Your propane tank is stamped TW 17, and full means 37 pounds
Plus the leaf jam that quietly routes rainwater into your foundation.
Issue #054 Saturday, October 10, 2026 Emergency Gear
A 20 pound propane tank weighs about 17 pounds when it is bone empty. Most people guess by shaking it, and most people guess wrong.
Today’s Skill
Weigh the tank, do not shake it
A 20 pound cylinder holds 20 pounds of propane and nothing more. Look at the collar for the letters TW and a number. That is the empty weight, usually around 17 pounds. Set the tank on a bathroom scale. Subtract the tare. What is left is your actual fuel. Check the rubber O-ring inside the valve too. Cracked means it leaks.
On The Radar
Leaf litter and the first cold rain
Trees drop fast this month, and the first heavy fall rain carries all of it into your gutters and street drains. A packed gutter sends water down the wall and into the foundation. Walk the roofline and clear the troughs by hand. Flush each downspout. Make sure the outlet dumps at least four feet from the house, not against it. Rake the storm grate on your street too.
The Drill
Scale, tape, marker
Today, carry a bathroom scale out to the garage. Weigh every propane cylinder you own, the grill tank and the little camp bottles both. Subtract the tare stamped on the collar. Write the pounds remaining on masking tape and stick it right on the tank. Anything under five pounds goes in the truck for a refill this weekend.
Ready beats lucky.
- Survival Rise
P.S. Forward this to the person whose grill tank died halfway through dinner last summer.