieces of sheet metal butted together edge-to-edge
Really, there is a lot more detail point´s to this fuel can. Like the lid that cannot be overtightened, and even if levered open with ease, yet thanks to it´s placement and tab recessed between the handles not come undone by accident. And the slightly slanted areas at the edges of the sides, not only giving additional strength but also preventing it from catching on your legs while carrying and making it slide past your legs. I would go out and say that this can is probably one of the best designed and engineered objects to ever be made.
This remembers me of what a professor always told us: "Everything, for small and mundane that it may seem, has a reason and justification to be that way"
@@chengdogu6352 tbf he never said it was a good reason, or that said reason was valid. He only said that it wasn't just made at random, to make us think more about why thinks are the way they are instead of just accepting it
@@lyamschuss8786 I don't know your Professor but I think we'd have gotten along famously; most people do not think that deeply. Much of the world around us has evolved into it's simplest or most useful state of design and much of it can be improved for specific uses, yet few bother to do that. In my trade I try to instill thinking into apprentices; when they ask me to show them how to do something I also show them why it is done that way because if you can't understand that you can't improve on it, and nearly everything can be improved.
" remembers me"... am I the only one who finds this to be more than a tad...odd? Isn't it "Reminds me", or is this one of those British idioms that they insist is 'the right way' and that America has corrupted? Seriously.
I am astonished. I honestly would never have thought I would watch a 30min long video about fuel canisters which felt like it was 10 minutes long because it was so well made.
It's an excellent demonstration of what good engineering is about , finding a way out of a problem scratch your head , try some ideas , select a promising one and relentlessly improve by little touch any stone tool maker would approve
So far so good. I’ve filled it twice and it’s great getting 13 gallons at one shot th-cam.com/users/postUgkx-vlHjazTv30m_UAq9Ht-fuPo2jBx7tTx . It pumps out by using gravity so the bottom of the tank needs to be above the vessel you're filling. Not a drop spilled filling the generator three times. Let’s see where we’re at after 20 fills.
Jerry-Cans definitely are one of the greatest pieces of industrial design. Some other things like Shipping-Containers or Euro-Boxes and -Pallets are also great, but Jerry-Cans win on the magnificient amount of details they have.
I grew up in the Brazilian outback in the 1950s where my parents were missionaries. We regularly used war surplus Jerry Cans for fuel and water on trips in our Willys station wagon on dirt roads. They were life savers.
When serving in the army, i was stationed in Germany at a fuel-station. Because of too much time and too little to do, our superiors made us move thousends and thousends of these petrol-tanks from one place to another, just to give us a purpose. My overall lenght decreased, but my arms became longer then ever before.
I’m not sure how this found it’s way into my feed, but I’m sure glad it did! I never knew so much could be learned about the canister. Very well done Calum, bravo!
@@kayhoww I don't think you understand him correctly... he is actually praising this video that it is WORTH something but for most of us this VALUABLE INFO will remain useless in our brains aka VAULT!
Speaking as a WWII reenactor who portrays a clerk, there can never be enough content covering the *real* way that wars are won: logistics and administration. This was a superb piece of work, Calum. Bravo! ❤
Around 20 years ago, I was working as a reporter for my small-town local newspaper, and my editor asked me to talk to as many World War II veterans around the area as I could find and put together a feature article for our Veterans Day issue. (Note to overseas readers: That's November 11, you may know it as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day or the like in your area.) One of the vets I found didn't want to take part, because he hadn't been in combat--he was a seaman on a Navy supply ship in the Pacific, and it was clear that even ~60 years later he was embarrassed about it. "Nobody wants to read about what _I_ did in the war," he said. "All we did was haul crap like socks and food to the Marines." I put it to him that the Marines were probably very glad to _have_ that crap, but since it wasn't an After-School Special, he remained unmoved. That was an interesting assignment. Oddly enough, the stories that have stuck with me the most are the ones I couldn't use for one reason or another, including that one.
The Jerry Can represented a logistical concept and was not only an excellent container for fuel. Faced with the question of whether it was better to supply the masses of vehicles with a few tankers or individually with canisters, the experts around like Adolf von Schell(1893-1967) came to the conclusion that it will be always easier to supply individual vehicles with a minimum of 40 to 80 liters of diesel than to move a full tanker across the battlefield. 2 to 4 canisters could easily be brought to a broken-down tank by a motorcycle with sidecar or a "Kübelwagen", the last few hundred meters on foot if necessary, but a truck full of gasoline on a platter would be a gift for the enemy. PzKfw. 1 B 146 Liter/140km(Strasse)/115km(Gelände) PzKfw. 2 A-C 170 Liter/200km /130km PzKfw. 3 E-N 320 Liter/170km /100km PzKfw. 4 B-H 470 Liter/200km /130km Tiger 1 540 Liter/100km /60km Panther A,D,G 730 Liter/200km /110km
There's definitely good logic to that. Sending a full tanker on the battlefield kind of amounts to putting essential resources out as a target that functionally IS the broad side of a barn
@@Norsilca fuel is the least of their logistical problems. Their entire logistical trains started in disarray and lost ground once combat began. Once snarled by logistical issues, particularly fuel, getting fuel up from front to rear train of the stopped convoys was comically problematic. Indeed, their entire convoy could've been turned into disarray with just a couple of artillery batteries, with one strike taking out a half dozen vehicles, halting all progress until the burning wreckage was cleared from the roadway. The movement alone spoke of poor training and discipline, the action revealed that further and continues to do so. Let's hope that they keep making and repeating mistakes!
@@spvillano For me as a German who hopes to have learned at least something from history, it is clear that the greatest danger for the ordinary soldier comes from the great ideas and ingenious plans of his superiors. That this "special operation" became such a debacle is also the work of the brave Russian soldiers who knew this all along and sabotaged this bullshit in their own way from the beginning. These soldiers, the first to be forgotten in the current "fog of media war", are the only Russian heroes in this wretched story who have upheld the legacy of their brave ancestors. Let us give them a brief moment of recognition here. P.S.: Those who continue, of course, should go to hell.
@@michaelneuwirth3414 honestly, their operation looks like a uniquely Russian take on the German offensive on Moscow, partially reversed. Scorched earth along the way, preventing foraging for supplies and no logistical trains to keep the offensive moving, again, opposite of the German advance. The only thing they didn't do to further blow their operations was sniping themselves, which the Ukraine forces happily assisted them with. Still, they got their orders and followed them, some "only following orders" that they shouldn't have, the rest just caught up in their own meat grinder. For those who initially began, having no clue, I agree. For those who continue now, hell is a damned sight too good for them. And for the Wagner forces, they should be happy I'm retired from the military. Reprisals for Geneva and Hague violations can be bitch, as the Wehrmacht learned in France after executing Allied POW's and slaughtered villages. May their pieces rest in pieces.
As a child in the 60’s, we used these to carry water while camping. We had Army mess kits that we ate and cooked with, military wool blankets, military down sleeping bags and military canteens all obtained from military surplus stores some dating back to WWII. We had military canvas belts to carry the canteens as well as the right angle military flashlights. That stuff was durable.
@@Left4Plamz I don’t have the jerry cans any more, but I don’t recall any rust. As far as the canteens, there is also a separate piece that has a folding handle that can be used as a cup or to heat food in. We were always taught to clean everything well and turn the items upside down to drain. I am 65 and still have the mess kit and canteen. I bought modern plastic canteens that always leaked after dropping a few times. Metal is heavier to carry but the old stuff is thicker and constructed by workers who took pride in making them. Nothing is worse than going on a long hike and having your canteen drip leaving little or nothing for you to drink.
@@oceanceaser44 It’s amazing how we all survived. Lead crystal has at least 24% lead in it. Older ceramic paint for pottery did as well. Lead does leach into food and the longer the food is in contact, the more lead is leached. The higher the acidity of food, the more lead is leached. People still drink from lead crystal glasses, but it’s advised not to store wine in lead crystal decanters. I doubt that eating food off of the mess kit occasionally would affect you since it’s probably consumed quickly unless you cooked the food in it. Older pewter contained lead as well. Several years ago, there was concern that children’s costume jewelry contained lead. Older buildings were painted with lead based paint and peeling paint caused issues in children especially by children chewing on it and it was banned in the 70’s. Our gasoline used to contain lead and other products such as solder contain lead. Lead toxicity builds up over time if exposed consistently so if you cooked with it, stored food in it, especially acidic food, and ate off of it daily you might eventually get lead to accumulate.
As the phrase goes: "Infantryman win battles. Logistics win wars." ..and this was a prime example of that. The phrase is very apt today, as we see Russian forces bogged down outside Kyiv. You never aim at armoured tanks, you aim at fuel tankers. In the allies case, in WW2, Jerrycans would've been vital as part of their logistics tool.
@@HoorayTV21 looks like the spelling has become kyiv, as kiev is translated from Russian as opposed to kyiv from Ukrainian. So I don't think it can kiev just yet. You can ask where Leningrad is at the same time, perhaps?
To be fair putin has sent in random lads that were forced into war or jail time if they declined. Many of these guys are operating old soviet tanks, untrained and it shows. Many have been captured and have said they'd rather be a prisoner of war than to go back to Russia and probably be executed /jailed for not wanting to go to war. Many have only been trained for a week or two, nothing more. A lot of them are realizing they are basically being sent in to die and are abandoning tanks and equipment.
Really great explanation, I still use one of such similar canister till today (made by a East Germany Company that still exists and was former known as Blechformwerke Bernsbach). I think you forgot to mention two more great features: - the spout has a outward bended edge to make it impossible to let liquid run down the outside while pour out liquid (try this with a plastic canister) - the spoud is of one side of these canister halfes not only because of easier manufacturing, but also to make it easier to pour out a full can by hand. So if you hold it with the opposite flat side to the ground it is easy to pour out even small quantities of liquid.
I have use Jerry cans for offroad racing for 30 years, and have ten VERY early Jerry cans, and the design is remarkably effective. I have had hundredsof knock-offs over the years, and none of them have been as effective or resilient as the old ones. My most treasured tools for sure.
“If this video get 100,000 views…” FOUR MILLION VIEWS LATER… Congratulations on the overwhelming success of this video. I had absolutely no idea that the story of the Jerry can was so compelling. Great job putting this together.
Back when I was a long distance technical courier I used to keep my old Jerry can of emergency fuel behind the side door of my van. One day I'd just finished some work at a little old couples house, and was carrying my toolbox and a box of broken kit back to my van. The old guy had decided to help me by carrying my clipboard, so he was there when I opened my vans side door. He stood there squinting at the jerry can for a couple of seconds, then suddenly started calling out for his wife to come quick, and something about me "Having one of her Jerry cans" ?!?!? It was a bit of a shock because I was assuming that he was accusing me of stealing it, but it turned out that during the war, while this guy was out fighting, his wife had decided to do her part by taking a job to help the war effort, and had been one of the girls who worked making these cans ! My Jerry can's from 1944, and she said that she was working there all through that year, so there was an ever so slight chance that it could have even been one of the can's she'd assembled. Dispite these things being turned out in their thousands, She seemed genuinely surprised to see one still being used for it's intended purpose over 60 years later. We chatted for a few minutes about how they made them, but even though it was actually pretty interesting I had to cut the conversation short because I was already late for my next drop off. :(
This inadvertently brought me back to my youth in the 70s when there were army surplus stores everywhere. You could get all kinds of really cool stuff dirt cheap.
that continued well into the 90's and early 00's to some extent, and they did indeed sell Jerry cans, all of them Olive Drab for some reason. I thought it was an American thing, had no idea the Germans where the ones to design it.
About the shape... the first things that come to mind when I see the "bubble" on the back is the extra room for gas fumes from gasoline. If it was filled to the brim, gas wouldnt have a place to expand, making it much more prone rupture/explode. About the sides, the groves also make the jerry cans not stick to each other when wet. Imagine them stacked on a truck and rained on, a large flat side would make the cans really hard to separate because you would have the suction from two surfaces with water and also the weight of the jerry can itself. The angled "edges" also means you can throw them.. like literally throw... and they will align nicely with each other instead of the edges hitting other cans and you having to go on top of the truck to re-align them. It also means they can slide on the ground, so you can throw them and they will slide downhill instead of catch dirty and start rolling downhill uncontrollably
When I was in the Australian army we had a Jerry can from 1957 and another one from 1958 in my vehicles kit. This was in 2019. So at the time they were over 60 years old and still in circulation.
