Archive for year: 2021

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Are you looking for an emergency fuel to store and aren’t sure which is best? Perhaps you need fuel for your generator, cooking, or heating your home and can’t decide which one to stock?

Or maybe you just want to know how long your emergency fuel will last? Whatever your reason might be, we have the answer for you!

We know how challenging it can be to prepare for emergencies. A world without power is daunting, and the uncertainty of when disaster hits leaves many of us unsure how best to prepare.

We don’t want to waste fuel, but we don’t want to be without either. So how do we find the best fuel? How can we better prepare? Suddenly these questions keep you up at night as you worry about the future.

Well, no more! Today we are here to answer all your fuel questions. Keep reading to find out how long alternative fuel lasts and how best to store it!

Knowing this information can help you find the right fuel that will power you and your family through whatever life throws at you!

Fuel For An Emergency Generator

The following fuel options can be used to power an emergency generator should we lose electricity! The shelf life of these is included below too.

Fuel For Heating Your Home

The following fuel options will provide heating to your home during a power outage. You can use any of these to keep yourself warm when your radiators turn cold! We have also included the shelf life of these options for you to see.

Fuel Options For Cooking

The following fuel options are perfect for when you need to cook and don’t have electricity. We still need to eat, and warm food in a world without power will feel fantastic when it hits your stomach. We’ve included the shelf life of these fuel options too.

When deciding which emergency fuel you will want to store, you need to consider what is available to you at that time, along with the shelf life that best suits your needs. Some emergency fuels can be hard to get hold of depending on your location and any shortages, so be sure to check what’s around before making your decision.

You will also want to consider how you will safely store the fuel until it is time to use it. Be sure to check out online tutorials about the best way to store your emergency fuel if you aren’t sure. There are plenty of options out there to help find the best storage solution for you and your fuel.

In an ideal world, it’s best to opt for the fuel with the longest shelf life and those that can be stored safely. To help you find the best fuel for you, we will look at the above fuels in more detail. Keep reading to find out more about the shelf life of these popular fuel options!

Fuels That Last Indefinitely

First up, let’s look at the fuels with an indefinite shelf life! These can be stored for almost forever, providing they are placed in the ideal storage environment. So what fuels are these?

Alcohol can be used as fuel and comes with an indefinite shelf life providing the container is unopened. As alcohol can evaporate quickly and lose its potency once opened, it’s best to keep it in its original container and unopened until you need to use it.

As a gas, butane has an indefinite shelf life. However, the cartridges do not. They can rust, and the valve seal can deteriorate over time, causing leaks. These leaks can be dangerous and could cause explosions or fires, not what you want! Be sure to check on your butane supplies for any leaks or deterioration.

For best results, store your butane in a cool and dry location. According to the manufacturer, this can give it a shelf life of eight years.

Firewood also lasts indefinitely, but its energy output can decrease over time. This energy decrease is slow, just like when a fire starts to go down after a while. Firewood is a popular emergency fuel that many people choose to store.

You can store it with ease; just ensure that it remains dry.

Charcoal Briquettes

Most households will already have some charcoal briquettes, usually used for BBQs. They can keep indefinitely, too, providing that you keep them dry, as charcoal can absorb moisture over time, making it useless.

However, if your charcoal does absorb some moisture, all is not lost! You can renew the charcoal by laying it out in a single layer on a hot and sunny day, and the sun will dry out the charcoal, and you can use it again.

To prevent your charcoal from becoming wet, place it in a moisture-proof container.

Wood Pellets

Wood pellets are made from compressed wood and will last indefinitely too! To ensure their longevity, place them somewhere dry and keep them out of direct sunlight.

Fuel Tablets

Fuel tablets are ideal for starting a small cooking fire or a fire in general. These tend to come with an indefinite shelf life and can safely keep their original packaging for years.

Natural Gas

While natural gas has an indefinite shelf life, it is not the best fuel to store at home. The properties in natural gas aren’t ideal to be kept in a household tank. Providing access to natural gas is available, then it can be a fine option for power outages, but how long natural gas would be available in a power outage is difficult to say!

Instead of relying on it, consider natural gas as a backup bonus that could be used where possible rather than your main fuel source.

Propane will not go bad, and it comes with an indefinite shelf life and does not degrade as other substances do. Your only limitation with propane is its container, and any shelf life printed on propane refers to the gas cylinder, not the propane.

High-quality propane tanks can last for thirty years or longer, offering you excellent shelf life. If you store them correctly, you can extend their life too! You want to prevent exterior rust as this can shorten your propane container’s shelf life.

