Chicken... 3 years past use by date... tasted great

[Timelord]

Well done with the Dartmoor endevour. A measure of risk, but then so is much in practical bushcraft/survivalism. The can info is useful to know in the event we need to scavenge after an event. Thankyou.

[bigpaul]

(10 June 2012, 22:53)Tonka Wrote: Where I shop dented tins are usually just left of the shelf at full price.

My dented tins tend to leave the shop fine but become tended when my cats manage to break into the food cupboard. They where left locked in a flat to starve by their previous owners and they are now survivalists themselves with extreme scavenging skills. A child lock on the cupboard and big pile of tins doesn't always keep them away from the treats.
My food cache is well out of the way of cats though.

So bigpaul, are you saying you bin every dented tin you have, or just that you don't see the point in buying dented tins?

And WongFeiFox, that sounds like good advice on checking tins. I used to camp without a tent... but not without a sleeping bag and waterproof cover.... and definitely not without food. Once I propped a bin bag on a stick to keep the rain off my head, and I awoke to find a fox trying to eat me. He thought I was a bin find of the century.
Was your Dartmoor adventure an experiment?

what i am trying to say Tonka, is that i dont EVER buy dented tins, i dont see the point, in good times, to take any chances with food, after TSHTF then yes i would grab every tin i came across but in the good times i dont see the need.

---

what i will say to everybody who commented on the Dartmoor thing is, Dartmoor is 1 of the last wildernesses left, it might look pretty on postcards or driving through on your summer holidays, but it is an unforgiving place and many people have come a cropper and had to be lifted off by helicopter with a broken leg or exposure or worse, its not somewhere to try out those experiments without the proper kit, apart from the Forestry Commission plantations(working environment) it is open and exposed . i have lived most of my life with Dartmoor on my doorstep, for several years i lived in a cottage ON Dartmoor, i have spent weeks camping on the moor myself-but with the correct kit, whatever else you do, do not take chances on the moor. bravado is not a substitute for experience.

[bigpaul]

People "taking more food risks: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18370939

[Tonka]

(11 June 2012, 08:48)bigpaul Wrote: what i am trying to say Tonka, is that i dont EVER buy dented tins, i dont see the point, in good times, to take any chances with food, after TSHTF then yes i would grab every tin i came across but in the good times i dont see the need.

That makes sense. Last week I realised a tin was dented at the checkout, so I took it back to the shelf to get another. I discovered that every single tin was tented, and the one I already had was by far the least mutilated. Still, it was only babyfood nothing you need to be careful with or anything. I would have complained if I had seen any point to arguing with monkeys.

---

(11 June 2012, 10:26)bigpaul Wrote: People "taking more food risks: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18370939

That's a good thing. People in the UK waste food like grows on trees ... and only fruit does.
People bin stuff because of use by dates, which are pretty much meaningless estimates to avoid legal action, and have no ability to tell if food is off or not.

Some of my best meals have come from leftovers.

[bigpaul]

people are bad enough, buying too much and then binning loads of it cos its gone overdated, but what really gets me is businesses and supermarkets most of all, with their just in time deliveries and no warehouse in the store-just a cardboard box area- when the delivery arrives there is no room on the shelf so the older lot gets binned, but we arent allowed to help ourselves-on no- thats against "Elf & Safety"!!

[Nemesis]

(12 June 2012, 01:31)Tonka Wrote: Still, it was only babyfood nothing you need to be careful with or anything.

lol Tonka

[WongFeiFox]

Ok, have just returned from another weekend expedition, this time was closer to home and did have a tent and Sleeping bag as I was only a few miles from home and not roaming with excess weight, it was cold and wet, but being near to home meant I could take more stuff to have more luxury.

As BigPaul has said Dartmoor is not a place to take lightly, the fog and rain come in extremely fast, when it does you might as well sit tight unless you know exactly where you are as you could well be walking into your death - not an exageration as he will support me on this.
He mentions some young girl died in the river, well I can testify that I once tried to cross it at a point when it was only about 5-6" deep, the force of it knocked me over twice and Jesus H Christ fast running fresh water is cold, that was in the middle of August on a hot summers day, don't ever, ever, EVER underestimate running water, no matter how shallow it looks.

Have been camping on the moor for years, first with DOE then later with friends as we grew up, even then I was into snares and not using a slepping bag, however most of my mates will only come up in the height of summer so that was not too bad, but it does still get cold at night unless you use the right type of fire. Fires on the moor are not allowed, even more so in full summer with dry bracken,ferns and grassland around so you have to get right off the path, the rangers don't really like you camping up there either, mainly because people camp in the picnic areas and know nothing about disposing of their faeces. They are more likely to turn a blind eye if you are off the beaten track and they realise you have "moor" sense.
Although in the previous post I had not tent, nor bag I did have my BOB, which contains my 2 rubble sacks duct taped together which does provide a waterproof bed, plus my tarp, poncho and other bits and pieces like the all important mobile, when it gets signal, I didn't mean to sound like I was running naked with the ponies, although.......
I have walked part of the south west coastal path with no bag or tent because the previous year I did it the pack was getting really heavy, when I set up that evening my bag was soaked through ended up binning it and buying a cheap £20 supermarket one, might as well have thrown £20 away, so now when I can I go without.

Yes it was part of an experiment, I have a friend who is a bushcraft/NT instructor and we have been going up for the last few years with a few other like minded souls and bugging out. However we have always had stoves, food and can rely on one another, the Dartmoor mission was a way to test myself when I'm cold, lonely, hungry. Yes I did have my slingslot, snares, fishing line/hooks and 25' long net, but as any other regular hunter/fisherman can testify, you dont always get lucky.
We all like to think we can head to the hills, but at the beginning of May there is not much in the way of hedgerow to forrage, its cold - not the best of time to be out in the wild. When you're by yourself at night noises can do funny things to the mind (think big cat although probably big pony, or hedghog most likely) Being tired itself means the difference between keeping a positive attitude when trying to light a fire in the damp, a fire that is only for you and not the pressure of getting it lit for loved ones as well, whilst they moan that it is cold, they are hungry etc.etc. This was the point of my test to see how well I could manage 48hrs without the luxery of my store. It did not go as well as I had forseen and that was the lesson I learnt, which we all could learn.

In a few weeks I have a week off work and am planning to go 2 days without sleep and trying basic stuff like making shelter and fire (will leave off the axe sharpening) will go to Aiki Jutsu as well and see if some of the complex motor skills still function, as recommended by the legendary Lofty Wiseman. Will keep you all posted as to how it goes.

My old Sifu used to say "you can buy all the weapons, read all the books, watch all the videos, but unless you practise, you are nothing to the art"