Accessible fuel supplies

[NorthernRaider]

So many problems involved in this issue

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...tanks.html

[bigpaul]

if our local filling station were to close(could happen its only a small one), nearest one after that is 8 miles away, next one after that is 13 miles away,( both of these are small ones with only a couple of pumps) the nearest Supermarket with its own filling station is 25 miles away(i.e. 50 mile round trip).

[Highlander]

Well for us, that map doesnt show it true,... it worse than that,... we have the choice of three places to fill up,.. its either 14 miles, 30 miles, or 52 miles [ one way ],.. the 14 miles and the 30 miles are both over single track roads, so it takes longer, than you might expect to do that milage, and both those are a two pump small station,..and the fuel up here, is £1.67 a ltr

The 52 miles pumps are a suppermarket, so that would be a 104 mile round trip

I dont know of anyone [ be they preppers or not ] that doesnt keep a supply of fuel,...I have lost count of the times a tourist has stopped outside my house and asked about the closest fuel,.. I have often asked to see how much they have, and then ended up giving them a gallon,....well what could you do, you cant leave them stranded,... you should see their faces, they cant believe some stranger is giving them fuel,..almost worth it

[David075]

One good thing about being in the city I don't have that problem, I have 4 petrol stations within a mile of where i stay in fact when i think about it there is prob no other area of this city that has so many so close.

[iaaems]

Here in Norfolk we once had two garages/filling stations, in our little village. One of those has disappeared completely and the land now has houses on it. Just recently the other one has had its pumps shut down and the proprietor is not saying anything. He still services vehicles and sells them however. If he has decided that it is not financially worthwhile to continue with the fuel side of the business then we will be faced with a round trip well into double figures for a Tesco run or slightly less for a non Tesco run but more expensive fuel.
The decline of the filling station is closely coupled with the decline of the local pub. Both handle liquids and both have to deal with large organisations as suppliers. And as you might guess the government are in there as well with their taxes. What it amounts to is a very small return for a lot of effort. As a proprietor there are a lot of people on your back who are in a position to make life somewhat unpleasant most of the time.
So, fewer outlets mean more control of the distribution and pricing. This will mean more control over what you spend your money on and the quality of your life. Oil companies working in association with the government? More profits, more tax revenue? Surely not!!!?

[NorthernRaider]

THE CASE FOR DIESEL
© NR2012 v2

Yes I know there are far more people driving Cars, Vans, SUVs’s , Pickups, 4X4’s etc with petrol (gasoline) powered engines than there are driving similar vehicles running Diesel engines, But hang on a moment is that a good thing for us claiming to be switched on survivalists?

Some points I think need chewing over by the preparedness communities especially those with retreats, homesteads, secure homes and bug out plans.

If (or more likely when) TSHTF and fuel availability & storage becomes a major issue what will society in general start doing?

Let’s accept that most of us already keep our vehicles topped off most of the time and also keep a few gallons of fuel stored for “The Day” but nearly all of us must admit that overall we have not got enough fuel cached to get by with.

Question? What is the general public going to do as soon as finding fuel supplies become difficult?

Answer, yes they are going to form huge queues at almost every petrol (gas) station they can, the rest of this tale you already know, huge queues, long waits, rationing, violence, riots, people getting killed for a gallon of fuel. The public will go berserk in next to no time at all. Also we cannot ignore the massive reduction of the number of fuel stations in the UK over 75% of all UK fuel stations have closed since 1970 and its getting worse this allows the state to have an easier job at controlling the availability of fuel to the public. Also note the number of oil and petrol refineries has also been dramatically cut in recent years.
(This scenario came 100% spot on accurate during the 2005 hurricane season in the US and in the Superstorm Sandy that hit New York state in 2012)

So what are the big boys and the prepared people doing?

What do the Railways (Railroads), Truckers, Maritime trade, leisure boats use as fuel? What do farmers choose as fuel for their tractors, ploughs, etc? What do the military choose to power their vehicles?

Diesel, Yes Diesel, This fuel is found almost everywhere a survivalist would choose to look. It’s safer to handle and store than petrol, it’s got a better shelf life untreated than petrol and it’s used to power most of our commerce.


Next time you are out and about take a look around and try to identify places you could ‘Source’ petrol (gas) and diesel. Petrol in general is only available at fuel stations and in other petrol powered vehicles (cars, lawn mowers and jet skis?).It’s only found in fairly small quantities as well. If you are lucky you will be able to fill your vehicle and a few jerry cans from a retail source before government restrictions or shortages become an issue.


But look at places you can find diesel in an emergency and in what quantities? Trucks alone have tanks that carry many hundreds of gallons of diesel, truck stops hold huge amounts in comparison to petrol stations. Look at your local railroad locomotive, even the smallest carry 1500 gallons of diesel whilst the mainline locos can carry as much as 6000 gallons.

Also in recent years modern diesel engines have advanced technologically, to a point that the power issues that traditionally separated diesel vehicles from petrol (gas) powered vehicles has been eroded. So that unless you are into sports cars a turbo diesel can and will match your gasoline powered car in everything except the 0-60 MPH stakes, plus modern diesels are still more economical than petrol engines.

Then of course when it comes to the reliability and vulnerability aspects of comparing the two types of engine diesel wins hands down.

I am also advised that certain types of heating oil can be used to run a diesel engine. Certainly after the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina you need to carry enough fuel to travel 3x the distance to your retreat, this allows for diversions and long periods of very slow driving in heavy traffic.

So in closing if you have a rural retreat or bug out plans and you believe that sourcing fuel is going to be a major issue common sense directs you to choose the good old compression ignition engine.

[Metroyeti]

Garages shut down when theres 600~1000L left so even if there shut you will be able to get fuel when the staff go home lost shtf

[Highlander]

(19 January 2013, 22:59)Metroyeti Wrote: Garages shut down when theres 600~1000L left so even if there shut you will be able to get fuel when the staff go home lost shtf

Thats providing there is power to pump it out of course

[Metroyeti]

Should still be able to syphon it out the tanks

[BDG]

Siphoning would not work - the siphon out put needs to be at a lower level than its input that would be several feet underground. You could use a handpump to do the job if you can get a hose or something similar into the storage tank - a lot have anti tamper systems to stop this.

You could also use a 12v fuel pump and hose of you have access to the diesel. You would more than likely have a vehicle on hand with a battery that could run the pump and if you are in a situation where you can be retrieving fuel from a fuel tank, you should also be safe enough to take a fuel pump from a nearby vehicle.

Some older diesels do have mechanical fuel pumps so this would not work with them.