Gas & guns

W

wingman

New member
I would like some feedback as to how board members are effected by the price of fuel.
I do understand that income and perhaps age will come into
play here. As a senior on fixed income it does prevent me from buying
"extras" for my hobbies. However I am suprised that I read or hear very little
about fuel prices, with average household income in the mid 40's I am very
puzzled by how families survive. I know for myself if fuel reaches 3-$4 per
gal I will be limited to food buying trips and doctor. I see talking heads on
tv saying all is well gas price is where it should be however I believe it will
have an impact on the economy if it continues up.
Well for sure the Sig 40cal is on my far away wish list now.
 
Well, i'm in my younger 20's and I live with two roomates, our bills are low.

My cost of living per month on bills (not including food) are about $600.

I spend about $400 a month of "gun"stuff.
 
I'm 18, I work part-time at a gocery store, and I'm trying to get through college. With gas at 2.70 a gallon and climbing, right now I am limited to buying ammunition. :(
 
Gasoline consumer revolt: An idea whose time has come

Good questions, Wingman. Like alot of other problems/issues, the vast majority of the American Sheeple seem to be more than willing to bend over and take it.

In the past, whenever there was a "gas crisis" we were bombarded with messages on radio and TV about car pooling, riding the bus, etc., but not today. It seems like today's situation is not that there is a gas "crisis" (shortage) but that there's plenty of gas to be had at godawful prices.

A few years ago, I noticed a steady upward climb in food prices at the grocery store that went on for several months. It seemed like the High Mucketymucks on the board of directors at all the grocery chains experienced a revelation, to wit:
"People have got to eat - we have 95% plus of all the food - therefore, we got 'em by the short curlies so we'll set prices at whatever we want to. What are people going to do about it?" The answer is - bend over and take it!

"We will charge you whatever the h*** we want to - and you'll like it."

That seems to be the management philosophy of any and all corporations that provide "must have" goods and services to the Sheeple today - car and health insurance, gasoline, food, medical care, medicines, etc.

The Sheeple are "too busy" to stand up, fight back, boycott, organize a consumer strike, or even think about such matters.

Even though the petroleum companies have all the gas, what would happen if 90% plus of Americans said "ENOUGH" and parked their cars for a month?? It's still warm weather - people could buy a bike and ride it, ride the bus or walk if they were close enough to work.

The spectre of American cities with streets filled with bicycles and scooters instead of SUVs, Hummers, and monster truck 4x4's would strike terror into the hearts of the profiteers who run the petroleum companies, IMHO.

A month with a 90% drop in gas sales would be a staggering blow to the petroleum companies; my guess is that they would start to see things a little differently, because in our economic system, "Supply and Demand" still rules.

What if people nationwide decided to ride their bikes and scooters as long as weather permitted and ride the bus on wet/cold weather days?? The petroleum companies would be brought to their knees, that's what!! No more multimillion dollar bonuses and salaries for the High Mucketymucks; maybe they would get a taste of what it's like in "our" world.

This would have to happen on a massive scale - a few gas strikers here and there would have no effect.


The problem is, the Sheeple don't have the will to execute a consumer strike against the petroleum companies; it's "too much trouble." It's easier for the Sheeple to bend over and take it - to continue to be bled dry by the petroleum companies who will still post record profits while the American public is being shorn like sheep.

BTW, I'm not a wild-eyed environmentalist or tree-hugger; I'm just a 48 year old guy who is tired of getting reamed every time I buy gas.

As someone once said, "There are no victims - just volunteers."
 
Same here. The winchester m94 trapper in 357 is going to have to wait. My whole wish list, the m1 garand, M1 carbine, 1911, Browning Hi-Power, '03 Springfield, are all going to have to wait, too.

