water cans...Plastic/Metal?

NewFoundFreedom

Adventurer
What is better to hold water in? Plastic or metal? Looking for the 5 gal kind.

Is the scepter water container the best to go with?

Where is the best place to get them?
 

CJCA

Adventurer
Probably just a matter of personal preference with plastic vs metal. I like the Scepter plastic ones. They’re light, quiet, don't leak and don’t rust.

The best deal out there for Scepters is at LCI INDUSTRIES @ $18.99 each with free shipping for orders over $50.00. You can't beat that deal anywhere.

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crusader

Adventurer
The best deal out there for Scepters is at LCI INDUSTRIES @ $18.99 each with free shipping for orders over $50.00.

That's what I have used for the past 5 years. That's a great price--It's what I paid for mine 5 years ago as part of a bulk purchase (5 Scepter water cans and 10 Scepter fuel cans). Had I only known...
 

surfponto

Observer
These are close but they are not made by Scepter. They are manufactured by a U.S. military contractor

The Scepters have an additional o-ring in the breather cap from what I can see.
Besides that they seem nearly identical besides the markings and the price is great.
 

Antichrist

Expedition Leader
I've always used metal. I've never found a plastic one that didn't impart a taste to the water. I have 4 NATO water cans, but I have an acute sense of taste. If you're sensitive to things like that, I'd suggest getting just one and seeing how you like it. It would suck to buy several and find you can't stand the taste.
A couple of years ago I picked up a galvanized metal Igloo cooler with a SS liner that I usually use for drinking water now. Since I have that, I'd probably buy plastic if I needed any more 5gal cans.
 

crusader

Adventurer
The Scepters have an additional o-ring in the breather cap from what I can see.

Where are these o-rings you're talking about? I just had a look at my Scepter 20L MWCs and there's not a single o-ring on mine anywhere that I can see...
 

wyorunner

Observer
the only o-ring i could possibly think of isnt really an "o-ring" its more of an o-gasket, it creates a seal on the main lid, if i rememeber correctly. i just bought 3 cans from LCI, im going to test them like an actual scepter when it stops snowing. ive used both the military fuel and water jugs. these water jugs from LCI seem the same. ill try to get my hands on a military one and compare.
 

cruisertoy

Explorer
i've got both the Scepter and the LCI cans and they are very close. Finish on the LCI cans isn't as nice as the Scepter, but they seem to be the same thickness plastic (based on wt.). My scepter has an oring on the air breather knob where the LCI didn't. It cost me a whole quarter each to retrofit some viton orings on to the 7 LCI cans I have. In the end the LCI cans have performed just as well as the Scepter water cans. I also posted the following in another thread comparing the LCI water cans to Scepter fuel cans.

"I explored this pretty indepthly a year or two ago. MY goal was to use the buylci.com water cans for fuel. They are very very close to the Scepter water cans. I ended up deciding not to do it. I researched out the military spec for the scepter fuel cans and recreated the testing on the LCI cans. Not using the same MFC spout... wasn't a big deal as i was going to use a super siphon. Putting viton orings on the vent and hose bib was simple and sucessful.

The problem came on the main lid seal. As Kurt said, the water can only has a 1/8" lip instead or the 5/8" flat ribbed seal surface. The water can uses a traditional "wedge" to seal within the cap. You see this being used on regular old gas cans from home depot. One of the reasons you don't want to use regular old cans is because this seal does not work when bouncing around and when the can changes temp. I attempted to install a large viton oring into this sealing area with very little success. I'd have to look up the military spec, but the can had to hold liquid under a certian pressure for a certian amount of time. I could not get it to meet either requirement. I could take it to about half the pressure required but could never get it to hold it for the time needed.

I was not too worried about the material or the plastic thickness. The LCI cans are made out of a single material, High Density Poly Ethylene(HDPE). From my discussions with LCI and tearing apart a can, there was no lining. The water cans are also a little thinner walled than the fuel cans. This also was not too much of a concern for me as the regular cans from Home depot are much thinner than the water cans. When doing the pressure test (I did it succcessfully on a Scepter MFC) the LCI can did swell more than the MFC, but not by much. I was only looking to use them for fuel storage in my garage so the heat and bouncing wasn't a big deal. I still opted to not use them at this point. Could you use them for emergencies, yes. They might be better than a regular plastic gas can, but probably not worth the risk. "
 

wyorunner

Observer
interesting post cruiser, thanks for the info. i would like to do that test but it looks i may not need to. im currently in the military and know what the gas cans can handle, id like to have some but they have to be bought from surplus stores or somewhere else. scepter can not sell them to civilians from what i gathered when attempting to buy them from scepter.

Cruiser where did you get your true scepter cans?
 

cruisertoy

Explorer
Purchased the MFCs prior to the rule change. There are always several on ebay, but they want a pretty penny for them. I'll have to see if I can did up the military test protocol for the MFC and post it here.
 

Tom and Elaine

Observer
I bought two scepter water cans approximately a year ago from Brigade Quartermast (just went to their site and found them reorganizing and will be up and running 10 Feb 2010) I do not remember what I paid.
I "freshen" my cans two or three times a season with baking soda and warm water and a good "slushing" then rinse. Not sure what else I would use that stand up like they do. Plans are to get two more this spring. Tom and Elaine
 

cruiseroutfit

Well-known member
Where are these o-rings you're talking about? I just had a look at my Scepter 20L MWCs and there's not a single o-ring on mine anywhere that I can see...

Scepters came equipped with a small ~3/8" o-ring on the vent screw cap on the lid assembly, the buyLCI ones do not though its an easy addition.
 

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