HJL,
Sorry to bother you, but after reading an article that you linked on Survival Blog I just can’t get this off my mind. It was the Doomsday Prepper meals article, and it said that Wayne Martin “stores canned goods in buckets of cat litter to increase the life expectancy of the product”. Is this to keep the cans from rusting as when kept in a damp basement? I can’t find any reference to that on the Internet except where the cat litter is used as a desiccant alongside of the actual food. Any comment on this would be appreciated. Thank you. – R.M.
HJL Responds: The article was interesting for the pictures it presented of the meals. However, the author had the “Doomsday Prepper” mentality. They often profile those who are extreme, and as a result you get some “interesting” concepts. The only thing that cat litter will do is act as a desiccant. Unfortunately, it’s not very good at doing that job. While it will absorb and hold large amounts of water, it doesn’t do much for humidity unless you are regularly drying it out in an oven or other such device. It’s more of a “feel good” band-aid, and you are better off not having the clay compounds, which have absorbed some humidity, up against metal rings or cans.