You talking about lids/caps or a Sunbrella type decorative sack/fabric slip cover to put over one?

Army Surplus and Jeep Suppliers should have them

Here are some fabric slip covers:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-ARMY-WATER-JERRYCAN-INSULATED-WATERPROOF-COVER/273627795634?hash=item3fb57cd0b2:g:N6sAAOSw2stblwJm:rk:17f:0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-BESTOP-JEEP-CJ-WHITE-LEFT-HAND-JERRY-CAN-COVER-FOR-DUAL-SPARE-TIRE-RACK/372554260719?hash=item56bdf6e0ef:g:CvsAAOSwUIhZYBzY:rk:21f:0
Jerry can cover

Looks like demand was low so BesTop appears to have stopped making them.

Make your own info:
Jerry Can Covers | The Seamless Sailor
Canvas Jerry Can Covers?Take II | The Seamless Sailor
Sewing Jerrycan Covers | Matt & Jessica's Sailing Page
Jerry Can Covers

 

Yep..wife made ours..to include all the other canvas projects on our vessel..

 

Can't make them myself. No skills at sewing and no machine. Looking for a source...

 

Bulletin board at a Joanns frabric store
Lots of ladies do gig project work

 

Maybe look for Hancock fabrics too.
Really, any fabric shop will know ladies that do side jobs.
Many enjoy this...make them smile
They are very proud of the work they do

 

Large t-shirts

 

I've wondered about paint. Sure, there will be some chipping, but if the surface is prepped (sand and lightly flame) I'd be surprised if some of the flexible inflatable paints wouldn't hold up pretty well. I know they block UV and that is all we are trying to accomplish... right?

Time for some testing.

 

less trouble to just spray them with 303 or dinghy protectant when you do the dinghy

or

every few years just replace the damn things (that's what I would do)

 

The 303 is more a preventative than a restorative. Makes seals and awnings last longer in RV use.

Wipe New is more of a restorative and has been used on gel coated boats, RV's and commercial trucks along with weathered plastics with great success however I would only use it for appearance and not to maintain structure on a poly gas container. If your plastic decorative shutter gets brittle and it lets you shine it up and get a few more years out of the failing decorative shutter that's grand but a brittle plastic gas container is quite another matter.

 

For 7 years I had samples of vinyl on the roof, some treated regularly with protectants (including 303), some un-treated, some only covered. The only quantifiable difference between the treated and non-treated samples was the cost of the protectants and the labor required. There was zero difference in the samples (visibility or stiffness). The only samples that were better were those that were covered or kept indoors.

I could be wrong. But show me quantifiable, published, 3rd party data.

I really am interested in seeing it. Really interested.

 

Considering that "real" metal GI Jerry cans are obsolete (some junk from China and one sole source still making them in the EU somewhere) and that the military plastic ones are still too pricey for the civilian market, it could just be that there's too much variation in the fuel jugs that are being used. And while I've got no doubt that inexpensive covers could be landed in the US at a net cost of a buck or two apiece, so sold under ten dollars... Yeah, you can buy cheap fuel cans too, and just throw them out every four or five years. Or give them away after the major intended use. I suspect that's what people are doing.

In the interim, perhaps spraying them with black plastidip, to keep out light and UV, would be a way to go? (Of course, that's not cheap either.)

Or, this is a business opportunity and a travel expense to those parts of the world where cheap sewing labor is to be found!

 

When we arrived in Rarotonga we were offered hundreds of gallons of jet fuel for free. Apparently, they had stored the drums upright and water had pooled on the tops and as the sun heated and cooled the drums, some of the water managed to get inside, rendering it unusable in commercial jet aircraft. These were sealed from the refinery drums, not used or previously opened drums.
As jet fuel (kerosene) is just #2 diesel w/o the 4% lubricating oil, we took all we could fit, adding 4 gallons of motor oil to every 100 gallons of jet fuel. Nice gift!
However, this did turn me off to carrying fuel on deck in plastic containers vertically, which surely contract and expand much more than steel drums. Covers certainly would help, but I would still take care to ensure no water gets into the fuel.