If you opt for aluminum or composite cylinders, you don’t need to worry about the rust risk! Be sure only to use high-quality valves and fittings, too, as this can help extend the life of the containers and ensure easy use of your propane.

Fuels That Last For Five Years

Now that we have covered fuels that last indefinitely let’s look at those with a shorter shelf life. These fuels have an average shelf life of roughly five years, but you can increase or decrease their shelf life depending on how they are stored! Let’s see what those fuels are now!

MRE heaters

MRE heaters have a shelf life of roughly five years. After that time, a chemical reaction will take longer to occur, meaning it won’t heat up as hot as before. You can still use it, but it will not perform as well as it would previously.

Kerosene can last for up to five years if kept in its original packaging or an approved container. Condensation adds water to kerosene as it ages, and bacteria and mold can also create a sludge that will break down the fuel. Not ideal!

Thankfully, there is a solution. Adding a fuel stabilizer annually will extend the life of kerosene and prevent bacteria and mold from breaking the fuel down.

Fuels That Last Two Years

Now we have fuels with a shorter shelf life of roughly two years. While two years doesn’t sound like a long time, the storage conditions here impact the shelf life. Don’t panic, though, as we have some tips that can help you store these fuel options so that they last longer!

White Gas

White gas can be stored for five to seven years, providing you keep it unopened and in its original container. Once you open the fuel, you can use it for two years, and after this point, it becomes unviable and should not be used.

Depending on the storage conditions, diesel can last for 18 to 24 months. You can store diesel for 12 months or more when keeping it at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. If you keep it at temperatures higher than 86 degrees Fahrenheit, then you can expect your diesel to last for 6 to 12 months. That’s quite a difference, so be sure to check the temperature before you store your diesel!

Any exposure to air, heat, or water can shorten that shelf life, giving you even less time to use the fuel! Adding a fuel stabilizer annually can help to extend the shelf life, though.

It’s also worth rotating your fuel within 1 to 5 years and replacing it with fresh fuel when needed too. If you have low sulfur diesel fuel, then it can last for at least five years. You could extend this to ten years if it was kept underground with regular inspection and included the correct additives.

Be sure to do your research when keeping diesel to ensure that you keep the fuel in the best conditions possible!

Fuels With A Short Shelf Life

Below we have the fuel that comes with a super short shelf life. It’s not best to store large quantities of this fuel, as it’s unlikely you will use it all before it expires! Let’s take a closer look at this fuel.

Unleaded Gasoline

Gasoline comes with a short shelf life of six to nine months if stored in an airtight container. You can increase this shelf life, too, if you add a good quality fuel stabilizer.

Gasoline degrades, and you will notice gummy resin deposits and layers of varnish in it, making it unusable! If you attempted to use it, you could corrode system components and damage your equipment, something you want to avoid if there’s no power! Be sure to check your fuel regularly and rotate it to ensure you don’t use expired gasoline.

What Is The Best Emergency Fuel?

The best emergency fuel will vary from person to person. So it’s best to pick the fuel that will best suit your needs and can be stored safely until needed. Where possible, opt for the fuel that comes with the longest storage life.

Doing so helps avoid rotating fuels that you don’t usually use, which can be a pricey challenge! Instead, opt for fuel and devices that you can use when the power goes. Remember, you only need enough fuel to cover your basic needs until the world becomes more normal again, don’t stock more than you need.

Don’t forget to check out tutorials online to find some fantastic storage solutions for your fuel!

Bonus: Root Cellar That Can Be Used as a Bunker

Do you remember the old root cellars our great-grandparents used to have? In fact, they probably built it themselves, right in their back yard.

If you want to learn how to build a backyard bunker like your grandparents had, without breaking the bank, then you need Easy Cellar.

Easy Cellar will show you:

Easy Cellar will also reveal how a veteran, with only $421, built a small nuclear bunker in his backyard.

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by J.G. Martinez

“Is the SHTF already here?” is a thought that has been in my mind for a while. Traditionally, preppers became sort of mainstream in the Cold War, according to some researchers. For those growing up back then, their particular immediate threat was a thermonuclear war. With the Cuban Missile crisis back then, I can understand precisely this mind setup, no doubt about that. Growing up under that threat is no easy task. But I believe that the SHTF is already here and it’s nothing like anyone expected.

However, after the spectacular attacks of 9/11, we have seen that the real threats have been insidious, sneaky, and underground. The overnight Hollywood-style zombie apocalypse, although not impossible, is unlikely. Please allow me to define what the SHTF meant for me, for those new readers.