We do have a new and an old german one at home, they're identical, except for the paint and liner. Both accept the spout, but as you said, pouring works so well, it's usually not needed. The new one was gifted to me at my 18th birthday and was filled with diesel(cola and beer).
The "Jerry can" is one of those design case studies, where everybody just agrees, yeah it was pretty much the best designed fuel can of ww2, still used today.
@@nephicus339 There's more to that story, the US knew that pencil graphite particles in zero G are a potential electrical fire hazard so that's why pencils were a big no to them. The Russians ended up adopting the million dollar pen too eventually for the same reason.
Sometimes a great feat of engineering comes from someone who knows nothing technical, but because of that isn't blinded to simple things. A case in point is Miss Tilley's orfice, which allowed British fighter planes to level the playing field against technically superior fuel injected aircraft, basically a flat washer repurposed to great effect by a simple clerk...
I bought a new jerry can at the first of this year (Live in Texas, preparing against another winter power failure like we had last year). I stopped this video in the middle and got mine out of the garage to follow along with the discussion of the features. This brand-new production made in Latvia and sold on Amazon is almost identical to the late '30s German design. Interestingly, it is labeled as a "NATO fuel can".
@@Mixz1890 I think it was made by Valpro. We make some things here too. Will be glad to bring them over if uninvited guests come your way. We got your back.
I bought a used on from my old boss’s former bf for 25 dollars it was red and has a G on it labeled as gas (though it had diesel in it) this on is a formal military one from what I’ve been told but I’m gonna repaint it military green, unfortunately it doesn’t have this cool spout just a spin on cap but I have a unique fluid transfer pump that has a gas station style filler neck on it so u can manage lol
@Water King I lived in Upstate NY for years. Even there 0F with no heat or power would be considered tough conditions. For me the hardest part was finding generator fuel at a gas station that had both power to run the pumps and fuel left to pump.
Great video! I was in the US Army for 14 years. Unfortunately, I can state, having much personal experience, that we are NOT using the superior Jerry Can design. I spent a lot of time using the inferior, fuel-only, American can design with the rolled seams and silly screw-on cap that needed a wrench to open. And to pour out of it you needed a funnel that screwed in place of the cap. Due to the shape, it is called a Donkey Dick. The cap was attached to the can via a small, short, chain that breaks easily and inevitably gets lost. Naturally, someone will troll me and tell me I'm an idiot, so as a caveat I will state that the can I described was being used in every field unit in which I served. There may very well be other units somewhere using the better can. Also, I left the service 27 years ago, so maybe the US Army has upgraded their fuel can design in the meantime. I super enjoyed your research, use of video, and your script. Your delivery was spot-on as well. I am looking forward to viewing more of your content! At the time I am watching (3 March 2022) this video has received 1,625, 785 views! Congratulations!
as a US Army Veteran Cook. I often used that plastic one you mention, for field cooking. We trained using it pretty often. I got out in 2015, and served 6 years. The entire time we called it donkey dick. To add one, another important flaw. The issued donkey dick would often break. People would just tighten it to hard that it snaps the end. We actually just used makeshift funnels to fuel our burners for cooking, because of how often they snapped.
My dad, who was a senior army vehicle engineer, told me that those indentations and the angular bulge on the side of the Jerrycan were to give the sidewalls rigidity, preventing the metal sides from bulging from fuel expansion or being crushed when carried empty, it is actually the camel's hump at the top rear of the Jerrycan that allows for expansion. Surprisingly 20 litres of diesel can expand to almost 21 units of diesel in hot (e.g. desert) temperatures. So, an airtight 20-litre Jerrycan needs space to hold the additional volume of just under 1 extra litre of fluid (which, being a fluid, isn't compressible) by compressing the air held in that camel's hump. Those corrugations on the sides are simply for rigidity (as, where the sides to flex, as is suggested in this video, you'd have the risk of a massive fuel spillage when you opened a can that'd been carried to a tropical climate.) That camel's hump, as I term it, has is more about fuel expansion than floatation, although Jerrycans are actually designed to float as (I suspect) a fortuitous consequence of having that air pocket in the hump. Rick
Sounds very plausable, gas being hugely more compressable than a liquid + the fact it would be very hard to fill that hump. I'm not sure why having an indentation would make the metal side more "bendy", but might make it stronger, or less slippy if on it's side etc.
Thanks! I have an old, but good-conditioned American Gerry Can in my shed that I use regularly. It's painted red and is stamped USMC into the base. I'll have to research it to see if it has a manufacturing year code or whatever! The screw cap & chain is a bit of a pain, indeed!
Couple years ago i bought one jerrycan made in USSR during the last years of their existence. Steel, heavy and durable and cost only 10€ meaning it was cheaper then new plastic ones. Also bought a replacement gasket for the filler cap and metal extension nozzle for helping refueling as the fuel fill holes are quite deep in modern cars. What is amazing is that all those three things fit together even though none of the three were made in same country and all were made as cheaply as possible.
Still buy them here in Australia down at the local hardware store, watching this makes me want to go buy a few more to add to the six I have in my garage ;-)
It's 100% worth buying a steel one. No more spilling gas, no weirdness with the nozzle stopping you from emptying the can all the way. Saves a lot of headaches.
Im still using a 1941 Jerry Can in perfect condition. I wouldn't mind having all the fuel its had in it over the years . I have one i cut a hidden door in the bottom that i carry "Goods" that i want to be kept secret. It sitts with my other Jerry Cans in back of my truck not looking unusual. What an informative video. Stay safe everyone
@@NobodyCaresALot I do live just out of an Australian outback desert opal mining town .. Mad Max lifestyle is just a normal part of living here. Take care man !
Hi from Australia. I've really enjoyed watching this video and learning of the history behind the Jerry can. I have an old Jerry can in my garage that I keep fuel for my lawn equipment in. I was prompted, after watching this video, to have a closer look at it. The can is date stamped 1973 and was manufactured by a company called Sandrik. Apparently Sandrik still make Jerry cans in the Czech Republic using the original tooling from WW2. Great video!
I wanted to get some metal fuel cans and a friend offered me a couple of Army surplus cans with the screw caps. Having used a couple of those monstrosities before I politely declined and kept looking. Ended up buying some of the NATO pattern cans (GLEG) that more faithfully reproduce the original German design. Absolutely perfect. They just don't leak, even if bouncing around the bed of a pickup truck on their side.
I've actually found out recently that my grandpa's canister is an actual WW2 relict found on the field after some German soilders have left it there... xD Obviously it has been fixed repainted over the decades and he still uses it.
i can imagine someone zealously protecting their wonder can from COs and confiscation following the war (no i dont know much about wwii military structures)
@@dane1382 not sure about jerry cans, but unlike today, during WW2 the military was allowed to keep much of what they found as “spoils of war”. Many, many soldiers mailed all sorts of items back home. Items including everything from clocks to guns to, perhaps, jerry cans. Can’t do it any more though. What used to be “spoils of war” would now be considered stealing. We’re much more aware of the victim status of the civilian populations now, regardless of whether they support their country or not. Unless they’re fighting, they’re generally just trying to survive and don’t deserve to have their shot stolen by us. So we look on it differently now just as we look differently on civilian casualties now. But in WW2 our guys brought all sorts of things back, including German women! 🤣
Intresting note: For D-Day , some 8,000,000 Jerry cans were used. By the time of Operation Market Garden only some 2,000,000 could be found. I have a number of British WW2 dated Jerry Cans and 2 US cans. I still use the British ones, the American ones are 'For Display Only' Two of my British cans, which are , and have always been Sand coloured , were given to me some years back by an old farmer in Normandy, who had 'aquired' them post D-Day, at Goldbeach. Both go on my WW2 Dodge trucks, a WC51 Weapon Carrier and a WC54 Ambulance.
You missed the fact that the bossing also allows drainage. When the cans are stacked on their sides, water can not collect between them and cause rust.
My great grandfather died at 35 in WW1 from drinking water from fuel cans in the trenches. Ulcerated stomach. Left a trail of hardship for my great grandmother, and still for my great uncle today. Living with the ramifications. Here's hoping that never happens to anyone ever again. Great video btw, very enjoyable!
Mine died of cancer post-war, thought to be a product of chemical weapon-related cancer, possibly benzyl chloride or some other alkylating gas judging by the musty odour my grandmother says he described it and the people affected by it as having, a product of the alkyl groups being forcibly shoved onto the proteins in the skin and bits of fabric and leather.
@@CATASTEROID934 Likely he died from gas mask filters. Back then they contained all sorts of gnarly chemicals, in some cases even asbestos which causes long-term cancers and what not.
And the same thing happened to US Marines and Infantry in the Pacific during WW2 where drums which once held aircraft fuel were filled with water because they had nothing else to put the water in on their supply ships. Given the logistics of that war it took a couple months to solve the problem as all the new drums were back home.
“Knew just how important the fuel supply chain was going to be in their plans for fast-moving blitzkrieg warfare” And yet it seems a certain modern country still hadn’t learned that lesson 90 years later…
@@alexroge6495 I guess that’s a problem if you try to start a war with conscripts that aren’t convinced that they are saving the country from some threat
@@isaactrockman4417 using not just conscripts but even regular troops who didn't know they were going to war, the reports suggests they all thought they were just on manoeuvres.
I remember hearing about how good jerry cans were on the history channel many years back, but you've done an excellent job telling it's story. Thank you.
When you say “If this video get 100,000 views…” 5 MILLION VIEWS LATER… this is the power of good content! Really a successful compliation. I am adding the subscription
Yes I got petrol in my mouth to film that intro. Patreon: www.patreon.com/calumraasay Buy me a coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/calumraasay Join our discord! discord.gg/BPahz6vHJd
Having been involved in manufacturing of different metal parts and products over the years the changes made to the Jerry Can to make the Bltz Can was mainly to simplify and speed up the cycle time by removing unnecessary parts and processes. The US came up with a product that was good enough for the job and easy to produce. A bit of trivia the American MB and GPW WWII Jeeps had a funnel that slid out of the fuel tank so it could be filled from a Blitz Can with out a spout or funnel. That is why the fill port on them are so large.
I know your pain, I accidentally drank about a mouth full of gas by accident. It was being stored in a Mountain Dew bottle, for what reason I still don’t know. I’m fairly sure someone syphoned it out of a lawn mower. By the end of the day the only way I could stop trowing up from the smell of my own breath was by drinking mouth wash, also probably something you shouldn’t drink, but it helps. Chewing about a pack of mint gum didn’t hurt ether.
Mate, that is not the reason at all, petrol and diesel are both lighter than water and a full container of either will float. The reason that space is there is to allow for expansion of the fuel, get your facts right.
I dealt with hundreds of these in my time in service. I never knew how much of a game changer their design was, I did know about their floating abilities but I didn't know why, the empty spot was genius
Great work. Love this topic! Such a simple overlooked item that literally changed the coarse of the war and history. Thank you! Did someone photobomb your video? 2:13 mark.
Calum, you've an amazing talent to pluck somewhat obscure topics seamingly out of thin air and transform them into wonderful, interesting and, yes, entertaining video. Proud to be a Patron!
Another awesome episode Calum! Having lived in the remote West Highlands all my life,I am very familiar with the ubiquitous Jerry can ,and the absolute brilliance of its design. Some of the originals I have seen also incorporate a small lug which I believe was to allow multiple cans to be clipped together with a locking pin for safer transport,ie,so they wouldn’t fall over or rattle around when empty. I still have a couple of German originals,and also R.A.F issue copies. Another favourite container of mine is the .303 ammo box,an incredibly tough and useful item ,I still carry one every day as my go-to toolbox in my truck- perhaps this could be another topic for you to do a deep dive into some day? Cheers fella!👌🏴
The raised bump at the top is likely to prevent filling completely. Gasoline has a high vapor pressure and can easily rupture containers if overfilled. This is why you should never top off your fuel tank at a gas station after it cuts off automatically. It's also why the red gas containers have a fill line. Never fill above that line. The recommended fill level is 80%. The Jerry Can should float even if it was 100% filled as gasoline is less dense than water.
In the US Army we still use very close versions in the field. In training and for day to day they use the plastic ones which are much cheaper and less sturdy. Due to high pilferage rates the metal cans are kept under lock and key used only during active deploymenst.
@@jfarill834 28 years myself. Those really big rail containers at the back of the motorpools are where the supply nco locks up all the non serial numbered expendable items like driver toolsets, driver/mechanic coverallls, 100mph tape, 550 cord, the stanley thermos bottles, etc. to include the metal gas cans and 'donkey dick' pouring spots.
