Gas

[Punisher84]

No, disaster preparation and storage of essentials is for suckers.

You see, when the Schumer hits the fan, there are people out there who are going to say, "You've got food! You've got water! You've got medicines! You've got fuel! We've got nothing! That means you must help us!"

That's the real zombie threat.

And that sad thing is, a lot of them are going to be gun owners who will justify murdering you and your family by saying, "Well, hell, it was an emergency, and we neeeeeeded that s***." Then they're going sit their asses down in front of their big-screen plasma TVs, and eat your MREs while waiting for the power to come back on.

I pity anyone that comes to my house lookin for trouble...

[Guest canynracer]

No, disaster preparation and storage of essentials is for suckers.

You see, when the Schumer hits the fan, there are people out there who are going to say, "You've got food! You've got water! You've got medicines! You've got fuel! We've got nothing! That means you must help us!"

That's the real zombie threat.

And that sad thing is, a lot of them are going to be gun owners who will justify murdering you and your family by saying, "Well, hell, it was an emergency, and we neeeeeeded that s***." Then they're going sit their asses down in front of their big-screen plasma TVs, and eat your MREs while waiting for the power to come back on.

You seem to have a lot of answers, (all negative reactions to others post) but you do not offer your prep, or insight on the solution...yeah, I get it, ITS THEIR GAS...that means nothing. I know its theirs, just like my guns are mine, but if I tried to sell my M&P for 900.00 you would have a reaction like "hes crazy", and move on to the next seller. Kinda hard to do when all of the sellers of the M&P followed my lead and raised prices together.

I am not saying your wrong, I totally understand your logic, and what you are saying...

I am just saying that instead of blasting, offer some solutions, or some insight other than "that is stupid" and that is wrong.

know what I mean?

[Guest slothful1]

I'm all for making a profit. But gas is like electricity, we all HAVE to buy it. There has to be regulations (and they need to be enforced) on how much profit a gas station owner can make on it.

No. Electricity is a monopoly -- you don't get to choose which power company you buy from; they've been granted a monopoly by regulators and local government.

Whereas, if you don't like what someone is charging for gas, just go across the street. It's called competition. Competition lowers prices to their natural market level.

[Marswolf]

Good grief. Which Amendment includes the right to cheap gasoline?

From what I hear, the three states with this "problem" are TN, NC and SC. Those are the three states where folks believed the Internet rumor that Ike was going to cause gasoline shortages and panicked.

Demand went sky-high and prices did what they are supposed to do - they went up too. If you waited in a line to buy gasoline at higher prices on Friday, then you caused the thing you are bitching about. Go look in a mirror to see the BG.

I just got back from a trip to Cookeville. No lines today. Most places were around $4 with the notable exception of Pilot that was at $4.99. I didn't fill up there, and bet few other folks did either.

Stockpiling gasoline is not a good idea. The stabilizer helps - and adds significant cost. The Heptane in the gasoline evaporates and causes problems, not just the varnishes and gums that form. Additionally, gasoline with alcohol in it is hydrophilic (loves water) and will produce difficulties within a couple of weeks, especially for the cheaper stuff. If you are going to stockpile anyway, do it with the high octane stuff. Also do it with winter mixtures. The winter blends have more Heptane.

[Sheepdog]

Well, I guess if you think the "suckers" that stock up on at least a small supply of water/food/gas/medicine/& AMMO in case the shtf.......and if what you stated above is really what you believe, then you must be one of the gun owners that will justify murdering us to get our supplys?

Do you really think the intelligent and prepared people on this board that do stock up on those things in case of an emergency broadcast that information?? If anyone does they deserve to get their stupid as**s killed.

No, I don't really think that disaster prep is foolish. That was sarcasm.

But the caveat about fellow gun owners--and possibly, fellow posters here--thinking that their needs trump the rights of others...well, I'd like to think that's a joke. But some of the attitudes expressed here make that ring too true to laugh.

You've already said you don't respect the rights of individuals to price their gas as they choose during this tiny little hiccup. So during a major crisis, how can we expect you to respect the rights of individuals to price their emergency supplies--or to not sell them--as they choose?

You seem to have a lot of answers, (all negative reactions to others post) but you do not offer your prep, or insight on the solution...yeah, I get it, ITS THEIR GAS...that means nothing. I know its theirs, just like my guns are mine, but if I tried to sell my M&P for 900.00 you would have a reaction like "hes crazy", and move on to the next seller. Kinda hard to do when all of the sellers of the M&P followed my lead and raised prices together.

What I have a strong negative reaction to is socialism. Government interference in the free market f***s things up.