My SHTF experience

My former job was one that most Venezuelans coveted. Good salary (back then), full-coverage medical insurance for my immediate family and parents, myself included, and 34 days of vacations per year. With the relatively high stability of our jobs, we could walk into any shop in town and get enough credit to buy new furniture and appliances for the entire house every year. However, I preferred to invest in land, good vehicles, and gear for my home-based business (the CNC machining stuff and crops from my mountain cabin patch). (For more information about building a 3-layer prepper food supply, sign up to get our free book right here.)

After the hyperinflation, this job became, well, not worthy and I was forced to face prolonged hyperinflation. Along with losing my job, several other circumstances forced me to flee away. This was not one of my more brilliant moves, but sadly, those choices did not exactly depend on my criteria. After that, I went through my worst financial period in decades while the pandemic left its ugly mark on the world economy. My very own personal SHTF has lasted almost four years now. And here I am, much wiser. Maybe penniless as ever in my life, but much wiser nonetheless, and with the sense of adventure slowly returning. Perhaps that is what keeps me young.

Society has already taken a knee

There is something I do dare to say, clear and loud. A worldwide collapse is not necessarily a sudden, lightning-like change of scenarios. As Fabian and Selco have both written about, a slow-burning SHTF is more like it. (Unless it’s an act of God, like an extinction-level meteor, or a Carrington event that kicks us back to the 1800s, or a steampunk world). I have seen things going slowly downhill for a year and a half. Globalists push new “threats” that were never in the mainstream media for much too long to capitalize on fear. 

My point is, the S has already H the F. Society has taken a knee. Worldwide, people get in line for the you-know-what. No matter if they die randomly in the aftermath. Don’t get me wrong, if you had it, good, and if you don’t want it, good. “My body, my choice, fellows.”

For many of us, things have already changed drastically, financial-wise. We have reshaped and reconstructed our income sources the best way we can. What once seemed feasible, like going to another country or region, is now a jump in the dark. With potentially harmful consequences, of course. What worries me most is the inability to go somewhere else, should we decide to leave again based on the inevitable necessity. Canada is asking for medical “assurances” that I’m unwilling to take because of my medical records and family illnesses, just like many other countries that once were on my list.

Maybe we are looking at the wrong “threat”

After 2020, I believe we can agree on this: anything can happen.

For example, the WHO reports new illnesses that are supposedly spreading. According to the WHO, treatment for these new “threats” includes blood transfusions and hydration by intravenous injection. (These “reports” have me thinking maybe it’s a good idea to preserve some blood units for all of us in the family and stash it at the mountain cabin. There is fair weather there, much cooler and without the 10°C or more variations in temperature down here in town. I can’t cross the country with these materials from the other house, too much risk of being seized on a roadblock.)

We hear about the ongoing climate change “issues” and some other mainstream media narratives daily. I find any information in the mainstream media, even if it comes from “official” sources, hard to swallow. Bits of truth, sweetened with rhetoric and ambiguity: that is what I sense in all this.

However, that does not mean there is no threat

It’s like fog. Maybe you can see 10 meters away, and you can make your way and arrive safely. However,  you won’t see the looming threats. Nor will you know what can be happening in the neighboring houses. Therefore, constant research and good criteria are needed.

I hope this ends soon. The last thing I want is my kid growing up in this mockup of a country, a torn Republic unable to walk by itself. I firmly believe that conflict surrounds us. We just haven’t been high enough above the fog to see it. 

Do you see an end to all this? Any comments? Let us know.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned, Jose

About Jose

Jose is an upper-middle-class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has an old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Jose and his younger kid are currently back in Venezuela, after the intention of setting up a new life in another country didn’t  go well. The SARSCOV2 re-shaped the labor market and South American economy so he decided to give it a try to homestead in the mountains, and make a living as best as possible. But this time in his own land, and surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances, with all the gear and equipment collected, as the initial plan was.

 Follow Jose on YouTube and gain access to his exclusive content on Patreon. Donations: paypal.me/JoseM151 or the BTC address 3QQcFfK9GvZNEmALuVV8D6AUttChTdtReE

The apocalypse has been a popular topic in Hollywood for decades. Every era and genre is guaranteed to have at least one movie, TV show, or book about the end of the world. These earth-shattering events come in myriad shapes and sizes. Maybe solar flares knock us back into the Stone Age. Perhaps scientists clone dinosaurs, despite a series of movies repeatedly proving this is a bad idea.

