Pour Without a Funnel
Improvised ways to get liquid into a small opening without spilling.
Stop a Fuel-Can Spout From Kinking With a PEX Bend Support
A 3/4-inch PEX 90-degree bend support from the plumbing aisle slips over a fuel can's flexible spout and holds it in a smooth curve — no more kinked hose when you're pouring a full, heavy can one-handed.
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The Problem
Pouring from a full fuel can is a two-handed wrestling match. The can is heavy, the flexible spout wants to fold shut the moment you tip it, and every kink stops the flow mid-pour — so you're re-gripping a sloshing five-gallon can while gas burps out unevenly around a pinched hose.
The Technique
The plumbing aisle already makes the fix: a 3/4-inch PEX 90-degree bend support. It's a rigid elbow-shaped sleeve whose entire job is holding flexible PEX tubing in a smooth curve so it can't kink — and it fits a fuel can's flexible spout the same way.
- Slip the bend support over the spout hose.
- Position it where the spout naturally bends when the can is tipped.
- Pour. The sleeve holds the hose in a constant-radius curve, so the flow stays open no matter how the can's weight shifts.
That's the whole trick. The support stays on the spout between uses.
What You'll Need
One 3/4-inch PEX 90-degree bend support — a few dollars at any hardware store's plumbing section. Match the size up or down if your spout hose is fatter or thinner.
Pro tip: The same bend supports work on any floppy hose that kinks at a bend — a utility pump's discharge line, a gravity-feed line on equipment, a rain-barrel hose snaking over an edge.
Safety note: Pour fuel outdoors or in a ventilated space, with the can grounded on a surface rather than balanced mid-air, and keep the spout in contact with the receiving tank's filler neck to avoid static buildup and splash-back.
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