What do you need on a Desert Island?

[Gcosloy]

Let’s play the Desert Island Game. You are going to a Desert Island where you will stay for an indeterminate amount of time. You may take 10 things with you of your choosing. You can take anything as long as it is unitary, i.e. singular. You cannot take for instance the

REI store in Reading, nor can you take delivery service from Whole Foods. Ten things only such as one Swiss army knife (number of blades unlimited), one saw (if it’s a chain saw, you’ll need gasoline and oil, possibly two more things). Survival tools may also include spiritual and psychological aids such as a Bible, or my Beetles album. What will you play the album on and if so where does the energy come from? Rules can be relaxed for items that are by nature a collection of other things, i.e. a first aid kit may count as one thing, the surgical team at Massachusetts General Hospital will not. To make it more interesting a Kayak shall include a paddle, pfd, spray skirt, paddle float and pump and count as one thing. You may keep the clothes on your back when you are deposited on the Island and what you arrive wearing is your choice. One more caveat: All electronic communication devices are verboten. Let the game begin!

[hopefloats]

Does this island have trees?

How 'bout a battery and a roll of steel wool. I've seen someone skillfully build an awesome campfire in downpouring rain with those two items and some kindling. If you didn't need it for cooking or warmth - it still might get you rescued!

Very "McGyverish"!

...the movie cast-a-way comes to mind....

[Kevin B (RPS Coach)]

Scotch? I guess that depends on whether I could get of the island again or not

[Gcosloy]

Ok here's my list: Arrive fully dressed in dry-suit with fleece underneath.

1. Fishing line with some hooks

2. Large knife

3. Medium folding Japanese Saw (cut up to 4 “ branches)

4. Bow and some arrows.

5. Female of childbearing age.

6. Broad Spectrum antibiotic for gram positive bacteria

7. Broad spectrum antibiotic for gram negative bacteria

8. Water desalination unit that operates on the principle of ion exchange.

9. Flints for fire making.

10. Take the Kayak with it’s included gear.

We know nothing beforehand about the Island, nor it's location from any habitable land. Surviving has many definitions. What would it mean to have survived and died of natural causes on the Island? Success in the biological sense depends upon the ability to propagate our genes. Hence the need for item 5.

[hopefloats]

Maybe the "female of child bearing age" is also happens to be a world-class surgeon.