Jerry Cans: The True Secret Weapon of WWII

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

No one is going to mention the sneaky peeker at 2:20?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

I love the fact you film for a brief second the Gerry-Can Killer in the back window at 2:15

So far so good. I’ve filled it twice and it’s great getting 13 gallons at one shot youtube.com/post/Ugkx-vlHjazTv30m_UAq9Ht-fuPo2jBx7… . 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.

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.

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"

“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.

I love how he decides to film 3 seconds of floating with the jerry can in freezing waters. Dedication