Why store fuel?
In the event of a disaster, bugging out or leaving home may be the only option, alternatively bugging in and having to collect friends and relatives, or to go out on supply runs would require vehicles with enough fuel in the tanks.
In everyday life keeping your tanks constantly topped up ensures that you won’t run out and potentially putting yourself and your family at risk on the side of the road in vulnerable and dangerous situations.
Lawnmowers, generators etc. if these are being relied upon for power, then fuel storage is essential.
Prepping is also about your own personal disasters and running out of cash for whatever reason is stressful, having extra fuel stored and not having to purchase more is one less cost to worry about.

Recall over the past few years how many times you have been faced with a fuel shortage, I have personally witnessed how people react in the queues at local fuel stations, frayed tempers, violence, desperation, queue jumping, etc.
Consider the reasons why fuel has ran out in the past:
• Local service station poor management – how many times have you been down to your last 5 miles in the tank only to pull up on a service station and they are out of your grade of fuel?
• Tanker driver strikes – a 3 day strike announcement creates panic, stations run out and those left inflate their prices.
• Bad weather – tankers can’t get through, again panic soon sets in.

How to Store fuel

The most effective and simplest way is direct within the tanks in your vehicles; this is safe and ready for immediate use should you need it.
Having a secondary backup quantity in fuel containers is a good option, however only use containers that are designed to take fuel, these are usually metal or plastic, also a good idea to mark the container to show the fuel type being stored.
If you are storing petroleum for a period of two months or more then you may need to add a fuel stabiliser.
In England the recommended limit on petrol storage at Home or a Non-business is 30 Litres, any more than that and you should notify your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority in writing, giving your name and address as the occupier of the storage place or the address where the fuel is stored. This is not a new requirement but carries forward long standing requirements of the previous legislation. The guidelines for Diesel are different again, my advice is to check with your local authorities and ensure that you are not invalidating your home insurance by storing fuel! Use common sense and store as far away from the living area of the home as possible.

Cycling the stored fuel each month or so will ensure non-degradation, simply top up the container again next time you fill the tank.
Alternative options are use several containers and tag each with a consecutive month from the current one and use each one during that month, therefore filling up three containers from now (May) would be tagged as June, July & August. In June you use the fuel in that container and refill it, then tag it with September, and so on.

A supplemental link to long term storage of diesel can be found by clicking here

Stay Safe!