 

capta-
I would suggest that the aviation fuel problem shouldn't put you off to deck storage or plastic cans at all. The issue is "How well is this sealed?" and in that case, someone screwed up. They might have not torqued down the fills, they might have gotten bad sealant...If water could get in, fuel vapors could get out, and the purpose of storing fuel in those metal drums is to make it totally sealed--no fuel vapor in or out as well.
The "genuine NATO" type products tend to have robust sealing gaskets, produced and sourced from suppliers who are inspected and checked from time to time. The generic stuff from the far east...not so much. And of course, simply placing an inverted heavy plastic bag over each container helps to ensure water can't splash onto the fills. (A tarp or sun protection over that for UV protection anyway.)
Plus of course, jerry cans don't have concave tops, so it is harder for water to sit on top of their fills.(G)

 

I urge anyone who is a sailor to learn to sew. You don't even need a machine. Sure it would take an hour or so to make a cover by hand for a fuel can out of vinyl or Surlast or something. (Rochford has a special on Surlast 2nds...! Or even just cut a suitable rectangle and secure it with a bungee.

Anyone who can use a power tool to cut wood can use a sewing machine. Eventually it may save you thousands. Sailrite have some excellent skill-teaching videos.

 

I think the plastic ones are polyethylene--doubt if paint will stick to them, as adhesives don't.

 

Actually, Permabond and 3M and others make adhesives that work on polyethylene. Frequently using a primer and the reminder to abrade the surface to allow a better grip. But there are even adhesives for Teflon, which like polyethylene is sold in sticky-back rolls for use as drawer and hatchcover sliders.

 

I misspoke above--it's polypropylene that you can't glue--not polyethylene. Or at least not a few years ago when I was looking at water tanks.

 

The one that is hard to glue now has a 2 part adhesi you need to sand the area then heat treat the area then apply the 2 pack hoop. It's OK. Not brilliant.

 

Why do they have to be covered? Is it because UV destroys them? Don't leave them out in the sun! Why bunker extra fuel when you don't have to???? I've taken diesel filled jerry containers on passages just in case I was forced to motor.... and my tanks don't have the range. When I arrive in the location I empty the jerry jugs into the tank and then stow them below until needed.

Please explain.

 

"it's polypropylene that you can't glue"
Someone hasn't been keeping up with the exotic glue industry.(G)

"Loctite 2g Plastics Bonding System-681925 - The Home Depot
The Loctite All-Plastic Super Glue includes a tube of bonding agent and a bottle of surface activator. It bonds with hard and soft plastic. The glue works well with polyethylene and polypropylene surfaces." (Even at Home Depot.)

I had tried 2-3 years ago to find a semi-flexible adhesive that would bond to mystery-coated Cordura cloth. Apparently some of the water-resistant coatings are silicones impregnated into the threads before weaving. Like tracking down hen's teeth, but the adhesives exist. Often 2-part, $100 for enough to fill a small toothpaste tube. Ouch!

But they exist. And I'd bet my local Home Depot wouldn't stock them on the shelf, no matter what they claim. Grainger, McMaster, maybe.

 

The OP hasn't responded in over 3 weeks, does he care?

 

Did you read all the horesh*t that hijacked the thread? No, about that I don't care....
And I found an interesting guy that sails and flies, as I do, that made them for $40 each. Shops wanted 50 to 75. And why I carry fuel was not the question to the numskull that wants to tell me how to use my boat. And the salon is NOT storage for fuel cans....duh!

 

Turned out sweet!

 

Maybe you didn't like all the horseh*it but others may have...there is always more than one way to solve a problem.

 

What's with the latest trend to have tender OP's that think any discussion should never stray from exactly what they want discussed. Weird.

The covers make the deck look neater than it would with 5 ugly jugs on the rail. Nice job.