The situation that you described with your M&P--you think it hasn't happened before? Are you old enough to remember when Colt announced that they would no longer sell their revolvers? Or when they announced that they would no longer sell their 1911's? Hell, do you remember when Bill Clinton signed the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban? What do you think happened to the prices of those guns that were still on the dealers' shelves? Should the dealers have been prevented from "gouging" customers?

You say that I haven't provided any solutions, but yes, I have. Drive less, drive slower, and spend less on frivolous items. No, they're not solutions that will lower the price of gas. But they will keep you driving where you need to go.

There are NO short-term solutions that can provide gas that is both cheap and plentiful. NO legislation can make that happen, because economies cannot and do not run according to dictatorial fiat. It is an economic law that if you want cheaper gas, you're going to have to either increase the supply, or decrease the demand.

So if you're willing to accept a long-term solution, then kick the "green" congressmen out on their asses in November. Then drill here, drill now, and build a s***load of new refineries.

[Guest canynracer]

Gotchya....as I said in my previous post, I am not disagreeing with you I just wanted to get your thought on the solution (which I agree with TOTALLY BTW)

my analogy sucked..LOL...I havent slept in 28 hrs cause work paged me...thoughts are meshing, and I dint even understand me..

anyway, carry on...

[J Smith]

Gas in Harriman is a monopoly.Rocky Top has all the other stations bullied into charging the same as they do.Its almost like Rocky Top calls them and tell them when to go up and down.I drive to Kingston to buy it.

BTW the stations in Kingston do not take the bullying so Rocky Top is at least .20 lower over there.

[Guest tcampbell]

The idiocy displayed in this thread makes me laugh. Does anyone remember why exactly you are arguing over this? Who cares? The fools bought into the panic and bought gas like it was going out of style, and the prices sky rocketed. Nothing you can do about it, no need to bicker and whine about it. Open a gas station and sell it for .50cents like Nutcase stated. I'll gladly drive to buy it. Otherwise, this has happened before, and it'll happen again.

+1 I must say I did fill up on friday though..but I wasn't panic buying, I usually fill up on friday or saturday anyways. I usually don't run below a 1/2 tank and a full tank will last me about 2 weeks.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

Well back on Sept 11th 2001, I had a huge sale that week... we were selling AR's for about $525 out the door... advertised price. After the attacks we had a run on stuff, I honored my ads and didnt raise my price. I was however out of mechandise in three days... and with UPS and fedex down, no real way to get anymore.

I lost money because I didnt raise my prices, but I didnt feel I could do that to my fellow citizens in a time of national emergency. But, hey thats just me.

The only way I see to stop gouging is to put gas fuel production and distribution and sales under strict government control. I hate it, but that might be what is needed.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

btw... about storeing gas. I keep about 100-150 gallons on hand (50 in my boat). We rotate it out as we mow and use it.

[Guest slothful1]

The only way I see to stop gouging is to put gas fuel production and distribution and sales under strict government control. I hate it, but that might be what is needed.

Why do you hate it? Maybe because putting economies under "strict government control" has never once led to desirable results in the entire history of the human race. But I guess it's bound to work one of these times, huh?

[bubbiesdad]

Just got back from Crossville. Paid $3.959 for gas there.

[NuTcAsE]

Well back on Sept 11th 2001, I had a huge sale that week... we were selling AR's for about $525 out the door... advertised price. After the attacks we had a run on stuff, I honored my ads and didnt raise my price. I was however out of mechandise in three days... and with UPS and fedex down, no real way to get anymore.

I lost money because I didnt raise my prices, but I didnt feel I could do that to my fellow citizens in a time of national emergency. But, hey thats just me.

The only way I see to stop gouging is to put gas fuel production and distribution and sales under strict government control. I hate it, but that might be what is needed.

I admire your conscience! But on the same hand, if your dist. called and he said your next shipment would be 1295.00 ea. could you have reordered and not lost money?

[GLOCKMEISTER]

If my distributors told me that, I'd tell them to go to hell.

Theres no way anyone can convience me that the oil/gas suppliers arent gouging.

The gas in the tanks all over this part of the country wasnt in the TX gulf coast 24 hours ago... the gas were using today, and will be using next week was in the system way before Ike landed. They are just ripping us off... period!

[G27]

Stockpiling gasoline is not a good idea. The stabilizer helps - and adds significant cost. The Heptane in the gasoline evaporates and causes problems, not just the varnishes and gums that form. Additionally, gasoline with alcohol in it is hydrophilic (loves water) and will produce difficulties within a couple of weeks, especially for the cheaper stuff. If you are going to stockpile anyway, do it with the high octane stuff. Also do it with winter mixtures. The winter blends have more Heptane.

