I don't know anything about that area, so I'm just thinking hypotheticals here. Does the North Saskatchewan River ever flood? If the disaster is related to widespread flooding, I'm thinking that it could seriously affect the supply of game or the ability to move around or hunt/forage.

And how's the supply of game, wild plants, or fishing (does the river freeze over?) during the winter? Would you be able to get enough food to sustain you?

Thanks for being the Devil's advocate Arney...this is exactly why I post stuff here.

The river can get high but I've never known it to flood. I think the worst that has ever happened is high water has erroded the banks to the point of collapsing some of the houses which perch precariously over the river. The river is in a valley and the area around the valley is the largest urban parkland in North America (or so I've been told...over 7000 Hectares) so there is plenty of wildlife. Not ideal to be hunting inside the city (which I think is illegal) but survival is survival...and that's not a discussion for this thread. In fact I would be that one could live in the river valley parks and the chances of being found would be slim...though you might have to co-habitate with some people of no fixed address.

The River does freeze in the winter and it wouldn't be very fishable...but fish isn't a good primary source of food anyhow as they recommend only eating one fish a week from the river downstream of the city due to Mercury.

In winter the bunnies would provide...there are a rediculous amount of them here.

Theoretically I'd be out of the city before too long anyhow and there are a lot of tributaries which lead to ponds and lakes which are fishable through the ice. My kit is set up for that already and include the ever illegal speedhooks. Once outside of the city the wildlife gets even more abundant.

One other toy I've seen today is the solar rechargable Steripen...I think that's a bit too much when I can simply boil water.

"...In winter the bunnies would provide..."


Don't forget about Rabbit starvation . Man can not live by bunny alone...

I don't know, it seems to work for Hugh Hefner.

Anyone know the fat content of birds like crows, starling, and sparrows? Could they supply some of the fat?

-Blast

It's true. Eating just rabbit is a bad idea.

Is there such a thing as shelf stable, storable animal fat? I used to think fat-back was but anytime I see it at the supermarket it's in the cooler.

Could be worth while to pack something like that.

I guess you could always just take a pound or two of vegitable shortening or clarified butter...good for cooking with AND good raw energy if you can stomach eating it straight up.

Not a bad idea. I'm already going to be packing seasonings and stuff.

"...starling, and sparrows? Could they supply some of the fat?..."

I don't know, but small as they are, you would have to eat a jillion of them. Maybe two jillion. Crows and ravens, on the other hand, should provide more "meat." But I just don't know about the fat content, considering their diet (we seem to see a lot of them eating roadkill bunnies)...

I would think that overwintering birds would have more fat than migratory birds. Just to survivie the winter they would have to store up some energy. Don't have a source for that though.

I don't know, but birds are small and if you're going to need two to three thousand calories a day to get by (higher in the wintertime), that's a good amount of calories that need to come from sources other than super-lean rabbit meat. Not sure how many calories a bird, like a sparrow, has.

The "rabbit starvation" popped into my mind, too, when the topic of "bunnies" came up. If you (Hacksaw) had to bug out, say, in the winter and you didn't take any food with you, then I suppose it could become a problem, unless you're pretty confident that you could regularly get other kinds of more fatty game in the wintertime, too. What else would you anticipate eating regularly besides rabbit in the wintertime?

Edit: whoops, people already asked my questions while I was typing. Too quick for me!

I hadn't considered a BOB to be able to supply food and water for very long and not be something that I need to haul in a truck.
But your post got me thinking ....and while most common equipment choices are good ...they too are not truly very "sustainable" as I wouldn't have packed cases of batteries for the lights etc.
SO in evaluating what any of my own BugOut supplies actually do for me I arrived at the believe they can provide me some minimal tools and sustinance long enough to acquire replacement sustinance and tools to maintain or improve my minimal shelter etc.
Some of my kits are not yet really good for any longer than a few days. NONE have enough toilet paper to last a month ... and I learned as kid that I won't ever like wiping with myself with leaves ....but by having a minimal supply in my bag I put off the need to solve that problem the first day or two. I think a lot of the stuff we stash for any scenario pretty much does the same thing.
Its not perfect ...but at least I shouldn't be the one of those that has nothing the morning after the hurricane blows thru or the day after the ground stops shaking and is waiting for the gov't to save me.
And with any luck I can also defend myself from the looters that were too stupid to prepare in any way what-so-ever or at least take some of 'em out in their attempt.
But this thread has lit a spark of interest in selecting items like solar powered stuff etc that might provide utility for a longer term.

"...Is there such a thing as shelf stable, storable animal fat..."


Take along a big jar of Peanut butter ...