Rotopax suck and I’m tired of pretending they don’t

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ShibbolethMegadeth@reddit

He’s right, you know.

I think 90% of the gas riding around in those Rotopacks has turned into water by now

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When I see full extra spare fuel tanks around town, I know that person does not know what they are doing. If you know you need extra fuel on a trip, you fill up at the gas station before, and then you put the extra fuel in your tank when you get to camp that night, so you can avoid carrying around extra fuel and weight.

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Pokerhobo@reddit

I take extra gas with me when I overland because I don't know exactly where we're going as we've never been there before and my LX470 sucks gas like there's no tomorrow. With that said, I've never actually had a need to use my extra gas and when I get home, I always use it to fill my rig or some other vehicle. I never let it sit.

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RickySlayer9@reddit

Extra gas is always a good idea. What happens if you puncture a gas tank on trail? JB weld it back together, throw in 5 gal and get off trail. Among other applications. But yeah it shouldn’t be permanent, the move is, on a fill up, fill up the tank first with the gas can, then fill everything

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blackhawk905@reddit

Serves those people right, if you're carrying fuel for your car and not using it quickly you need to get ethanol free.

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NumerousResident1130@reddit

Varnish

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talon5188@reddit

90% of "overlanding" items are just good marketing. The other 10% is actually good stuff. RotoPax falls into that 90% catagory. That 90% group, you can go and get something similar from Home Depot, an outdoors store, Walmart, or a real off-road brand that has been around for decades. I have learned that all these newer overland companies sell either junk or, if it isn't junk, it is something that you really don't need.

A while back, I spent 2 years completing the PanAm highway. At the beginning of this trip, I got a few sponsors to give me products and send me money in exchange for content and for using their products. Towards the end, I realized that almost everything that I started out with got replaced with something from Walmart, Home Depot, an outdoor store like REI, or a well-known off-road company. The only things that I started the trip out with that I ended it with were my GFC, easy awn products, and the ARB suspension and other components on the truck. Everything else broke, or I hated it, and I replaced it with something that you can buy cheaper from a non-dedicated "overland" brand.

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philosopharmer46065@reddit

I would never buy one to mount on my truck. On my off-road bike though.... Sometimes they're all that will work for some motorcycle setups.

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yourlocalFSDO@reddit

MSR cans are my go to on a bike

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philosopharmer46065@reddit

I use MSR cans sometimes too. Just depends on how my bike is set up for a particular trip. I've got a great place to carry MSR cans on my tdub currently, but on my T7 the rotopax fits really nice on my rear rack.

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h3lium-balloon@reddit

Never understood what was wrong with Jerry cans.

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WWYDWYOWAPL@reddit

You can’t attach them as easily to extremely visible places on the sides of your rig so everything me knows how much overlanding you do in the target parking lot.

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Kxchap@reddit

I want to keep gas out of my cap because that's where the dogs will sleep and I don't want to risk the stink. That being said I take it off when I'm not using it or transporting gas for home use (atv, riding lawnmower, generator etc.) what I'm trying to currently figure out is how to mount 20L jerry cans conveniently, similar to a rotopax

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h3lium-balloon@reddit

There's lots of hitch mounted swing out setups for jerry cans.

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yourlocalFSDO@reddit

The metal wavian cans won’t leak a drop. I’ve gone from sea level to 12k with one and it held all the pressure

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sn44@reddit

Yeah, not a fan of the Fisher Price Baby's First Gas Can™

Heard so many stories of them popping seems when they swell. That's why I just went with a larger tank.

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RickySlayer9@reddit

NATO jerry cans are the best and you can’t change my mind. Amazing spouts. Never spill, durable as fuck

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StayReadyOutdoors@reddit

Who uses the included spout anyway? I agree, it sucks. I ditched it for the ai13 spout, never had an issue. Also never had an issue with filling it or leaking.

I prefer a Wavian can, but with my particular setup on my Jeep I have no place to mount one. Best solution I found is the AAL spare tire platform with pax mounts. So that’s what I use.

I’m a mixed use case rig though. We do a lot of crawling and camping, but also pull a Patriot camper for base camp. Pax just make sense for us.

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slayercdr@reddit

They've always sucked ass.

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graphitewolf@reddit

How else are people supposed to know u overland without 8 of them bolted next to a sun faded recovery board that will disappear like Spider-Man after the Thanos snap the second you use it

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slayercdr@reddit

That and the high-lift jack mounted in front of the windshield or some other dumbass spot

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jelorian@reddit

And someone calls the police because they think you have a machine gun mounted to your hood.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Ah yes the Ol Decapitator™️

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OkTemporary5981@reddit

So true about the sun faded traction boards. People who have them permanently mounted just accelerate degradation.

