Okay this was something that I did back in high school one day when we had a substitute teacher and the workload was light. He had this list of 15 different items you could conceivably have available to you if you were stuck alone on an island, and it originally came from a survival expert and basically the point is, the expert ranked the items from the least to the most important, and the game was you rank them yourself, and see how close you got to what the expert said. I was cleaning awhile back and realized I still had my sheet of notebook paper on which I wrote this out stuck in the middle of my senior yearbook. I subsequently tried this on another board, it seemed interesting so I figured why not give it a go here as well. The sucky part is, I can't tell you who exactly the survival expert was, nor give any explanation as to why things are ranked where they are (since undoubtedly, what you assume will be way wrong on some). Now, if you think that in itself makes this a stupid idea, by all means, don't reply, the thread will die a natural death if it deserves so


Now then, the 15 items:

1. plastic rain coat
2. knife
3. parachute
4. mirror
5. bottle of vodka
6. first aid kit
7. top coat
8. map of area
9. 100ft rope
10. 1 gallon of water
11. sunglasses
12. flashlight with batteries
13. 100 salt tablets
14. book on edible wildlife
15. handgun with bullets


You give the #15 to the item you believe is the least valuable/important to your extended survival on the island, all the way to #1 being the most. As you're ranking, remember to be creative, be aware of the multiple uses you can get out of any particular item, even far past what the initial, most obvious is. When you're ready to compare lists and see how close you got, here are the expert's answers:

Spoiler: show

15. bottle of vodka
14. 100 salt tablets
13. map of area
12. book on edible wildlife
11. handgun with bullets
10. first aid kit
09. 100ft rope
08. knife
07. parachute
06. 1 gallon of water
05. sunglasses
04. plastic rain coat
03. top coat
02. flashlight with batteries
01. mirror

You should check out the Ongoing Saga of the US Economy thread.

am I supposed to automatically understand how that can possibly relate to the idea of this thread?

I took extended stay as meaning like Castaway-level extended.
ranked first choice to last:
plastic rain coat-ability to gather water and its offer of some warmth.
mirror-fire starting
parachute-a lot of material to build with
100 ft rope
knife
top coat
first aid kit
book on edible wildlife
handgun with bullets
map of area
sunglasses
flashlight with batteries
100 salt tablets
1 gallon of water
bottle of vodka

Spoiler: show

The reason for the flashlight with batteries being ranked second eludes me.

Well I guess by "extended" I just meant to imply surviving as long as possible, that, as would be the case were you in that situation, not having any clue when you might be rescued.

Spoiler: show

Yea like I said that was my biggest concern of bothering to start this, not having any of the expert's elaboration on why they're ranked as is. Though one thing I specifically remember was the vodka being last, that since alcohol will help dry something out, that even though if you're really thirsty in the moment it might seem like a plus to have something more to drink, but because of the dehydration it'll cause, it'll ultimately be worse than ever having drank it at all. But also, I'm thinking the alcohol would have a sterilization value... ?

2,5,9, or 15

I feel like I could be helpful in this thread.

-5/10

Man, I knew I should've just feigned anger in all caps. There's always tomorrow.

That hurt, man.

That was uncalled for, Mr. Farmer. I hope to make up for it in the near future.

I could never stay upset at you, Justin.