@@TheTeremaster hot take but plastic Jerry cans are better in most ways these days. Tough plastic is more resilient and lighter but more importantly accumulate less condensation
@@TheTeremaster Are you crazy? Military grade metal jerry cans cost around seventy dollars. I have yet to see a plastic gas can of any shape that costs that much.
I would not be surprised if that 'modern' jerry can is a Chinese knock off give the flaws you high lighted, it would have been 'modified' to make it cheaper to produce.
Vaughan, it is clearly a cheap Chinese knock off built to look like a NATO can from a distance, but NOT built to the old NATO specification. Caveat Emptor. Proper NATO cans are still in production in Latvia (Wavian is a dominant brand). They are still manufactured in Israel as well, under contract for the IDF. They were being manufactured in Australia a few years ago, but I am not certain whether that is still the case.
@@ivermec-tin666 There are quality nato makers such as Valpor (Latvia) , Wavian (Germany), GELG (Poland), all 3 are avalbe in the USA , Wavian being teh most common and expensive
@@DeminicusSCA Only the Wavian can with its proprietary childproof spout is compliant in all 50 states of the USA (EPA, CARB, and DOT). A non compliant fuel can is subject to seizure on parklands, and can net you a ticket by a zealous park ranger or policeman. If you live in a state that enforces gas can regulations at the gas station, such as New Jersey, a non compliant can may be rejected at the point of fueling. This is why I point to the Wavian cans. It is my understanding that Wavian and Valpro cans are made in the same factory. I find that the QC is better on the Wavian cans. I have seen brand new Valpro cans that do not sit firmly flat on the ground, but rock a little. I have never seen a Wavian can with this imperfection. GELG cans appear to be a lower cost option. I have never seen one first hand. There are some states where the EPA rules are not actively enforced. If you live in such a state, you can source a can without nozzle, and purchase a traditional NATO nozzle separately. In all honesty, you would be fine with one or two nozzles for your entire collection of cans. Personally, I have managed to buy up a handful of pre-ban NATO cans, and bypassed these ridiculous and expensive childproof nozzles. Pre-ban cans are grandfathered into the CARB and EPA compliance scheme.
@@ivermec-tin666 I live in a free state Oklahoma , i have a few of the wavian nozzles i use for small engines. but am mostly using diesel , and i use the Nato Swiss metal flex spouts , they are non carb but are the best. i dont transport the cans with a nozzle as the only time the cans leave the farm is to go to the oil company tom get more red diesel. diesel is not treated the same as Gas via DOT, but any case i dont care, i wont ask permision to transport fuel to my farm and i have no plants to take them to federal land or a blue state . i have 12 valpro Cans and 4 wavian , i have not see this rocking issues, but all my valpor are marked 2017 , i was able to contract valpor and purchase the just the clamp and cap part of teh nozzles to make some custom spouts that pull fuel out of a can to an attach the a rep lament Honda generator fuel cap. making for a super extended run time on the little inverter type. they have a fuel pump and will pull a vaccuim allowing it to siphon from a external tank. they are really great cans , i did something similar for my saw mill , the fuel tank is just a Jerry can now. it has a custom cap that just attaches to the can
@@DeminicusSCA Great ideas here. You are lucky to be in a free state. I am in CA. I use my cans exclusively for diesel. I picked up a couple of Swiss made "donkey dong" nozzles a couple of years ago. They are of the highest quality, but will not fit the newest vehicle filler holes, which have restrictors on them. All my cans are pre-ban and exempt from CARB and EPA regs. This is the way to go in a blue state, IMO.
I absolutely love these longer spouts about things like this! Almost like a debate or conversation. The format and tone of your videos keep me coming back! I normally wouldn't pay any attention to these things but if i miss a single word i find myself rewinding. Absolutely stunning how thorough you are with your research and history. Thank you Calum!
What would be interesting is to compare the original to the jerry can used today. When I was in the army, we never had those proper jerry cans, not even in warzones. We only had plastic ones that we're clearly inspired by this one but still plastic.
The ingenuity is incredible. My wife's family lived next to the inventor, Vinzenz Grünvogel, in Schwelm Germany. His daughter still lives there. Lovely little town right next to Wuppertal, known for its Schwebebahn (a hundred year old hanging monorail system, still in use today). Also quite close to the also famous Neanderthal.
I am very proud of the inventiveness of the German people. A country that tried to weather the storm of the Versailles treaties And turned itself around to the chagrin of Western societies.. While the Rest of the world was still in a depression financial state Germany became Paramount in Doing what they have always done best... Breaking away and creating their own system of banking could not and would not be tolerated by The Western Banking system. To this day The psychological warfare inflicted on the German people it's still running rampant and it's very sad.. Blessings
That‘s groovy. All of the region around Wuppertal is very nice. And the city itself has a great reputation for beeing the home of some great inventors and their inventions. It’s also called the craddle of German industrialisation.
@@fosterkennel649 This is frighteningly untrue and full of dangerous myths. German economic recovery after the Great Depression was fuelled by unsustainable military spending, encouraging workers to work longer hours (through ideology), slave labour from the huge numbers of political prisoners and stealing Jewish property. Hitler's Germany went massively into debt, which they expected to pay back from plundering the countries that they would occupy. You should cure your ignorance on these matters by reading some history. I suggest you start with The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and the first two books of Richard J Evans famous trilogy. No "psychological warfare" was ever inflicted on the German people and this siege mentality myth was one of the causes of WW2. As for your claim it's happening today, I'm 99% sure that's a dog whistle and I know what hate you're promoting. Maybe if the "great German inventiveness" before 1945 had gone into improving society instead of preparing to wage war on an entire continent and more, millions of us would have got to spend time with our grandfathers and there would be a lot more Jews in the world today. Because the country that this video creator lives in was home to people who invented things like the telephone, television and penicillin; isn't that better than missiles, weapons and Zyklon B?
Great video - always had a real appreciation for the Jerry Can. What I can't get my head around is how time and time again, our soldiers are knowingly sent to war with inferior tools and equipment - and yet, they still manage to find willing volunteers. Not only that, but also, the top knobs are often if not always fully aware of the superior kit available, either to buy or to copy, but they don't out of sheer pig headed pride and bloody politics! Following the family tradition of joining the services was the best thing I never did!
I caught myself nationalistically thinking "typical American arrogance," but quickly reminded myself there are plenty of examples from my own country, Britain. I've forgotten most of my war history, but in peacetime, the automotive industry was nationalised and the lord who owned Jaguar was put in charge. Rover at that time could build very good reliable cars and were gearing up to export to the biggest car market there ever was; the USA. Lord Jaguar wasn't having a rival be better than his own brand! He destroyed Rover's plans, costing the country a good bit of income and a lot of pride. Over the next 20 years, the quality of all our cars went down even as the quality of Japanese cars was rising.
If you open a completely full jerry can, you tilt it backwards and the liquid will fill the bubble while the outlet is free of liquid. This allows you to open it without spilling fuel. Specially important when pressure has been built up inside the can.
Wow - I had no idea about any of this. I didn't know that the German's invented it, hence the name Jerry for German's. Thanks for an excellent video full of great info. Cheers.
The germans didn't have a firm belief in victory just because they were "insane". They were the leading technological power of the world, and they knew it.
I think you got the naming convention backwards, they (the allies) named that fuelcan (jerry can) after the Germans, which they had named Jerry before the widespread knowledge of their fuelcan.
Excellent information and presentation! I am now retired but it was only a few years ago bought my first real metal jerry can. Having struggled with dreadful pouring plastic cans for years I was immediately impressed by all the features you describe. I even extolled the virtues of the "new" can to my wife, pointing out the nifty cap linkage and how well it seals and doesn't flop down when pouring ... I don't think she quite managed to match my own enthusiasm for the product so I'm glad to see someone else appreciates it and has investigated the history so comprehensively!
1992, working in a F&V wholesaler, said to my manager, "if I replace that petrol can, can I have it?" "I could say it got run over by one of the forklifts." Two days after I did the swap, the brand new can was run over by a forklift,I still have my AMPOL stenciled can as one of my most treasured possessions. A 1942 Jerrycan, now joined by a 1960's Australian can. Hard to tell the difference.
Speaking from experience you can also increase the amount of Jerry cans a person can carry by putting wooden poles through the handle and carrying them between two people. Two or three wooden tent poles usually have the strength to carry 6 cans, and help spread out the weight so you can carry it on one shoulder. Helps if you though a rag or coat over your shoulder for comfort.
That round cap with the rolled steel "ears" turns up all over the place in 20th-century American military equipment, and it's always a pain in the butt. It doesn't want to turn, except when it turns without permission, usually when no one's looking. The "ears" have the amazing power to bust your thumb _and_ the knuckle of your index finger at the same time. The cap itself is easy to lose, which you can tell the War Department knew because in a lot of applications, it's chained to the can/tank/vehicle/whatever with a length of weird flat chain that likes to get twisted and lock up in strange, inflexible configurations. Truly a masterpiece of industrial design in its own right.
Yeah I’m a bit confused by that weird cap, are the ears for a wrench to grab onto? I can sort of see the logic of the military planners wanting to keep the same caps/fillers on all canisters but they don’t seem like the easiest thing in the world to operate
@@CalumRaasay I think they're just to give a gloved hand something to push against to open/close it without slipping, although I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that more than one soldier over the years has improvised some kind of spanner to help it along, because they really do love to get stuck.
My father has one of those cans. I've never heard of it being called a "Blitz can". The one he has is stamped USA. One good feature is that there exists a screw-in goose-neck spout so it will be easier to prevent spills compared to the German design.
@@CalumRaasay This cap is very similar to the larger cap that was on the steel 55 Gal (US) drum. I don't know that is the case however I think that this design of cap was all ready in use in the US Army and it seemed simpler to use a design that was use. But this is all speculation.
We have a nozzle (about 6 inches long) that clips into the lugs that the clamps the cap down, it’s ideal for fuelling into awkward filler necks without spilling fuel.
The Jerry cans in the US are a bit different. The bottom edge weren't quite as rounded, more of a rolled seam. I knew one intimately. When I was seven we were on a Jeep outing. We were on pavement on a mountain road when we encountered a drunk driver. We attempted to pass on a curve when the drunk driver came over on us forcing us onto the embankment in a fishtail sideways skid. We then connected with a pile of boulders and went airborne landing in a copse of trees which lessened our impact. They say if it wasn't for the trees, no one would have survived the impact for ity was roughly 40 feet down. There were 3 adults and four children in the Jeep station wagon. The adults in the front seat with one child on the lap of an adult and in the back we had a futon folded against all of the camping gear with us other three children on the futon. No seat belts. They had all of us laid out on a blanket next to the wreck on the side of the embankment, except for me. Little did they know, I was buried under all of the camp gear which, when we went airborne, so did it, and when we came down. it all came down on me. I was hit squarely between the eyes by the bottom of a full jerry can fracturing my skull. I regained consciousness and heard my father in a panic asking people, there was a 30 mile back up, asking people to help look for a missing child. He was screaming "has anybody seen a child on the road anywhere? We are missing a child!" At that point I cried out and they came over a dug me out of the wreck.
Thank you. Great history lesson on something so simple and synonymous with the war. Too bad modern manufacturing wants to make things cheap instead of something that will last 100 + years.
This was one of the videos that you come across on the internet that you don't expect to come across but find oddly entertaining. It was timely for me in that I recently attempted to fill a lawn mower with a poorly designed 5 gallon plastic can and ended up making a mess all over the lawn mower. Also we tend to transport extra cans of fuel on our sailboat which are bulky compared to the jerry can. Thank you so much for putting up this enjoyable video Cheers!
Suggest purchase of justrite metal gas can. They are pricey. You’ll never need to purchase another gas can ever. Cans are DOT approved. Well worth the price
It was a long held aim of mine to own a jerry can, I finally picked up a couple at a car show a few years ago (didn't want to cheat and buy new), another dream fulfilled! Simple pleasures ;-)
I have use this Jerry can full of fuel and found it difficult to pour the diesel into the tank. because of the weight of the fuel. The one improvement i would make is a grab handle cutout at the bottom corner of the can. So it make it easier to tip. pour the can fuel into the tank. Or two grab handles at the bottom of both corners.
