What if somebody left it there on purpose, expecting to need to refuel there? – I can’t actually think of any other good reason for it to have been there; at least, unless it looked like it might have fallen off a vehicle. Which seems unlikely, if it was standing up as in the picture.
I would definitely have left it. “Nobody in sight” doesn’t mean “mine to run off with.”
It was laying on its side when I found it. I had stood it up and opened it before I took this picture. The general context of the debris in this area gave me no reason to suppose that it belonged to anyone that was going to be coming back for it. I guess one never knows, but this certainly looked like a prime “finders keepers” situation.
I’m with the crowd that says “try it on your lawn mower”. If that’s not possible, no way I’m gambling on putting strange liquid into my vehicle’s gas tank. Dispose of the liquid if you can’t test it in something like a lawn mower and save the gas can. At least you got that much.
Isn’t there a phenomenon referred to as “trail angels” where people anonymously leave supplies along trails in harsh conditions, just in case it might save someone else’s life?
“Finders keepers,” sure, but how much time and effort have you already invested in taking someone else’s stuff? (Posting this thread & monitoring the responses included, plus whatever damage you may do to your lawnmower in the future.)
Seeing the area where you found it, I’m kind of glad you removed an abandoned can of fuel. There’s no forest fire there yet, but as a part-owner of a business in a nearby town, I thank you for getting it out of the forest.
I was “gifted” 5 gallons of high octane gas in a fancy nascar type metal container, looked good, clean. Source was a high end car restorer. Gummed up 3 small motors, (they would run for abit) before I realized it had gone bad. It had an onion like smell. Just glad I didnt put in my cars.
I never really thought of that aspect, but you may have a very valid point. I don’t know what risk there is or might ever be, of a fire in the area where I found this, but surely an abandoned can of gasoline in the area would not have any but an aggravating effect on any such risk. Probably not very much of an effect. I was impressed by the sealing mechanism of this can, and see little risk of any gasoline or vapors leaking out of it unless the can is damaged; which could occur over enough time if the paint deteriorates enough, allowing the underlying metal to rust, or of the rubber gasket deteriorates.
Or, if there’s a fire in the area already, that might cause the can to fail, releasing its contents and aggravating the fire.
For reference, the location where I found this can was 38°59’05.1"N 120°47’41.5"W. Google Maps shows the area looking pretty green, but that must have been in Spring or Autumn. When we were there, it was a lot more dry-looking, and probably a very effective place for a nasty fire to get started.
Time to read a bit about jerrycans. A very clever design. They are colour coded:
Furthermore, in the state of California, the following colours are mandated:[21]
- Gasoline: red;
- Diesel: yellow; and
- Kerosene: blue.
I’m wondering if there’s a feasible way to mount one to the outside of my 2020 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. From where we found it, I carried it in the cargo area, secured between other things with ratchet straps, but carrying a can of gasoline inside of a vehicle is really not a good practice. Even if the fuel inside of it is not reliably deemed to be good enough to use, the can itself is very clearly of high quality, and it’d be a shame not to make good use of it. And it would certainly not be a bad idea to have an extra can of fuel on hand, when venturing into some of the sorts of nowhere areas where this vehicle is built to go.
That’s why I’ve been surprised at all of the recommendations to put it in a lawn mower. I’ve always thought small carbureted engines were much more sensitive to bad gas than car engine. Some of that is the size of the gas tank: 1 gallon of questionable gas mixed with 12 gallons of fresh pump gas, versus half a gallon of questionable gas mixed with a half gallon of fresh gas in a mower tank.
I guess the only good solution is to put it in a rental car.
A vintage Jeep would have had something ready to fix a jerrycan to, but a 2020 model? That looks like a slick baby, I don’t see how to fix a jerrycan to it, not even on the roof.
First thought: Now that is practical thinking! Second thought: But do you ever rent a car in your hometown? Because carrying the jerrycan in a comercial flight to your destination to fill up the rental car a couple of hundred miles later can be unpractical.
But I like the way you think.
I never really understood the concept of “finders keepers.” It’s always just seemed like a weak justification for me to take something that didn’t belong to me.
Hell, whoever left it could have been on their way to pick it up. Without knowing, why assume?
I’ve always thought that modern fuel-injected engines were much more vulnerable to bad fuel than old carbureted engines. If I still had my first car, a 1969 Falcon station wagon, I would have no qualms at all about trying this fuel in it. Very worst case, it might not run as well on it as on better fuel, but I do not believe I would be at any risk at all of damaging it this way.
In most cases, I would agree.
I cannot know for certain, of course, but the location where I found this, the context in which I found it, seemed to very strongly suggest that this was something lost or abandoned, and that nobody was going to be coming back looking for it; and gave me no reason to assume any significant likelihood to the contrary. The area in which I found it was strewn with assorted debris, mostly spent shotgun shells and bullet casings, and random objects riddled with bullet holes. This can stood out mainly for not having been used as a target for such plinking, and if I were going to assume that it meant anything to anyone, that perhaps someone intended to shoot it, but had run out of ammunition, and might be coming back later to shoot at it.
With regard to @InternetLegend’s remarks, perhaps it is a good thing that I did remove it. As long as the can remained intact, and its contents well-contained, it posed little danger of being involved in the start of a nasty fire, but if someone was going to come back and start shooting at it, that could change very drastically.
I’ve always felt much more obligated to take care of something that doesn’t belong to me, that is temporarily in my possession, that to take care of something that is my own rightful property; to return it to its rightful owner in at least the same condition it was in when I took possession of it, if not better.
I can understand the position, from a low level of ethics, of wanting to abuse something that is rented, but I cannot related to it or reconcile it with my own ethical standards.
That would not be considered normal where I live. 
Regarding ethical standards: /s
Less to lose, and besides the Op doesnt have one.
Well, yeah, less to lose but the real objection seems to be that it wouldn’t be a very reliable test of the gasoline’s quality/suitability for automotive use.
I don’t know how common it is, in how many of what kind of places.
I grew up in Santa Barbara, and was aware that in the mountains above there, there was a place along East Camino Cielo Road known as “The Glass Factory”, which was a popular place to take various junk up just to shoot at it. That was on a much bigger scale than what I found a few days ago, where I found this can of gasoline, but it was in a similar spirit.
Yeah no, don’t risk your vehicle for what may be only $25 of gasoline.