TL;DR version: Excellent product, high price, weird ordering process.

Lotsa pics in this post, so I’m throwing in a cut for those with lesser connections.

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How many “only use approved DOT gasoline containers for fuel transport” violations can you find in this picture?

This is why we keep over 50 gallons of treated gasoline in storage. I can either a) stay in my warm house with my hot food and consumer electronics giving me the latest news or I can b) stand in line in the snow like a Third World refugee or extra in a Mad Max movie.

Skip the plastic crap and go with metal. This guy is a straight shooter and I buy from him. Fill ‘em up, treat ‘em (PRI Fuel Stabilizer- For Gasoline 32oz), put ‘em away someplace safe and save yourself the trouble of being like the folks in this photo.

And, yes, I’m a snob….I want the Nato/Euro metal cans over the plastic cans. When life has hit the point where gasoline is so precious you’ll stand in line in sub-freezing weather to get it then life has hit the point where its worth the extra expense to preserve/protect that gasoline by using the best containers you can find.

Desperate Drivers Pay The Price At NMB Gas Station

MIAMI (CBS4) — Some South Florida drivers double checked their gas bills as they pulled away from the pumps ahead of Tropical Storm Isaac and wondered why it cost so much to fill up.

It’s no surprise now to learn the State of Florida could be very busy with alleged price-gouging cases around South Florida.

Some people, it seems, never learn. If you live an area that is prone to evacuations, wouldnt it make sense to stash enough gasoline on hand to get outta town without having to stop for fuel? Heck, you could even stage fuel at points along your proposed evacuation routes. But, some folks don’t ever seem to learn.

I’m not sure how I feel about price gouging. I’m against .gov telling anyone what price they can or cannot sell a product at. If .gov could jump on a station owner for raising prices on the argument that the public has no choice about the purchasing, then couldn’t ‘gov also force the station owner to keep the station open if he decided to just close shop entirely for the emergency?

This sort of thing is why we keep stored (and stabilized) fuel on hand. To my way of thinking, MPG x gallons stored / 2 = effective range. So, if we have 60 gallons on hand, and the truck gets 15 mpg, thats 900 miles, right? Wrong. I figure a 50% penalty ‘just in case’ for things like detours, backtracking, stop-n-go, idling in traffic, etc, etc. So, to my way of thinking, that’s really a 450-mile range.

Truly, I am amazed that people who would live in a region where an evacuation due to hurricane is likely would not have supplies and fuel in place for this sort of thing.

Another weekend, another five-gallon fuel swap. I dunno how you rotate your fuel, but here’s how we do it around here. All fuel is in the ‘Euro/NATO’-style cans. The fuel is treated with stabilizer. The cans are tagged with the date of storage. The cans are then stored in a safe outdoor location. After more than a year, the fuel is rotated into the vehicle’s regular fill ups. Head to the gas station, put one can of gas in the rig, top off with fresh gas from the pump. The empty can is then refilled at the gas station and fuel stabilizer is added. Back to base, and the can is tagged, dated, and stored.

The details:

‘Euro/NATO’-style cans – Ive used the plastic cans, I’ve used the metal Blitz cans, and I’ve uses the NATO-style cans. (I haven’t used the Scepter plastic cans but I’m really leaning away from plastic fuel containers.) In my experience, the NATO cans are the best choice. I dont bother using a spout with them, I paracord a $2 gas funnel to each can. The NATO cans get painted every so often if theres signs of rust or chips in the paint. The cans seal up tight, are easy to handle, and used to be fairly inexpensive. Seems like the source these days is off-road/expedition specialty websites. The cans aren’t cheap, but whats it worth to you to have gasoline in a crisis?

Stabilizer – Two names top the chart: Stabil and PRI-G. I went with PRI-G after reading some reviews and first-hand reports. I have stored gas with the PRI-G stabilizer for almost two years and when that gas was finally used I noticed no change in vehicle performance. Stabil is easier to find, but for my money I’ll make the extra effort and get the PRI -G. Buy the big jug that treats 512 gallons. Why? Sometimes this stuff can be hard to find (like after their facility in La. got wiped out in Hurricane Katrina, so have enough on hand that you dont need to buy any for a few years.
.

Date tagging – Here’s the post about it. TL;DR? I cut a square from an empty pop can, scrive the date on it, and paracord it to the gas can. Since the tag is metal, and the date is carved into the metal, there is no problem with the date tag disintegrating or becoming illegible due to weather and sun.

If you don’t store extra fuel and don’t know how to go about it, this might be useful to you. It may not be the best way, but it’s how we do it around here and it seems to have worked pretty well so far. So: buy the good quality cans, fill with fuel, treat with stabilizer, date the cans, store them out of the weather (in a corner of your yard in a ‘doghouse’ structure would work great, and rotate with fresh gas when you fill your vehicle.)