The contouring on the side , the seem and the general design of the handle are examples of what is known as bifurbication, which has become technology in itself. Bifurcation is the act of taking a sheet of metal which is large in area compared to thickness and canoeing it similar to if you have a sheet of paper , which obviously is not rigid but if allowed to be curved them it is. This gave rise to what are known as monocoque airframes and chassis that are very much how they are today , that is , rigid but without the need for any cross bracing. Also it would not surprise me to discover the welded seem was created without heat but using an ultrasound transformer instead. Canoeing : observe a steel tape measure, then you have the idea.
you’re overthinking it, it’s just a simple stamped sheet of metal that was simply given the indentations due basic physics of liquid reactions…it wasn’t different than automobile body paneling
I found two Jerry cans in a trash can at a racetrack. They have the recessed weld but I haven't looked closely enough to learn when or where its from. Thanks for the info!
Jerry Cans are really one of the biggest unappreciated developments of ww2. People take them for granted but the moment you ask why it's called Jerry Can, you get to go into a great rabbit hole. Great work!
First off they were called Gerry Cans(German)Note similar spelling. No "J" in German. Gerry sounds the same as Jerry. > Gary uses a "hard G" sound like gasoline. So, I knew a Gerry who was British, and Gary who got his name from his German parents. . Comparing them to what the British were using which were simple sheet metal cans of an awkward size & shape & smaller capacity. They do not look strong enough to stand on. That bulge at the top of the original Gerry Can - it's main purpose would be to leave an airspace at the top for when liquids get warm, they expand so that air pocket would be enough space to allow the liquid to expand without distorting the metal can. The liquid also shrinks in cold weather, so the air space would be the cushion to prevent the Gerry can from distorting inward. The newer style Gerry cans do not have that bulge (because manufacturers are idiots) They also had a round opening for a large screw cap which means larger amounts of fuel can be poured out quickly, so spillage occurs. Unless you buy the screw on flexible spout. But U.S. military does not care about spillage as they had plenty of fuel. So they "GOOSH" it into the filler hole of a tank...and all over the tank and ground and they light up a smoke at the same time. If it really was gasoline they would be ON FIRE. TV movies so fake. . Metal Gerry cans are no longer allowed to be filled up at service stations because of a possible spark? They only allow red plastic gas cans that are somewhat similar in shape to Gerry can. Mine never had a plastic liner...or a flexible filler neck.
@@bunzeebear2973 I don't know where you're from but UK regulations specify a screw cap if you're filling from a filling station. (& the slogan "petroleum spirit highly flammable")
@@bunzeebear2973 It's Jerry. Literally any source you can find, both modern and contemporary to the world wars, it's always Jerry. Not Gerry. That goes for the cans, and for the nickname for the Germans alike.
Im german (Born 196x) and I never knew that the design was in fact german. I never gave it a thought, but seeing them mostly in military (Willy’s) and other 4x4 context I would have guessed they were from the UK or the US… funny.
This is hands down one of my favorite videos on the internet. Your delivery of the fascinating information on an item that by first glance seems mundane. I would love to watch more content like this however I can only assume how much time and resources must've gone into this video. I eagerly await similar videos. Thank you!
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The other thing worth mentioning is the fact that the mass of the container doesn't stick out beyond where the handles are, which means when carrying them you can let your arms hang by your sides, instead of having to hold your arms away from your body because the handles are in the middle of a larger container. May seem like a small thing, but after you have carried 200 of them and put them on a truck, I can assure you it is not a small thing. :) Wonderful video.
🥵😪🥵😁👍
Even having not done that, as a person who has to haul books and education equipment up several flights of stairs I can appreciate keeping containers close to my body!
Yes, the Nazis had really good ideas.
@@Cyromantik Well said! Yes this idea applies to more than just jerry cans! Good luck moving those books and education gear around. :)
This surprised me because my experience with bicycle panniers is the opposite. With a handle attached to one side only, the center of mass hangs outside and presses the bottom edge of the pannier into my calf. It gets painful before too long. Thinking about it, the culprit must be the reinforcing rib fitted to the bottom edge of the same side as the handle. On the bike, it presses against the mounting frame helping to keep the pannier from slipping around, but when carried by a person, it's a pain.
Having lifted one or two Jerry cans whilst serving in the British Army, I did not think I would find myself sitting through an entire 30 minute video detailing the history of said can. Well done, you have convinced me to subscribe.
Same, except in the US.
The more you know..! C.Brown
@Jesus has given you all. Repent or die. I dont like jesus
@@Beetless How can anyone not love Jesus? Mind boggling.
@@zforczek8653 he smells bad
I am german, have some of these in my garage. I always thought its an american invention. Now i know the history of it. Thank you.
They are called Jerry cans but I guess in German they are called something like ...Kraftstoff.
I don’t think Jerrys call themselves Jerrys. Might even be a racist slur, like “Polack” or “Nip”. I’m a Pole, so can attest to Polack being a derogatory term, but we use it all the time!
@@davemccage7918 i expect that they do t call themselves Jerries, but might be aware of the term considering the prevalence of Hollywood. In regards to racism, Nip is certainly considered racist, and like Jerry it is simply a shortening of a normal word, Nippon, where Jerry is from "German", I believe. While neither of these innovations seem very offensive, those that didn't do well in the war seem to find such terms very offensive, while those that won seem to have no problem being called Tommy or Tommies, for example. In any case, I would guess that the British and German's are the same race.
@@ML-sj3gi "Wehrmachtskanister"
@@ML-sj3gi “Nip” is short for Nippon, which is actually used in Japan referring to their country. It's printed on Japanese money, precisely “Nippon" in roman letters. So “Nip” is just a short, slang term for someone from Nippon. Not a slur unless you use it as one.
One design aspect of the German can was the slight "bulging " of the sides which the American cans never had (according to my uncle). As this enables cans to be removed from the centre of a line of cans. The flatter sides tend to stick together making it almost impossible with some other designs.
Probably also why they have the indented sections run right to the edge of the bulge: allows air to get in when they're tightly packed, so they come out easier.
We get army surplus here in Australia from overseas so no idea what gets used by our forces, but we get used German cans, and can say they last the distance and they do actually have that "bulge" that flexes. Similar to what you would see under a brake Reservoir cap, an accordion type of film that allows pressure or vacuum to be created whilst still sealing. Because of the swages (embossed seams) it allows for that flex. The ones without the square in the middle are very rigid. You will see this method on custom cars used to make flat sheets rigid over a span. TLDR: its hip to be square
*@**2:13** you are under assault.*
Ah so that explains why the big square in the middle is completely flat it's so that when they stack up they're still on a flat level surface so they may wiggle a little bit but it's not like they're going to be a pain in the butt to keep from sliding. Very very neat thank you for pointing that out
I really thought the person with a torch looking through the window would come back somehow or cut to a advert but nah just never mentioned. Great video. I love finding out about all these details.
Creepy stalker spotted!
I had to rewind to see it as thought was that some one or a strange refection.
So odd, I was left wondering if Callum had even noticed. Although, with all those takes and rewrites, he probably couldn't face going back and doing it yet again!
I thought it was a person using a torch inside the garage to illuminate the camera’s subject relocating to avoid creating glare on Callum’s glasses.
It's the someone in a gorilla costume test.
Great video. The air bubble hump at the back of the can may have other uses apart from allowing it to float. Any container that is 100% full of liquid will be incompressible and likely to fail if dropped. That air gap chamber acts like a shock absorber if the container is compressed. It also allows for thermal expansion and contraction along with the pleated sides.
It also provides a an air pocket for the vent line to go to, so that you don't end up with a vent line full of fuel and it failing to act as a vent.
I learned this the hard way when i hurriedly put down a plastic jug of milk. It went everywhere
Good job nerds
@@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts Funny how Americans call milk bottles 'jugs'. English has so many regional differences!
@@DaibhidhBhoAlba I found it funny that they call 'jugs' , 'pitchers'....
During the desert campaign, the Germans found another use for their can. Since they knew that the enemy (mostly Great Britain) was foraging for these cans, it wasn't uncommon for a small stash to be 'left behind'. Touching any one of them could result in an explosion sufficiently violent to kill or injure any one close enough. In short, they had been repurposed as IEDs!
Yes I remember hearing about that, the Nazi's were sneaky like that. My grandfather served in one of the mechanised tank divisions of British Army in North Africa. He would tell me stories like that. He also said the German tanks were far far superior to theirs and our losses were astonishing, something like 5 tanks to every 1 German tank as their armour was good and their bigger longer range shells capable of going straight through allied tanks. The German's coined a name for allied tanks 'Tommy burners'!
Yeah during my time in the Singapore Armed Forces, we learned how to make a directional explosion with 5 bricks of explosives tied around the Jerrycan with detonation cord and igniter.
you don't even need to make it blow up, just contaminating a few cans with water or just the wrong kind of fuel (like putting diesel in) would go unnoticed until it completely fucks up the engine beyond repair, one or even several enemy vehicles disabled because some guys pissed in a couple fuel cans.
@@windhelmguard5295 You're missing the point. The aim wasn't to inconvenience _the enemy,_ but to actually kill them. Both sides did similar things: The British 'Dirty Tricks Back Room Boys' manufactured fake elephant dung that incorporated anti-tank mines for use in the African Campaign! They even came up with explosives that were edible to enable guerrilla soldiers to carry them around on sabotage missions. Gentlemen don't wage all out war, bastards do, and they usually win!
iirc they also hid bombs in the wall and covered it with a crooked painting, some poor soldier with OCD would then straighten the picture, detonating the explosives.
No one is going to mention the sneaky peeker at 2:20?
Came here for this comment. Who was that? :)
Didn’t catch that before….hope that was a planned thing and not some potential thief casing the workshop room.
It was a WW2 ghost, looking for his petrol.
@@crunkambassadeur7837 Well they call him _The Flash._
Calcum is now popular enough that he has his own stalker! 😂
The ergonomics are also very well thought through, besides the three handles already mentioned.
The rather tall and narrow shape means you dont have to bend down very far to pick up the can, yet when you carry it, it hangs from a straight arm without touching the ground. It is narrow enough so that you can walk witout it bumping into your leg.
A full jerry can in each hand is a pretty heavy burden, but it is absolutely possible to carry two cans for limited amounts of time. By carrying one can in each hand, the weight is balanced so that it is in fact easier to walk than with just one. Carrying weight is more than just a matter of mass, strenght and stamina. Weight distibution is extremely important.
Again, the tall, slim shape means that the mass stays close to your own center of gravity, wich means you have to use less effort to keep your balance.
No, the tall shape of the can means that its centre of mass is farther from yours -- the longer shape means that the cenre of mass of the can is farther from the handle. And the centre of mass of something held with a straight arm is not at all close to yours: the centre of mass of a jerry can is somewhere near your knees, and it's that low centre of mass tha makes it easy to balance.
@@beeble2003 No, the tall shape of the can means it can smugly look down on all the other fuel cans in your garage.
Also having three handles means 2 people, who are not so strong, or on uneven terrain, can carry a full can between them.
@@beeble2003 I'm pretty sure he meant that the narrow shape means that you can carry it with your arm straight downwards, which means the force the canister's mass imparting to you is also pretty much downward (as opposed to a can you have to hold with your arms extended to any degree, which would mean there is a force pulling you away from your center of gravity). So in a purely horizontal sense, a slim shape DOES allow the mass to stay close to your center of gravity (imagine looking at it from a bird's eye perspective.)
@@random.3665 Possible but he already made that point in his first paragraph. I doubt he'd try to make the same point again, and do so in a less accurate way (talking about height when it's actually the width that's significant for that point).
There's a section in the great book by Eugene Sledge (from the Pacific TV show) where he talks about the two different types of ammo crates his unit had to work with. One had nice robust rope handles and was fairly easy to carry over even awful terrain, the other had no handles and just a lip that you could hook your finger / fingers undo, meaning that when they were carrying heavy crates over rocks while being shot at, it kept slipping and falling. Sledge mentioned his unit spent a lot of time thinking up horrific tortures for the people who designed the bad one. Just goes to show how important the little design details are.
Sledgehammers With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, along with Leckies Helmet for my pillow, have been both amazing books to read!
Totally remember reading that and thanking God we had the gear we deployed with back in '08.
It always amazed me previous generations of Marines made war with a t-shirt, helmet, a single action rifle, and an e tool.
Semper Fi, hangm high at 8th and I.
The government was the ones who requested those worse crates.
The side panel has a lip made by plunging a dato stack into it.
No rope means quicker to make
Quicker to make means cheaper
Cheaper means more
More more more
All contracts were approved by some general
Haha yeah that part in the book I really sympathised. Given how exhausting moving around with your gear let alone those impractical crates. Logistics really does play a key role in warfare.
