urgent shopping run needed?

[adam2]

Petrol is generally considered to have a shelf of only months in a vented fuel tank in a vehicle or on a machine. The lighter fractions evaporate making the fuel less effective, and then useless.
Petrol stored in sealed plastic containers also has a very limited life because the plastic is slightly pervious.

Petrol stored in tightly sealed military jerry cans should keep almost indefinitely, it wont react with the can and nothing can get in or out.

Inspect petrol storage regularly, any smell of petrol indicates either leakage or that the containers are slightly pervious. Either is a fire risk and also represents loss of the stored fuel.

UK law limits petrol storage to 30 liters in purpose made containers. Petrol in vehicle fuel tanks does not count. Cans in vehicles DO count towards the the 30 litre limit.

In theory, a lot more than 30 litres may be stored under certain conditions, but this requires a licence, extra insurance, and a fire brigade inspection.

Jerry cans should preferably be colour coded as the the contents.

The widely accepted colour code is

RED---------------PETROL.
BLUE--------------PARAFFIN KEROSENE, HEATING OIL.
YELLOW----------DIESEL FUEL.

Other liquids stored in similar containers may be denoted by
BROWN-------------LUBRICATING OIL.
PINK-----------------HYDRAULIC FLUID
WATER---------------WHITE.

Olive green indicates military property, or military surplus, or military style, and DOES NOT reliably indicate what is contained in the can.

[adam2]

My "doom index" has worsened.

Water chlorination tablets are now in very short supply with most products completely out of stock at this supplier. https://evaq8.co.uk/Water-Purification/

Wavian fuel cans are arguably one of the largest suppliers of new, military specification jerry cans and related products. Out of most products.

Endicotts military surplus in Exeter have very few surplus blankets for sale, and those look more expensive and of lower quality than recently offered. Fleabay similarly.

[Catweazle]

Petrol stored in tightly sealed military jerry cans should keep almost indefinitely, it wont react with the can and nothing can get in or out.

That makes sense, however my jerry cans are quite old ( mil surplus some marked as early as 1954 ) and are painted inside with an unknown red paint. I would be concerned about the effects of ethanol on the seals and the paint, so Super Unleaded is my choice. Despite the age, there is no smell of petrol vapour from these cans at all and the seals look in perfect condition - they might not be original.

[emordnilap]

Petrol stored in tightly sealed military jerry cans should keep almost indefinitely, it wont react with the can and nothing can get in or out.

That makes sense, however my jerry cans are quite old ( mil surplus some marked as early as 1954 ) and are painted inside with an unknown red paint. I would be concerned about the effects of ethanol on the seals and the paint, so Super Unleaded is my choice. Despite the age, there is no smell of petrol vapour from these cans at all and the seals look in perfect condition - they might not be original.

I believe (though I could be wrong in this case) that the red 'paint' is in fact a plastic compound, meaning the jerry cans were used for potable water.

[adam2]

Modern jerry cans made to UK military specifications are coated internally with epoxy paint that is suitable for all likely contents including petrol, ethanol, diesel fuel, lubricating oil, and drinking water.

Stainless steel jerry cans exist but are hugely expensive. They are not coated internally.

Older ones might be coated with something else and be intended only for petrol.

Jerry cans manufactured during the last war may be of very doubtful quality due to the shortage of materials and skilled labour. Any such should not be used to store petrol, except PERHAPS briefly in an emergency.

[anotherexlurker]

I have spent six weeks without a vehicle (failed mot , 2 weeks for a new part to arrive , then the welder was fully booked for 2 weeks, then could not get a mot for 2 weeks (mot station only has 2 examiners one was going on holiday and the other off ill , and as my van is over 3T GVW I cant just use any mot station , off cause a few days after agreeing to wait , Russia invaded Ukraine!!). I did make use of the time by having new discs,pads, brake fluid change and new master cylinder (the seals on the old failed whilst the brakes where being bled) fortunately all parts are still easily and cheaply available and now the brakes are good for a long time.

Did a few shopping runs over the last 2 days as I had not done any shopping since early December (I could of had deliveries but prefer to buy for cash and split my shopping between a few stores and I had made a decision to start running down my supplies in the hope I can move this year) , was very surprised that calor 15KG "refills" had gone back down to £37.58 so exchanged my 2 empty cylinders.

Food wise the only local shortages seem to be on frozen fish, but diesel was the main problem , on Wednesday Tesco had no diesel and was not prepared to pay the rip off garage (next to Tesco) the £1.729 a litre over the £1.609 Tesco where showing. Yesterday evening on my way back from a shopping run I called into Sainsbury's and the fuel station was closed with no fuel at all, as I could see a tanker delivering I walked in an was told that yes it was delivering diesel , but they would not be opening until 06:00 today , so I filled up at just gone 06:00 this morning , of cause overnight the price had gone up 5p to £1.689 a litre (I need to use half a tank at the weekend and did not want to risk being down to fumes).

[mr brightside]

I'm not convinced the Ukraine situation is looking too rosy, so i've started getting a stash together. Out with my mother's 6 bags of half used flour, 2 boxes of half used pancake mix, and several twist-tied bags of half eated muesli...why do old ladies do this?...and in with Heinz beans, pasta, porridge, and several cans of stew. Interestingly, the store own brand has 3% beef in the stew, Heinz has 10%. Will be adding more bit by bit to spread the consumption out for the retailer.

So there we go, i've finally stockpiled for a disaster, i'm a bona fide powerswitcher now.

[adam2]

I'm not convinced the Ukraine situation is looking too rosy, so i've started getting a stash together. Out with my mother's 6 bags of half used flour, 2 boxes of half used pancake mix, and several twist-tied bags of half eated muesli...why do old ladies do this?...and in with Heinz beans, pasta, porridge, and several cans of stew. Interestingly, the store own brand has 3% beef in the stew, Heinz has 10%. Will be adding more bit by bit to spread the consumption out for the retailer.

So there we go, i've finally stockpiled for a disaster, i'm a bona fide powerswitcher now.

I would have been inclined to keep and use the flour, pancake mix, and muesli, unless gone rancid or attacked by vermin.
Another useful thing to stock is chocolate bars, a lot of calories in a small space, good to eat, and no preparation needed. Avoid confectionery that also contains biscuit or similar materials. IME these go rancid rather quickly. Kit Kat bars, Twix bars and the like start to taste a bit "off" whilst still in date in my experience. Bars that contain only chocolate taste fine years after the best before date.

[mr brightside]

I haven't seen porridge on anyone's lists, i love the stuff. I've almost filled one half of a standard sized kitchen cupboard now, and i'm learning that some types of pasta take up more space than others. Macaroni seems to be a space saver.

[Catweazle]

I haven't seen porridge on anyone's lists, i love the stuff. I've almost filled one half of a standard sized kitchen cupboard now, and i'm learning that some types of pasta take up more space than others. Macaroni seems to be a space saver.

Porridge is great, you can mix dried fruit into it for a decent mix of nutrients.

[Default0ptions]

Porridge gets my vote too. More fats than most grains too! Great cold with evaporated milk - though I suspect you lose some of the nutrients eating it uncooked.

[mr brightside]

Cold porridge? Surely things aren't projected to get that bad!

[careful_eugene]

Cold porridge? Surely things aren't projected to get that bad!

I have oats in water with some whey for breakfast most mornings, it's not the greatest but keeps me going until Lunch. With regard to pasta and space issues, the best type for most efficient use of space would be spaghetti.

[clv101]

Or sheet lasagna?

[careful_eugene]

Or sheet lasagna?

Probably but only practical if you make lots of lasagna or don't mind eating sheets with bolognaise or meatballs.