Category: Fuel Storage & Distilling

Choosing a BOV, by Brian B. in Iraq

There is something to be said about having a defendable retreat far from society with multiple routes to reach it and the preparations that go along with it. But all of those preparations are for naught if you haven’t considered the best way to get from Point A to Point B. With the ever rising fuel prices that we all are experiencing nowadays, it’s very likely that your Bug Out Vehicle (BOV) will also be your main means of transportation. Unless you are really squared away and have the finances to allow it, many of us simply can not afford …


Letter Re: An Aftermarket “En Route” External Fuel Tank Filling Apparatus

Jim: Have you seen this “Freedom Fill” apparatus? It is for trucks that have extra fuel tanks in their bed and it feeds fuel directly to their main tanks. No need to stop for a refueling at an unsafe location. What do you think? – David K. JWR Replies: Other that its general high level of complexity with multiple points of failure–most notably that it uses EMP-vulnerable microprocessor–it looks captivating. Call me a dinosaur, but I prefer the traditional auxiliary fuel tank plumbing methods. OBTW, just think how long the O.J. Simpson “slow speed pursuit” could have gone on if …


Are You Ready to Get Out of Dodge in Winter Weather?

Here in the northern hemisphere, winter is rapidly approaching. So it is timely that I write about vehicular mobility in winter weather. Every well-prepared family should have one or more four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires or chains. For those of you that have “11th Hour” Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) plan, I trust that you have pre-positioned the vast majority of your food and gear at your intended retreat. Towing a trailer on icy winter roads is a dicey proposition even in the best of times. In my estimation, piloting an overloaded vehicle with an overloaded trailer WTSHTF …


Home/Retreat Power Generator Noise Reduction by “Jerry the Generator Guy”

This article describes practical methods to eliminate four of the issues surrounding generators and their use. Relatively common objections to home generators include; (1) They are often very noisy. This noise does/would bother both us and our neighbors. (2) This high level of noise can serve as a “vermin attractor”. The vermin may need to be discouraged via your “biped eradicator”. (3&4) Moving a generator inside a building will create both fire and exhaust hazards. I have read that after Hurricane Katrina there were several attempts to perform what we used to call “five finger discount” of someone’s generator. The …


Three Letter Re: The Recent San Diego, California Wildfires

Jim: I have the rest of the day off due to the wildfires in the area so I am at home. The firefighting aircraft have been grounded due to wind until a couple of minutes ago. The evacuation zone is currently a 1/4 mile east of me. My northeastern and southeastern escape routes are currently out of the question. I figure that by the time I get told to Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.), the Northern route will be closed off or too crowded to take. Going South into Mexico is currently not an option due to the makeup of …


Letter Re: British Army Surplus Ferret Armored Scout Cars

Jim, I was reading in the SurvivalBlog Archive and it seems that you used to own a Ferret armored car. It piqued my curiosity and I have researched it all over the Internet. I found out that it had 8-to-16mm of armor but nowhere does it say what projectiles that [armor] will stop. What ordnance are these resistant to? To .50 caliber. To .30 caliber? Bugging out in one of these would be interesting. Ideally you would want two Ferrets to bug out so you could rake the mutant zombies off of each other but will your gun punch holes …


Letter Re: Mylar “Wine in a Box” Inserts for Liquids Storage

Mr. Rawles I stumbled upon this thread about these guys doing a cross-Africa trip. Its pretty long, but worth the read. One piece of interest was the use of the bags that wine-in-a-box comes in to store fuel. Here is the link to the start of the thread, just keep clicking “continue” at the end. Warning: There is some National Geographic-type nudity. – Slinger JWR Replies: This topic came up once before in SurvivalBlog. OBTW, it would be quite dangerous to store anything that is more flammable than waste vegetable oil (WVO) in a Mylar bag. Use only proper containers …


Letter Re: Plan B — Your Bug-Out Route

Mr. Rawles, In the event of a natural or manmade disaster you may need to retreat despite extensive preparations at your base of operations, whether in suburbia or in the mountains. You may find yourself in a desperate situation; facing forest fire, fallout from a malfunctioning nuclear power plant, terrorism, organized bands of looters or an invading army. Where will you go? How will you get there? What is your route? Whether you have been preparing for years or weeks you need a Plan “B”. Identifying the threat will help you determine the safest route and mode of transportation to …


Bugging Out: Taking Your Home and Gear with You, by Bob. H.