@@hoyschelsilversteinberg4521demoralising your troops is never good
As informative and well researched as this video is, no one is mentioning the various sight gags. The neighbor you stole fuel from looking in the window, the fact that you cut away just as you flick a lighter to light the supposed fresh gasoline you just poured everywhere. Don't stop with the little touches.
Hahaha glad you noticed!
I thought I was going crazy! Nobody else seemed to notice the man in the back.
At what time does this happen? :)
@@s.alpinus8395 2min 10 seconds
Don't forget the little airtight "seal" popping up at 3:19 :)
1:50 What you failed to mention about the weld is the joint configuration, the way the edges are folded means that when the two sides are mated together you have a joint that is extremely easy to weld to a high quality.
Welding around the edge of two pieces of sheet metal stacked on top of each other is much easier than two pieces of sheet metal butted together edge-to-edge
damn thats nifty
Very cool
Really, there is a lot more detail point´s to this fuel can. Like the lid that cannot be overtightened, and even if levered open with ease, yet thanks to it´s placement and tab recessed between the handles not come undone by accident. And the slightly slanted areas at the edges of the sides, not only giving additional strength but also preventing it from catching on your legs while carrying and making it slide past your legs. I would go out and say that this can is probably one of the best designed and engineered objects to ever be made.
I spent 23 years in the US ARMY and must have handled hundreds of these cans but today I finally hear about what the features were for. Well done.
and rly noone cares
@@TillusxXx it's just a comment why are you so damn pressed
@@TillusxXxwhat does that mean?
@@TillusxXx I care.
The Nazis had some really good ideas.
This remembers me of what a professor always told us: "Everything, for small and mundane that it may seem, has a reason and justification to be that way"
This holds true so long as the item in question has been well designed! If not, the reason may be poor design or thought.
@@chengdogu6352 tbf he never said it was a good reason, or that said reason was valid. He only said that it wasn't just made at random, to make us think more about why thinks are the way they are instead of just accepting it
@@lyamschuss8786 I don't know your Professor but I think we'd have gotten along famously; most people do not think that deeply. Much of the world around us has evolved into it's simplest or most useful state of design and much of it can be improved for specific uses, yet few bother to do that. In my trade I try to instill thinking into apprentices; when they ask me to show them how to do something I also show them why it is done that way because if you can't understand that you can't improve on it, and nearly everything can be improved.
" remembers me"... am I the only one who finds this to be more than a tad...odd? Isn't it "Reminds me", or is this one of those British idioms that they insist is 'the right way' and that America has corrupted?
Seriously.
@@jdinkorea I'm not native speaker actually, so might just be me spelling it wrong
I am astonished. I honestly would never have thought I would watch a 30min long video about fuel canisters which felt like it was 10 minutes long because it was so well made.
It's an excellent demonstration of what good engineering is about , finding a way out of a problem
scratch your head , try some ideas , select a promising one and relentlessly improve by little touch
any stone tool maker would approve
So far so good. I’ve filled it twice and it’s great getting 13 gallons at one shot th-cam.com/users/postUgkx-vlHjazTv30m_UAq9Ht-fuPo2jBx7tTx . It pumps out by using gravity so the bottom of the tank needs to be above the vessel you're filling. Not a drop spilled filling the generator three times. Let’s see where we’re at after 20 fills.
Jerry-Cans definitely are one of the greatest pieces of industrial design.
Some other things like Shipping-Containers or Euro-Boxes and -Pallets are also great, but Jerry-Cans win on the magnificient amount of details they have.
Plus the latches can be used to attach a spout very easily and quickly.
Check out Tom Scott's video on the UK plug. Also an engineering masterpiece
I grew up in the Brazilian outback in the 1950s where my parents were missionaries. We regularly used war surplus Jerry Cans for fuel and water on trips in our Willys station wagon on dirt roads. They were life savers.
Your life sounds like a book
did they like missionary sex?
Salve salve, comarada
I love the fact you film for a brief second the Gerry-Can Killer in the back window at 2:15
When serving in the army, i was stationed in Germany at a fuel-station. Because of too much time and too little to do, our superiors made us move thousends and thousends of these petrol-tanks from one place to another, just to give us a purpose. My overall lenght decreased, but my arms became longer then ever before.
Should've moved them using your 'third arm'.
Rotating the stock, ha ha. like when the spouse wants to rearrange the furniture.
Thousands you mean.
Have you seen the 2001 movie Buffalo Soldiers ? :)
Yup, got nothing to do, go dig a hole then fill it back up, had a few bosses like that
A much underappreciated part of the logistics chain, and a brilliant and innovative design. Thank you for the history lesson.
I love how he decides to film 3 seconds of floating with the jerry can in freezing waters. Dedication
I’m not sure how this found it’s way into my feed, but I’m sure glad it did! I never knew so much could be learned about the canister. Very well done Calum, bravo!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Of course, just add this to your extensive compendium of useless information. Too bad you can't take it to the bank.
@@Go1US1Marines wtf
@@kayhoww I don't think you understand him correctly...
he is actually praising this video that it is WORTH something
but for most of us this VALUABLE INFO will remain useless in our brains aka VAULT!
Speaking as a WWII reenactor who portrays a clerk, there can never be enough content covering the *real* way that wars are won: logistics and administration. This was a superb piece of work, Calum. Bravo! ❤
Around 20 years ago, I was working as a reporter for my small-town local newspaper, and my editor asked me to talk to as many World War II veterans around the area as I could find and put together a feature article for our Veterans Day issue. (Note to overseas readers: That's November 11, you may know it as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day or the like in your area.) One of the vets I found didn't want to take part, because he hadn't been in combat--he was a seaman on a Navy supply ship in the Pacific, and it was clear that even ~60 years later he was embarrassed about it. "Nobody wants to read about what _I_ did in the war," he said. "All we did was haul crap like socks and food to the Marines." I put it to him that the Marines were probably very glad to _have_ that crap, but since it wasn't an After-School Special, he remained unmoved.
That was an interesting assignment. Oddly enough, the stories that have stuck with me the most are the ones I couldn't use for one reason or another, including that one.
"An army marches on its stomach". Few can appreciate how accurate that saying is.
Officers study tactics. Generals study strategy. Great generals study logistics.
@@ZGryphon haha great anecdote, I'll met most army guys were often much more grateful for the sock delivery than the ammo delivery!
>won
*Original canister made by German*
Ironic
The Jerry Can represented a logistical concept and was not only an excellent container for fuel. Faced with the question of whether it was better to supply the masses of vehicles with a few tankers or individually with canisters, the experts around like Adolf von Schell(1893-1967) came to the conclusion that it will be always easier to supply individual vehicles with a minimum of 40 to 80 liters of diesel than to move a full tanker across the battlefield. 2 to 4 canisters could easily be brought to a broken-down tank by a motorcycle with sidecar or a "Kübelwagen", the last few hundred meters on foot if necessary, but a truck full of gasoline on a platter would be a gift for the enemy.
PzKfw. 1 B 146 Liter/140km(Strasse)/115km(Gelände)
PzKfw. 2 A-C 170 Liter/200km /130km
PzKfw. 3 E-N 320 Liter/170km /100km
PzKfw. 4 B-H 470 Liter/200km /130km
Tiger 1 540 Liter/100km /60km
Panther A,D,G 730 Liter/200km /110km
There's definitely good logic to that. Sending a full tanker on the battlefield kind of amounts to putting essential resources out as a target that functionally IS the broad side of a barn
Shh, don't tell the Russians
@@Norsilca fuel is the least of their logistical problems. Their entire logistical trains started in disarray and lost ground once combat began. Once snarled by logistical issues, particularly fuel, getting fuel up from front to rear train of the stopped convoys was comically problematic.
Indeed, their entire convoy could've been turned into disarray with just a couple of artillery batteries, with one strike taking out a half dozen vehicles, halting all progress until the burning wreckage was cleared from the roadway.
The movement alone spoke of poor training and discipline, the action revealed that further and continues to do so. Let's hope that they keep making and repeating mistakes!
@@spvillano For me as a German who hopes to have learned at least something from history, it is clear that the greatest danger for the ordinary soldier comes from the great ideas and ingenious plans of his superiors. That this "special operation" became such a debacle is also the work of the brave Russian soldiers who knew this all along and sabotaged this bullshit in their own way from the beginning. These soldiers, the first to be forgotten in the current "fog of media war", are the only Russian heroes in this wretched story who have upheld the legacy of their brave ancestors. Let us give them a brief moment of recognition here.
P.S.: Those who continue, of course, should go to hell.
@@michaelneuwirth3414 honestly, their operation looks like a uniquely Russian take on the German offensive on Moscow, partially reversed. Scorched earth along the way, preventing foraging for supplies and no logistical trains to keep the offensive moving, again, opposite of the German advance. The only thing they didn't do to further blow their operations was sniping themselves, which the Ukraine forces happily assisted them with.
Still, they got their orders and followed them, some "only following orders" that they shouldn't have, the rest just caught up in their own meat grinder. For those who initially began, having no clue, I agree.
For those who continue now, hell is a damned sight too good for them.
And for the Wagner forces, they should be happy I'm retired from the military. Reprisals for Geneva and Hague violations can be bitch, as the Wehrmacht learned in France after executing Allied POW's and slaughtered villages. May their pieces rest in pieces.
As a child in the 60’s, we used these to carry water while camping. We had Army mess kits that we ate and cooked with, military wool blankets, military down sleeping bags and military canteens all obtained from military surplus stores some dating back to WWII. We had military canvas belts to carry the canteens as well as the right angle military flashlights. That stuff was durable.
Were they fine for water? I want one for drinking water but I keep hearing they rust from water.
@@Left4Plamz I don’t have the jerry cans any more, but I don’t recall any rust. As far as the canteens, there is also a separate piece that has a folding handle that can be used as a cup or to heat food in. We were always taught to clean everything well and turn the items upside down to drain. I am 65 and still have the mess kit and canteen. I bought modern plastic canteens that always leaked after dropping a few times. Metal is heavier to carry but the old stuff is thicker and constructed by workers who took pride in making them. Nothing is worse than going on a long hike and having your canteen drip leaving little or nothing for you to drink.
Super cool, I inherited a WW1 mess kit that I used for camping for years until someone told me it likely had lead in it.
@@oceanceaser44 It’s amazing how we all survived. Lead crystal has at least 24% lead in it. Older ceramic paint for pottery did as well. Lead does leach into food and the longer the food is in contact, the more lead is leached. The higher the acidity of food, the more lead is leached. People still drink from lead crystal glasses, but it’s advised not to store wine in lead crystal decanters. I doubt that eating food off of the mess kit occasionally would affect you since it’s probably consumed quickly unless you cooked the food in it. Older pewter contained lead as well. Several years ago, there was concern that children’s costume jewelry contained lead. Older buildings were painted with lead based paint and peeling paint caused issues in children especially by children chewing on it and it was banned in the 70’s. Our gasoline used to contain lead and other products such as solder contain lead. Lead toxicity builds up over time if exposed consistently so if you cooked with it, stored food in it, especially acidic food, and ate off of it daily you might eventually get lead to accumulate.
One of the benefits? of war production was lots of surplus equipment when the war ended.
As the phrase goes: "Infantryman win battles. Logistics win wars."
..and this was a prime example of that. The phrase is very apt today, as we see Russian forces bogged down outside Kyiv. You never aim at armoured tanks, you aim at fuel tankers. In the allies case, in WW2, Jerrycans would've been vital as part of their logistics tool.
The Army of my country has a similar saying, "Logistics might not win the war (outright), but without logistics, wars cannot be won."
As a former infantryman from early to mid OEF/OIF who's married to a supply clerk, I completely agree. Though I still call my wife a POG all the time
lite in vFäntree
*Kiev
@@HoorayTV21 looks like the spelling has become kyiv, as kiev is translated from Russian as opposed to kyiv from Ukrainian. So I don't think it can kiev just yet. You can ask where Leningrad is at the same time, perhaps?
Fuel logistics of warfare is unfortunately very timely, seeing all the Russian tanks stranded without fuel. Great video as usual
I know, didn’t realise how pertinent the timing war!
@@CalumRaasay loving the Freudian typo!
@@patchthesinclair5896
#MeToo
That's all I could think about haha
To be fair putin has sent in random lads that were forced into war or jail time if they declined. Many of these guys are operating old soviet tanks, untrained and it shows. Many have been captured and have said they'd rather be a prisoner of war than to go back to Russia and probably be executed /jailed for not wanting to go to war. Many have only been trained for a week or two, nothing more. A lot of them are realizing they are basically being sent in to die and are abandoning tanks and equipment.
