Tag Archives: fuel

Propane and propane accessories

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I found one of these while straightening up the other day. It’s an adapter that lets you fill the small 1# propane bottles from a larger tank. It seemed like a useful item to have since we have several devices here that run on those small bottles…most notable a small heater, a couple Coleman lanterns, and a camp stove.

Propane is great stuff, it’s just damn awkward. As someone pointed out to me, with a gas or diesel powered device I can borrow fuel from a neighbor if I have a five-gallon bucket. Borrowing propane from a neighbor is far trickier…can’t exactly tear off a piece of your 20# tank and say “Here, get it back to me when you can.”

Of course, an adapter like this lets you take your empty to your neighbors barbecue (or vice versa) and get some fuel that way.

I think that if I were going to live out in the sticks and have to have my own source of power, propane would be very attractive. The only thing I don’t like is that I’d have to have some guy drive his propane truck to my little hideaway once a year and fill the tanks. On the other hand, I suppose I could mount a tank on a small trailer, bring it into town to be filled, and then bring it back to my little hideaway and then hook it up, leaving the tank on the trailer year-round….probably violate a dozen DOT and zoing regs, but I like to think I’d be living somewhere where ‘zoning’ was a quaint notion that never really caught on locally.

Back in the Y2K runup I did wind up buying a few dozen 1# bottles of propane. I’ve probably only used one or two over the years, but as long as the bottles themselves are protected from rust and banging around they should last quite a while. It’s just another layer of redundancy…we’ve kerosene for lighting, heating, cooking in an emergency and also the option of propane for the same purposes. Add in the gas-fueled generator and we’re looking at around three different ways to skin the same cat. (And while I generally find Ragnar Benson’s books to be pretty lame, I will give him credit for bringing up “the rule of threes” in his ‘The Modern Survival Retreat‘ book.

Even though at the moment I’m living in town, I think it’d be nice to have a buried tank in the yard to run the generator and a few other goodies. Unfortunately, I doubt I can get a 500# tank past the city codes. On the other hand, a couple 100# tanks shouldn’t be a problem. (By the by, excellent graphic showing relative tank sizes.) My Honda EU2000 has some aftermarket kits to let it run propane, natural gas, or gasoline…..it’d be nice to have options.

Link – The Little Can That Could

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Wonderful post about the history of the jerrycan.

During World War II the United States exported more tons of petroleum products than of all other war matériel combined. The mainstay of the enormous oil-and-gasoline transportation network that fed the war was the oceangoing tanker, supplemented on land by pipelines, railroad tank cars, and trucks. But for combat vehicles on the move, another link was crucial—smaller containers that could be carried and poured by hand and moved around a battle zone by trucks.

I’ve given up on anything other than the ‘NATO/Euro’ style cans for gasoline storage. They are more expensive, and sometimes hard to find, but I believe they are worth it.

Quiet weekend stuff

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It’s always interesting to watch the pricing on bargains suddenly go wonky. Last week I posted about the LifeStraws being $15.99 and quite a few people (myself included) jumped in there and picked up a few. Or, in some cases, more than a few.

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Why would I mention a bargain on a cool piece of gear and NOT get a bunch for myself?

Sadly, I just checked the link and they’re back up to twenty bucks each. Bummer. Gotta strike while the iron is hot.

Same story on the OD hooded space blankets. They were $10.01 for a brief time and now they’re back up to $20. Hopefully, everyone who wanted one managed to get in there and snag a couple at the $10 price.

And speaking of things to put away for that rainy day, I decided that $2.15 was as good as its gonna get, and with us being slightly ahead on the gas budget this month, so I went ahead and have the extra fuel cans filled. Those are the lovely ‘Euro/NATO-style’ cans that I got from Lexington Container a couple years back. Don’t be tempted to buy the ones you see in Sportsmans Guide and a few other places…those are the cheapo Chinese cans and they are worthless. Yes, these cans are going to be expensive at around $50 ea (plus shipping) but when it’s 2am, pouring rain, and you’re on the side of the road hoping to outrun whatever it is that’s got you running, you’ll think that fifty bucks is a bargain to have five-gallons of fuel perfectly preserved and ready to go.

