Category: Fuel Storage & Distilling

Letter Re: A Vehicular Bug-Out Kit

One thing that I have not seen properly addressed anywhere online is an appropriate kit for the bug out vehicle. You folks in snow country can reply to this with some recommendations for that scenario. Please do. I survived five hurricanes , one of them in the Virgin Islands, over the years so I consider myself an advanced student of the Bug Out Vehicle. First and foremost. Cars are useless without fuel. They make a decent shelter but they’re tough to carry with you. I haven’t seen a backpack that would hold one. Get yourself as many large cans as …


Letter Re: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Retreat Locale

I am new to SurvivalBlog and have found it very interesting. I thought I would comment on what it’s like living in the Upper Peninsula (“UP”) of Michigan. I built a 1,920 square foot log cabin on 20 acres here, about 30 years ago. I see that you have recommended the UP as a possible retreat location for people in the eastern U.S. I should give you a little personal background before I get started. I moved to the UP several decades ago from southern Michigan. Most of my children were born here and therefore are native Uoopers [or “Yoopers”] …


Letter Re: Survival is About Skills–Practice Makes Perfect

Mr Rawles, You’re regularly posting first hand stories about the need to test gear. Imagine my surprise when my arrogance that that didn’t apply to me proved false! You really do need to test equipment and skills! Unused tools (both physical and mental) are useless tools! I store gas for my lawnmowers in two five gallon plastic containers. I figured that I’d pour what was left in them into my car when I put the mowers away for the winter. I know you always recommend being able to relocate more than one tank of gas away, so I figured I’d …


Letter Re: Retreat Locale and Firearms Selection Questions from a Newbie Easterner

Jim, I am a new reader of SurvivalBlog but I am already hooked. I realize that I am woefully unprepared to defend and care for my family if and when TSHTF. I live in New Jersey and commute to New York City every day, and work in finance. After 9/11, when I lost several dear friends, I took some steps to prepare for a short (several days to a week) disruption or an attack. I purchased a generator, several hundred MREs, bottled water, and iodine pills. I even applied for a firearm purchase permit but never bought a weapon. Working …


Letter Re: A Suggested Checklist for Preparedness Newbies

Here’s a beginner’s list I made for my [elderly] father today: Food {Brown pearl] rice does not store well. Neither does cooking oil so that needs to be fresh. No, Crisco doesn’t count. Coconut oil would be your best bet. Wheat berries – 400 pounds – bulk order at your local health food store Beans – 400 pounds – bulk order at your local health food store Mylar bags Spices Salt Country Living grain mill propane tanks, small stove and hoses to connect freeze dried fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat if you can find them. Water 500 gallons of water …


Adapt to Survive, by Elizabeth B.

You are incredibly mistaken if you think you can store up enough to see you through bad times. You are wrong, dead wrong. When I say store up, I’m talking, food, provisions, tools, barter equipment, and whatever. The key to survival will be adaptation, just like in nature. Those who survive will be those who can readily adapt to a changing environment. I know many of you are sitting on little mountains of barrels, cans, packages and feel like you have an edge. Simply put, you will not be able to squirrel away enough. What happens when the stash runs …


Letter Re: Getting Adult Family Members Home in Times of Crisis

Greetings, Mr. Rawles, I need advice and I trust you implicitly in survival matters. Here’s my issue: I live in the country north of Tampa, Florida. Good dirt, well water (and well bucket), dogs, garden, silver coins stashed away. We are ready for whatever happens. My 27 year old daughter lives in Austin, Texas. We have discussed her bugging out to come home, or to her grandmother’s home in Southwestern Alabama. She is preparing her bugout pack today, and waiting to hear from me to tell her to come home. My question is this: At what point do I tell …