Really great explanation, I still use one of such similar canister till today (made by a East Germany Company that still exists and was former known as Blechformwerke Bernsbach).
I think you forgot to mention two more great features:
- the spout has a outward bended edge to make it impossible to let liquid run down the outside while pour out liquid (try this with a plastic canister)
- the spoud is of one side of these canister halfes not only because of easier manufacturing, but also to make it easier to pour out a full can by hand. So if you hold it with the opposite flat side to the ground it is easy to pour out even small quantities of liquid.
I have use Jerry cans for offroad racing for 30 years, and have ten VERY early Jerry cans, and the design is remarkably effective. I have had hundredsof knock-offs over the years, and none of them have been as effective or resilient as the old ones. My most treasured tools for sure.
I can't compare to the old ones, but Wavian is what you seek for new production.
2:25 somebody's at the back window!
Local ghost
Never realized or appreciated how well designed the Jerry can was. The lid design is really cool.
Yes, the Nazis had some really good ideas.
When I started watching, I thought: “no way he’ll be able to talk for 30 minutes about a Jerrycan.’” Obviously I was wrong! Very interesting! 😃 👍🏻
mind candy
“If this video get 100,000 views…” FOUR MILLION VIEWS LATER… Congratulations on the overwhelming success of this video. I had absolutely no idea that the story of the Jerry can was so compelling. Great job putting this together.
Yeah, I’m surprised so many people enjoy watching videos about the Nazis. They had really good ideas.
Back when I was a long distance technical courier I used to keep my old Jerry can of emergency fuel behind the side door of my van. One day I'd just finished some work at a little old couples house, and was carrying my toolbox and a box of broken kit back to my van. The old guy had decided to help me by carrying my clipboard, so he was there when I opened my vans side door. He stood there squinting at the jerry can for a couple of seconds, then suddenly started calling out for his wife to come quick, and something about me "Having one of her Jerry cans" ?!?!?
It was a bit of a shock because I was assuming that he was accusing me of stealing it, but it turned out that during the war, while this guy was out fighting, his wife had decided to do her part by taking a job to help the war effort, and had been one of the girls who worked making these cans !
My Jerry can's from 1944, and she said that she was working there all through that year, so there was an ever so slight chance that it could have even been one of the can's she'd assembled. Dispite these things being turned out in their thousands, She seemed genuinely surprised to see one still being used for it's intended purpose over 60 years later. We chatted for a few minutes about how they made them, but even though it was actually pretty interesting I had to cut the conversation short because I was already late for my next drop off. :(
This inadvertently brought me back to my youth in the 70s when there were army surplus stores everywhere. You could get all kinds of really cool stuff dirt cheap.
that continued well into the 90's and early 00's to some extent, and they did indeed sell Jerry cans, all of them Olive Drab for some reason. I thought it was an American thing, had no idea the Germans where the ones to design it.
I miss the food surplus stores. Now all the good surplus gets left overseas, or destroyed as “too dangerous for civilians”
I remember seeing an entire deep sea divers rig (copper helmet) with compressor in an army surplus store when i was a kid.
@@DFX2KX The name Jerry can is big clue to its origins 😊
@@davesy6969 cool find! It would be awesome to have one of those!
Does anyone else's wife ask them " what the hell are you watching"?
As a 13 year old child…
No
No. I usually have to show her and say something like “man, you should really watch this”. Then I just a mhmm back and she’s on candy crush.
Literally on this exact video lolol
No ball and chain
She always says "you watch the weirdest stuff"
About the shape... the first things that come to mind when I see the "bubble" on the back is the extra room for gas fumes from gasoline. If it was filled to the brim, gas wouldnt have a place to expand, making it much more prone rupture/explode.
About the sides, the groves also make the jerry cans not stick to each other when wet. Imagine them stacked on a truck and rained on, a large flat side would make the cans really hard to separate because you would have the suction from two surfaces with water and also the weight of the jerry can itself.
The angled "edges" also means you can throw them.. like literally throw... and they will align nicely with each other instead of the edges hitting other cans and you having to go on top of the truck to re-align them. It also means they can slide on the ground, so you can throw them and they will slide downhill instead of catch dirty and start rolling downhill uncontrollably
He never mentioned whether/if some of the specifications allowed them to be stacked easily? (eg, some sort of interlocking ridges)
The stackability was mentioned a few times my friend
When I was in the Australian army we had a Jerry can from 1957 and another one from 1958 in my vehicles kit. This was in 2019. So at the time they were over 60 years old and still in circulation.
They don't make them like they used to.
We do have a new and an old german one at home, they're identical, except for the paint and liner. Both accept the spout, but as you said, pouring works so well, it's usually not needed. The new one was gifted to me at my 18th birthday and was filled with diesel(cola and beer).
Cola beer sounds delicious
@@nickg3664 That sounds like a disgusting combination.
@@dickJohnsonpeter always has to be someone, doesn’t there? Who knew it’d be you?
@@dickJohnsonpeter what does sberadht mean?
has anyone noticed the person looking from the window with a flashlight in the background around 2:20?!!
The "Jerry can" is one of those design case studies,
where everybody just agrees, yeah it was pretty much the best designed fuel can of ww2,
still used today.
The greatest feats of engineering are often the littlest things.
Good design is very often intended to make using the tool as effortless as possible. Things that require little effort often go unnoticed.
Like the US investing a million dollars in a pen that would write in space.....and the Russians just used a pencil. xD
@@nephicus339 you'd appreciate that $1,000,000 pen when you get graphite dust in your eyes, lungs, and sensitive lab equipment
@@nephicus339 There's more to that story, the US knew that pencil graphite particles in zero G are a potential electrical fire hazard so that's why pencils were a big no to them. The Russians ended up adopting the million dollar pen too eventually for the same reason.
Sometimes a great feat of engineering comes from someone who knows nothing technical, but because of that isn't blinded to simple things. A case in point is Miss Tilley's orfice, which allowed British fighter planes to level the playing field against technically superior fuel injected aircraft, basically a flat washer repurposed to great effect by a simple clerk...
I bought a new jerry can at the first of this year (Live in Texas, preparing against another winter power failure like we had last year). I stopped this video in the middle and got mine out of the garage to follow along with the discussion of the features. This brand-new production made in Latvia and sold on Amazon is almost identical to the late '30s German design. Interestingly, it is labeled as a "NATO fuel can".
Well Germany is a NATO country, so it is technically correct.
Huh...Did not know we produced and exported jerry cans lol. Nice
@@Mixz1890 I think it was made by Valpro.
We make some things here too. Will be glad to bring them over if uninvited guests come your way. We got your back.
I bought a used on from my old boss’s former bf for 25 dollars it was red and has a G on it labeled as gas (though it had diesel in it) this on is a formal military one from what I’ve been told but I’m gonna repaint it military green, unfortunately it doesn’t have this cool spout just a spin on cap but I have a unique fluid transfer pump that has a gas station style filler neck on it so u can manage lol
@Water King I lived in Upstate NY for years. Even there 0F with no heat or power would be considered tough conditions. For me the hardest part was finding generator fuel at a gas station that had both power to run the pumps and fuel left to pump.
“ Soldiers win battles, logistics wins wars”
Great video!
Dude you took a metal fuel container (that i had no real interest in really) and made me appreciate how much work actually went into it wow
Great video! I was in the US Army for 14 years. Unfortunately, I can state, having much personal experience, that we are NOT using the superior Jerry Can design. I spent a lot of time using the inferior, fuel-only, American can design with the rolled seams and silly screw-on cap that needed a wrench to open. And to pour out of it you needed a funnel that screwed in place of the cap. Due to the shape, it is called a Donkey Dick. The cap was attached to the can via a small, short, chain that breaks easily and inevitably gets lost.
Naturally, someone will troll me and tell me I'm an idiot, so as a caveat I will state that the can I described was being used in every field unit in which I served. There may very well be other units somewhere using the better can. Also, I left the service 27 years ago, so maybe the US Army has upgraded their fuel can design in the meantime.
I super enjoyed your research, use of video, and your script. Your delivery was spot-on as well. I am looking forward to viewing more of your content! At the time I am watching (3 March 2022) this video has received 1,625, 785 views! Congratulations!
My first jerry cans were the screw on cap design purchased at a army-navy store in the 60's.
Everything you say is true. And even the newer poly cans suck.
"so maybe the US Army has upgraded their fuel can design" to 1930s standards...
as a US Army Veteran Cook. I often used that plastic one you mention, for field cooking. We trained using it pretty often. I got out in 2015, and served 6 years. The entire time we called it donkey dick.
To add one, another important flaw. The issued donkey dick would often break. People would just tighten it to hard that it snaps the end. We actually just used makeshift funnels to fuel our burners for cooking, because of how often they snapped.
I got out the same year as you. Can confirm we were still using those crappy screw cap cans.
My dad, who was a senior army vehicle engineer, told me that those indentations and the angular bulge on the side of the Jerrycan were to give the sidewalls rigidity, preventing the metal sides from bulging from fuel expansion or being crushed when carried empty, it is actually the camel's hump at the top rear of the Jerrycan that allows for expansion. Surprisingly 20 litres of diesel can expand to almost 21 units of diesel in hot (e.g. desert) temperatures. So, an airtight 20-litre Jerrycan needs space to hold the additional volume of just under 1 extra litre of fluid (which, being a fluid, isn't compressible) by compressing the air held in that camel's hump. Those corrugations on the sides are simply for rigidity (as, where the sides to flex, as is suggested in this video, you'd have the risk of a massive fuel spillage when you opened a can that'd been carried to a tropical climate.) That camel's hump, as I term it, has is more about fuel expansion than floatation, although Jerrycans are actually designed to float as (I suspect) a fortuitous consequence of having that air pocket in the hump.
Rick
Both air and diesel are fluids. Right idea, wrong explanation.
@@JimWhitaker Air is a gas.
@@JimWhitaker Obviously Rick meant fluid lato sensu - liquids.
What else seems wrong?
Sounds very plausable, gas being hugely more compressable than a liquid + the fact it would be very hard to fill that hump.
I'm not sure why having an indentation would make the metal side more "bendy", but might make it stronger, or less slippy if on it's side etc.
Pay attention to the shape of the sides. The lines have nocommon center. This makes it stronger than an X.
Didn't think I would sit through a 30 minute video about jerry cans, but I'm glad I did. This was really interesting.
Thanks! I have an old, but good-conditioned American Gerry Can in my shed that I use regularly. It's painted red and is stamped USMC into the base. I'll have to research it to see if it has a manufacturing year code or whatever! The screw cap & chain is a bit of a pain, indeed!
Never actually seen a steel Jerry can, since the ones used nowadays in the US are made of really heavy plastic.
Couple years ago i bought one jerrycan made in USSR during the last years of their existence. Steel, heavy and durable and cost only 10€ meaning it was cheaper then new plastic ones.
Also bought a replacement gasket for the filler cap and metal extension nozzle for helping refueling as the fuel fill holes are quite deep in modern cars. What is amazing is that all those three things fit together even though none of the three were made in same country and all were made as cheaply as possible.
You can still find metal ones but they're totally boutique priced up.
Still buy them here in Australia down at the local hardware store, watching this makes me want to go buy a few more to add to the six I have in my garage ;-)
@@CaveJohnsonAperture Sportsman's Guide sells steel one for $35.99. Can't speak to their quality though. Stainless steel ones too, for $90!
It's 100% worth buying a steel one. No more spilling gas, no weirdness with the nozzle stopping you from emptying the can all the way. Saves a lot of headaches.
Im still using a 1941 Jerry Can in perfect condition.
I wouldn't mind having all the fuel its had in it over the years .
I have one i cut a hidden door in the bottom that i carry "Goods" that i want to be kept secret.
It sitts with my other Jerry Cans in back of my truck not looking unusual.
What an informative video.
Stay safe everyone
Mad Max coming soon to neighborhood near you?
@@NobodyCaresALot
I do live just out of an Australian outback desert opal mining town ..
Mad Max lifestyle is just a normal part of living here.
Take care man !
@@charliepearce8767 Damn mate, how hot does it get in summer? It barely gets over 40 here in Sydney.
@@charliepearce8767 Cooper Peady?
Not a secret anymore, mate.