Not because of gas, though. I commute 150-200 miles round trip, but in a company vehicle. :D TGGC! (Thank God for the Gas Card!) But 190,000 miles on the van so far. That's got me thinking- what happens when it blows? :eek:

It's getting pretty scary. Average home in my area is over $300,000. Gas is $2.70. People still seem to make around $40,000. I see something bad over the horizon.
 
gas.........$

Well, funny you ask such a huge question. Your right about the talking heads and the so called experts in the oil industry telling us it's about at the right price......bla bla bla. What I find interesting is the folks in this country that upset by price of gas yet scream "no-way" to further drill and exploring many other locations in America for oil. Very interesting that we won't find a little more here at home and be a little less depending on the other countries we buy it from. The storm in the Gulf is another topic. I have heard three different reports on just how much oil comes from the Gulf of Mexico. I heard 6%, 15% and the last report I heard was 24%. These 3 different numbers were all reported today in the Detroit area. Now, wouldn't it be nice not to get lied to all the time by the experts and the media that is reporting these statistics? With all the experts I would think they could come within a few percentage points??????? 6-24 is a flat out joke...... (3x's) Well, it's safe to bet it's between 1 and 100 right? ;)

I drive about 225-250 miles each day. The 3/4 ton Chevy likes about one gallon every 15 miles. I spend around $150.00 each week now. Just three years ago at this time I was spending a full dollar less per gallon. Now, that is some increase. The oil companies are not hurting but don't want the consumer knowing just how well they are doing. The fact is they are in deed showing record profits from all the accounts I have heard and read. Sad part of the increase in gas price is we will pay not only for our personal cars but any transportation service to include cargo prices will have to go up..... We know that means we will pay more for all food items, non-eats, taxi, airline tickets, bus transportation and the list goes on right down the line. It will continue to divide the nation into the rich and the poor. I once felt I was in the middle class but as we watch such a huge item as gasoline soar upward I feel myself and my way of living going down. My pay hasn't went up :(
My hobby list is on hold. I haven't been to the range in 2 months. I think the last firearm I bought was in March? I don't see much getting better on the hobby department. I will try not to miss hunting season this year but it might take place a lot closer to home. :(
Well, I have went on long enough to depress myself........ I will hope and pray all things will improve in short order and short time..... All we can do is press on until the tank is empty in more ways than one......

Regards....... Rojoe
 
Fuel drives the prices of most commodity goods. That means food will be going up along with other consumer goods...

so that means you ammuniton costs will be going up as well :mad:
 
I have had to make changes in my lifestyle to accommodate gas prices (and ammo prices.) I took up handloading to reduce ammo prices. It worked.

Two weekends ago I was planning to drive out to the desert, and do some plinking. Was planning to go last weekend, too. When I saw the gas prices, and realized how much ammo I could reload for the cost of a tank of gas, I cancelled the trip 2 weeks ago, and just went last weekend. Took twice as many firearms and twice as much ammo. I figger that will maintain a neutral effect on my budget.
 
Name one thing that ISN"T brought into your town by truck. There is a lot more to this than meets the eye. If something is not done soon, this economy is going to be in the toilet and anarchy will rear its ugly head. I feel its just around the corner and it will start with an increase in home break ins in "better" neighborhoods. Got ammo?
 
One brutally cold winter in the Lower 48 just might put consumers over the edge. Choosing between eating or staying warm isn't going to win any friends for the oil companies.
 
and the solution, stevelyn:::


liquid lunches! warm your tummy and your body with Jack Daniels! :D


but seriously, i went over 7 years without a car, mostly because i have lived close enough to work/store and whatever else i wanted to do. i have watched as the costs of insurance and gas have risen, and i can do it no more. winter after winter of walking to work, the cold i dont mind, its the ice and snow that bother me. a fifteen minute walk during our short summer is easily 30-40 minutes during winter when theres a foot of fresh snow on top of a sheet of ice good enough for figure skating.
so now i truly know what everyone has been upset over. granted, my driving to work isnt killing me on gas. i can fill up every 10 days, maybe even two weeks if i do nothing else than go to work, store, and the range.
 
