Survival Scenario in my Business and Communication Class

[parishioner]

Today in my business and communication class as part of an exercise of working and making decisions together as a team our professor handed this out to us. It was intended for our class but it can still be kind of fun. Heres the scenario.........

You and your companions (6) have just survived the crash of a small plane. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were killed in the crash. It is mid-January and you are in Northern Canada. The daily temperature is 25 below zero and the night time temperarture is 40 below zero. There is snow on the ground and the country side is wooded with several creeks criss-crossing the area. The nearest town is 20 miles away. You are all dressed in city clothes appropriate for a business meeting. Your group of survivors managed to salvage the following items:

A ball of steel wool
A small ax
A loaded .45 caliber pistol
Can of Crisco shortening
Newspapers (one per person)
Cigarette lighter (without fluid)
Extra shirt and pants for each survivor
20x20 ft. piece of heavy-duty canvas
A sectional air map made of plastic
One Quart of 100-proof whiskey
A compass
Family size chocolate bars (one per person)

Your task is to list the above 12 items in order of importance for your survival. List the uses for each.

What would be the order of your list?

(I hope this is not some popular scenario that everyone and their mom has seen before or else....I will look stupid)

[rat31465]

In this scenario I would think that staying put and waiting for a rescue party would be the wisest course of action. With Temps in sub zero range both day and night getting a fire going for signalling and warmth and next building a shelter would be my first priority.
so in order of importance to me.

Bic Lighter

Steel Wool (Only the slightest of sparks from the empty Bic will ignite the wool.)

Shirt and Pants for added protection from the elements

A small ax (To make some tent poles and gather enough wood for at least an overnight stay.)

20x20 ft. piece of heavy-duty canvas (Would make a decent waterproof shelter.)

Family size chocolate bars (one per person) (a little energy or for baiting snares.)

.45 Pistol (Could use it to take small game or offer some form of protection and signalling as well)

Newspapers (one per person) for either ground protection or insulation inside of a shirt/jacket.

A sectional air map made of plastic (If I end up walking out the next day)

A compass (There are many ways to find and judge directions.)

Crisco (Useful for waterproofing, could be used as fuel for an improvised oil lamp.)

Whiskey (useless for drinking in a survival situation...One could however use it as an antiseptic for cuts, a pain killer for injuries or added to and mixed in with the crisco to produce a crude napalm/firestarter.)


With these items I believe one could not only survive a night or two in this scenario, but do so with a reasonable measure of safety and comfort.

[losbronces]

Today in my business and communication class as part of an exercise of working and making decisions together as a team our professor handed this out to us. It was intended for our class but it can still be kind of fun. Heres the scenario.........

You and your companions (6) have just survived the crash of a small plane. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were killed in the crash. It is mid-January and you are in Northern Canada. The daily temperature is 25 below zero and the night time temperarture is 40 below zero. There is snow on the ground and the country side is wooded with several creeks criss-crossing the area. The nearest town is 20 miles away. You are all dressed in city clothes appropriate for a business meeting. Your group of survivors managed to salvage the following items:

A ball of steel wool
A small ax
A loaded .45 caliber pistol
Can of Crisco shortening
Newspapers (one per person)
Cigarette lighter (without fluid)
Extra shirt and pants for each survivor
20x20 ft. piece of heavy-duty canvas
A sectional air map made of plastic
One Quart of 100-proof whiskey
A compass
Family size chocolate bars (one per person)

Your task is to list the above 12 items in order of importance for your survival. List the uses for each.

What would be the order of your list?

(I hope this is not some popular scenario that everyone and their mom has seen before or else....I will look stupid)

This is not a new exercise. The point of this type of exercise is to expose people to team dynamics. Usually, the team will wind up making poorer decisions as its members will tend to compromise with each other. You know the right answer is stay by the plane and don't freeze to death while awaiting rescue--rank the items accordingly. The "correct" ranking of items will be based on statistics compiled for similar events.

[Decon]

Damn, I had the same exercise 15 years ago, and as someone mentioned it was a Group Dynamics course.

[Overtaker]

Ranked in order of importance:

1. Cigarette lighter
2. Steel wool
3. Extra shirt and pants
4. Crisco shortening
5. 20x20 canvas
6. Small axe
7. Chocolate bars
8. Newspapers
9. .45 Pistol
10. Whiskey
11. Compass
12. Map

I highly recommend you use that order because I did the same exercise several weeks ago and I just copied the correct order from my sheet.

The lighter and steel wool will create fire easily. The Crisco can be rubbed on you to keep warm, you can melt snow in the can by fire, and the top can be polished with the steel wool to create a mirror that can supposedly be seen at great distance.

[parishioner]

Great. Everyone and their mom has seen this. Sorry for the unoriginality.

[Nathan_Bell]

Great. Everyone and their mom has seen this. Sorry for the unoriginality.

No worries.

I saw the same one in three different classes. I got in a bit of trouble when I handed in the graded one from a previous class to the prof who gave it out.

IIRC THe classes were Logic, Professional Comm, and Group something or another.

[skyugo]

i'm pretty sure all i need is the whiskey and the 45.

[bkb0000]

i'm pretty sure all i need is the whiskey and the 45.

bah, beat me to it.

in reality, 20 miles is pretty easily doable in 5 hours with unburdened people. less than 10 in rough terrain. put on all the extra clothes, hoarf down the chocolate, knock back a couple swigs of whisky, slide the .45 in the pocket and get to humpin. you'll be home in time for breakfast.

[RWK]

Today in my business and communication class as part of an exercise of working and making decisions together as a team our professor handed this out to us. It was intended for our class but it can still be kind of fun. Heres the scenario.........

You and your companions (6) have just survived the crash of a small plane. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were killed in the crash. It is mid-January and you are in Northern Canada. The daily temperature is 25 below zero and the night time temperarture is 40 below zero. There is snow on the ground and the country side is wooded with several creeks criss-crossing the area. The nearest town is 20 miles away. You are all dressed in city clothes appropriate for a business meeting. Your group of survivors managed to salvage the following items:

A ball of steel wool
A small ax
A loaded .45 caliber pistol
Can of Crisco shortening
Newspapers (one per person)
Cigarette lighter (without fluid)
Extra shirt and pants for each survivor
20x20 ft. piece of heavy-duty canvas
A sectional air map made of plastic
One Quart of 100-proof whiskey
A compass
Family size chocolate bars (one per person)

Your task is to list the above 12 items in order of importance for your survival. List the uses for each.

What would be the order of your list?

(I hope this is not some popular scenario that everyone and their mom has seen before or else....I will look stupid)

Get that stupid look off your face... Yes, it's a scenario that's been used for a long time.

Want to get a great reaction from the class? Say that you'd choose the .45 and the axe. That way you have both weapons and could take the rest of the supplies from everyone else and use them (the people) as a ready source of food in case rescue was a long time coming.