Thanks to everyone for the input!

I'm not really sure that eating rabbit is better than starvation due to the mechanism involved. It amost seems to be more a case of poisoning than starvation. Assuming there is no other food source mightn't it cause more problems than it solves?

You should probably be able to live for at least 3 weeks without food, whereas rabbit starvation can start to affect you within a week. The nausea and diarreha might have a far more detrimental effect than starvation alone.

I suppose that nowadays it's a rather unlikely situation, but I'm surpised at how little research has been done into it.

So far the conclusions I've drawn from this thread are:

• It's not "bodyfat," it's a "survival buffer zone."
• Always carry chocolate bars. Dove bars are yummy.
• Chocolate bunnies are probably better than the real thing (and far easier to catch).
• Use caution when opening wine with Camillus knives -- they're getting harder to replace every day.
• That pemmican stuff sounds pretty good.