If you use proper containers, evaporation isn't an issue. Cheap plastic is bad...

And enough Stabil to store 50 gallons for 2 years is about $10 at Autozone.

Guess we'll agree to disagree, but through rotation of stock and proper equipment it's easy to have a nice supply on hand for emergencies.

[Marswolf]

I'll sell you a real WWII military "Jerry Can" for $50.

Rotation is the key and rotation has to be much faster these days than before. It's a hassle and can actually cost you money. This latest fiasco, according to my calculations has cost me a whole $6.02 in additional costs and that is only because I absolutely had to make a 434 mile round trip today that I wouldn't have made normally. And that's not figuring $2.80 worth of Stabil per your calculations if I had drawn from my "emergency" stores. That brings the extra cost down to $3.22.

You really think storing gasoline is worth saving that amount of additional cost? No thanks. I'll pay as I go and not go through the storage hassle and danger. In a real survival situation, I don't need any gasoline anyway. Maybe the cost would be better spent on training?

[dralarms]

Maybe the cost would be better spent on AMMO?

Fixed it for you.

[G27]

You really think storing gasoline is worth saving that amount of additional cost? No thanks. I'll pay as I go and not go through the storage hassle and danger. In a real survival situation, I don't need any gasoline anyway.

There are plenty of potential situations where having fuel on hand would be beneficial.

Maybe the cost would be better spent on training?

Training and preps aren't mutually exclusive.

[Marswolf]

Fixed it for you.

Well, if you really know what you are doing, you really don't need ammo either.

Your stored ammo becomes my arsenal - should I need it.

[Im Neero]

I think dralarms hit the nail on the head. If any of you don't have 10,000 rounds of ammo on hand for each caliber that you shoot, you shouldn't even be thinking about buying ammo.

Remember, those ******* zombies aren't going to kill themselves!

[Marswolf]

There are plenty of potential situations where having fuel on hand would be beneficial.

I see it as a convenience - should I ever need it - which in all probability I won't. If I could have postponed my trip for a couple of weeks avoiding the nutso panic of this week, it would have cost me, in all probability nothing additional. But storing "emergency" gasoline is a somewhat costly, potentially dangerous, and needless hassle I choose to avoid. Even during the sorta-real gasoline shortages of 1973, I could always get gasoline, and the problem with shortages even then was caused by panic hoarding. There ain't gonna be no real gasoline shortages. We may have to enforce gas refills only to 1/2 tank or gas stamps like in WWII, but there is plenty of gasoline.

But if it makes you feel good to have 150 gallons of emergency gas on hand, then go for it. Just don't expect me to agree that it makes any sense.

[dralarms]

Well, if you really know what you are doing, you really don't need ammo either.

Your stored ammo becomes my arsenal - should I need it.

It's all mindset. It goes to the knowledge if you are willing to kill to protect yours.

I think dralarms hit the nail on the head. If any of you don't have 10,000 rounds of ammo on hand for each caliber that you shoot, you shouldn't even be thinking about buying ammo.

Remember, those ******* zombies aren't going to kill themselves!

Well I don't have 10000 rounds of each, but.......

And no those dang zombies won't kill themselves will they?

[G27]

But if it makes you feel good to have 150 gallons of emergency gas on hand, then go for it. Just don't expect me to agree that it makes any sense.

Fair enough. Most people miss the point that prepping isn't only about SHTF stuff, but more commonly about continuing to live as you wish during short term circumstances.

If that makes no sense to you, no worries. I like knowing every drop of gas can dry up tomorrow and I'll still be able to get around (or get out of town).

[strickj]

So during a major crisis, how can we expect you to respect the rights of individuals to price their emergency supplies--or to not sell them--as they choose?

Has anything else gone up in price?

There was no crisis here.There was a rumor of a crisis that caused long lines.Those long lines drove prices up even though their cost did not.That is price gouging.Plane and simple!

Why do you hate it? Maybe because putting economies under "strict government control" has never once led to desirable results in the entire history of the human race. But I guess it's bound to work one of these times, huh?

Is the free market known as the gas industry working now?

Originally Posted by canynracer

Kinda hard to do when all of the sellers of the M&P followed my lead and raised prices together.

And there lies the problem.There is no competition with many of these stations.

I worked for a station for close to a year,years back.I never once changed the price on the pumps because our cost went up.It was always because the station next door went up in price.That was each,and every single time.

[TripleDigitRide]

However you look at it, I had less than a quarter of a tank on Thursday night, and I'm very happy that I ran to the Exxon for a fill-up.

If I hadn't, that same fill-up, today, would have costed me an extra $50.