Take that, Big Brother!

Courtesy of a link provided by In The Middle Of The Right, I learned of a canny company that's taking full (and legal) advantage of the current regulations governing gas cans.  Readers may remember that these banned old-style jerrycans in 2009 - I stocked up just before they took effect.  They've also affected the design of the plastic gas cans and pouring spouts sold by many supermarkets and auto supply stores.  Since they came into effect, pouring has been much more difficult, thanks to the new anti-spill features.  (I find I spill more gas with the new cans than with the old ones!)  See 'How Government Wrecked The Gas Can' for more information.

Anyway, EZ-Pour has come up with an alternative for modern plastic gas cans, and another for jerrycans.  The company warns in capital letters:

'EZ-POUR REPLACEMENT SPOUT KIT IS DESIGNED AND SOLD AS REPLACEMENT PARTS SPECIFICALLY FOR PORTABLE FUEL CONTAINERS MANUFACTURED BEFORE JANUARY 2009'.

That's to clear their legal yardarm, of course.  The company notes, in more than one place, that a few minutes' work with a drill and a half-inch spade bit produces a vent hole in a plastic water can that accommodates the EZ-Pour 'push in vent' perfectly.  Do please note the emphasis on water can.  It would be illegal to do that to a post-2009 gas can, thereby converting it to the much more efficient pre-2009 design.  Furthermore, the company warns, 'Even though our spout will thread on the new cans, we do not promote using our spout to bypass the EPA emission standards on the new cans'.  So there. Srsly.

The company's jerrycan adapter allows its spouts to be used on such containers.  Since one can no longer buy (new) original, efficient-design clip-on spouts (which won't fit post-2009 jerrycans anyway), it's nice to have a viable alternative.  They offer a flame arrestor that works with all their spouts, and may be (ahem) 'used as a filter screen on our water spouts'.  I'm glad to hear that.  In that regard, the company warns (very seriously) (ahem) (underlined text is my emphasis):

IF YOU LIVE IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING STATES YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED BY LAW TO PURCHASE THE GAS CAN SPOUT: CALIFORNIA, CONNECTICUT, WASHINGTON D.C., DELAWARE, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, VIRGINIA. IF YOU LIVE IN ONE OF THESE STATES, YOU MAY PURCHASE THE EZ-POUR WATER CAN SPOUT INSTEAD.

The water can spout is, of course, sold with their helpful 'filter screen' included in the kit.

Hmmm . . . I'm in need of a few more gas containers . . . and now I'm aware of my need for some accessories, too!  Don't you just love being legal like this?





Peter