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bob_lala@reddit

I have never needed extra fuel for my primary vehicle while over landing. Generator? Motorcycle or four wheeler? Sure. But not the primary vehicle.

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TyburnCross@reddit

You mean you don’t keep a tactical traffic cone in your broverlander so you can funnel it into your tank?

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

I see you’ve put “tactical” in front of a normal word- I’m interested. Only if it costs $80 though

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TyburnCross@reddit

It’s the only proper way to fill your tank when you’e ~~at Costco~~ on the trails.

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CallEmAsISeeEm1986@reddit

Wavian Jerry cans ftw.

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The_World_Is_A_Slum@reddit

NATO cans are so good that any change from original spec makes them worse. They don’t leak, are easy to fill and dispense properly. There’s not a single drawback and anything else is a poor substitute. Wavian FTW

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T3hBau5@reddit

100%. Own a 2.6 can and 5.3 can. They have never done me wrong.

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skindroid@reddit

I never understood why they existed. It's like a shittier version of a simple jerry can from Murdochs that does much less for way more money.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

You’ve summed up most Overlanding™️products

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skindroid@reddit

IMHO most American overlanding stuff is just consumer bullshit the people who buy it will never need or use. It's the vehicular equivalent of backpackers "packing their fears"

My setup is a used 3rd gen SR5 Tacoma with a softopper, $100 walmart roto cooler, swag, rubbermaid box, coleman stove, 5gal water jug, recovery gear, and that's basically it.

I go many of same places as the 'gram wheelers... actually it might be easier for me since I carry a lot less weight.

Extended camping out of a truck doesnt need to cost $100k and make your truck weigh as much as an F350.

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TheCamBearPig@reddit

lol broverlander.

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desertSkateRatt@reddit

I see a t-shirt design in my future...

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HiTechRedneck@reddit

And post the linky when you’re ready to sell them.

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AloneDoughnut@reddit

I'd be surprised if this doesn't already exist.

Actually I checked, the don't. Just a ton of a really shitty AI art kverlander shirt featuring skulls and flannel. Go forth and bring us good irony.

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estunum@reddit

So angry lol

I’ve never liked their stuff. Needing extra gas is not an every single trip thing, like just plan accordingly. On the couple trips extra gas was needed, I used

a 5 gallon Armadillo Bag that goes on my carrier. Fuel container police be dammed.

My rear bumper came with a second swing out that had a rotopax attachment. It sat in the garage for 2 years before I had someone cut it off and fab me a frame for some underbody boxes.

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Remarkable_Ad5011@reddit

I like that box mount!

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Yeah came in hot on this one, but because this was the second time I used the gas cans in 2 years and BOTH TIMES the spout didn’t work so I just ended up spilling gas all over my hands and my truck.

My hands still smell like goddamn gas

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estunum@reddit

You’re more persistent than I. It only took the first time of spilling gas for me to chuck it in the trash. Literally threw money in the trash

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Not at $5/gal lol

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Substantial_Cheek427@reddit

I had one set. Mounted and in the trailer ready to leave the next day. It got hot I guess like 105 in the trailer? And the seal broke and it was a literal gusher of gasoline spraying out like 3'. They are super dangerous

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Astrolander97@reddit

Jerry cans are regular use in my household. I have a wavian can that has seen 50k miles.

Most commonly it goes on business trips with me in the wife's jeep compass these days. The jeeps tank cant quite make it full trip on one tank and it often saves me from buying expensive city gas or making detours to top off.

If also been able to boondock on nf land for longer and explore away from my bc.

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realaabremer@reddit

Ai13 products make them work perfectly! It sucks another company had to come along and make them not suck but I absolutely love my a Rotopax now!

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211logos@reddit

Heh, thanks for the laugh.

Having tried other leaky junk (yeah, you Reliance, Aquatainer, etc) I eventually wised up and went to either the Scepter beefy containers (I think they make wimpy ones now too) or Skilcraft.

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realaabremer@reddit

Ai13 parts make them work perfectly

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D3Design@reddit

If i want to bring extra gas, I use metal Wavian cans, and trash the normal nozzle, get one of the flexible metal ones. But they arent in my truck 95% of the time. I just bring them on certain trips when I know gas stations are few and far between, and I want to be able to toss an extra 10 gallons in to keep going without having to find a station.

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CountSmokula420@reddit

I like the idea of not storing gas inside the cab, but I've opted for a 5 gallon can that I just use to top off after I've burned 1/4 tank, instead of just carrying gas around full time "just in case". Solves the problem of not wanting to ride around for days with a full can inside, and not wanting to invest in Rotopax and their mounting hardware. I don't need to wait until I'm low or bring unused gas home with me.