Maybe aliens are invading, like Orson Wells had everyone thinking during his radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” in 1938. Perhaps a massive asteroid or comet crashes into the planet, causing an extinction-level event. A disease could sweep the globe, killing millions and leaving the rest of the world struggling to cope. That sounds familiar. Maybe we destroy ourselves, in one of a million ways, because if humans are good at one thing, it’s violence.

One thing almost all these stories have in common is the fact that our heroes or heroines are usually reduced to traveling on foot, or if they’re lucky, in heavily modified bug-out vehicles explicitly designed for the apocalypse. Public transportation, trains, and airplanes tend to go the way of the dodo, converted instead into secured bases or scavenged for parts.

Flying During Apocalyptic Scenarios

If the opportunity presents itself, is it safe to fly in an SHTF scenario? Here are some of the most common apocalypse scenarios you might encounter, as well as a few safer travel options if you need to traverse an apocalyptic landscape.

1. Viral Pandemic

This depends on the virus, its infection rate, and the mortality rate. Living through the COVID-19 pandemic taught us that with precautions like masks, increased disinfection practices, social distancing, and vaccines, traveling by plane can be carried out in relative safety. However, that’s with a virus that has a very low mortality rate. For a deadlier disease or one with no treatment, avoiding travel in a crowded aircraft will be your best choice for survival.

2. Nuclear Apocalypse

Traveling by air, in this case, will be a moot point unless you are keen on restoring some aircraft from World War II or before. Assuming you survive the initial blast and don’t die from radiation exposure, nuclear explosions also cause massive electromagnetic pulses that knock out all modern electronics. Fleets of aircraft will be grounded permanently.

3. Solar Flares/ Geomagnetic Storms

Solar flares and geomagnetic storms create the same sort of problem nuclear strikes do, minus the radiation and devastation that comes with an explosion. A powerful storm could potentially knock the entire planet back into the dark ages.

Most modern consumer technology isn’t shielded beyond what the FCC requires to prevent it from interfering with official equipment. It isn’t designed to stand up to a massive solar flare, so flying safely would be impossible.

4. Super Storms

Even skilled pilots and hurricane hunters often find it challenging to navigate safely through massive storms. Climate change is making hurricanes larger and stronger every year. If we reach the point where superstorms are constantly forming and lingering, trying to fly through them will not be advisable. Even navigating around them will be difficult because they can change air currents so dramatically.

5. War/Civil Unrest

This is a vast blanket that could cover many events and incidents, so we’ll try to keep it very nonspecific. In general, flying during war or civil unrest should be avoided at all costs. There’s no guarantee your plane won’t be shot down, hijacked, or even forced to land somewhere other than your destination, leaving you trapped and unable to find your way home.

This isn’t fiction or speculation — it happened recently in Belarus, and that was in an event limited to a single country. Imagine how dangerous it could be if the world is at war and you try to catch a flight.

6. Asteroid Strike

There are a lot of variables here to consider. What type of asteroid was it? Where did it strike? How big was it? These are moot points if a large enough asteroid hits land because it’s game over.

There’s no flying anywhere because there won’t be anyone left to fly. If a smaller asteroid or multiple ones strike land and water, there is a chance of survival, but flying will still probably be a bad idea due to debris being thrown up into the atmosphere by the impact. These could easily clog airplane engines, sending you crashing to the ground.

7. Supervolcano Eruption

There is a massive supervolcano in Yellowstone. If it erupts, life as we know it will end. The explosion will destroy most of the American Midwest and throw dirt and debris into the upper atmosphere, where it will linger for generations. Flying will be impossible for much the same reason as the asteroid strike — clogged airline engines and the tragic crashes that result.

These are all common apocalypse scenarios, but what about the less likely ones that tend to pop up in Hollywood?

8. Zombies

No. God, no. When someone succumbs to the zombie infection, do you want to be trapped in a small steel tube 35,000 feet in the air? You know someone is going to hide their bite so they can fly.

9. Alien Invasion

Aliens are probably invading from the sky. Do you want to get yourself closer to their ships? Stay on the ground.

10. Sun Expansion

Unless your plane is heading out of the atmosphere, give up already. There’s no surviving this event, so it won’t matter how you’re traveling.

Safer Travel Options

Even if flying is an option, it probably isn’t the safest way to travel if SHTF. Here are a few safer options you should consider if you need to navigate an apocalyptic wasteland.

Should You Fly if the SHTF?

In most cases, the answer to this question is going to be an emphatic no. The best thing you can do during an SHTF scenario is to go to the ground. The only exception to this rule might be if you’re a pilot with your plane and the details of the apocalypse don’t make flying too dangerous.