Fuel storage

Here is what I store most of my fuel in. These drums hold 16 gallons each, but I only fill them with 15 gallons of fuel.

The first thing people usually say – your not supposed to store fuel in plastic. Ok, then what about the plastic 5 gallon gas cans from the local hardware store? Those are made out of plastic.

Currently I have about 8 – 10 gallons of kerosene, and about 20 gallons of gasoline stored up.

In 2008 I went down and bought 15 gallons of kerosene, this drum was perfect for storing that amount of fuel. The drum weighed about 100 pounds, so it was still movable, but required a little force.

Another consideration – how much fuel do you really need? My truck as a 20 gallon gas tank, each of those blue drums holds 16 gallons. So when my truck reaches less then a 1/4 tank, its time to pull over an fill back up.

To pump the fuel from the drum to my truck I have a plastic hand operated, squeeze bulb pump. My truck will go about 400 miles on a tank of gas, so with 2 of these blue drums, I will have about a 1100 – 1200 mile range. That mileage does not count sitting in line trying to get out of an area. During the evacuation of Houston for hurricane Rita, people went through 2 tanks of gas just sitting in line.

For my generator, I get about 9 hours of run time on a full tank of gas, which is about 5 – 6 gallons (I do not remember). So I should be able to get 5 days (?) of run time for my freezer, running one hour out of every 3 or 4 hours? I have not done the exact math – that is what the (?) is for because I am not 100% sure.

Post your comments in this forum thread about fuel storage.