Ok, I think that Spam would be the perfect food for storing for a disaster like this considering it has a long life and all you have to do is cook it and then eat it. However, I dont know how is the nutritional value of spam?...I wouldnt want to eat something that I packed and then have problems due to bad nutrition.

As a general rule, try to store what you already eat on regular basis. That way you're already use to that diet and it enables you to rotate your stock easily.

Yeah, but I bring spam everytime I go hunting because it is easy to pack and make, I was jut interested in knowing the nutritional value...I have never really looked to see and dont have any with me...

One meat you would want to avoid is pork and corn. Here is why, during the civil war the Confederates were eating pork and corn as their rations. Due to that diet they were developing scurvy. The union troops were eating beef and buckwheat as their rations were not developing scurvy. The Union troops had the energy and health to do combat operations, much more so than the Confederates. It really became a factor in one battle, I forget which one it was. For a good list of what to eat check out the food laws in the bible.

That is interesting, and yeah I have read a good deal on what the Bible says on food...I dont know if you know who Kent Hovid is but he had a movie about how the food laws in the bible helped health greatly... I dont know where exactly those videos are but you can download a lot of his videos at www.drdino.com though most of his stuff has to do with Creation Science.

What do I think of Spam?

I ususally don't read it. I send it right to my Spam folder and then empty that folder.

In all seriousness, though, I've never had Spam but I'm thinking about buying a can just to see what it's like. Does it taste like those little Vienna Sausages?

No.
It's better.

Seriously, slice and fry it up, serve on bread. Best damn meat sandwich.

Oh, very cool.

I think I might just try that out.

Getting back on topic, I've heard good things about Spam for all the reasons listed (long shelf-life, etc.). I'd heard good things about Spam's taste, but it's always been shrouded in myth and legend, as I've never done any serious investigation into Spam. This thread is proving to be a good read!

Here is a link to the nutritional info and some other fun facts:
http://www.cusd.claremont.edu/~mrosenbl/spamfacts.html


I personally love the stuff though I don't actually eat it on a regular basis any more. I do keep 4-5 packs of SPAM singles in my BOB. I cube cut it into 1/2" pieces and add it to Ramen noodles. Though it generally taste better cooked, it does not have to be as it is precooked prior to packaging.

Well, judging by the fat content it is an absolutely great choice for survival food. Fat is one of the hardest items to come by when it comes to survival situations, especially in the winter. Back home in Hawaii its our staple =), as you can see all of the Samoan and Hawaiian brothers are huge one way or another. Although sodium is important to retain water, it can also be the problem in a survival situation if too much is retained. Try to get the Low Sodium SPAM as it doesn't taste much different than the regular one. If you have the regular stuff and need to reduce the salt, boil it in water and change out the water a few times (maybe every 20 minutes) to reduce the salt content if that is your aim. I ate this stuff uncooked all the time in Iraq because MRE's kind of got monotonous. I drank plenty of water to flush out the extreme amounts of salt.

I like spam with rice rapped in seaweed like sushi. Its really good =)

Dude, that is my wife's favorite. It's called Spam Musubi, I occasionally make it for her. Man, I used to eat it like every other day back in Hawaii. The key is to make sure you get the good sticky rice ; Calrose, Jasmine, etc.

YEAH! Thats what its called! I used to have that like every week, but i completely forgot about it till i read this post about spam. Dang I gotta have some again lol. Also, would those sealed tuna packs (the blue Sunkist ones, not the can) be good for a BOB? They seem to be pretty nutritional and they have have a almost two year self life and since they come in a pretty thin packet they can slipped into your BOB easily.

long term spam diet can be bad.... be sure you supplement wit vitamins.

Scurvy....

Yes, which reminds me I need to throw some vitamins in my BOB

Tuna should be ok, but with any canned food you must check regularly with the expiration date or better yet cycle it out every 6 months. Every 6 months deplete your canned food stock and re-stock it every single item.

Hmmm..wow this thread is old...surprised someone found it. Anyways, thanks for the input guys, I had already learned the answers because no one provided sufficiant answers so I did some more research...But I am happy some good responses got out there. BTW: Sweeper Lead, the taste depends on what flavor you get...some taste good and some taste..not so good, but they all have the same general taste I think, except bacon spam (Very good) which doesn't even taste that much like original spam.

as far as flavor, I ain't met a can of spam I have not liked yet......

Well, I haven't tried every flavor. I don't nessicarily dislike any, but the taste can get old after a while if you eat the same flavor over and over...well, I guess that rule goes for all foods though lol.

Good ole SPAM. I'm a 50/50 guy when it comes to it. Sometimes I will eat it, sometimes I wont look at it. But if it meant me living to the next day, damn right I will eat it.

I guess the whole point of us getting "survival" food is to have variety and taste so that we don't get to the point of not eating. I personally read somewhere, someone adds drained tuna meat to their Raman noddle soup. I've tried it and its good. Though I would use Chicken flavor to hide the tuna taste, but the point is to try new things. Mix what you have so that you have new taste. Having the same shit everyday for weeks gets old. By not having new taste, you may find yourself not eating as much and that is not good when you know you have too.

Good stuff for the BOB...



Have a couple in mine. Along with some beef and chicken bullion cubes, a packet of instant soup, a Mountain House meal and a bag of beef jerky.

SPAM packet = $0.89 at the grocery
1 serving
250 Calories
200 Calories from Fat

Not sure of the sodium content, but the packaging was what sold me. A smaller package to dispose of or hump out. The tin can that it usually comes in would take up a lot more space when empty.

I finally found those single packs of spam, 88 cents at the PX. Didn't pick any up though.

I have never baught singles...I always buy the cans...Probably isn't any differant except for obvoiusly smaller...