NATO style "Jerry" gas cans have been banned; not sure if its EPA bureaucrat regulation or actual law.
NATO cans use a cam-locked clamp-on cover on a built-in pouring spout, and removable 'nozzle' spout that attaches the same way. They are welded together from two halves of decent steel, and are coated with a leak-proofing lining on the inside. They provide a 'dead air' space behind the handle with a vent tube leading to the spout, and the compatible add-on nozzles worked with the vent tube to allow smooth pouring. American "Blitz" jerry-style cans, based on the US military variation on the original jerry cans use a roll-seam bottom plate and a screw-in nozzle (with female threads on the can) and generally do not have as good of a reputation; the brand new one I had leaked vapor from the bottom seam until I used a motorcycle tank sealing kit on it, and the cap/spout seal tends to get damaged easily since it had to deal with rotational force instead of just compression like the NATO cans.
I filled two military jerry cans and left them in the garage for a month. Absolutely no hint of gas smell, and every time I opened them I got a poof or hiss indicating they had stayed pressure-tight. The Blitz and and the plastic ones _never_ did that and always had eau-de-fuel lingering around them.
Cali CARB had already gone after gas cans and spouts and mandated use of 'automatic shut off' and 'spill-proof' spouts with threaded connections to the can, eliminating the NATO cans. Apparently about 10 states had adopted regulations mimicking california "CARB" rules.
As of 2009, reportedly the EPA has mandated CARB spouts and specs nationwide. Manufacture and import of NATO cans and spouts is now prohibited. Remaining stock may be sold in or to states that did not have their own CARB based requirements.
Some manufacturers had been making welded steel jerry-style cans with a threaded opening and CARB approved spout for the CARB-mandating states, but apparently even those are not good enough under the new EPA rules. Now the caps have to be "child proof" on all cans made starting in 2009, and at least one manufacturer (Wedco) has been date stamping gas cans as they are manufactured so they can be identified as "pre-ban" cans. Ain't bureaucracy wonderful. Bet they'll start serial numbering and requiring registration next.
I haven't seen the various 'child proof' models yet. I don't know how annoying they will be, or if the cans will be modified to be incompatible with the earlier threaded CARB or pre-CARB spouts.
If you haven't had the joy of using a CARB spout, prepare for fun, especially on a large and heavy 20 liter (5 gallon) can. You have to manually activate a flow control while lifting and tilting the can in order to pour.
The one I tried to use (Blitz can and Blitz CARB spout) was unable to put gas in a chevy with filler behind the license plate because the inflexible spout and the large flow control lever wouldn't let the can tilt to pour. Turning it sideways to get in caused the vent to not work so it just started glugging out and spilling (designed by committee there...). The hand holding the can handle and operating the flow lever was under strain and very uncomfortable but the other was busy trying to lift and tilt the can.
You can't put a hose on the end of the spout (at least those I've seen) because the spout tip is not round. Can't help but think that was deliberate.
Sites allowing reviews of the CARB spouts usually have mostly negative comments. Vendors selling them admit they don't work as well. But there's no choice. The feds have ruled and so it goes.
If you want or need a _good_ gas can with spouts that work, and don't live in a CARB state, get them now. If you have issues with child proof bottles and the like and live in a CARB state, still consider getting something now.
Wedco made cans and nozzles for Briggs and Stratton so you can sometimes find them at gardening and power equipment stores. Some vendors still have actual military cans available for mail order, but only to non-CARB states; you take your chances on surplus though.
This site:
https://www.expeditionexchange.com/wedco/ is good for explanations and a history of the real jerry cans. This is not a recommendation for them specifically as I've never done business with them but a few folks I know have without issue.
