Item — HN Reader

I dunno this seems stupid to me. So 10 days worth of emergency food at $8 per meal?

Like olive oil is safe to eat for years, costs $5 / meal if it's all you eat and you get the fancy kind, and if the world doesn't end you can just use it and buy another backup bottle.

2 comments

Eating just olive oil? Now not only am I starving, I'm also soiling all of my remaining clean pants?

Well, olive oil and MREs then, would make a nice pairing:

MRE =

"Meal, Refusing to Exit",

"Meal, Refused by Ethiopians"(actually happened),

"Meal, Rejected by Enemy", etc.

If olive oil was all I had left to eat, I think I'd rather smash my head with the bottle and then slit my wrists with the shards...

You say that, but if you're in a 10-day survival situation you'd happily have olive oil by day 3.

Maybe if you're planning for 3+ months off the grid it becomes a bad idea, but I don't think there are many scenarios where we're off the grid for 3+ months and then society comes back in any meaningful way (e.g. more than 1% of population alive, electricity again).

I wouldn't mind living in a vastly depopulated world with no electricity for a while. Sounds kinda exciting, actually, at least more so than the corporate AI dystopia? Until the cannabalism and such set in, at least.

On the other hand, I had to chug oil (on a dare) before and it was easily one of the worst experiences of my life. The aftertaste and slime lingered for hours and I felt ill for days. If I had to drink any more, I doubt I would've been able to keep it down at all, and would probably end up vomiting and getting dehydrated...

But you know what, mix that oil with some grains and sugar and whatever nuts or seeds you have and you'd probably end up with some very tasty cookies or bars. I once did a multi-day backpacking trip eating nothing but Clif bars every meal... wasn't great, and I never ate Clif bars again after that, but at least I didn't feel suicidal after every meal.

Oh I feel the cliff bar revulsion. After my last backpacking experience, the smell of store bought pita bread and Justin’s almond butter makes nauseas to even think about. Some old hats suggested preparing bean burritos (just beans and tortillas) because they store well and it’s harder to get sick of the taste. I had to find some other packers to trade with on the last two days the revulsion to pita bread smell was getting so strong.