Official guidelines say to use a metal container, but most people do fine with plastic as long as they aren’t dumb about safety. More robust options include 10-50 gallon semi-portable tanks, 10-150 gallon accessory tanks mounted to your vehicle (eg. in a truck bed), or large >200 gallon above-ground tanks permanently installed on your property.

For smaller quantities or portability, plastic or metal gas cans are your best bet, preferably ones that are vented. For storing massive quantities that you can feed directly into tools and vehicles using pumps, or distribute to smaller containers for various purposes, you can use fuel storage drums.

Many fire codes limit the amount of fuel you can store up to 25 gallons total, divided among approved, leak-proof containers with a capacity less than five gallons each. These containers should be labeled and of an identifying color. Red is the standard for this formidable fuel, while blue indicates kerosene and yellow represents diesel.

The EPA recommends only storing 1-5 gallons of gasoline, and the fire department recommends a maximum of 25 gallons. But these are just recommendations. Depending on where you live, you might have very different laws about storing gasoline.