just how resourceful are you?

pjbleek

pjbleek

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OTz Original 15 Year Club Well Known
Imagine yourself in this frightening fix. it is 2:30pm, October 5, and you have crash-landed in a lake in the subarctic near the northern Quebec-Newfoundland border. The pilot was killed, but you and several other passengers got ashore uninjured. You are all warmly clothed though wet up to the waist, and the subarctic night is beginning to fall.
Your problem is to survive, until help eventually comes. But because of your scheduled flight plan the search for your party will not start until October 19. At this season of the year, the daily max. temp is only slightly above freezing. At night the thermometer may drop to 0 degrees F. Bitter winds are likely, and it will probably snow 14 inches or more.
The lake-shore area where you are stranded is dotted with stunted evergreens. Surrounding land is mostly tundra, interspersed with barren, rocky hills and long, narrow lakes.
All is not hopeless, for before the plane sank you salvaged fifteen items that may help save your lives. They are as follows:

  1. Magnetic Compass
  2. Gallon of Maple syrup (in a can)
  3. Arctic sleeping bag per person
  4. wooden matches in a waterproof can (13)
  5. Water purification tablets
  6. 250 ft. 1/4" braided nylon rope
  7. Four battery Flashlight (yes, there are batteries in it)
  8. Three pairs of snowshoes
  9. 1/5 of 151 proof rum
  10. shaving kit with a mirror
  11. wind-up alarm clock
  12. hatchet
  13. punctured inner tube
  14. Book on navigating by starlight.
  15. 20 sq. ft. heavy canvas

How might you use the fifteen salvaged items? Rank each of them from 1-15. This was a case study we did the past week in my class. I will give the answers tomorrow.
Good luck!
 
I'd Imagine;) that I wouldnt need all those things and that the dude on the white horse in that Brut ad? wasnt it? was riding on a Pegasus across the waves to rescue me.;)


I dont know if thats the answer, but my son told me a similar one the other day..

Imagine your boat is sinking and your surrounded by sharks, how would you survive?

The answer? Stop imagining.:D
 
Well right off the bat I would say the emergency beacon would activate upon impact so it would only be a matter of hours before Canadian Forces Rescue Service would be flying overhead. They would then drop emergency supplies and jumpers to help us. I would keep the 15 items just in case the bastards didn't show up though.
 
To survive you will need to provide the following in order of importance.
1. Warmth/shelter
2. Water
3. Food/energy
4. Rescue

So I would rate the following articles in order of importance
1. Arctic sleeping bag per person for instant warmth
2 & 3. 20 sq. ft. heavy canvas and the 250 ft. 1/4" braided nylon rope for a small tent/roof. But 20 sq ft isn't very much, maybe just enough to have several people huddle under.
4. wooden matches in a waterproof can (13) for starting a fire for warmth, melting snow for drinking and drying your clothes
5. hatchet for chopping wood, building a shelter and protection

Now we need to work on the water
6. The water purification tablets are not needed with fresh snow so these can go to the very bottom of the list as far as I'm concerned.

Food/energy
7. Gallon of Maple syrup (in a can) has about 13,000 calories give or take. That will hold several people over for a few days in an emergency (which this is)
Other sources of food will need to be looked for during your stay, but nothing on the list will really aid you much more.

Now we can look at the possibility of rescue/escape
8. Book on navigating by starlight is more important than the compass since there are other ways to find north
9. Three pairs of snowshoes for traversing the newly fallen snow. It will greatly increase your speed over snow covered ground.
10. Four battery Flashlight (yes, there are batteries in it) for navigating at night or setting up camp
11. shaving kit with a mirror, you can use the mirror for signaling. Maybe it should have been higher on the list, but with the ability to have a fire in your camp and with the evergreens available to create large quantities of smoke, I didn't list it as important until you were possibly on the move.
12. punctured inner tube for carrying water
13. water purification tablets in case you need them on the move
14. 1/5 of 151 proof rum in case someone gets hurt and it can be used for an antiseptic. But under no circumstances should it be drunk... It may give you the illusion of warming you, but it will lower your body temperature and decrease circulation leading to hypothermia or frost bite. (You can use it when you are rescued in celebration)
15. The alarm clock to keep you awake?

With a wait of 14 days until rescue, I would make camp and stay put. Unless you are certain of your location and which way you need to travel to get to civilization. There is a high probability that you won't know which way to travel, so staying put is your best option. Travel should be your last resort when you know people will be coming for you eventually.
 
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  1. Magnetic Compass
  2. Gallon of Maple syrup (in a can)
  3. Arctic sleeping bag per person
  4. wooden matches in a waterproof can (13)
  5. Water purification tablets
  6. 250 ft. 1/4" braided nylon rope
  7. Four battery Flashlight (yes, there are batteries in it)
  8. Three pairs of snowshoes
  9. 1/5 of 151 proof rum
  10. shaving kit with a mirror
  11. wind-up alarm clock
  12. hatchet
  13. punctured inner tube
  14. Book on navigating by starlight.
  15. 20 sq. ft. heavy canvas
Rope & canvas for tents or lean-tos. Hatchet for cutting firewood. The stunted firs will have needles for building fires for warmth. Matches are a premium so lint and dry needles are your starting point on fires. Compass & book for navigation. Sleeping bags for warmth. Three people can venture out on the snowshoes to find water to be purified and to collect more wood for fires. The mirror in the shaving kit can be used to signal any one looking for you. Flashlight for signalling and seeing at night. The can of syrup can be used for the sugar as it will help with warmth. the can can be used for cooking. Dilute the rum to make it last. Wind-up clock will give you some idea of time. The inner tube might hold the syrup if you need the can for cooking quickly.
 