It's really cutting into my ammo budget. I used to just buy 3 value packs of 9mm and some .22 without thinking, now that little side trip to the sporting counter leaves me thinking otherwise.

$50+ for a tank of gas is getting out of hand.
 
Oil going out of style?

For me, gasoline is not a significant cost compared to housing and medical, and comes in somewhere around other utilities and food. Interestingly, I heard on the radio today that the peak prices (after adjustment for inflation) were back in 1980, and that we would need to get up around $3.10-$3.20 to match the prices then in today's dollars.

Certainly, crude oil prices have gone up a lot in the past few years - here's about 8 years price history for light sweet crude oil, and there is an approximate tripling in raw material price:
COM.GIF

So, no matter how you slice it, gasoline prices have got to go up to follow crude oil prices. As someone noted though, there nevertheless does seem to be increased profits for oil companies, which suggest they are raising prices on a schedule that does better than recoup their costs. I wouldn't mind some attention to be paid to this by our government, but with two oilmen at the top, won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

While I think that some government oversight would reduce prices somewhat, with the raw materials going up so quickly, I fear the effect would still be limited.

As far as making more domestic oil available to ease supplies... the US has already harvested the bulk of it's oil, and what's still left will be costlier to get out. Even the much discussed Arctic National Wildlife Refuge doesn't hold much oil from a strategic perspective. According to the most recent assessment done by the US Geological Survey (1998):
The total quantity of technically recoverable oil within the entire assessment area is estimated to be between 5.7 and 16.0 billion barrels (95-percent and 5-percent probability range), with a mean value of 10.4 billion barrels. Technically recoverable oil within the ANWR 1002 area (excluding State and Native areas) is estimated to be between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels (95-and 5-percent probability range), with a mean value of 7.7
billion barrels.
Click to expand...
See: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01/fs-0028-01.pdf

So, without considering economic feasibility of extraction, there is about 10.4B barrels of oil available for exploitation in the entire ANWR region. That sounds huge, until you go to the US Department of Energy, and look at US oil consumption. US refineries process about 16M barrels per day, which is about 5.84B barrels per year - so a fair estimate is less than 2 years consumption in the entire ANWR region.
See: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_crude.html
Additionally, it will take at least a decade to get that oil out.

Noone wants to face it, but oil supplies are declining. Most of it is already gone. That means prices in the long run can only increase - there is no other possible outcome. Higher oil prices will drive the market towards conservation, and exploitation of other sources of energy. At an individual level, conservation is where you should be looking.
 
Gas Prices

Today I put $20 in my tank. Got half a tank of gas. $2.50 a gallon here in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Gas prices going up will not break me but it is irratating. Go 15 miles down the road and its $2.76 a gallon. Sure would like to know the real reason for that.
Bet its greed... :mad:
 
If you need gas, get it now. With the oil rigs being shut down due to the hurricane, they predict that gas will go up around .17 to .20 cents per.

So far it's costing me around $269 per month. But I did buy another car (better gas miliage then my Bird). I was going to do this anyway due to I didn't want to hurt the Bird's engine. And it was only getting around 150 to 200 per tank, the new car gets around 400 city and over 500 hwy (2001 Impala).

As for guns and ammo, no, not yet. But if the wallet really starts to get squeezed, I may have to give up smoking.

Wayne
 
One route to much lower gas bills:

large6.jpg

Std Honda Civic: 13.2gal * $2.60/gal = $34.20 per fillup


2005-Ford-Expedition-05114051990009.JPG

Std Ford Expedition: 28.0gal * $2.60/gal = $72.80 per fillup
 
CC,

That is the reason that I got the Impala. Costs (right now) around $32 to $35 to fill but the mileage is a lot better.

Plus, I can't afford a Honda and they get stolen around these parts :(.

Wayne
 
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