If you do manage to find some canned food, don’t throw the cans away as they can be used for many things. Yes that does include the Hollywood movie style camp perimeter alarm wire that you see so often in zombie shows. A tip for this by the way is to add some small stones to the cans to make them rattle louder. But there are a lot more uses that could prove very useful indeed.
You can cut cans diagonally to create a small makeshift shovel. You could also attach a branch with some duct tape to give yourself a handle. Trowels and entrenching tools like this are handy for digging holes to support the frame of your shelter, digging latrines and digging out fire pits.
They can also be used for gravity water filter housing. Just pierce a hole in the bottom and use exactly like a bottle water filter.
They can also be used as a water container. The great thing about tin cans is that, just like drink cans, you can boil the liquid in them directly over the fire or in amongst some embers. You can drink straight from it too as the fire would sterilize the metal but be careful of the sharp edges.
Similarly they can be used to cook food in, this is very handy if you don’t have a mess tin or any cookware. I have seen people out in the wild tipping a can of food into a mess tin to cook it, but what’s the point in doing that? Just take the lid off the can and put the can straight on the fire to save getting your mess tins dirty and having to clean them.
You could also pierce some holes in the can and attach some wire or string for a hanging lantern.
Don’t forget the paper labels on the cans, they can be used for tinder or toilet roll. Obviously as they are they aren’t great for toilet roll as they are but if you scrunch them up into a tight ball and straighten them out a few times it will make them a bit rougher and more textured.
They can also be used to make a great, portable mini stove. Simply cut a hole for access to the fire that you will make in the can and pierce some holes for ventilation. Then you can place your mess tin or canteen straight on top of the can and you’re cooking.
The sharp lids can be folded in half and bound to a stick to make a crude knife. It may not be the most elegant knife in the world and it won’t give you the neatest cut, but they do work very well. This can act as a backup knife that you use for all the messy work or the things that may blunt your primary knife.