I avoid them too for the same reasons. If I did have any I would be rotating them out quickly.

To each their own, and I believe your concerns are valid, but I believe there is no issue with pull top cans.
After a buildup of American troops in 1968 there was a shortfall in the supply chain. Incorrect messages were sent to bases in the USA for the acquirement of C-rations (combat rations meal). There were bases that had not been in the supply chain to that point of the war sending crates from WWII and the Korean War era. Some of these crates were not screened properly and ended up going to Vietnam, then consumed by troops. The C-ration had been replaced in 1958 by the MCI (meal combat individual) but the nickname C-ration did not lose its popularity. So crates got through. The US military had again upgraded to LRP (long range patrol) ration in 1966, but were still using the old stock to get rid of it.
No one got sick and within a month of the discovery, crates from 1943 1nd 1944 that had been caught in the screening process State Side were opened and tested. When they were found to be safe they were shipped off to Vietnam and peace keeping missions in other parts of the world. They were even then deployed to hospital ships responding to natural disasters. The last of the WWII and Korean War era C-rations were used as late as 1983.
Growing up, the cans of Sardines and Oysters were a staple in our house, I still buy them.
I have canned tuna, salmon, beans, stew, chilli and Chef Boyardee (Comfort food) in my collection.
Spam has no shelf life. Heinz only started putting best before dates on canned tomato juice in the late 90's and that has a flimsy foil type seal.
I by mistake left a BOB in the Jeep back in December. I brought it in a few days later and didn't get around to going through it. In February I was out snoeshoeing with the same bag on my back (BOMB)lol... and got hungry. So I checked my goodies and there was the can of Salmon that had been froze and thawed a couple times, but in my infinate wisdom and great hunger I cracked the top and put it over the fire.
A couple days later the mean angry sexy woman who used to come to visit (girlfriend) looked at me as I opened another similar can...
"That's not the one you let freeze in your truck last month is it?!?"
After a blank stare I let her know that "Of course not Babe. I chugged that one down the other day out hiking." Don't hear from her much lately. But the point is I think the wet canned food in tins has great value in the collection of Preppers.
As I stated I understand your concern and welcome anyone’s research or experience with this.

quietman - do you think the quality of the pull top is the same as those made back in the day? They seem to be made of lesser quality but I have only seen the C-rats once or twice. Great history lesson thanks!

I too have a problem with the pop top cans as I call them. Most of the manufacturers still give them mostly a two year best before date so they should be good? My question is do they store as well in a FIFO units that rolls them on their side. The seal and all cans in general are made of thinner gauge material.

The cashiers always toss them down the chute and I check each one and exchange any she has dented. It drives them crazy when you hold up the line but they never seem to learn.

HTP

I keep a couple cans in each bag (BOB, Get Home Bag, Hiking pack) and they don't get bashed, but they don't sit still either. I haven't had any issues so far. When I used to go hiking in green cloths, I used to take a couple cans of stew or chilli along. If you are out for a few days in a row it's a nice break from issued MRE's. Never had one bust. Only did that if we were out for a week or more though.

Those old C-rations might be available from someone. I'm sure there were a few sold in surplus sales etc. It would be a lot less hassle to go to a store locally and get the ones available.

I would be more concerned with the "additives" in the new stocks rather than the seal or thickness of the can, but everything from a factory has "unnatural" ingredients.
I think for prepps to get you through until the world turns back to normal after a short term thing like a flood or tornado, these would be handy to have. Especially if you can just hand them out to others in need. Even if it's worse like TEOTWAWKI, these would get you through until a garden could be harvested. And any canned food for barter is going to be good currency.

I don't have an issue eating food from a regular can that is 10+ years old (I often have) but I don't believe they can make pull-up top cans as sturdy as regular cans...I've already had an issue with canned corned beef that I mentioned on here a long time ago that went bad on me and I had to throw out...I don't trust the pull-up top cans and I refuse to buy them for long term storage...I would never take a chance on buying them then storing them away in the back of my food storage for example in hopes that they'll be fit to eat in ten years...

Only time will tell how long they'll last...

Rain 🙂