Spam was a staple back in my student days and it worked. I don't regularly consume it now because of the high fat and salt content - qualities which make it quite useful in a survival context. I have some cans lurking in my stash, but I believe they are the classic formulation.

My father ate Spam during WWII, and he never stopped commenting about the experience, which was preferable, but just barely, to starvation. He understood that the only way they could quit eating GI chow was to win the war.

There is another alternative that I have come to like a lot - Tanka Bars. These are dried buffalo meat and cranberries - essentially a low fat pemmican. They come in a 1 oz bar. I like them for situations where weight is important and you want something with protein and taste to mix with the usual energy bars.

They are produced on a reservation in South Dakota and have formerly been available only locally. I just now saw that they can be purchased through REI - $2.80 a bar, with a 20% discount if you buy twelve (a full box). That's the bad news; they ain't cheap.

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