Gun ownership represents freedom from both oppression and bullies as well as independence. If you own a gun and know how to use it, you’re a free person. If you own guns, people have to convince you do things. They can’t intimidate you with threats of unlawful force. You don’t have to rely on others for your safety and security. As we all know, nobody will protect the people you love more vigorously you will.
Meanwhile, most people don’t give a lot of thought to clean, potable water and reliable electricity in their daily lives. Or gasoline. They should.
Prudent people should think about all of the above. Especially with the JBs in charge both here in Illinois and in Washington.
Yes, gas prices crested to new record highs over $5 a gallon earlier this year and then back to the mid-$3s this summer, but it’s everywhere.
It’s everywhere until something happens and then it’s not. Something like a power outage, a pipeline failure (or act of sabotage) or an event like 9/11 that makes everyone else think they need to fill their fuel tanks yesterday.
If you have any doubts, just ask the folks in Florida now that the massive Hurricane Ian has passed through and the cleanup has begun. Gasoline has become liquid gold for millions of Floridians, not only to rebuild but to protect lives.
Without stored gasoline, most folks are limited to the fuel in their car’s fuel tank if gas stations have exhausted their storage tanks or if the power has failed. If you’re the average person, that’s a quarter tank or less. And for far too many, it’s fumes.
Even in normal times, do you plan to get gas after work before driving home, or maybe Monday morning before driving to work? What do you do if something happens before then? Yeah, it would suck to not have enough gas to get home from the job location. Or to get to the store to buy food or medicine.
Gasoline is freedom and independence. It represents the freedom to travel – and maybe even freedom from becoming a refugee. Or it might mean a way to get to that cache of supplies you buried under Fluffy the dead cat. And to do all that without asking others to help.
At home, with a generator, it represents electricity for well water, refrigeration, medical devices and a few creature comforts. Gas powers equipment to help you communicate, to maintain your property or to repair damages. It helps provide safety and security. It makes life better.
Obviously, in everyday life keep your car’s tank full. $20 at the top of your tank costs the same as the last $20.
What’s more, real freedom, security and independence for many comes in the form of 10-20 gallons of stabilized fuel safely stored at the homestead for a rainy day. Or maybe thirty or forty gallons if you have a bigger generator because you have more power-intensive needs like a deep-well pump, or electric appliances.
Either way, gasoline equals freedom and independence. Just in case.
Tips and tricks.
Gas stations in Illinois are now stocking winter blend fuel. What’s the difference? Besides being a few cents cheaper, it has more of the good, volatile stuff that allows for easier starting in the winter.
If you’re going to store gas, use stabilizer (I love PRI-G or Star Tron, but Stabil will work). Fill a tightly sealed can and label it with the date and contents. The gas cans currently sold at farm stores suck in terms of pouring out the fuels, but they are outstanding in terms of sealing the can for storage so the best parts of the fuel don’t evaporate and leak out on you, especially during the hot summer. As for pouring, if you spend a few bucks at Walmart.com or Amazon, you can get replacement nozzles that flow like a dream. Even better, for $10, Harbor Freight has a battery powered pump that will prevent spills and muscle fatigue from holding a five-gallon gas can up to fill your car’s gas tank during rotation or your generator in emergencies. We aren’t getting any younger, after all.
I wheel a Herby Curby trash can next to the car, put the 5gal gas can on it, and pump the gas into the car’s tank. Easy peasy.
Personally, I prefer to store premium fuel and I used a strip of colored duct tape on those new gas cans to indicate the year it was filled. Then next fall, in October, I’ll rotate through fuels stored this year if they haven’t been used before then. Fuels filled and stored during summer months get first priority for the rotation as they’ll not start up as nicely in generators in extreme cold conditions.
I’ve run two- and three-year-old stabilized fuels in generators, although three plus years lends itself to causing carburetor issues if it’s been stored in the generator’s fuel tank. If it’s stored in a tightly sealed container, you should easily got 3+ years in a pinch with Star Tron or PRI-G.
SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY.
NEVER store gasoline in your basement or attic. NFPA rules dictate how much fuel can be stored in a habitation (I think it’s ten gallons, but you might check to make sure). No, you’re not going to get fined for storing more than those guidelines, your homeowners insurance company might not honor a claim if you’ve got fifty gallons of gas stored in your basement and your house burns to the foundation. Or if it’s in the garage and it burns your garage and the neighbor’s garage.
The same rules go for propane. No storage of canisters indoors or in your attached garage.
The safest place to store flammables and combustibles (like kerosene for your heaters) is in an unattached structure or better yet, a shed.
Even better, get gasoline that has no ethanol in it. It causes gas to have storage problems more quickly. It is available, one just has to look, and maybe travel a little.
Given the push toward electric-only vehicles, the recent hurricane shows just what a folly it is. Can you imagine one or two million people evacuating an area, clogging the interstate in traffic that is crawling along? How long are those batteries going to last? How many cars will be dead along the road? No one can bring you a five gallon can of electricity. Too many people will find out the hard way.
Finding non-ethanol gas is like finding the holy grail. A lot of good info here, although I haven’t had any issues with 10% ethanol in my cars, vans, generators or other small engines. I too got one of those pumps from Harbor Freight and it’s revolutionized my offloading of gas from can to car.