Drum can



A drum can is a large cylindrical metal container.

Usage
Drum cans have often been used for fuel storage, ranging from places such as 1960s Tselinoyarsk, to 2010s Eastern Europe.

During Operation Snake Eater of August 1964, GRU colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin had Dr. Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin imprisoned inside a barrel after suspecting him of being an enemy spy. He proceeded to interrogate Granin by punching the barrel repeatedly using his enhanced strength, ultimately killing the man before he could talk, and sending the barrel crashing into a stack of similar containers.

In 2014, during Liquid Ocelot's PMC activites in the Middle East, Solid Snake located a drum can while witnessing Johnny Sasaki being caught hiding inside it. After Johnny was discovered defecating inside the drum by a local militiaman, and subsequently chased away, Snake surmised that the drum could make a suitable hiding place, akin to the cardboard box.

Behind the scenes
Drum cans first appear in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, located in various urban locations. They contain flammable fuel and explode when either shot at, or after sustaining a heavy impact if rolled down a slope or stairway by the player.

The Drum Can as a usable item is first seen in the Secret Theatre in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. During one of the short movies, a drum can lands on Raiden's head, who proceeds to run away from Colonel Volgin while inside it.

In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the Drum Can is the equivalent of the Cardboard Box used in previous games. Solid Snake can use the Drum Can to hide from patrolling guards, and can push it onto its side and roll into a number of guards to knock them over (although he will vomit if he rolls too many times). In the E3 2007 gameplay demo, Snake threw up upon ousting two guards with the Drum Can barrel roll. It can also deflect bullets.

The Drum Can is far more durable than the Cardboard Box, as it can protect Snake from stray shots, though it can be pierced by heavier weapons. Like the Cardboard Box, the Drum Can is capable of hiding Snake from the Dwarf Gekko's scanner. However, if the Dwarf Gekko happen to collide with the barrel, it will make them suspicious, prompting them to investigate and most often raising an alert.

"A standard-issue oil drum. This one looks pretty beat up, as if it's been subjected to the elements for too long. With plenty of room for the average adult to hide inside, it can be used as a disguise to fool enemies."

- Drum Can description in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

In Metal Gear Online, the Drum Can, along with the ENVG (Enhanced Night Vision Goggles), are items that can be found and later used. The Drum Can is used by and affects the online characters the sameway as the Drum Can does to Solid Snake; it can be used for a disguise, the player can push it over and roll over people, and eventually makes the player throw up.

Drum cans also reappeared in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, going back to their roots of exploding when shot at. This time, however, in addition to stationary drum cans, they are also seen on various Tanks during vehicle battles, which can be destroyed in order to temporarily stall the vehicles.

In other media
In the "Snake Eyes" trailer for Battlefield: Bad Company, a soldier by the name of Sweetwater claims that he saw a guy wearing an eyepatch hiding in a barrel. While the other soldiers Redford and Marlowe debate on how stupid it would be for someone to hide in a barrel "That's just as stupid as hiding in a cardboard box!" and why he would be wearing an eyepatch, a red exclamation mark appears over the barrel with the traditional sound effect, obviously parodying Solid Snake & co. Another soldier, whose name is Haggard, then shoots the barrel with a grenade launcher and afterwords, finds the eyepatch and puts it on. At the end, he ends up bumping into Sweetwater because of the blindspot of the eyepatch.