Midwest Can 2310 Safe-Flo Auto Shut Off 2 Gallon Gas Can – Durable Fuel Container with FlameShield Safety System & Quick-Flow Spout - Red - 1 Pack

Why it's worth it

A 2-gallon HDPE can with a quick-flow spout that Midwest rates at 2.5 times the speed of a standard compliant nozzle, plus an auto-shutoff valve. It's light enough empty to carry with a finger and cheap enough to buy without thinking hard about it.

If you fuel one mower and maybe a snow blower, this is all the can you need. Two gallons and change fills a residential push mower several times over, and the whole thing weighs almost nothing empty. You can carry it in one hand and a bag of grass seed in the other.

The auto-shutoff is the feature to care about. The valve closes when the receiving tank fills, so you're not watching the neck and guessing. That's the exact moment fuel ends up on a hot muffler, and it's the leading way a routine refuel becomes an incident. Getting that on an entry-level can is unusual.

From our review of 8 gas cans and fuel spouts, by Ben Carter, Tech Editor

What we like

• +If you fuel one mower and maybe a snow blower, this is all the can you need
• +The auto-shutoff is the feature to care about
• +Midwest also builds in what it calls FlameShield — an internal flame mitigation device plus a vapor-locking spout
• +Speed matters more than most buyers expect

What to know

• –The auto-shutoff mechanism is also this can's weak point
• –Two gallons is limiting past a single mower
• –It's not an emergency-preparedness container