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Been trying for a long time now to start getting squared away on some extra fuel stored around here...just in case.
You all know what is needed.......gas, kerosene, propane, lighter fluid, butane, alcohol, etc, etc, etc,. I have a few spare plastic gas cans but only a small bit of gas, a few kerosene cans, but only one has fuel in it at this time, several propane tanks that need refilling because only one is full right at the moment, a bit of alcohol for medical use and soda can stoves in an emergency but not nearly what I'd like to have, lighter fluid for my Zippo lighters but the same as the alcohol, butane for refillable lighters and micro torch soldering iron but not what would be needed in a real emergency. Just about anything that requires fuel, I have a little bit of each, but not what I'd really like to have...just in case.
But there is a bit of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.....I just paid of a loan that took a substantial portion of my monthly income, and although new insurance is going to be taking a portion of that, I still have enough left to start making a bigger contribution to getting fuel reserves squared away for us as well as other items we could use...just in case.
To give a good idea of what I mean, this is part of my plan.......
Each paycheck from now on I'll be buying either a five gallon can of gas, a can of kerosene, or a tank of propane for what I'll be calling my MAJOR fuels, and at least one container or more (depending on the available funds) of each of the others which will be my MINOR fuels. When I get to the point where all my MAJOR fuel containers are filled, then I'll concentrate a larger proportion of funds for more of the MINOR fuels. And since gasoline needs to be rotated quicker than the other fuels, then I'll start a rotation of the fuel in the cans in our vehicles on a regular basis as we buy our regular fuel that we would normally be filling our tanks with. In other words, a can or two of gas gets dumped into our rides, and the money we would have spent to fill the tanks goes back into the cans, and gets rotated to the back of the stack of cans for that vehicle.
By doing it this way, it will be just a short time before I have enough gasoline on hand to keep our vehicles at least half full at any given time with enough of a reserve for a full tank for each vehicle stored in fuel cans, a large reserve of propane for cooking purposes with the stoves I have set aside for emergency cooking, a good supply of kerosene for emergency heating, and a large supply of just about everything else.
While I know that these will eventually run out in a real emergency, we will be squared away a lot better than what we were before I started this plan. And there is always the possibility that something bad may happen before I get to that point, but I'm at least heading in the right direction in the mean time.
What is really good about this plan, is the fact that what I'll be spending on fuel is just a part of what I have available, so I'll still be able to keep buying some of the three B's as well.
And of course I'm always looking out for extra fuel containers. A case in point..... the past few days a gentleman that I know called me. He knows that I scrap metals to recycle, and said that he had some stuff for me at his home he sold this past week, and that I should swing by and pick it all up.
In with all the bits and pieces that he was getting rid of, he had a really good red, 5 gal. "jerry can" with the nozzle, and an empty 20 lb. propane tank. So I have these two to add to my collection of spare fuel tanks to be filled. I come across things like this at times, and they are definitely a welcome addition around here. :cool:
You all know what is needed.......gas, kerosene, propane, lighter fluid, butane, alcohol, etc, etc, etc,. I have a few spare plastic gas cans but only a small bit of gas, a few kerosene cans, but only one has fuel in it at this time, several propane tanks that need refilling because only one is full right at the moment, a bit of alcohol for medical use and soda can stoves in an emergency but not nearly what I'd like to have, lighter fluid for my Zippo lighters but the same as the alcohol, butane for refillable lighters and micro torch soldering iron but not what would be needed in a real emergency. Just about anything that requires fuel, I have a little bit of each, but not what I'd really like to have...just in case.
But there is a bit of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.....I just paid of a loan that took a substantial portion of my monthly income, and although new insurance is going to be taking a portion of that, I still have enough left to start making a bigger contribution to getting fuel reserves squared away for us as well as other items we could use...just in case.
To give a good idea of what I mean, this is part of my plan.......
Each paycheck from now on I'll be buying either a five gallon can of gas, a can of kerosene, or a tank of propane for what I'll be calling my MAJOR fuels, and at least one container or more (depending on the available funds) of each of the others which will be my MINOR fuels. When I get to the point where all my MAJOR fuel containers are filled, then I'll concentrate a larger proportion of funds for more of the MINOR fuels. And since gasoline needs to be rotated quicker than the other fuels, then I'll start a rotation of the fuel in the cans in our vehicles on a regular basis as we buy our regular fuel that we would normally be filling our tanks with. In other words, a can or two of gas gets dumped into our rides, and the money we would have spent to fill the tanks goes back into the cans, and gets rotated to the back of the stack of cans for that vehicle.
By doing it this way, it will be just a short time before I have enough gasoline on hand to keep our vehicles at least half full at any given time with enough of a reserve for a full tank for each vehicle stored in fuel cans, a large reserve of propane for cooking purposes with the stoves I have set aside for emergency cooking, a good supply of kerosene for emergency heating, and a large supply of just about everything else.
While I know that these will eventually run out in a real emergency, we will be squared away a lot better than what we were before I started this plan. And there is always the possibility that something bad may happen before I get to that point, but I'm at least heading in the right direction in the mean time.
What is really good about this plan, is the fact that what I'll be spending on fuel is just a part of what I have available, so I'll still be able to keep buying some of the three B's as well.
And of course I'm always looking out for extra fuel containers. A case in point..... the past few days a gentleman that I know called me. He knows that I scrap metals to recycle, and said that he had some stuff for me at his home he sold this past week, and that I should swing by and pick it all up.
In with all the bits and pieces that he was getting rid of, he had a really good red, 5 gal. "jerry can" with the nozzle, and an empty 20 lb. propane tank. So I have these two to add to my collection of spare fuel tanks to be filled. I come across things like this at times, and they are definitely a welcome addition around here. :cool:
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