Category: Fuel Storage & Distilling

Letter Re: A Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) Card Lock Account as a Preparedness Measure

Mr. Rawles, I have been considering sending you this note on fuel, so I’ll tag on now. I work for a very large pipeline/oil company and I am in management. My family & I have been in this business for nearly 30 years. I run diesel pickups and use a CFN card as well. The real point I want to share is that when we may no longer get gasoline or diesel fuel, there are hundreds of thousands of diesel vehicles around in which fuel can be “obtained” with a hose or pump [in the cited absolute worst case situation.] …


Letter Re: A Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) Card Lock Account as a Preparedness Measure

Sir: I work for a truck company and came up with an idea that may be useful to others out there. We fill our trucks up with diesel at Commercial Fueling Network (CFN). We do this for a couple reasons such as it is more cost effective and low key. From a city survivalist point of view its a great location to acquire fuel in two situations. One would be the natural disaster scenario where one is trying to flee the city only to find that regular stations are out of fuel. At this point they could divert low key …


Letter Re: Alcohol Stoves

Jim, I found this very cool German-made alcohol stove called the Turm Touring. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Took it home put some alcohol in the brass tank and lit the burner. It really works well. I got a nice blue flame; lots of heat from this little single burner stove. Very interesting design; no pressure! You don’t have to pump up a tank with air like the Coleman stoves. Then reading some more I found this web site: SpiritBurner.com Very interesting and seems like something a survival type person would be interested in. – Fred The Valmet-meister


Book Excerpt–Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse

Geographically distinct units were formed from the Northwest Militia, as planned, late in the April of the fifth year. To avoid confusion amongst the local citizenry that they protected, they designated those at the original retreat as “Todd Gray’s Company” and those at Kevin Lendel’s house as “Michael Nelson’s Company.” The responsibility for patrolling was divided along a line east-west between the retreats. Todd Gray’s Company was to patrol the northern half of the sector, while Michael Nelson’s Company patrolled the southern half. Separate CB channels were assigned to each Company for locals to use to contact either Company. On …


Letter Re: Steam Locomotives in a Post-TEOTWAWKI World?

Dear Jim and Family, Its true that boiler maintenance and safety are a serious concern. As my wife is a rail fan (train chaser), she knows a bit, and knows people who know a lot more. One of these was kind enough to send me this info in his reply. “Bear in mind that the great costs mentioned are all meant to get the boilers up to federal-mandated standards, i.e. extremely safe conditions. If you just want to get it to function, you don’t have to do near as much work. The problem of course is that while under steam …


Letter Re: Power Takeoff (PTO) Generators?

James: If my military 6×6 troop carrier‘s engine will run on multi-fuel (diesel, gasoline, mothballs, etc.) Why can’t someone make a generator that would connect to the power takeoff (PTO). That way I have a generator that runs on any fuel, and will go anywhere. Perhaps one of your readers could explain why this should be added to my list of really dumb ideas. – DAV JWR Replies: If the engine can be set to a moderately high RPM with the load of generator for extended periods of time, then it isn’t a dumb idea at all. PTO generators are …


Letter Re: A Nearby Wildfire Was My Preparedness Wake up Call

James: Don’t know if the callow-youth angle is of interest to your readers, but I dashed this off after a recent wildfire alert: This evening around 5:30 there were reports of a fire very near my home. Wildfires around here can get interesting quick, especially this late in the year with plenty of dry fuel waiting around. I thought we might have to Get out of Dodge and so I ordered the wife to pack up the paperwork and prep the munchkin for a few days field trip. Error. Wife does not respond well to orders, and she judged the …


Letter Re: Geo Metro 3-Cylinder Gas/Propane Engines for Retreat Generators?

James, Farmer John asked for some input on his Chevy Sprint engine project. I had a Sprint years ago, along with several other very-small engine autos – including a 1969 Subaru 360, Fiat with an 850 cc engine, a two-stroke-cycle DKW, and even a car with a 650 c.c. Royal Enfield motorcycle engine. The Subaru had a two-stroke-cycle gasoline engine with 25 horse. On an absolute flat highway at 55 MPH and no wind, it could get 65 MPG. My Sprint could get close to 50 MPG on a flat highway, and dropped to the high 30s on highway with …


Letter Re: Advice on Generators?