Hi from Australia. I've really enjoyed watching this video and learning of the history behind the Jerry can. I have an old Jerry can in my garage that I keep fuel for my lawn equipment in. I was prompted, after watching this video, to have a closer look at it. The can is date stamped 1973 and was manufactured by a company called Sandrik. Apparently Sandrik still make Jerry cans in the Czech Republic using the original tooling from WW2. Great video!
I wanted to get some metal fuel cans and a friend offered me a couple of Army surplus cans with the screw caps. Having used a couple of those monstrosities before I politely declined and kept looking. Ended up buying some of the NATO pattern cans (GLEG) that more faithfully reproduce the original German design. Absolutely perfect. They just don't leak, even if bouncing around the bed of a pickup truck on their side.
Did you get one with a screw on hose?
Did you get one with a screw on hose?
All my father has are the American style ones with the screw cap.
And yes, they leak when on their side...
An old US Army officer told me about the superior German fuel cans, now I know why he despised the Blitz knockoffs.
I've actually found out recently that my grandpa's canister is an actual WW2 relict found on the field after some German soilders have left it there... xD Obviously it has been fixed repainted over the decades and he still uses it.
i can imagine someone zealously protecting their wonder can from COs and confiscation following the war (no i dont know much about wwii military structures)
Imagine something being manufactured to last
@@dane1382 not sure about jerry cans, but unlike today, during WW2 the military was allowed to keep much of what they found as “spoils of war”. Many, many soldiers mailed all sorts of items back home. Items including everything from clocks to guns to, perhaps, jerry cans. Can’t do it any more though. What used to be “spoils of war” would now be considered stealing. We’re much more aware of the victim status of the civilian populations now, regardless of whether they support their country or not. Unless they’re fighting, they’re generally just trying to survive and don’t deserve to have their shot stolen by us. So we look on it differently now just as we look differently on civilian casualties now.
But in WW2 our guys brought all sorts of things back, including German women! 🤣
Product quality appreciated 👌
wtf is a "relict"?
Intresting note: For D-Day , some 8,000,000 Jerry cans were used. By the time of Operation Market Garden only some 2,000,000 could be found. I have a number of British WW2 dated Jerry Cans and 2 US cans. I still use the British ones, the American ones are 'For Display Only' Two of my British cans, which are , and have always been Sand coloured , were given to me some years back by an old farmer in Normandy, who had 'aquired' them post D-Day, at Goldbeach. Both go on my WW2 Dodge trucks, a WC51 Weapon Carrier and a WC54 Ambulance.
You were probably over there stealing them off the army so you can wait 70+ years to make a massive profit.
Genius idea
👁👄👁🍿
You missed the fact that the bossing also allows drainage. When the cans are stacked on their sides, water can not collect between them and cause rust.
Good point!
My great grandfather died at 35 in WW1 from drinking water from fuel cans in the trenches. Ulcerated stomach. Left a trail of hardship for my great grandmother, and still for my great uncle today. Living with the ramifications.
Here's hoping that never happens to anyone ever again.
Great video btw, very enjoyable!
Wow what a horrible way to go, the conditions those guys had to go through is just unreal.
Mine died of cancer post-war, thought to be a product of chemical weapon-related cancer, possibly benzyl chloride or some other alkylating gas judging by the musty odour my grandmother says he described it and the people affected by it as having, a product of the alkyl groups being forcibly shoved onto the proteins in the skin and bits of fabric and leather.
@@CATASTEROID934 Likely he died from gas mask filters. Back then they contained all sorts of gnarly chemicals, in some cases even asbestos which causes long-term cancers and what not.
And the same thing happened to US Marines and Infantry in the Pacific during WW2 where drums which once held aircraft fuel were filled with water because they had nothing else to put the water in on their supply ships. Given the logistics of that war it took a couple months to solve the problem as all the new drums were back home.
“Knew just how important the fuel supply chain was going to be in their plans for fast-moving blitzkrieg warfare” And yet it seems a certain modern country still hadn’t learned that lesson 90 years later…
@@alexroge6495 I guess that’s a problem if you try to start a war with conscripts that aren’t convinced that they are saving the country from some threat
@@isaactrockman4417 using not just conscripts but even regular troops who didn't know they were going to war, the reports suggests they all thought they were just on manoeuvres.
Should have watched this video!
I remember hearing about how good jerry cans were on the history channel many years back, but you've done an excellent job telling it's story. Thank you.
When you say “If this video get 100,000 views…” 5 MILLION VIEWS LATER… this is the power of good content! Really a successful compliation. I am adding the subscription
Yes I got petrol in my mouth to film that intro.
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Oof, that's rough! There are a number of water purifiers now that use the Jerry can's design as their foundation
So, who was snooping around outside your window, with a torch, then..???
Having been involved in manufacturing of different metal parts and products over the years the changes made to the Jerry Can to make the Bltz Can was mainly to simplify and speed up the cycle time by removing unnecessary parts and processes. The US came up with a product that was good enough for the job and easy to produce.
A bit of trivia the American MB and GPW WWII Jeeps had a funnel that slid out of the fuel tank so it could be filled from a Blitz Can with out a spout or funnel. That is why the fill port on them are so large.
I know your pain, I accidentally drank about a mouth full of gas by accident. It was being stored in a Mountain Dew bottle, for what reason I still don’t know. I’m fairly sure someone syphoned it out of a lawn mower. By the end of the day the only way I could stop trowing up from the smell of my own breath was by drinking mouth wash, also probably something you shouldn’t drink, but it helps. Chewing about a pack of mint gum didn’t hurt ether.
Mate, that is not the reason at all, petrol and diesel are both lighter than water and a full container of either will float.
The reason that space is there is to allow for expansion of the fuel, get your facts right.
You can't carry 20L of fuel, but Jerry can
2:30 min....someone is in the window w/a lamp....wtf????
I dealt with hundreds of these in my time in service. I never knew how much of a game changer their design was, I did know about their floating abilities but I didn't know why, the empty spot was genius
Great work. Love this topic! Such a simple overlooked item that literally changed the coarse of the war and history. Thank you!
Did someone photobomb your video? 2:13 mark.
Yeah I saw that too, light can be seen at 2:12 in the window.
The Raasay Ghost!
I too noticed it, and searched the comments for anyone else who noticed it
Saw that. The nosy neighbor. Mine called and said "I knew you weren't home. I looked in your garage window and saw you car was gone".
Calum, you've an amazing talent to pluck somewhat obscure topics seamingly out of thin air and transform them into wonderful, interesting and, yes, entertaining video. Proud to be a Patron!
Thank you Andreas! Really appreciate that.
Another awesome episode Calum! Having lived in the remote West Highlands all my life,I am very familiar with the ubiquitous Jerry can ,and the absolute brilliance of its design. Some of the originals I have seen also incorporate a small lug which I believe was to allow multiple cans to be clipped together with a locking pin for safer transport,ie,so they wouldn’t fall over or rattle around when empty. I still have a couple of German originals,and also R.A.F issue copies. Another favourite container of mine is the .303 ammo box,an incredibly tough and useful item ,I still carry one every day as my go-to toolbox in my truck- perhaps this could be another topic for you to do a deep dive into some day? Cheers fella!👌🏴
The raised bump at the top is likely to prevent filling completely. Gasoline has a high vapor pressure and can easily rupture containers if overfilled. This is why you should never top off your fuel tank at a gas station after it cuts off automatically. It's also why the red gas containers have a fill line. Never fill above that line.
The recommended fill level is 80%.
The Jerry Can should float even if it was 100% filled as gasoline is less dense than water.
In the US Army we still use very close versions in the field. In training and for day to day they use the plastic ones which are much cheaper and less sturdy. Due to high pilferage rates the metal cans are kept under lock and key used only during active deploymenst.
In the military for the better part of 25 years. Never saw a metal one even in a transportation unit. I’m calling bullshit.
@@jfarill834 28 years myself. Those really big rail containers at the back of the motorpools are where the supply nco locks up all the non serial numbered expendable items like driver toolsets, driver/mechanic coverallls, 100mph tape, 550 cord, the stanley thermos bottles, etc. to include the metal gas cans and 'donkey dick' pouring spots.
You say that but every time i go to a hardware store, the plastic ones are always more expensive
@@TheTeremaster hot take but plastic Jerry cans are better in most ways these days. Tough plastic is more resilient and lighter but more importantly accumulate less condensation
@@TheTeremaster Are you crazy? Military grade metal jerry cans cost around seventy dollars. I have yet to see a plastic gas can of any shape that costs that much.
I would not be surprised if that 'modern' jerry can is a Chinese knock off give the flaws you high lighted, it would have been 'modified' to make it cheaper to produce.
Vaughan, it is clearly a cheap Chinese knock off built to look like a NATO can from a distance, but NOT built to the old NATO specification. Caveat Emptor. Proper NATO cans are still in production in Latvia (Wavian is a dominant brand). They are still manufactured in Israel as well, under contract for the IDF. They were being manufactured in Australia a few years ago, but I am not certain whether that is still the case.
@@ivermec-tin666 There are quality nato makers such as Valpor (Latvia) , Wavian (Germany), GELG (Poland), all 3 are avalbe in the USA , Wavian being teh most common and expensive
@@DeminicusSCA Only the Wavian can with its proprietary childproof spout is compliant in all 50 states of the USA (EPA, CARB, and DOT). A non compliant fuel can is subject to seizure on parklands, and can net you a ticket by a zealous park ranger or policeman. If you live in a state that enforces gas can regulations at the gas station, such as New Jersey, a non compliant can may be rejected at the point of fueling. This is why I point to the Wavian cans. It is my understanding that Wavian and Valpro cans are made in the same factory. I find that the QC is better on the Wavian cans. I have seen brand new Valpro cans that do not sit firmly flat on the ground, but rock a little. I have never seen a Wavian can with this imperfection. GELG cans appear to be a lower cost option. I have never seen one first hand.
There are some states where the EPA rules are not actively enforced. If you live in such a state, you can source a can without nozzle, and purchase a traditional NATO nozzle separately. In all honesty, you would be fine with one or two nozzles for your entire collection of cans.
Personally, I have managed to buy up a handful of pre-ban NATO cans, and bypassed these ridiculous and expensive childproof nozzles. Pre-ban cans are grandfathered into the CARB and EPA compliance scheme.
@@ivermec-tin666 I live in a free state Oklahoma , i have a few of the wavian nozzles i use for small engines. but am mostly using diesel , and i use the Nato Swiss metal flex spouts , they are non carb but are the best. i dont transport the cans with a nozzle as the only time the cans leave the farm is to go to the oil company tom get more red diesel. diesel is not treated the same as Gas via DOT, but any case i dont care, i wont ask permision to transport fuel to my farm and i have no plants to take them to federal land or a blue state . i have 12 valpro Cans and 4 wavian , i have not see this rocking issues, but all my valpor are marked 2017 , i was able to contract valpor and purchase the just the clamp and cap part of teh nozzles to make some custom spouts that pull fuel out of a can to an attach the a rep lament Honda generator fuel cap. making for a super extended run time on the little inverter type. they have a fuel pump and will pull a vaccuim allowing it to siphon from a external tank. they are really great cans , i did something similar for my saw mill , the fuel tank is just a Jerry can now. it has a custom cap that just attaches to the can
@@DeminicusSCA Great ideas here. You are lucky to be in a free state. I am in CA. I use my cans exclusively for diesel. I picked up a couple of Swiss made "donkey dong" nozzles a couple of years ago. They are of the highest quality, but will not fit the newest vehicle filler holes, which have restrictors on them. All my cans are pre-ban and exempt from CARB and EPA regs. This is the way to go in a blue state, IMO.
I absolutely love these longer spouts about things like this! Almost like a debate or conversation. The format and tone of your videos keep me coming back! I normally wouldn't pay any attention to these things but if i miss a single word i find myself rewinding. Absolutely stunning how thorough you are with your research and history. Thank you Calum!
What would be interesting is to compare the original to the jerry can used today. When I was in the army, we never had those proper jerry cans, not even in warzones. We only had plastic ones that we're clearly inspired by this one but still plastic.
Love whoever has the flashlight and is waving in the window around 2:07.
The ingenuity is incredible. My wife's family lived next to the inventor, Vinzenz Grünvogel, in Schwelm Germany. His daughter still lives there. Lovely little town right next to Wuppertal, known for its Schwebebahn (a hundred year old hanging monorail system, still in use today). Also quite close to the also famous Neanderthal.
