Pocket EDC Update for March 2014

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Canned Food Gone Bad

In theory, canned food never goes bad. Sure, you have expiration and “best by” dates but canned food which is sterilized inside a sealed container simply doesn’t have anything to decompose it. This is why canned food has been opened several decades beyond its expiration date and while taste wasn’t as good and some of the nutritional value was lost, it was still very much edible. 

Now that’s theory and it does apply but as we know sometimes things just don’t work out as well.

Today my wife was opening a can of chopped tomatoes and as soon as the can was pierced the contents burst out in all directions. While there was no swelling, pressure had clearly built up inside, a clear sign of decomposition. The food inside didn’t smell awfully bad, but it didn’t smell good either. In this case, the risk of bacteria means the food should be thrown away and anything that was in contact with the juice from inside the can must be cleaned properly. In this case, since there were no leaks, what probably happened was that the chopped tomato wasn’t fully sterilized and some bacteria was still alive inside when the can was sealed. 

A can that is bulged, a swelled can, a can that “explodes” when open, a can that leaks or smells bad when open should be discarded. Other than that, even past the expiration date canned food is good to go. Just keep these things in mind so as to be safe.

Take care!

FerFAL

Mortgages and eating Cats after the Economic Collapse

La Plata, Argentina. Desperate people tear up a cow in the middle of the Road.

Hi Ferfal,

I came across your website yesterday and thinking maybe I should order your book for self education.

I’ve called the bookstore but been told that we can not order your book from Australia coz none of the major publishers are offering this book at this stage. Please advice the best way to order your book in overseas, thanks.

I also have three questions for you if you could answer:

(1)   In the event of the economic collapse, why people can’t buy some food online? Eg: ordering camping food or military food online in overseas, or calling their overseas relatives to ship all the food to them in Argentina during that difficult time? Could you elaborate bit more on this please?

(2)   Was the seafood market very active during the time of economic collapse in Argentina? Did people learn how to fishing in order to sustain their life during that time?

(3)   What happened to most of the Argentine families when their house are still on mortgage but can’t pay the mortgage fees during the economic collapse? Did the banks took their houses back, or the government had ordered some sort of special policies to allow them paying the mortgage money back in a later stage?

Looking forward to your email and I’m impressed by your depth knowledge in this area.

Kind regards,

Shao

Hello Shao,

My book, “The Modern Survival Manual” is only available through Amazon. Although shipping can be a bit expensive in some cases ( I assume Australia would be such a case) Amazon does ship world wide.

About your questions,

  

       1) he problem wasn’t finding the food, online or otherwise, the problem was having the money to buy it. During an economic collapse people have very little money, that money doesn’t buy you much thanks to inflation and a lot of people don’t even have jobs. As food and other grocery items keep getting more and more expensive people get to a point where they have problems putting food on the table. First they stop buying beef, then they cant afford chicken, hotdogs, etc, until it gets to a point where a significant amount of people just don’t have enough money to put even a bowl of pasta or rice on the table. Millions go to bed hungry every day. We would all do well to keep that in mind more often.

2)      2) A few months after the economic collapse a few interesting things took place. In the few ponds in parks where ducks used to be found, they quickly went missing. People soon realized how good they tasted and how easy it was to just grab them and go. Some of the more desperate people, they ended up eating dogs, cats, pigeons, even rats. The word got around that cat didn’t taste that bad and in a matter of weeks you just couldn’t find any more stray cats when just a few months earlier they were all over the city. In the country, kids with slingshots and air rifles would go bird hunting so as to bring something home to throw in the pot. Hares became increasingly hard to find and last time I checked they were almost extinct in some areas.

In a large city like Buenos Aires there aren’t many good fishing spots although you always see someone fishing in the coast of River Plate. Along the sea cost and rivers people did go fishing of course and still do (even though the water is highly polluted) , but while it does put some food on the table the reality is that fish doesn’t pay the bills, at least not when caught with a fishing pole, so people would do what they can in terms of work to make some money and then maybe go fishing on weekends, more as a hobby than as a way of putting food on the table. 

3)      3) What happens to anyone else in that situation, they lose their homes. Some emergency measures were taken but it only helped a small number of people with mortgages, those with smaller ones, and even then it was just a bit more time to pay, it really didn’t help if you simply had no money coming in to take care of the bills. People would lose their homes, or not be able to keep up with rent and end up moving back with their parents or some other family member or friend. Those were the lucky ones, thousands ended up living on the streets, literally under bridges or in growing shantytowns, full of new homeless people. Don’t ever expect bankers (or their employees in public office) to do you any favors. It simply will not happen.

Take care and good luck!

