Outdoor Life Prepare for Anything Survival Manual (18 page)

Some fuels can be swapped, should you run out of one but have another. Others aren’t so versatile or may even be explosive if substituted. If you do have fuel on hand in a crisis, be sure you use it safely.

DIESEL AND HEATING OIL
These two fuels are good substitutes for each other. Diesel burns a little cleaner than home heating oil, but either of these can burn in a diesel vehicle or your home furnace.

LANTERN FUEL
Anything other than kerosene or liquid paraffin in an old-fashioned, wick-based lantern is
not
an option. Diesel, white gas, alcohol, or other fuels can lead to an explosion. Pressurized lanterns should only be filled with white gas (naphtha).

ALCOHOL
Pure alcohol in the form of high-proof (anhydrous) ethanol or methanol can be added to gasoline to stretch your vehicle fuel supply, but keep the alcohol percentage low—somewhere around 25 percent of the total fuel volume. If you use too much alcohol, the engine will run very poorly.

In the event of a temporary or (hopefully not) permanent loss of public utility power, you can provide power on your own (see item 196) at a small scale, or make use of a fuel-powered generator. A longer-term solution is also available: A solar array on your home can easily provide a good measure of backup power.

Solar power systems are usually either grid-tied or off-grid. You can save money on your utilities and sell excess power in some areas if you’re grid-tied, but if the power grid goes down your solar setup will also be compromised. Off-grid power systems can be totally independent but are a bit more costly, although they can also be supplemented by generators. Some setups can be hybridized: grid-tied solar with a battery backup and inverter, which will automatically switch over if there’s an outage.

The biggest cost comes from installation (and the setup lasts for decades), but some areas of the United States and elsewhere often provide incentives for those who choose to get solar power systems. A professional vendor can provide more information on getting solar power for your home, but here are some questions for you to consider.

• Is your solar setup going to be grid-tied, off-grid, or battery-backup?

• What state or federal incentives or rebates are available for solar power?

• Will my local power authority pay me for electricity?

• How many panels will I need to account for my home’s power needs? What battery setup will I need for off-grid or battery backup?

Do the basic research first, then find a professional to see what your best options are. As with any big investment, shop around. It’s worth doing right.

Propane stoves are a great convenience for cooking when you’re in the wilderness, off the grid, or making do while waiting for power to come back. But they are designed for small tanks, which run out quickly, are annoying to store, and are costly. Luckily, you can buy an adapter from camping stores or often directly from the stove’s maker that will allow you to hook up a 5-gallon (19-l) tank instead. The adapters are cheap, and the bigger tanks are a great bargain and can last for months. (For those seven people in the world who have never been camping, you can cook just about anything on a propane stove that you’d cook on your regular indoor range.)

Making your own briquettes is a bit labor intensive—but with a little up-front effort, you can make burnable briquettes for almost nothing. They take a bit of effort to get alight, but will burn well in a wood stove, and you can stack them in storage areas much more efficiently than wood. Just be sure to keep them dry! There are lots of methods for making these briquettes—the main trick is to compact them as tightly as possible and squeeze out every drop of water that you can. Then stack them somewhere warm and dry and let them continue to dry and harden. (Wet briquettes will be smoky, even if you can get them to ignite.)

Your briquettes can be made with any combination of shredded paper or newspaper, sawdust, and mulch. The trick is to tear, clip, chop, or grind everything up as fine as possible, soak the stuff in very hot water until it’s totally sodden, and then blend well. The longer you soak it, the better—it may take a few days for everything to really start breaking down. Adding a splash of bleach can help.

Once the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal, press as much water out of it as you can with your hands and/or using a big colander or sieve. Then use a mechanical press like the one pictured here to further shape, drain, and compact the briquettes. (You don’t have to use a press—it’s possible to just squeeze the briquettes by hand or press them under a board, but they’ll take longer to dry and likely won’t burn as cleanly or as long.)

It’s never too early to think about how you’ll get around town and country in a serious emergency. Here are a set of options and why they might or might not be best for you. Shopping for new wheels? Keep in mind that many modern automobiles in the SUV and van (or at least minivan) categories—and some trucks—are built on the same chassis types as cars. This means that they’re essentially the same vehicle’s frame, so that light truck you’re eyeing might actually be no better than your average four-door sedan equipped with two-wheel front drive. Be sure of your vehicle’s actual specifications and what it can (and can’t) do for you before you settle on making a purchase—even if you’re not shopping with survival in mind.

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