JWR: A few comments in regard to fuel choices, in response to what is posted on your web site. There is mention of the legal difficulty of getting a 1,000 gallon tank of diesel installed at a homesite. I guess I have to ask, what is the difficulty? I’ve lived in several rural areas in the northeast, and it’s never been a problem here. Where I live now in central New York state, anybody can have up to 1,000 gallons per tax-map parcel without any interference, permits, etc. Many homes in my area have dual 275 or 500 tanks inside …


Letter Re: Geo Metro 3-Cylinder Gas/Propane Engines for Retreat Generators?

James: I am working on two generator set-ups and would like some feedback. I am working on a Mercedes OM636 and a 3 cylinder, 1 liter [displacement] Chevy Sprint/Geo Metro/Suzuki motor. In this letter I’ll describe the 3 cylinder and why I think it will work at a retreat [to power a generator]. The 3 cylinder goes back to 1982 with GM’s Project Saturn in 1982. It achieved better than 100 miles per gallon (mpg). On a trip from Warren, Michigan to New York it averaged 105 mpg on the highway and 75 mpg in the city. It was dropped …


The Coming Hard Times–Wake Up Call!, by Dr. T.

I am writing this essay with a bit of trepidation. I do not want to make you think I am an expert on anything, but I do think a lot and have spent a lot of time studying the economy. Mr. Rawles can verify that my education and training are as follows — I am in the medical profession and also an attorney. I am also in the Air National Guard, after spending many years in the Army Reserve. I was deployed in 2003-04, primarily to Kuwait, but also made trips to Iraq, Qatar, and Djibouti. I also spent most …


Letter Re: Garage/Shelter for RVs as a Retreat Option?

Jim- A few days back a contributor asked about hardening up her mobile home. That reminded me of a plan I have been considering over the last couple of years. This might work for those who can’t relocate now to their retreat. I was motivated to write because I just saw a news report of a family offering a considerable reward for the recovery of their ATVs which had been stolen from their vacation cabin.[My idea is to] develop a retreat location with: 1. A water supply and septic tank and [leach] field (all disguised, to discourage squatters.) 2. Underground …


Letter Re: Diesel Motorcycles

Mr. Rawles: The August ’07 issue of Motorcyclist [magazine] (pg 74) has an article on a diesel conversion of a Kawasaki KLR. They are currently making the bikes for military only, however the article does mention that a civilian design is in the wings. The company is Hayes Diversified Technologies. I have seen discussions on the SurvivalBlog about storing diesel and people wanting a motorcycle. This may be a great advertiser for you to chase. I have no relationship to Hayes. I am just a reader of you blog. Good luck, and thanks for all the great info. – Vince


Survival Planning–More Than Just Gear and a “To Do” List, by Ray

A lot of people tend to approach survival planning as a simple exercise in gathering stuff and making a “to do” list. Having the right supplies and equipment is important, as is prior planning. But there may be a way to optimize your post collapse/disaster actions. I’d like to talk about the concept of the decision making aspects of survival. Decision making is the “Why” that joins the “What” (As in “Here’s what we’re going to do…”) to the “How” (As in “…and here’s how.”) All the gear and knowledge in the world do you no good if you don’t …


Three Letters Re: Advice on Generators?

Dear Mr. Rawles, On the subject of generators, I was wondering what your thoughts were on fuel. Recently, the municipality I live in equipped it’s municipal buildings with large generators powered by propane. My thought was that a wiser choice would have been diesel. My reasoning was: Propane can only be provided by large trucks with specialized equipment or by smaller, but heavy, containers. In a situation where the roads may be blocked or impassable, a propane truck would not be able to get through. It’s hard to convince a propane dealer to come out with his truck for a …