So much of "overlanding" gear is a solution looking for a problem. We spend the most effort (and money) overcomplicating things trying to make something convenient that wasn't that inconvenient in the first place. Then we get range anxiety after hauling out all this extra weight because you need a skottle, 95 liter fridge, 10000Wh of batteries, a 200 lbs tent on the roof, etc for a solo weekend trip, so that 20 miles of range in the form of a bomb strapped to the outside of your truck is critical. (I don't actually care what other people do, just coming off overland expo coverage online and remembered how corny a lot of this stuff is).

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Absolutely. I saw someone say somewhere that “Overlanding” has reached full on delusional phase, where every is just rebranding the same alibaba drop shipped garbage and charging insane prices for the same stuff- most of which is absolutely not needed by 98% of people.

Wish I would have just gone out and touched dirt first before I bought any accessories, but whatever.

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PonyThug@reddit

I saw a jeep with a 1gal jug on all 4 doors then another 2 on his SXS. That’s 6 rotopax, 6 mounts. So like $1000 for 6 gallons of fuel???!

A normal 5gal jug is $22 lolol

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Insanity

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1827LVB@reddit

Had the same experience just a few weeks ago. Neither of two spouts worked, no matter what I tried. Ended up using a cut off plastic bottle as a funnel. Ridiculous.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

I even bought the little quarter turn hose adapter valve for the water and they still suck. I ended up sanding down the top of the filler neck because I realized the molding seam was off by about 1mm which of course just let water pour out, no matter how hard I tightened the cap on. So annoying

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HiTechRedneck@reddit

I never go out without 10 gallons of spare fuel. But I’m in New Mexico and travel to some pretty remote places where you’re not getting there and back without it. That said, good ol’ cheap plastic cans work fine. Do they look cool? Hell no. But, damn, they hold and dispense fuel.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

I just did Rimrocker (montrose, co to Moab) which is about 150 miles of remote (kind of, there are plenty of places to turn off onto the highway and be somewhere that has gas within an hour), so I figured I’d bring them- if not on that, literally when else would I use the things? Of course didn’t need them, got home with 4 gallons of gas which I proceeded to spill all over myself

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NMBruceCO@reddit

Back when I was building up a off road JKUR and a trailer, a bunch of people tried to talk me into Rotopax and I chose to get NATO Jerry cans instead for fuel and water, never looked back at that decision. Now that I have a Tacoma, I can fit 6 cans across the front of the bed, strap them in and go, so up to 30 gals of extra fuel or a mixture of fuel or water, never get that with a Rotopax.

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BrapsPooShidden@reddit

Careful man, you might piss off Johnny Earthromer when he gets back from his expedition to Panera Bread

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Porndogingwithme@reddit

I've avoided them largely because the inflated cost. But it's good to hear I made a good choice. Sticking with surplus style equipment is my favorite. Might not be the fancy brand name but it gets the job done on a budget.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Luckily I got my for nearly free from a roof rack company as a sort of bonus for letting them use my truck as a display vehicle at a show, but I’ve spent like 4 years trying to make them work and they just suck

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randyjacksonsarmpits@reddit

Dude get the ULINE metal Jerry can. Fuckers tough as nails. Air tight. Fills up like a regular gas can and not like you’re sticking the pump in an air mattress. So easy to use a blind and dumb chimpanzee could figure it out. And it’s ergonomic when you need to use it so you aren’t tilting a fucking 40lb countertop over your head just to line it up right in your gas tank.

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Ok_Profession6216@reddit

Ive worked for costco 17 years. ULINE knows how to make a quality product for the intended purposes!.

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Bepus@reddit

Too bad about their politics.

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FML-imoutofscotch@reddit

What’s the story?

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PootUrnsMeon@reddit

im not a big fan of those unline ones cause they cost too much. you can get nato surplus jerry cans of the same design for $40ea from colemans surplus.

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Nearpeace@reddit

Uline loves Donnie. People are nothing but potential profit centers. Treat accordingly.

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Kerensky97@reddit

First time I saw them I said, "You want HOW much to carry 2gal of gas?!?"

Oh, and the mounting hardware isn't included. Double the price of you want to screw it onto your rack or something.

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ChrisGear101@reddit

I like the way they are mounted to racks like jewelry while the bed of the truck is empty and unused.

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bubblescivic@reddit

Why do people always try to reinvent the wheel? The Nazis did so well with Jerry cans that NATO adopted them and use them to this day.