Letter Re: Getting Adult Family Members Home in Times of Crisis

Greetings, Mr. Rawles, I need advice and I trust you implicitly in survival matters. Here’s my issue: I live in the country north of Tampa, Florida. Good dirt, well water (and well bucket), dogs, garden, silver coins stashed away. We are ready for whatever happens. My 27 year old daughter lives in Austin, Texas. We have discussed her bugging out to come home, or to her grandmother’s home in Southwestern Alabama. She is preparing her bugout pack today, and waiting to hear from me to tell her to come home. My question is this: At what point do I tell …


Replace Your FUD with Preparedness Action–a Pre-Crash “D” List

All of the recent economic news may be overwhelming to some. This has left many people virtually petrified by Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). Don’t be a proverbial “deer in the headlights.” I strongly encourage you get past your anxiety uncertainty and instead of sitting around glued to CNN, wringing your hands and saying “ain’t it awful”. Replace that angst with action. Get busy preparing. Here is my suggested Crash Countdown “D” List, for folks that are already fairly well-prepared: 1.) De-Hummelize Sell off any collectibles that are not family heirlooms. The worst offenders here are the mass produced “limited …


Letter Re: Some Practical Notes on Third World Living

Jim, As this is not a competition entry, it has not been reviewed by an outside set of eyes yet, and I’m sure its kind of disorganized, but this is some info about third world life, as I can see it here, after things stabilize. My wife is from Peru. She was born during the Peruvian hyperinflation and transition to its next fiat currency, the Nuevo Sol. (Yeah, we’re young whippersnappers) She recently started to help out in getting ready. What helped her was comparing the current economic climate here to Peru. This allowed her to correlate things that occur …


Letter Re: AVGAS as an Alternative Source of Gasoline During Spot Shortages

James, I’m sort of reluctant to share this because, well, I might need to do it someday and its value is in the fact that most people don’t know it. During Hurricane Ike my uncle, who lives in Houston, acquired use of a generator. That’s an interesting story in itself so I’ll divert for a second and elaborate: He didn’t own a generator but his next door neighbor did. Unfortunately, the neighbor had never run the generator and when they needed it, it wouldn’t start. My uncle is a trained mechanic (former career) and was able to fix it. In …


Letter Re: Advice on Fuel Drums and Fuel Transfer Pumps?

Jim: Do you have any idea where I can get a 50 gallon fuel drum with a manual pump like the one that your previous writer discussed? – SF in Hawaii JWR Replies: You should first consult your local fire code, for capacity limits. This is generally not a problem outside of city limits, but laws vary widely. Needless to say, you should store any fuel cans or drums in a detached storage shed that is away from your house, not in an attached garage! In North America, the fuel drums that the reader mentioned are usually made in 55 …


Letter Re: My Preparedness Measures Pay Off During Fuel Shortage

Mr Rawles You mentioned the current gasoline shortage in the southeast. The local news media reported that 70% of the gas stations are empty and have been for three days. To me it seems closer to 95%. Here is example: In south Nashville, there is a major road called Nolensville Road. In a five mile mile stretch from Thompson Lane to Old Hickory Boulevard there are 26 gas stations. Not one of them has had gas for several days. Within a two mile radius of that stretch of road there are 55,000 residents. That is a lot of people without …


Letter Re: My Hurricane Ike Experience

Dear Mr. Rawles, First of all, my heart goes out to all those who truly suffered with loss of life or property as a result of Hurricane Ike. I only had the minor inconvenience of being without electricity in Houston for five days. (There are still over one million in Houston and the surrounding area without power.) So I had a taste of what it is like to be off-grid and learned a few things to share with your readers. It seems a lot of people here had generators which burn lots of precious gasoline. But after a few days …


Three Letters Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Hello Jim, This note is in reference to the letter from Melanie and Rick in Columbus about the woman who never thought of using the grill to cook. I had a similar experience with my mother-in-law. While we had power and water, she had lost hers. I offered to bring buckets of water to her house so she could manually refill the toilet tank to flush with(she has septic). Not only did she not think of that, she couldn’t understand the concept. She ended up going to a hotel for a couple of days. People like this will not last …