I am a 23-year veteran of the Recreational Vehicle (RV) industry. I have been in survival mode since the early 1980s after seeing the movies Mad Max and Red Dawn. I started selling RVs in 1984 and thought they were really cool. As the world changed and my concerns grew I started looking at them as a great survival tool. RVs have changed a lot since then. any RVs are fully self contained, meaning you have on board water for drinking bathing and cooking, toilet, climate control, refrigeration and sleeping. Many have onboard generators, deep cycle batteries, power invertors, AC …


Letter Re: Home Alcohol Distillation

Jim– I have been fascinated by the material in the book “Alcohol Can Be a Gas!”. My first walk-through was a bit disappointing because of what I thought was a lot of fluff until I got to how to use alcohol as a fuel. Then I went back and read about distilling alcohol. Then I realized the author was saying alcohol is a by-product (he uses the term “co-product” to show all the products have value). Then he explains how a small farm operation could be self-sustaining, power, heat, fuel and food. Sounds like a survivalist’s dream. I’m anxious to …


Letter Re: Question on Two Cycle Oil Mixing Ratios

Dear Mr. Rawles, Perhaps you could help me understand the mixing ratios for two stroke oil. I remember buying the old Homelite oil, you could either buy it in a can to mix with one gallon of gas or a can to mix with two gallons of gas. Most of the new two stroke oils I have seen recently state that they are 50:1. Is this mixture acceptable for my old Homelite Super XL chainsaw and other two stroke equipment? The rep at the Stihl store by us said that the new oils are so much better formulated than the …


Letter Re: Running Chainsaws on Ethanol & Home Alcohol Production Stills

Sir: About your comments [on Thursday] and others in regard to kerosene use in a gasoline engine: From anything I’ve experienced, you are correct about it not being as simple as some have posted. Engines that were built for “all fuel” use – including distillate and kerosene, had very low compression ratios – usually around 5 to 1. Low compression makes a low-power, inefficient engine. The carburetors were jetted differently, a twin fuel tank setup used, a selector-valve installed for quick fuel changeover, and a closeable air-shutter on the radiator to keep the engine hot. You started the engine on …


Letter Re: Running Chainsaws on Ethanol & Home Alcohol Production Stills

Hello, [As a follow-up to the letter about running gasoline engines on alcohol:] In case you don’t know it, most gasoline engines will also run on kerosene. No jet changes, all you have to do it adjust timing. Many small engines like generators and such made by Kohler and Briggs and Stratton have an adjustable timing ring. Many have markings for [setting] use to for gasoline or kerosene. It works well. Now to tell you the truth, I never tried it in a car engine. Though generally what works in small engines should work in a car, and yes, you …


Letter Re: Hawaii-Specific Disaster Preparations

Jim, Greetings from another SurvivalBlog newbie. I discovered your site back in the spring of this year and all I could say then was “Wow! I think I’ve found a home!” I’ve been lurking here ever since. I’d been wandering in the wilderness of flame-filled newsgroups and not-quite-filling-enough survival/self-reliance publications since the days of “Survival Tomorrow”, nearly thirty years ago. Back then, I mostly spent time just collecting information on various survival topics while making only small, half-hearted preparations. At last, here is a site that has revived my slumbering interest in the disaster preparedness movement and inspired my wife …


Letter Re: Les Stroud (aka “Survivorman”) Off-Grid Living Videos

James, I’m not sure if you’ve mentioned this series before, but on YouTube there is a video series called “Off the Grid” hosted by Les Stroud of Survivorman fame. He moves his family out of the city and into the country in search of an off-the-grid home and lifestyle. It’s a fairly realistic look and (I think) good introduction to what it would take to make the jump to living in the country and self-sufficiently. The other videos in the series can be found linked from the first page, or just search for “Off the Grid”. Hope you enjoy this, …