20L of fuel with a built in lid and hidden spout. I've never personally seen one have enough damage to stop using it, but I'm also not getting shot at.

For me it's Scepter 5ga cans for home, and Wavian NATO can for my 4Runner.

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LengthinessOk5241@reddit

I bought cheap fuel bladers in Amazon. One 5l for the diesel and 2 x 30l for the gas. They all work fine.

With my 40l AEV Fuel Caddy, I’m good and yes, sold all my Rotopax.

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Physical-Rice730@reddit

Thanks for the fuel bladder tip. I didn’t know those were a thing and I was looking for something lightweight for my Kei broverlander.

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2beatenup@reddit

Boat owners have entered the chat…. You called!

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Physical-Rice730@reddit

Hahaha.

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LengthinessOk5241@reddit

And when they are empty, they fold. That IS the magic IMO.

On the safe side, bring some spare rubber O Ring fitting the bladder.

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Physical-Rice730@reddit

Thanks again. I have a milk crate on top that I haven’t settled on a use because it didn’t fit two small fuel cans. It will definitely fit these. One for the diesel heater, one for the truck. The Kei I have gets about 24mpg with the camper on so 2 gallons can definitely get me to a gas station.

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NatesYourMate@reddit

That's fucking rad man

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Physical-Rice730@reddit

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Physical-Rice730@reddit

Here you go.

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LengthinessOk5241@reddit

Perfect place for them!

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mcpewmer@reddit

The fuel containers do suck. I removed, cut the bottom out of the flame arrestor thing, and put it back in. It makes filling easy but the spilling when using them is awful. Even if it doesn’t spill the damn spout is covered in fuel making it impossible to not smell like gas.

I do however like the water containers. I have a gladiator with a tonneau and Billiebars. Being able to carry 10gal of water in “saddlebags” makes more room in the bed for my family of four’s stuff.

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monkeyevil@reddit

Use the water spouts for the gas cans. I've had a 4 gallon on my truck full of gas for forever and it's been just fine.

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beesboudi@reddit

Exactly this, use the yellow flex spouts and carry extra gaskets because they wear out. Problem solved.

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Icy_Conference_1867@reddit

While I would prefer a more user-friendly gas can, please allow my honest and unbiased data point without too many downvotes:

I got a Rotopax 4-gallon gas container for my slide-in truck camper, because I needed something low-profile that would not come in contact with the door / window, when opened all the way (see pic). It was the only gas container that worked easily for this scenario. I would have preferred a normal jerry can, but it wouldn't work for my existing mounting location at all. So I reluctantly bought the Rotopax, knowing full well all of the hate.

I do not have any problems filling it up at the gas station: I take it off its mount, place it on the ground, retract the fuel pump's foreskin, and fill it up until the pump says 3.7 gallons and then stop. I rarely spill more than a drop or two.

I do not have any problems with fuel spoilage, because I put a capful of fuel preservative in before filling it up; after a few months (or the end of the season) I will pour it out into my beater car.

I do not have problems putting the stock spout on and pouring gas out of the can. It does not spill everywhere. It pours very slowly and it is annoying having to retract the spout's foreskin, but I figured out a good routine for doing this utilizing all of the handles. This is not a deal-breaker, especially in a survival situation when I am dangerously low on gas.

I quite like the mount, it works great even though it's up fairly high, and even when the Rotopax has almost 4 gallons of gas in it and is a bit heavy: it's easy for me to take it on and off its mount.

What I do not like, is the stigma attached to the container and its ridiculous price. It is also annoying having to 'burp' the container 1 or 2x a day due to extreme altitude or temperature changes, but that is probably true of most gas cans; and, it's honestly not that big of a deal. Sometimes I catch myself feeling like a poser when I'm bumping around paved city streets with a bright red Rotopax on the back of my camper, but then I quickly remind myself that I'm 50 and I don't really give a fuck what other people think.

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KaartBoi@reddit

If you really need more gas just toss a surplus jerry can in the back. will never leak and easy to pour

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questionableK@reddit

I got one cheap. The only good thing is the shape. I’ve only used it twice and the gas leaked all over through that shit pour spout

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yourlocalFSDO@reddit

But a wavian for $100 and have a quality metal milspec tank that won’t leak and holds 5 gallons or buy rotopax for $80 that holds 2 gallons and pisses it all down the trail? Real hard decision…

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zmathra@reddit

VP “totally not fuel jugs” work for me. But I have a truck so no odor in a cab. Cheap and very easy to use for my bikes too.

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Mountain_carrier530@reddit

It's the reason mine have stayed empty for so long.

If it doesn't leak from the spout, then it'll pinch the gasket and leak from there. Eventually, the stopper will crack and create another leak point.