I Want to be with someone who knows how to keep me and them alive. I promise to be a obedient, partner, listen and do what is needed and keep positive.

If on my own I don't know HOW I would react because I would first have to have a good cry, then cuss and stomp around a lot, then calm down and THEN plan.

I do think the shaving kit wouldn't be that handy but the mirror to reflect the sun might. And any navigation....I'm hopeless, I wouldn't move from the crash site unless the conditions were dangerous.
 
1 -Arctic sleeping bag per person
2 -Gallon of Maple syrup (in a can)
3 -20 sq. ft. heavy canvas
4 -Three pairs of snowshoes
5 -wooden matches in a waterproof can (13)
6 -250 ft. 1/4" braided nylon rope
7 -punctured inner tube
8 -hatchet
9 --1/5 of 151 proof rum
10 -Four battery Flashlight (yes, there are batteries in it)
11 -Magnetic Compass
12 -Book on navigating by starlight.
13 -wind-up alarm clock
14 -shaving kit with a mirror
15 -Water purification tablets
 
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pjbleek said:
Imagine yourself in this frightening fix. it is 2:30pm, October 5, and you have crash-landed in a lake in the subarctic near the northern Quebec-Newfoundland border. The pilot was killed, but you and several other passengers got ashore uninjured. You are all warmly clothed though wet up to the waist, and the subarctic night is beginning to fall.
Your problem is to survive, until help eventually comes. But because of your scheduled flight plan the search for your party will not start until October 19. At this season of the year, the daily max. temp is only slightly above freezing. At night the thermometer may drop to 0 degrees F. Bitter winds are likely, and it will probably snow 14 inches or more.
The lake-shore area where you are stranded is dotted with stunted evergreens. Surrounding land is mostly tundra, interspersed with barren, rocky hills and long, narrow lakes.
All is not hopeless, for before the plane sank you salvaged fifteen items that may help save your lives. They are as follows:

  1. Magnetic Compass 4. Need too know where I am going
  2. Gallon of Maple syrup (in a can) 9. Use too keep bears away if they suddenly found you
  3. Arctic sleeping bag per person 10. Keep warm at night
  4. wooden matches in a waterproof can (13) 3. Keep warm/Cooking food(s)/Possible alerting SAR teams
  5. Water purification tablets 1 Need water too survive
  6. 250 ft. 1/4" braided nylon rope 11. Climbing down mountains/Steep terrain if needed
  7. Four battery Flashlight (yes, there are batteries in it) 12. Navigate in the dark
  8. Three pairs of snowshoes 6. Keeping going in the terrain
  9. 1/5 of 151 proof rum 14. In case of medicinal purposes
  10. shaving kit with a mirror 7. Good for SOS messages as in the case of 4
  11. wind-up alarm clock 15. I don't need too be waken up
  12. hatchet 2. Need food to survive/chop for woods
  13. punctured inner tube 13. In case of first aid needs
  14. Book on navigating by starlight. 5. For the same thing as the compass
  15. 20 sq. ft. heavy canvas 8. Keep some shelter if needed

How might you use the fifteen salvaged items? Rank each of them from 1-15. This was a case study we did the past week in my class. I will give the answers tomorrow.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

Here is mine
 
ready for the answers?
well here they be....







  1. matches
  2. hatchet
  3. 20 sq. ft. Canvas rope
  4. Sleeping bags
  5. Maple Syrup
  6. 250 ft. 1/4 in nylon rope
  7. Snow shoes
  8. Punctured inner tube
  9. Shaving kit
  10. Flashlight
  11. Rum
  12. Clock
  13. Compass
  14. Book
  15. Water tablets
this was explained in detail by the professor. He said the key thing was to keep the fire going to keep people busy and warmth. the snow could be used as a beverage as well (like a snow cone)
 
The most important item is the flashlight.

The reason for this is your best chance of survival is being picked up as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours. Seeing as its October in the Arctic, there is no daylight for most of the day, and you'll need the flashlight to signal a rescue.

That's the way I see it anyway, that professor didn't know what the fuck he is on about. Anyone who has tried to drink snow will tell you that there just isn't enough water content in it to keep you hydrated.
 
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Zorak said:
The most important item is the flashlight.

The reason for this is your best chance of survival is being picked up as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours. Seeing as its October in the Arctic, there is no daylight for most of the day, and you'll need the flashlight to signal a rescue.
Click to expand...

A fire could also signal rescue plus it would keep you warm at the same time
 
Zorak said:
I won't even get into the practicalities of starting a fire in the snow with a few matches, in an area that at best only barely falls within the arctic tree line lol
Click to expand...

I still don't see the flashlight logic tbh, nobody is going to be looking for you till 2 weeks after you disappear so a flash light isn't going to alert anyone really. Keeping warm would be far more important till they do start looking out for things like that imo
 
my point would be that modern technology would be able to bail you out sooner....if a plane did not come to the gate or have any communication from the said flight, wouldn't you then send up a rescue to team from the planes last communique? I would think too that the airplane would be on the horn to someone ASAP...plus who wouldn't be carrying a cellphone and at least dial 9-1-1?
 
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