FerFAL

Prepper Myth#2: Worst Case Scenarios

Making a "Survival" Knife Kit

Aitor Jungle King I Black (Original Aitor):

Schrade SCHF1SM Extreme Survival:

Prepper Myth#1: Golden Hordes and Cities Burning to the Ground

Pack Carry in Bear Country‏

Hi Ferfal,

You've published some of my emails in the past.  Thanks for doing that: I

hope it helps someone to be safer and more prepared.

Just read a posting from last month about someone going into bear country.

I was a guide in Montana and have spent a good deal of time in bear

country, even seen a few around camp.  One was following our outfit from

site to site and digging up our excrement- that's a sign of a problem

bear!  We were out for 3 week trips with groups in the field every day of

the year except for Christmas.

Our outfit was not allowed firearms so each of us had a sizable can of

bearspray (FerFAL edit: Ross tells me they used Counter Assault Bear Spray)
attached to the waist belt at all times.  We were required to

practice shooting the spray without removing it from the holster.  The

protocol was to empty the entire can to create a "wall" of pepper fog

between us and the bear in the event of imminent attack.

Studies seemed to indicate that this is a more effective deterrent than

shooting a bear which may only anger it more.

All that being said, the majority of professionals we saw who carried

firearms into the woods on a regular basis carried lever action carbines.

My guess was that they were 30-30 or .44 magnum calibers.  Don't recall

them looking like .45-70's.  Most of these guys were on horseback and

carried the carbine at hand in a scabbard for quick access. Carrying a gun

in a pack is not so useful when needed.

For pistols, they often had 1911's or large caliber wheelguns, generally

.44 magnums and open carry was the norm.

I've seen Ted Nugent do some wonderful things with a 10mm but let's face

it: pistol calibers of any kind are underpowered when compared to even the

lowly 30-30 carbine.  If you expect at all that you may have to shoot a

bear, you want a rifle round in a platform that is easy to shoot

accurately and simple to handle under stress.  We had to get our can of

bear spray fired off in just a few seconds.  This would blanket the area

and offer some protection.  Drawing a pistol and getting a stopping shot

(basically to the face) on something that is bounding towards you at 30+

mph is almost impossible.

However, one of our guides did regularly carry the Glock 20 with handloads

when not on official duty.  I would prefer the lever action or an AK.

Whatever one chooses, it should be absolutely reliable, handy and loaded

with softpoints for smaller carbines.  If using a bigger gun like the

.45-70, solids designed for big game are preferred.

See Chuck Hawks site regarding all matters concerning dangerous game and

bullet selection matters for some of the best information I have found.

And just on a side note, though bear may seem more scary, I've had several

dangerous run ins with moose unexpectedly on the trail and once a bison

halfway up a mountain trail of all places!  Those animals are bigger than

a bear and very unpredictable when angry.  The bears tend to take off when

we come around making noise...

Same goes for those types up to no good- they usually take off.  But,

unfortunately I have still had direct contact with a few scary people out

there.  I've also found myself in situations where I stumbled across a

person's illegal activities- I literally felt chills knowing I was

probably being watched.  Best bet when you sense a scenario that might be

dangerous is to just go right back the way you came and don't look

alarmed.  I just pat my pockets and make it look as if I forgot something

and walk away like nothing's wrong.  The woods are different than the city

in this regard in that distance is a huge factor.  Some encounters will be

very up close as in two people chatting face to face when things turn

ugly, but there is always a likelihood that there will be a significant

amount of distance.  A person may be watching you with binoculars or

through a rifle scope unseen from your position.  Not the time to be

looking around, trying to find them with your pistol.  If you see

something illegal, report it once you're out of there.  Don't investigate

or hang around at all, no matter how well armed you think you are.  People

committing crimes in the wilderness are likely able to kill you at a

distance and just leave or hide your body.  Even if you think you have

"the drop" on someone doing something illegal, they may not be alone.

Their friend(s) could be watching your interaction from a hidden point a

ways off.

We often get the sense that because we are armed we are somehow safer from

attack and may then even ignore our internal alarm bells going off.  But

the truth is that our bodies are just as vulnerable to an unexpected

attack from an animal or a person.  The firearm we carry offers very

little defense, only the possibility of putting out a little offense in

hopes of stopping whatever is coming our way.  For either scenario (animal

or human attack) the best defense is to be part of a group.  This will

also help reduce the risks of being injured and far from medical attention

with little or no assistance.

Feel free to post this or forward it on to the gentleman moving up to our

great northwest!  I truly hope he enjoys all the wilderness has to offer

as much as I have.

Thanks,

Ross

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The Kero-Sun Moonlighter is now longer being sold. The model shown below from Amazon is pretty similar with the glass body.

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