how long?

[Suge206]

how long do you think, say 4 people, could live on a case of spam, 20lbs of rice, a Costco tub of multivitamins and 50 gal of fresh water? assuming you can cook the rice and reasonable temps.

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[speeddemon94]

Bare minimum water intake is 1L/day. That works out to about 12 days, assuming you don't use any of that water to cook.

 

[WashCoDad]

A week tops.
Water goes quick!

 

[chariot13]

how long do you think, say 4 people, could live on a case of spam, 20lbs of rice, a Costco tub of multivitamins and 50 gal of fresh water? assuming you can cook the rice and reasonable temps.

After you eat the other three people you should be able to last an additional month + on your spam, rice & water.

 

[erudne]

Water is ALWAYS the limiting factor; it is heavy hard to transport and store and 1 person needs ALOT.
That Spam is full of salt, lets just say 3 days after the water runs out.
Better to have a water filter or a gallon of bleach plus a rain catchment system to go along with the rest of the food.

 

[PolishedBrass]

I'm thinkin' people are gona have diarrhea with that "delish" diet.
Plus it will stink to high heaven with no toilet flushing them "hot squirts."

Salty greasy meat plus the shoits and dehydration ... 4-5 days and that is if you don't have people puking from the stench. [2-3 days if puking is involved.]


:cartman:


Oh yeah --- be sure to include TP and a lot of it ... plus maybe some Vaseline or A&D ointment to easy the sting of the "Backside Bernies."

 

[Just Jim]

doing what? just laying there smoking dope or out working to stay alive?

 

[Suge206]

I'm just thinking of a natural disaster situation such as an earth quake or volcanic eruption. Just looking to have safety food to get by until stores reopen. So mostly laying there smoking dope I guess. The bleach is a great suggestion and easy enough to squirrel away in the garage.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Well, in days or weeks, not sure but to conserve that water while eating Spam you are going to suffer badly from thirst! Why no vegetables? A case of spinach is cheap and will store a long time. Help do the poo. If its a hate vegetables thing try to think of them as fuel for your body instead of just food. I sure would want more water! Look into the bladders that fit into the bathtub. If there was enough time to fill one it would just about double your water supply (65gal).

 

[erudne]

In that case I would buy canned rice/beans/spuds/veg/fuit/fish/chicken for the water content, buy what you would normaly eat, plus water/bleach

 

[nwwoodsman]

Now that you've told us exactly what your preps are here's my two cents. A cup of rice takes two cups of water to cook. Spam has a lot of salt. You'll go through the water fast. They do make low sodium Spam but not sure if it's any less toxic. Multi-vitamins can be hard on the stomach and you'll probably need water to ease the discomfort caused by vitamins and salty processed meat. You're stores will probably last couple weeks but you'll feel like hell after a few days. It's a good start but keep stocking. Vitamins in fruits and vegetables are absorbed by the body better than through vitamins from a bottle. Try to get low sodium and organic canned fruits and vegetables, but if they're not affordable the normal canned goods beat turning to cannibalism. You can go with dehydrated foods but you also need to take the additinal water needed to rehydrate into consideration. I saw you are in Seattle. I'd recommend getting a book on wild edible plants. You would probably be amazed at what plants you can eat that grow all around the city. I was up in Seattle a few weeks ago and had to pay to park under one of the bridges. One of those lots and the surrounding brush areas where the bum camps were hold enough edibles to keep you alive for a few days. I'd also recommend getting yourself some fishing gear, crab pots and high quality high powered air rifle.There is a lot of water which holds lots of fresh seafood. That air gun can kill birds and do it quieter than a firearm. People will probably care less about discharing a gun in city limits when they're starving to death but it's best not to draw anyones attention to a fresh kill. I read and posted an article in the survival forum about urban foraging in Seattle. Might check that out for a few more ideas

 

[Pyro]

Bleach is A-Ok but be aware that it too has a shelf life of about 1 year. So don't go nuts with it as a little goes a long way purifying water and general cleanup. Think also about letting sunshine / UV purifying you water or the old fashioned BOIL IT in a pot take care of cleaning it to drink. Wood fuel is plentiful and renewable and stores well. Think FIRE and more of the basics like those that your great grandparents used.

 

[Both Eyes Open]

A week maybe... Less if you eat the spam, its full of salt and will make you more thirsty and you will consume more water. Everyone else is right on here about water being the limiting factor. Get a resupply plan for water and you'll be in way better shape.

 

[AMProducts]

I typically budget 7gal/person/day, this is much less water than most people are used to living on, but in an austere situation it's actually a fair amount, usually this translates to cooking and sanitation (including a 3gal shower, handwashing and tooth brushing). If you were getting away from the shower, and most sanitation needs, you're still looking at 1gal/person/day min for cooking/drinking. However, if you don't budget water for hand washing, make sure you have plenty of hand sanitizer. Also, be prepared to look/feel/smell like a homeless person by the end of the week.

For that diet, I might also recommend adding a fiber supplement, this will help greatly with the gastric distress you might find yourself in with a sudden shift in diet, you might also want to get some gatoraide powder (however do not mix at full strength unless you are drinking lots of water) as this can help stabilize your electrolytes a bit. You might want to add some beans and cooking oil, perhaps even some powdered eggs and bullion cubes. Another possibility is peanut butter.

The main thing you want to do is maintain a well balanced diet, if you are working hard you will need:

Fats
Proteins
Complex carbs
simple carbs

With plain white rice, you are getting lots of fat and only simple carbs, you will need more protein (beans, peanut butter, powdered eggs), complex carbs (beans, peanut butter), and fats (oil, peanut butter). Personally, for my diet, I get less than 10% of my calories from simple carbs, the bulk comes from protein, complex carbohydrates, and fats.

 

[revjen45]

"After you eat the other three people you should be able to last an additional month + on your spam, rice & water."

Good idea, but after the 1st one, how do you persuade the rest to hang out and become victuals? If you dispatch them all at once, they will spoil before you can consume them, unless you make jerky.

Suge206 - Maybe you want to lay up some extra dope. It might be a while before the supply chain returns to normal. And use a 1-hit bong so you don't waste it.

 

[knuckle Head]

After reading all of the above I hope you have determined a nearby water source and started looking into making or buy a water filatration system, lack of water as stated above kill all in no time.

there are plenty of threads on here about water purification, read them and do a google search,

No matter how much water is stored eventually we will all have to go out and start collecting it, the more you know and more prepared you are the easier any emergency will be, because you have already been more educated than a most plus the more you know about what to do the lower the anxiety will be and if yo are calm it will help keep others calm