As I said, I haven’t been as diligent as I should about gas rotation and the gas in storage was around two years old….but treated and stored properly it appears to perform just fine. When we need to outrun the zombies, or buy gas at 3AM when all the stations are closed, we’ll have that extremely valuable resource available to us.

And, before I forget, I want to repost something I think is extremely important about fuel rotation in a non-crisis:

The trick to this whole process is that you dont fill the truck from the cans until you are at the gas station. Why? Because if you fill it up at home you’ll be tempted to take the empty cans and throw them in the corner and say “Ah, I’ll fill them up next time” and then the world comes to an end and you’re starting your apocalypse three five-gallon drums short. So…fill the truck at the pump using the cans and then refill the cans at the pump. At least, for someone with my lack of self-discipline I find that to be the method that works best.

Seriously, man….there should never be an empty gas can in your world.

Fuel rotation today. It’s like an annual holiday where you smell like gasoline and have $50 less in your pocket.

I keep a dozen NATO-style fuel cans filled with stabilized gas. Just in case. In a worst case scenario, I multiply (gallons*mpg)/2 to come up with the minimum range we can get out of here and go somewhere else if we have to. Why the conservative 50% cut in mileage? Because everyone else is going to be thinking the same thing and there’s going to be detours, idle time, and other problems that turn what would otherwise be a straight line from Point A to Point B to something resembling the Jews wandering the desert for 40 years.

So…truck has about a third of a tank so I pull two cans of the oldest gas and dump ‘em in the truck. I have the spout attachment for the cans but i’ve never been satisfied with them. I went to WallyWorld, found some automotive funnels for $2 each and paracorded one to each gas can. Just works better for me. After the cans are empty I dose ‘em with some PRI-G and fill ‘em up at the local station. The gas I put in the truck today was a lovely vintage from June 2010. heady, with just a hint of refinery, it went down smooth and had a vapory finish. I haven’t had any problems using treated gas that was a year or two old but to play it safe I usually ‘cut it’ 50/50 with new gas….meaning I put old gas in the tank and then top off with fresh.

You look at any disaster and while we like to think guns and ammo are the new currency the evidence shows that the thing people will really want in a big way is fuel. You cant get outta Dodge if you don’t have gas in your Dodge, y’know? Fuel represents a chance to get the frak outta wherever you are. After that, it’s also what runs your generators to keep your little island of civilization afloat. And if you are running something that is critical like a pump to keep your house dry, there is virtually no price you aren’t willing to pay. So…it’s a good idea to have some fuel set back.

Fifty bucks lighter in my pocket today but I feel better knowing we’ve got more fuel rotated and there if we need it.

A few previous posts on the subject:
Gas Rotation
Rotating Fuel
Daily McGyver-ism – Fuel ID tag

Gas rotation day, today. Took three of the jerry cans and dumped ‘em in the truck, refilled them, added some PRI-G and put them back in storage. The trick to this whole process is that you dont fill the truck from the cans until you are at the gas station. Why? Because if you fill it up at home you’ll be tempted to take the empty cans and throw them in the corner and say “Ah, I’ll fill them up next time” and then the world comes to an end and you’re starting your apocalypse three five-gallon drums short. So…fill it at the truck at the pump using the cans and then refill the cans at the pump. At least, for someone with my lack of self-discipline I find that to be the method that works best.

Although ammo and freezedrieds get all the spotlight time, anyone who has ever been through a hurricane, tornado, earthquake or similar disaster will tell you that the real commodity that traded like cigarettes in a prison was gasoline. When the pumps are dry or inoperative the man with the can has the world by the ‘nads.

Although its most obvious use is in a vehicle, there are plenty of thirsty generators and other devices out there after (or during) a disaster that need a steady supply of go-juice. I remember watching the coverage of Katrina and one of the things that caught my eye is that everyone had those red plastic fuel cans tied to the handlebars of their four wheelers, piled in the back of their johnboats, or hanging from the rails of their front porches as they searched for fuel. There were also stories, unsubstantiated (which I guess makes them rumours, really) of course, about ‘the authorities’ confiscating drums of fuel for their own use from citizenry that passed through the checkpoints.

One of my favorite stories out of Katrina was about the small regional power company that had to think ‘outside the box’ in the aftermath of the disaster. They had fleets of bucket trucks that needed to get out there and start restoring service but where to get fuel for those trucks? Gotta admire this sort of thinking – one of the managers called up the fuel refinery/tank farm guys and said “We’ll get your electricity up and running right away if you give us fuel for our trucks.” The fuel guys got electricity to restart their operations and the power guys had fuel for their fleet. In a crisis, if you have fuel you have pretty good bargaining power.

And, of course, its nice have the extended range available to your vehicle that a few 5-gallon cans in the back afford. Some day when you want to leave in a major hurry youre going to want distance and a lot of it…when everyone else sputters to a halt after one tank of gas you can refill and keep going.