20150328_184015And, of course, each one of those cans represents x amount of hours of electricity courtesy of the generator. And electricity means hot water, hot food, lighting, communications, furnace blowers, etc….in short, those cans hold civilization. (Which  sorta explains those Mad Max movies)

So, a somewhat productive last couple of days…picked up some extra water filters, filled some gas cans, did some grocery shopping. The weather has gotten nicer here so I expect I’ll be doing some spring cleaning and organizing shortly.

Article – New York City extends gas rationing; Bloomberg cites holiday travel crunch

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Gasoline rationing for drivers in New York City has been extended through Friday.

The odd-even license plate system for gasoline and diesel purchase, instituted on Nov. 9 following the aftereffects of superstorm Sandy, was scheduled to end on Monday.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Sunday he was extending the emergency order, even as the long lines at the pump have diminished. Bloomberg noted the major travel week ahead due to Thanksgiving.

“The odd-even license plate system has worked well and helped to reduce wait times and lines at the pump,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “With 30 percent of gas stations still closed and a major travel week coming, I am extending the successful odd-even system on gas and diesel fuel purchases to ensure we do not risk going back to the extreme lines we saw prior to the system being implemented.”

Nice. In the name of ‘emergency’, Bloomberg declares gas rationing to be the law of the land. And then, because of a holiday, he continues his edict. Perhaps it would have been to much for him to simply expand his odd-even license plate scheme to use of the public streets.

An excellent example of local government getting high-handed. I wonder if the folks in NYC would be as complacent if they were rationing water, or milk, or food in this manner.

An excellent reason to have your own stockpile of fuel…because even without a disaster you can wind up finding yourself facing these sorts of third-world issues.

Scenes from Brooklyn

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

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.

Link – Desperate Drivers Pay The Price

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

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.

Fuel rotation musings

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

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.
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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.

 

Gun show, stove link, fuel rotation, gift arrival

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

So the great Missoula Gun Show came and went. I played it pretty cheaply, all things considered. And while I bought a few small goodies for myself I did manage to keep from buying the really big tickets I wanted. I love going to gun shows and it’s always a pleasure to just wander the aisles..

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Someone sent me this link about some of the new portable woodburner stoves on the market these days. I’d heard about the Solo stove and have been curious to try one….but, this other stove, Firebox, seems like a real gem, other than it’s weight. Usually when Im just out for the day, I take a little Esbit stove. But for being out in the boonies a bit longer it would be nice to be able to just burn the abundant twigs and other burnable detritus that litters the woods. What’s the difference between these and just building a fire on its own? Generally, these things are designed to create drafts that create hotter burning, more efficient fires. Hey, I’m all about less work at less expense. I went ahead and added the Firebox to my Amazon Wish List and at some point I’ll pick one up and put it through  its places.

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Rotated some stored gas today. Fuel from, according to the tag, 2010. About two years of storage. The fuel was treated with a generous dose of PRI Fuel Stabilizer which I’ve found to be an excellent product. Usually, I’ll wait until the gas tank in the truck is down to around 1/4 or less, dump in one five-gallon can of fuel and then fill the rest of the tank with fresh gas. Seems to work so far. Someday, having a stockpile of fuel is going to be very, very important. Heck, even in the not so recent past (Katrina) it’s proven itself to be pretty important. Now that the feds have, essentially, wiped out the scourge of eay-to-use gas cans from the US it’s harder than ever to find a good gas can. Spend the money and buy the ‘Euro’/NATO-style cans…you can find them at many offroad accessory websites. They are far, far better cans than anything Blitz ever out out and I like ‘em better than the plastic cans.

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Birthday tomorrow. Another gift came in the other day and I need to do a write-up on it. Its one of these (Freeplay FreeCharge 12V ) and I’m quite eager to experiment with it.