5 Tips to Store Fuel For Emergencies

During the “great gas shortage of 2017” after Hurricane Harvey hit here in Texas, we experienced mass chaos that caused a fake gas shortage. The news reported that there would be a slow down in gas production and delivery, which caused everyone to panic and run to the pumps to get ALL the gas. And when I say ALL the gas, I mean, some people had 30 gallon drums that they were filling. It was pretty insane.

We learned a lot from this experience. We learned that it’s so important to keep extra gas on hand. Here are some tips to store gas for emergencies.

1. Have somewhere safe to store the gas. Don’t store gas indoors. Store it in a shed, garage or somewhere else that’s covered. Try to keep it out of direct sunlight and out of other harsh weather conditions.

2. Use gas stabilizer. Using the gas stabilizer will help keep the gas good for about a year. Some people might say longer, but I’d really trust it for a year.

3. Decide how much gas you want to keep on hand. We’ve decided to keep an extra 17 gallons of gas. That is a full tanks worth for our Jeep. A tank of gas will get us to and from any of our bug out locations and in general, will last anywhere from 3 days to a week, depending on how often we drive it. So decide how many canisters you’d like to store.

4. If you’d like to increase your supply, do it little by little. Budget time and money to get a new gas canister and gas once a month. Or once every other month. This way, you’ll consistently, and slowly, build your supply to your desired amount.

5. Rotate the gas. Put a reminder in your calendar a year after you’ve put the stabilizer in, to use the gas. Use it in your vehicle, lawn mower, generator or where ever you can use the gas. Then refill the canisters with fresh gas and the stabilizer.

Bonus tip: Don’t let your gas tank get below half. I know times are tough for some of us, by not letting your gas tank get below half will help ensure that you can drive away as needed on at least half a tank of gas.

Storing gas is practical and can save you in tough times.