A question about access to fuel.

[UAV]

Hello Everybody...

So I am trying to get over the hump and go full time sooner than later!

My buddies give me grief about it and they bombard me with scenarios and questions all the time.

But one of them did have a question that I thought was a possible concern since I am one of those guys that likes to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

The question is about fuel: In the strange world in which we live, if something were to happen to fuel supplies what would you do? Once you run out of the tank of fuel you have, what would you do if you were in a place that did not have more fuel for you? And assume you could not stay where you are when you do run out of fuel? Don't forget you are a full-timer so you don't have a S and B in which to return, etc.

I am not a doomsday kind of guy but I do like to be prepared so don't make too much fun of me...but I can take, really!

These are the types of questions I am getting so any input would be great!

Thanks to all.

[palehorse89]

Originally Posted by UAV

Hello Everybody...

So I am trying to get over the hump and go full time sooner than later!

My buddies give me grief about it and they bombard me with scenarios and questions all the time.

But one of them did have a question that I thought was a possible concern since I am one of those guys that likes to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

The question is about fuel: In the strange world in which we live, if something were to happen to fuel supplies what would you do? Once you run out of the tank of fuel you have, what would you do if you were in a place that did not have more fuel for you? And assume you could not stay where you are when you do run out of fuel?

I am not a doomsday kind of guy but I do like to be prepared so don't make too much fun of me...but I can take, really!

These are the types of questions I am getting so any input would be great!

Thanks to all.

Simply put: It is not going to happen....... Oil reserves in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
No need to worry about "running out" what you do need to worry about maybe is "The thickness of your wallet"

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by UAV

Hello Everybody... So I am trying to get over the hump and go full time sooner than later! My buddies give me grief about it and they bombard me with scenarios and questions all the time. But one of them did have a question that I thought was a possible concern since I am one of those guys that likes to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. The question is about fuel: In the strange world in which we live, if something were to happen to fuel supplies what would you do? Once you run out of the tank of fuel you have, what would you do if you were in a place that did not have more fuel for you? And assume you could not stay where you are when you do run out of fuel? I am not a doomsday kind of guy but I do like to be prepared so don't make too much fun of me...but I can take, really! These are the types of questions I am getting so any input would be great! Thanks to all.

best case is to have a diesel motorhome pulling a gasoline or plug-in hybrid car. That way you can make use of 3 different fuels. Diesel, gasoline and electricity. If you had an emergency, and no diesel was available, just unhitch the toad, and something like a Prius or Chevy Volt could take you a long way

If you had lots of solar on the roof of the RV you could even use that to keep recharging the plug-in hybrid car indefinitely if fossil fuel supplies suddenly dried up. :-)

[Smitty77]

If the fuel supply is disrupted, you should normally be aware of it due to coverage of whatever the event was. (Say massive earthquake cutting off transportation routes to an area, or Putin decides to not know whose troops landed in Maine!, etc.

Frankly, you'd be part of the crowd, as everyone would be impacted. And not much you can do except wait it out.

That being said, we have a rule of thumb to do two things traveling or not:

-At the end of the day, we try to park with at least a 3/4 of a tank. If I'm pulling into a camp for say a week, I'll even top off when above 3/4.
-When traveling on the highways, when we are at 1/2 tank, we look for our next fill station. Very seldom does our coach see 1/3 tank. (And with DP's most tanks are pretty good size, so you still have good range with 1/3.)
-Water, we travel with at least 1/2 tank, and empty as possible Grey/Black tanks. Paying the penalty of weight to have that water on board. Same comment about if going to be parked for say a week, we top off, even if in camp and hooked up to a water supply. Power failures can cause wells to stop running, and having that full tank is insurance. The last day before we head out, we take long showers, and do heavy cleaning, bringing our tank level back down towards 1/2 tank.
-Food, medical supplies, medicines, batteries, water filtration (emergency drop the pick up in the stream and high filtration item), iodine drops, stash of cash, etc. - We keep our RV stocked and ready for disasters or other emergencies.

In situation you talk about where fuel will not be available, with a half a tank, you should have enough to get yourself to a campground of some sort. Preferably one that has Propane for sell too. Just join the crowd, and hunker down.

And nothing wrong with living 'prepared' and never needing it. Just don't let it ruin your enjoyment of the things... And heck, if Bruce Willis does not get that bomb to blow - we'll all be toast together!

Best,
Smitty

[wbryson]

UAV,
If fuel is a concern forget about it, if you really want a concern read "One Second After" by William Forstchen. The book was recommended to congress by the Dept. of Defense. That's a real concern!

[Mekanic]

If you had a Mechanically Injected Diesel you could run it on used motor oil . (once filtered VERY well. )

[gruelens]

Without fuel a motorhome will become just a home. At the same time, folks in a sticks and bricks will not have fuel to go to work, heating oil, food trucks supplying the grocery, etc. There will be many problems larger than your motor home not motoring. The truth is many of my buddies still don't understand fulltiming and probably never will. Your buddies may just be the same as mine. Just be glad you understand it and are headed toward fulltime RVing.

[PyrateSilly]

A very similar question to this is why I just don't like watching movies anymore.



Confused? A while ago when the movie "Reign" came out (movie about dragons) we were watching it in the theater. The dragons took over and people were not allowed to do much cause they would get eaten. Yea I know a fantasy with dragons. Well anyway about half way thru the movie there were trucks (diesel), bikes (reg fuel), planes .... you get the idea. All these types of vehicles with all kinds of fuel needed to move them. I turned to Thom and whispered "They can't make or move to get the fuel's so where are they getting them from?" Thom answered with "Shhhh it's a movie" From then on I just can't watch movies without seeing all the inconsistencies.

[HuntingHawk]

There are likely scenarios when fuel becomes scarce. Like if a hurricane shuts down the refineries along the Gulf.

[bobandshaz]

From what we have read traveling cost more than staying put.

Stay put.

[JFNM]

Originally Posted by UAV

The question is about fuel: In the strange world in which we live, if something were to happen to fuel supplies what would you do?

I purchased some really good "end of world" insurance.

[palehorse89]

Some interesting reading: The United States Has Plenty Of Oil: 10 Facts About America’s Energy Resources That Will Blow Your Mind

[Pete1985]

Just go enjoy yourself.

[UAV]

Thanks everybody! I really appreciate the input and thanks for taking your time to respond.

More questions soon!