Safe Fuel Storage for Long-Term Survival

survival fuel storage

Dependency on combustible fuels is something every serious prepper must address. Ideally, your bug-out plan will lead you to a situation where you can afford to drastically limit your reliance on all fuels, but post-catastrophe fuel-budgeting is a topic for another time. For now, let's assume that there are two main types of fuel storage and stockpiling to prepare for: a bug-out event and long-term stockpiling at your retreat. Safe long-term fuel storage takes a little know-how, planning and discipline

Obviously if you're just heading up to your cabin or camp for the weekend you may be able to spare the time to stop for gasoline before heading out of town, but in a true public emergency situation, it doesn't take long for long line-ups to form at the gas station. Stress from an emergency or fears of shortages will cause tempers will flare and, depending on what the crisis is that you're fleeing, that might be the last place you want to be stuck. Make sure your bug-out plan includes an allowance for plenty of fuel to get you where you want to go. Know how much fuel you need to reach your destination and make sure your vehicle has that much aboard with some margin for error. If you plan to go a long way, be sure you know every spot along multiple routes so you can resupply on the way. Plan for scenarios where you must take alternate routes that might be longer, slower, or rougher than you expected. Get to know your bug-out vehicle's fuel efficiency at different rates of speed. Cars and trucks are most fuel-efficient within a specific range speeds, so work that into your calculations, too.

Oil Crisis

So now you know how much gasoline or diesel you'll probably need in a worst-case scenario to bug out and you've planned ahead by adding fuel capacity, either a bigger tank or extra jerry cans. Now you can park your rig out of sight and rest easy, right? Not quite. Depending on what fuel your vehicle burns, you need to deal with safe long-term fuel storage, unless the event you're planning for takes place in 6 months or so. For most people, the easiest way to deal with this is to make sure you run the vehicle and cycle any spare fuel into the tank, rather than leaving gas in the spare cans for an unknown period. If you can't run the vehicle for extended periods, you may have to take more drastic steps to cycle the fuel, but that's the best method.

But wait a minute! What if your plans don't involve a car, truck, or MPV? No worries about fuel then, right? Not quite! Even if you plan to escape by mountain bike, on horseback, or on your own two feet,  you still need to consider methods of safe long-term fuel storage, unless you expect to be utterly nomadic after things go south. When you arrive at your destination, you'll need some way to cook, to stay warm or any number of other things you'll need to fuel. And for those of you who did take the truck to your shelter in the back of beyond, you'll need to have a reliable fuel stockpile for that, too. So let's look at long-term storage at your bug-out cabin or camp next:

Photos: NPR, BBC


20 Comments

  1. Neil A. Nieminsky said:

    Use double the recommended amount – alcohol (Ethanol) absorbs water (moisture in the air) so make sure that the containers are airtight.

  2. Gage Sherman said:

    That’s my question. If it goes bad anyways, you can’t store it very long.

  3. John M. Stryker said:

    StaBil works for over a year. When we deploy and store our personal vehicles at off base lots thry put it In the tank. Then every month they run the engine. So it worked in my vehicle.

  4. Axel Knobbe said:

    Diesel is no problem, however quality can decrease. That won’t be a problem for old diesel-engines. Modern common-rail diesesl however – I wouldn’t bet on them with older oils.

    Gasoline – just don’t. Shelf life isn’t that thrilling.

  5. Mike Ames said:

    John M. Stryker I store gas for my hurricane generator in 5 gal cans with StaBil. At the end of the hurricane season, I use it in my car. I purposely kept one jug for over a year and it still ran my engine fine. It’s an annual thing for me in Fl.

  6. William Matthew Lee said:

    I’ve used stabil in my boat in the diesel tanks and the fuel was in there for 4 years and still ran fine. With diesel or gas the thing is use a fuel stabilizer and keep,it in a controlled environment, i.e. In an area that doesn’t have a high fluctuation of temp. Like in the lower area of a storage building that does not get a lot of sunshine. Like the north well. That helps to keep the temp from fluctuations from bring too extreme. In a root cell ER or in a small metal storage bin under ground.

  7. Joe Atkins said:

    Kolks, safe storage of fuel is vital. You can put Stabil in the gas and it will keep it from deteriorating over time. However, with fluctuation in temperature, you’re sure, through expansion and contraction, to have vapor produced. This vapor is an explosion risk. Gas or diesel, should be stored away from your house, and away from your neighbors’ homes. The shed, or whatever you use, should be well vented. A spinning top vent should be on the top of the shed and there should be at least four screened intake vents at the bottom of each wall. This reduces the risks of an accidental ignition and explosion. My advice for electricity is to build a stand alone solar powered generator. You can size it as big, or as small as you need to. It’s silent and takes no gas. The only pain is battery maintenance and keeping the solar panels clean (dirty panels don’t work as well). Then, you can keep the fuel in reserve for emergencies, like getting the hell out of Dodge.

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