I am very proud of the inventiveness of the German people. A country that tried to weather the storm of the Versailles treaties And turned itself around to the chagrin of Western societies.. While the Rest of the world was still in a depression financial state Germany became Paramount in Doing what they have always done best... Breaking away and creating their own system of banking could not and would not be tolerated by The Western Banking system. To this day The psychological warfare inflicted on the German people it's still running rampant and it's very sad.. Blessings
That‘s groovy. All of the region around Wuppertal is very nice. And the city itself has a great reputation for beeing the home of some great inventors and their inventions. It’s also called the craddle of German industrialisation.
I lived in Hoesel/close to Ratingen. I passed Neandertal twice a day going to school by train.
@@fosterkennel649 You don't have issues, you have a subscription.
@@fosterkennel649 This is frighteningly untrue and full of dangerous myths. German economic recovery after the Great Depression was fuelled by unsustainable military spending, encouraging workers to work longer hours (through ideology), slave labour from the huge numbers of political prisoners and stealing Jewish property. Hitler's Germany went massively into debt, which they expected to pay back from plundering the countries that they would occupy.
You should cure your ignorance on these matters by reading some history. I suggest you start with The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and the first two books of Richard J Evans famous trilogy.
No "psychological warfare" was ever inflicted on the German people and this siege mentality myth was one of the causes of WW2. As for your claim it's happening today, I'm 99% sure that's a dog whistle and I know what hate you're promoting.
Maybe if the "great German inventiveness" before 1945 had gone into improving society instead of preparing to wage war on an entire continent and more, millions of us would have got to spend time with our grandfathers and there would be a lot more Jews in the world today. Because the country that this video creator lives in was home to people who invented things like the telephone, television and penicillin; isn't that better than missiles, weapons and Zyklon B?
Great video - always had a real appreciation for the Jerry Can.
What I can't get my head around is how time and time again, our soldiers are knowingly sent to war with inferior tools and equipment - and yet, they still manage to find willing volunteers. Not only that, but also, the top knobs are often if not always fully aware of the superior kit available, either to buy or to copy, but they don't out of sheer pig headed pride and bloody politics! Following the family tradition of joining the services was the best thing I never did!
I caught myself nationalistically thinking "typical American arrogance," but quickly reminded myself there are plenty of examples from my own country, Britain. I've forgotten most of my war history, but in peacetime, the automotive industry was nationalised and the lord who owned Jaguar was put in charge. Rover at that time could build very good reliable cars and were gearing up to export to the biggest car market there ever was; the USA. Lord Jaguar wasn't having a rival be better than his own brand! He destroyed Rover's plans, costing the country a good bit of income and a lot of pride. Over the next 20 years, the quality of all our cars went down even as the quality of Japanese cars was rising.
This opening is ingenious
If you open a completely full jerry can, you tilt it backwards and the liquid will fill the bubble while the outlet is free of liquid. This allows you to open it without spilling fuel. Specially important when pressure has been built up inside the can.
*Especially
@@UnChannelDuVulpineX *'specially
@@Puddlesoak You're fukin' special 😏
This is clever design, without wasting space since the handle takes the upper space anyways.
@@Puddlesoak *'Specially
Wow - I had no idea about any of this. I didn't know that the German's invented it, hence the name Jerry for German's. Thanks for an excellent video full of great info. Cheers.
The germans didn't have a firm belief in victory just because they were "insane".
They were the leading technological power of the world, and they knew it.
I think you got the naming convention backwards, they (the allies) named that fuelcan (jerry can) after the Germans, which they had named Jerry before the widespread knowledge of their fuelcan.
@@DarkDutch007 Yep, absolutely correct and understood - they were The Jerry's to us!! Cheers mate.
Excellent information and presentation! I am now retired but it was only a few years ago bought my first real metal jerry can. Having struggled with dreadful pouring plastic cans for years I was immediately impressed by all the features you describe. I even extolled the virtues of the "new" can to my wife, pointing out the nifty cap linkage and how well it seals and doesn't flop down when pouring ... I don't think she quite managed to match my own enthusiasm for the product so I'm glad to see someone else appreciates it and has investigated the history so comprehensively!
1992, working in a F&V wholesaler, said to my manager, "if I replace that petrol can, can I have it?" "I could say it got run over by one of the forklifts." Two days after I did the swap, the brand new can was run over by a forklift,I still have my AMPOL stenciled can as one of my most treasured possessions. A 1942 Jerrycan, now joined by a 1960's Australian can. Hard to tell the difference.
Part of my army training was to be able to swim (backstroke...sorta) with a full jerry can on your chest.
2:20 uhm who tf is this at the window?
😳
Would probably be his partner wondering wtf Calum is still out in the garage re-re-re-refilming the same script over and over.. :)
@@--Nath-- 🥳
Speaking from experience you can also increase the amount of Jerry cans a person can carry by putting wooden poles through the handle and carrying them between two people. Two or three wooden tent poles usually have the strength to carry 6 cans, and help spread out the weight so you can carry it on one shoulder. Helps if you though a rag or coat over your shoulder for comfort.
Good point, but man people need to be carefuly carry heavy stuff on their shoulders like that, can fuck them up five ways to sunday!
Merrill's Marauders did that in Burma.
That round cap with the rolled steel "ears" turns up all over the place in 20th-century American military equipment, and it's always a pain in the butt. It doesn't want to turn, except when it turns without permission, usually when no one's looking. The "ears" have the amazing power to bust your thumb _and_ the knuckle of your index finger at the same time. The cap itself is easy to lose, which you can tell the War Department knew because in a lot of applications, it's chained to the can/tank/vehicle/whatever with a length of weird flat chain that likes to get twisted and lock up in strange, inflexible configurations. Truly a masterpiece of industrial design in its own right.
Yeah I’m a bit confused by that weird cap, are the ears for a wrench to grab onto?
I can sort of see the logic of the military planners wanting to keep the same caps/fillers on all canisters but they don’t seem like the easiest thing in the world to operate
@@CalumRaasay I think they're just to give a gloved hand something to push against to open/close it without slipping, although I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that more than one soldier over the years has improvised some kind of spanner to help it along, because they really do love to get stuck.
My father has one of those cans. I've never heard of it being called a "Blitz can". The one he has is stamped USA. One good feature is that there exists a screw-in goose-neck spout so it will be easier to prevent spills compared to the German design.
@@CalumRaasay This cap is very similar to the larger cap that was on the steel 55 Gal (US) drum. I don't know that is the case however I think that this design of cap was all ready in use in the US Army and it seemed simpler to use a design that was use. But this is all speculation.
We have a nozzle (about 6 inches long) that clips into the lugs that the clamps the cap down, it’s ideal for fuelling into awkward filler necks without spilling fuel.
The Jerry cans in the US are a bit different. The bottom edge weren't quite as rounded, more of a rolled seam. I knew one intimately. When I was seven we were on a Jeep outing. We were on pavement on a mountain road when we encountered a drunk driver. We attempted to pass on a curve when the drunk driver came over on us forcing us onto the embankment in a fishtail sideways skid. We then connected with a pile of boulders and went airborne landing in a copse of trees which lessened our impact. They say if it wasn't for the trees, no one would have survived the impact for ity was roughly 40 feet down. There were 3 adults and four children in the Jeep station wagon. The adults in the front seat with one child on the lap of an adult and in the back we had a futon folded against all of the camping gear with us other three children on the futon. No seat belts. They had all of us laid out on a blanket next to the wreck on the side of the embankment, except for me. Little did they know, I was buried under all of the camp gear which, when we went airborne, so did it, and when we came down. it all came down on me. I was hit squarely between the eyes by the bottom of a full jerry can fracturing my skull. I regained consciousness and heard my father in a panic asking people, there was a 30 mile back up, asking people to help look for a missing child. He was screaming "has anybody seen a child on the road anywhere? We are missing a child!" At that point I cried out and they came over a dug me out of the wreck.
Thank you. Great history lesson on something so simple and synonymous with the war. Too bad modern manufacturing wants to make things cheap instead of something that will last 100 + years.
A big middle finger to corner cutting and planned obsolescence.
This was one of the videos that you come across on the internet that you don't expect to come across but find oddly entertaining. It was timely for me in that I recently attempted to fill a lawn mower with a poorly designed 5 gallon plastic can and ended up making a mess all over the lawn mower. Also we tend to transport extra cans of fuel on our sailboat which are bulky compared to the jerry can. Thank you so much for putting up this enjoyable video Cheers!
Suggest purchase of justrite metal gas can. They are pricey. You’ll never need to purchase another gas can ever. Cans are DOT approved. Well worth the price
Wavian has two packs of Jerrycans with spouts on Amazon.
It was a long held aim of mine to own a jerry can, I finally picked up a couple at a car show a few years ago (didn't want to cheat and buy new), another dream fulfilled! Simple pleasures ;-)
I have use this Jerry can full of fuel and found it difficult to pour the diesel into the tank. because of the weight of the fuel.
The one improvement i would make is a grab handle cutout at the bottom corner of the can. So it make it easier to tip. pour the can fuel into the tank.
Or two grab handles at the bottom of both corners.
The contouring on the side , the seem and the general design of the handle are examples of what is known as bifurbication, which has become technology in itself. Bifurcation is the act of taking a sheet of metal which is large in area compared to thickness and canoeing it similar to if you have a sheet of paper , which obviously is not rigid but if allowed to be curved them it is. This gave rise to what are known as monocoque airframes and chassis that are very much how they are today , that is , rigid but without the need for any cross bracing. Also it would not surprise me to discover the welded seem was created without heat but using an ultrasound transformer instead.
Canoeing : observe a steel tape measure, then you have the idea.
The seam is a normal 'heat' weld as you can see by the old photos of the ladies in the factory
Facinating! Never knew that.
you’re overthinking it, it’s just a simple stamped sheet of metal that was simply given the indentations due basic physics of liquid reactions…it wasn’t different than automobile body paneling
I found two Jerry cans in a trash can at a racetrack. They have the recessed weld but I haven't looked closely enough to learn when or where its from. Thanks for the info!
Ghost sighting confirmed circa 2:14 👻
Spooked u
@@CalumRaasay The Horror... The Horror...
Also - great vid, Cal... I have been looking forward to this one.
2:10 That person in the window scared me ngl
Jerry Cans are really one of the biggest unappreciated developments of ww2. People take them for granted but the moment you ask why it's called Jerry Can, you get to go into a great rabbit hole. Great work!
First off they were called Gerry Cans(German)Note similar spelling. No "J" in German. Gerry sounds the same as Jerry. > Gary uses a "hard G" sound like gasoline. So, I knew a Gerry who was British, and Gary who got his name from his German parents.
. Comparing them to what the British were using which were simple sheet metal cans of an awkward size & shape & smaller capacity. They do not look strong enough to stand on. That bulge at the top of the original Gerry Can - it's main purpose would be to leave an airspace at the top for when liquids get warm, they expand so that air pocket would be enough space to allow the liquid to expand without distorting the metal can. The liquid also shrinks in cold weather, so the air space would be the cushion to prevent the Gerry can from distorting inward. The newer style Gerry cans do not have that bulge (because manufacturers are idiots) They also had a round opening for a large screw cap which means larger amounts of fuel can be poured out quickly, so spillage occurs. Unless you buy the screw on flexible spout. But U.S. military does not care about spillage as they had plenty of fuel. So they "GOOSH" it into the filler hole of a tank...and all over the tank and ground and they light up a smoke at the same time. If it really was gasoline they would be ON FIRE. TV movies so fake.
. Metal Gerry cans are no longer allowed to be filled up at service stations because of a possible spark? They only allow red plastic gas cans that are somewhat similar in shape to Gerry can. Mine never had a plastic liner...or a flexible filler neck.
Hmm, nice name.
There is a reason I have 30+ of them.
@@bunzeebear2973 I don't know where you're from but UK regulations specify a screw cap if you're filling from a filling station. (& the slogan "petroleum spirit highly flammable")
@@bunzeebear2973 It's Jerry. Literally any source you can find, both modern and contemporary to the world wars, it's always Jerry. Not Gerry. That goes for the cans, and for the nickname for the Germans alike.
Im german (Born 196x) and I never knew that the design was in fact german. I never gave it a thought, but seeing them mostly in military (Willy’s) and other 4x4 context I would have guessed they were from the UK or the US… funny.
This is hands down one of my favorite videos on the internet. Your delivery of the fascinating information on an item that by first glance seems mundane.
I would love to watch more content like this however I can only assume how much time and resources must've gone into this video.
I eagerly await similar videos. Thank you!
I can’t believe I watch 30mins on a “gas can”, but it was fascinating! Great video. Learned something new today.
2:12 theres a dude in the window lmaooo