So What IS ruined after an Apocalypse?

[tbone]

I've watched some of the Life After People series on the urban decay, advance of nature, etc. to expect in the decades after people. Binge-watching the whole series may not be of great interest to you, but if you have an episode running while you work on the campaign, I expect you'll pick up some useful info on the timeline for everything breaking down, and maybe grab some adventure ideas too.

On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQOA...Jl6MwLihvNE2Cs

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Peanut butter is like that. It's likely to be safe to eat (unless contaminated) for years, though it may have lost all its flavor or become rancid. There's basically no water, so it's very hostile for microbe growth.

Depending on the oil/fat, and just how rancid it is, rancid fats can be quite bad for you. OTOH, it tends to be the slow 'bad for you' of increased cancer chances and the like, and maybe some indigestion, rather than outright food poisoning. Better than starving, for sure.

[Lord Azagthoth]

I think a good source of info are a few documentaries:

• When Humans Disappear
• Aftermath: Population Zero
• Life After People.

These will show what happens after a very simple apocalypse, all humans disappear at once. How long it takes for anything to vanish until even the existence of an ancient civilization has gone.

I was wondered in how fast nature takes over. They're very fun and informative to watch.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by dcarson

I think in the Villiers books by Panshin it turns out that if you let MREs age for a couple centuries they become wonderful. :-)

That's a standard trope in sci-fi circles.

Originally Posted by tbone

I've watched some of the Life After People series on the urban decay, advance of nature, etc. to expect in the decades after people.

Some of these shows vastly overestimate how fast things will fall apart. I remember an episode of Life After People where they claimed roads will be unusable within 5 years after people are gone and I was just like "What? Do they not know how well built roads are?"

An unused road can last centuries. There are spots of old Roman roads that still exist today, and they didn't sit unused for that entire time.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Some of these shows vastly overestimate how fast things will fall apart. I remember an episode of Life After People where they claimed roads will be unusable within 5 years after people are gone and I was just like "What? Do they not know how well built roads are?"

An unused road can last centuries. There are spots of old Roman roads that still exist today, and they didn't sit unused for that entire time.

5 years sound like an estimate for a road made with poor quality asphalt being judged for how a high performance sports car would handle.

A quick google search shows that a well built modern asphalt road should last at least 15 years before major work is required.

[capnoni]

There was a show on discovery channel that put people in a limited resources what would happen if the wold ended. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1470018/
it is amazing what the could reconfigure from the parts. One item they covert was a cargo truck that run on wood smoke gas, at the time I found this simply inedible how old tech could be reconfigured if you had the basic knowledge of how stuff really works .
I am not sure that the series it collected anywhere

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Assuming 'canned' means an actual can (the type of thing you open with a can opener, no pull-tops or screw-tops), modern cans are thinner than older cans, so they're easier to damage, but if they aren't damaged, they're just as well sealed.

That is mostly true although the type of food matters. I used to work at Heinz Australia before they were bought by Kraft. They market canned beetroot under the Golden Circle brand in Australia. When I was there they couldn’t produce canned beetroot in ring pull cans like they used for baked beans because the nitrosamines in the beetroot ate through the enamel around the seal, so they had to pack beetroot in the old fashioned cans instead. Even in the old fashioned cans it would only take around 24-30 months for the cans to show visible signs of degradation in the form of rust pitting. The safe shelf life for canned beetroot in old style cans was 36 months.

Relatively acidic foods like tinned tomatoes and tomato soup can also degrade the cans as well, but not as quickly as beetroot, so you can still use ring pill style cans and easily get five years or more safe shelf life. In a post apocalyptic setting a visual inspection of the integrity of the can will let you know whether it is safe to eat. If there is anything wrong it will be obvious like surface rust, bloated cans or obvious puncture marks.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Depending on the oil/fat, and just how rancid it is, rancid fats can be quite bad for you. OTOH, it tends to be the slow 'bad for you' of increased cancer chances and the like, and maybe some indigestion, rather than outright food poisoning. Better than starving, for sure.

True.

Back when I still used to work in the lab the test for rancidity of oils was based on measuring the peroxide value, the idea being the degree of oxidation corresponded to the degree of deterioration. But you could always tell by looking at the colour and smelling the sample which ones would pass or fail the test.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by khorboth

Gasoline has a stable shelf life of about 3 months. Less if it's mixed with ethanol which it usually is in the US to reduce emissions. More if it's mixed with stabilizing chemicals, but 9 months is pretty much the outside.

I discovered this one the hard way when my 4-stroke lawnmower wouldn’t start after I used petrol from a can I had stored in my garage for over a year. I knew a technical guy at Mobil and he told me to give my lawnmower a really good shake as that would let the lubricants and other additives mix back into the fuel. And sure enough that actually worked.

[YankeeGamer]

The USS Maine blew up and sank in Havana Harbor in 1898. In 1912, the wreck was refloated. Small arms ammunition still fired, though I don't know if it was less reliable. The steam pumps on the ship also still worked. That's after 14 years at the bottom of the harbor, and sea water is not good for most things.