The keepers, or whatever the hell they're called also suck, and no amount of Molykote or WD-40 will stop the banshee shriek that comes from them.

My water pax is the only that seems to want to work, and even then I'm looking at Wavian cans. If fuel truly is a concern, then get a bigger gas tank.

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fireinthesky7@reddit

They're about the only decent option if you need to carry extra fuel on a motorcycle.

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itsjehmun@reddit

OP you were dangerously close to telling us what you really thought. Careful!

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ChrisGear101@reddit

A good old Harbor Freight Jerry can is 10x better and cheaper. But they ain't cool to look at...lol

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d_to_the_c@reddit

They have a sort of old school charm about them.

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arrowheadelement@reddit

Been using the giant loop bladders on my motorcycle for years and got the larger ones for the truck and they're solid. A bit pricey and filling them up can be a bit annoying but they roll down to the size of a water bottle when empty so they can sit in the car until I might actually need them

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Matt_RFR@reddit

Where do you carry them when they're full?

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Sdhans__@reddit

I found a 3 gallon one on the side of the highway once. Lucky me

I only fill it before trips and I always empty it immediately after.

But yes they do suck, spill is a guarantee

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desertSkateRatt@reddit

I had two gas cans of theirs that leaked so I'll never buy another from them. Got lucky on the water container I have but i think I'll try one of the knock offs before giving them a shot again.

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Von_Satan@reddit

They suck ass. I was unfortunately invested in quite a few of them plus the mounts, because at the time that seemed to be the best option, only to fully realize how shitty they are.

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goodwc72@reddit

Ughh my truck gets 14mpg. But yea i use a Jerry can from harbor freight, works great.

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Giant_117@reddit

I’ve been saying this for close to a decade… and now I feel old.

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Sawfish1212@reddit

Reminds me of the local with a big roof rack on his land cruiser and a collection of apache cases from harbor freight bolted to rack. They're not very large, which makes them less than useful, but I'm sure it kills his MPG

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mister_monque@reddit

I'd rather carry fuel in a plastic bag (iykyk) than give in to the marketing of rotapax and molle everything.

If you need to haul extra fuel what the southern fried fuck is 1 or 2 gallons doing?

A steel or scepter jerry can and a jiggler siphon solves the problem every time. Aside from wavian and their actual nato donkey spouts, every other spout system is, and this is a technical term, hammered dog shit.

Scepter for water with a CPC gland valve in the cap and a lift pump is rock solid for water, the neck is big enough to get your hand in to actually wash, really wash, it out after trips.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

I just a 4 day trip to Moab and back with a scepter tank and loved it

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lasoundguy@reddit

Hard agree. Had one 4 gallon gas Rotopax which leaked, what a waste. Wavian cans for me for fuel and Scepter for water. Easy.

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Naive_Adeptness6895@reddit

Plastic in the sun.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Fuckin a

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rabkaman2018@reddit

I had a couple small ones for side of truck but have Jerry cans for the vast majority of my reserves. They are super over priced , agreed

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Determined_Mills@reddit

Giant Loop is a much better way to store spare fuel/water. VAAST is the best for carry around extra water. Rotopax are for cucks.

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Dilettante7@reddit

Everytime I see a Brand new Tacoma , 4 runner , Bronco , Jeep all laden with the latest overlanding crap with rooftop tent of course , I just laugh and think , Nice bank account . The rooftop tents are heavy , cause worse gas mileage along with everything else . Doomsday preppers I get , but the latest yuppie with all the toys and a manicure just kill me . 100 grand toys , that they use 5 times a year .

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WWYDWYOWAPL@reddit

Well they actually use it every day to drop their kids off at swim practice and go shopping at the mall. What would happen if they ran out of gas on the way to Walmart‽‽

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minist3r@reddit

I hear you. I've never bought any because I've heard nothing but bad things and they are stupid expensive. I love the look but that's not enough of a reason to buy them.

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Acceptable_Yard1832@reddit

They suck but since I am already invested in their poorly designed system, I have come to the point where I don’t carry anything in them. I carry them empty so when the point comes that me or someone else needs emergency fuel or water via transfer or in to next down to get some, there are readily available vessels instantly. Just like the traction boards, I have used them for other people far more than for myself. With that in mind, you can now carry them flat or nozzle down without issue.

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randyjacksonsarmpits@reddit

They’re useless. Take forever to fill cause they trigger pump sensor every half second. And they spill all over when you need to use it. I think I yielded 3-4/5’s of what I filled at the end of the day. Terrible product.

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drewshope@reddit (OP)

Fucking thank you, I feel seen

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