The top item on the list of ‘wants’ for Katrina survivors, right after drinking water, is fuel. (And by fuel, I’m going with the definition of ‘a consumable product for production of energy (light, heat, etc) through combustion or burning). Narrowing it further – gasoline.

I originally had a few 5-gallon gas cans but after reading about how in New Orleans if you had some gasoline you could pretty much name your price on whatever you wanted, I’ve decided a few smaller 1- and 2-gallon containers would be prudent for ‘making change’ in a transaction. Naturally, they are also easier to transport. The small plastic ones are about $3 ea. at Super WallyWorld. I’m a believer in metal cans for long-term storage and plastic containers for short term use or transport. Plastic cans dont do nearly as much damage sliding around the back of a truck as a stack of metal ones. However, plastic cans are a bit more porous than metal ones when it comes to various off-gassing of ethers and other elements of gasoline that break down and become vapors. At least, thats what I read. (Interestingly, I also read that PRI-G (not Sta-Bil) will restore this compromised fuel back to good as new. Interesting.)

Speaking of transport, in case you didnt know, the ubiquitous and relatively cheap ALICE pack is designed to carry 5-gallon fuel cans (as well as other flat and heavy objects) by use of the ALICE frame and a cargo shelf. Brigade Quartermaster is closing out cargo shelves for $3 apiece, which means buying five of them won’t break the bank. ALICE frames and shoulderstraps can be had from pretty much every military surplus website as well as most gunshows. Im the first to admit that ALICE packs are not the most comfortable pack you can buy but they are cheap, already in a good subdued color, are fairly rugged and multitask for different carrying styles and loads. So, next time youre sitting on your mountain bike, waiting in a gas line, you can strap that jerrycan to your back and transport it wherever it needs to go with far more ease than trying to ride your bike one handed while balancing a 40# fuel can with the other. (Might wanna think about a cloth cover of some kind for the jerrycan in case youre worried about looters coming after your butt because you’ve got 5-gallons of gas strapped to you. And, no, a gunshot wont ignite it….they exhaustively disproved that one on ‘Mythbusters’.)

Naturally, a five-gallon can of diesel or drinking water can also be carried in such a manner. Think about it next time you think you might have to transport a large quantity of fuel or water on foot, bicycle, horseback or motorcycle.
=====
The girlfriend has apparently found an admirer in ‘Patriots’ author James Rawles. He mentioned in an email to her that he reads her LJ. I’m terribly amused.
=====
Speaking of fuel cans, if you hit the Blitz USA website ( www.blitzusa.com ) you can see they manufacture plastic five-gallon (and larger) containers with the correct color codings for diesel, gasoline, kerosene and water. (What, you didnt know theyre color coded? Yup..usually its red for gas, yellow for diesel and blue for kero…and water-blue for, you guessed it, water.) They also make a very interesting product (their part #11050)..a ten-gallon ‘fuel station’…basically a cylindrical 10-gallon tank with hose and spigot just like a gas pump. Gravity feed but looks like a nice option to have mounted in your truck or garage for fueling vehicles in an easier manner than manhandling a 40# jerrycan.
=====
Speaking of PRI-G, my UPS droid just dropped off a package containing, surprise, a 32 oz. jug of the stuff. Out. Of. The. Blue. (From ‘Survival Unlimited.Com’ out of Gonzales LA…you remember Louisiana, right? Its the state where New Orleans used to be.)
Remember in the previous post I mentioned what a tremendous boon it is to have a bunker babe who shares your interests and desire to prepare for the uncertain future? Well, apparently she hopped on the interwebnet and ordered a jug o’ the stuff for yours truly. And told me nothing about it. Which is why I’m saying nothing about it. She’ll find out that it arrived as soon as she reads this.

Seriously, is she cool or what? And am I one seriously undeserving paranoiac or what?

Her birthday is in four weeks. I better get it right.
=====
I wonder how the Mormons in Louisiana (or anywhere in the hurricane region, for that matter) made out. Anyone have any links or articles? I’d do a search for “mormon hurricane” but it would probably come back with a Salt Lake City high school basketball team.