Survival Scenario in my Business and Communication Class

[The_War_Wagon]

Ooooh! Wilderness Survival Merit Badge, ca. 1980!

I'm older NOW - I'll take the .45, and the rest of you can be my slaves on Survivor!

[RWK]

Ooooh! Wilderness Survival Merit Badge, ca. 1980!

Soylent Green is people!

[ZDL]

Chocolate can polish aluminum as well right?

I agree about the 20 miles thing.... It's only 20 miles. Get to it.

[Ttwwaack]

No need to worry, In Northern Canada and Alaska there are emergency call boxes on every fourth tree across the Tundra for these type of situations. Just hope the pilot crashed in a forest, LOL.

Based on the timeframe, ambient light would be about 2-3 hours or less based on cloud cover.

A 20 mile hike in snow wearing office attire, (Moving Polar Bear Buffet) I'd wager you wouldn't make it an hour in penny loafers let alone thirty minutes. Dehydeation is a major factor. If the wind is blowing anything over 5-8, your done without heat and wind protection.

The only thing missing is a heater thermostat for the woman to play with, 'Turn up the heat, I'm cold', the other says, "I did", the first one replies, 'Turn it up some more.' ROFLMAO.

Polar bears really should not be a problem unless you are within 10-15 milies of the Artic (?) Ocean. It was just an eye opener. We were working a job in Barrow, AK and had equipment and materials staged outside of the building. Was there for about 10 days setting up a job when the Superintendant told us to be careful outside, the sea ice had not come in yet and a local shot a polar bear about 200 yds from the building. My response, (Deer in Headlights Look), 'Sure glad you didn't wait till we were leaving to tell us.' Now that were on the subject, What about them vampires.......

[sdacbob]

I did one similar except we crashed in the desert and heat was the issue.

[kennith13]

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)

These things are tough to call sometimes, but I'll take my crack at it.

The most important item is the compass, followed by the map. We now know where we are, and where we have to go to find safety. An incredibly important item is the firearm, as well. It needs to be secured, along with the compass and map, for safe keeping. If I were alone, this list would be vastly different. With a bunch of other scared, helpless people along for the ride, however, I want that gun, as well as navigational rights. That makes me the leader. People need a leader in order to make the other gear work.

Following, is the axe. With the axe I can affect both a shelter and fire without the aid of any of the other items. Since, however, there are many others with me, and the temperature is so low, other things need to be considered. I can't build a big enough shelter fast enough to keep people from suffering the cold with only the axe.

What I can build, however, is a frame for that canvas tarp, which is the next item on my list. Now I have a shelter for the people, to hold in the heat, and I need a fire to keep them warm. Newspapers and steel wool will aid in starting the fire, as will the lighter flint. The shelter can easily be constructed to vent the smoke and reduce the risk of catching fire.

Now I've got six people warm and huddled in a canvas shelter that was partially dug into the snow, and insulated with branches and pine using the most important items on the list in order. They don't need all those clothes anymore in order to survive for a short length of time.

20 miles isn't that far, but it is difficult in the cold and in the snow. That's why I'll be using the axe and spare canvas to fashion basic snowshoes, and commandeering the spare clothing for extra insulation before I set out to the town.

Thus equipped with many layers of extra clothing, I'll make the trek to town, keeping the map and compass with me for the journey, as well as the gun, to keep it away from any frantic survivors.

Thus, my list:

Compass
Map
Gun
Axe
Tarp
Fire lighting materials of all types
Everything else

Were I alone, as I said, the list would be different. In this case, I've got others to manage. I can't manage them effectively if a bunch of frightened, freezing idiots are passing around a Glock.

As well, since six people can't stay warm around an open fire in sub-zero weather wearing only business attire. I've got to get a shelter together as quickly as possible, in which to light the fire to make use of the heat. I need their initial energy to accomplish that, so I can't have them relaxing by a blaze just yet.

[MIKE G]

.....

[Telecomtodd]

I'll put my Boy Scout leader hat on.

1. The first thing is the canvas as it will work as a shelter to keep snow off (would otherwise melt and make you wet and miserable). Would also increase your visibility to aircraft searching for you.

2. Extra shirt and pants, you need to stay warm in that cold.

3. Newspapers. You can ball them and put them between the layers of clothes. The air between the layers is warmed by your body and acts as an insulator. Remember, it's 25 below.

4. Chocolate bars for energy.

5. Small ax for chopping wood for a fire. Without it, you would be limited to the fire you could create with #6 & #7.

6. The bic without the fuel. You need the spark.

7. 100 proof whiskey will burn and help get snowy wood started.

8. You can also burn the plastic air map. Plastic is made of petroleum. You also aren't airborne, and we always tell Scouts to stay still - nothing harder to find than a MOVING pin in a haystack.

9. .45 pistol, can be used for hunting and signalling rescuers. If hunting, see #10.

10. Crisco can be used to cook your hunted food over that fire you have started! I'm getting hungry.

11. Compass. This is worthless since you don't have communications equipment and thus can't relate where you are based on coordinates and observable terrain.

12. Steel wool - it doesn't burn. If you had a 9V battery, you could have used it to heat up and start your fire, but alas, you have none.

Fun! Off to a local Boy Scout district meeting tonight, I'll mention this to the folks there.

[slicers63]

These exercises are fun. I've done the artic, desert, life boat, moon and others I think. You never try to walk out and the gun and booze is rated low priorty.

[goodoleboy]

IMHO, this would be my ranking. I am by no means a survival expert, but I took cold weather survival training several times in Ft. Drum, NY while in the Army, so I would list the materials as follows:

1. Small Ax: In the cold weather survival training (military) I've had, this is a life-saver. Besides, this is also the only bladed tool in the kit. You can cut firewood, use it as a hammer, coupled with a rock it can even throw sparks to help start a fire (but for firestarting, I recommend steel wool/lighter. Strip the bark off the trees, fray it into a furry ball for another fire starting/kindling aid. You can also soak this in whiskey (see below) to improve this quality.

2. Ball of Steel Wool: Very handy fire starter, I would also ask any of the female survivors if they had any tampons handy, these work great too.

3. Cigarette Lighter: Even without fluid, it's the only thing left that can ignite the steel wool (unless you can find a rock and use the ax (see above).

4. 20X20 Canvas: You can use this to build a lean-to shelter. Death due to exposure in these conditions will kill you much faster than hunger or thirst. The only thing that could kill you faster is the plane crash, or getting out of the rubble only to find that you were surrounded by a herd of hungary/angry bears and you haven't discovered the pistol yet.

5. Newspapers: Use these to stuff your clothes to add insulation to your body until you get a fire started directly in front of the lean to. Or, (I've never tried this) you could coat these with Crisco to make a water-tight barrier (after the fire is started) for the floor of your lean-to. Next to the cold, unwanted moisture is your next biggest enemy. This won't last long, but you might not need it long (rescue). Save the plastic map for later. These can also be used for bandages to dress wounds of injured passangers.

6. Crisco: This is a good general waterproofing agent. Since Canvas does a pretty good job of locking out moisture on its own (unless touched from the opposing side), this is next in line. Since you have no sleeping bags, the moisture created by melting snow (hopefully you have this cleared prior)/ice (permafrost, there isn't much you can do about that) under the shelter will kill you.

7. Extra Shirt and pants: Your body will release moisture (even in these harsh conditions), oil, and dead skin into your clothing, that will reduce the insulating properties of these clothes. Clean dry clothes are essential to survival (over time). Wear one pair, clean and dry the other (near fire).

8. Family sized chocolate bars: Eat the food you have available before you go hunting any, depending on the pistol, you may not have enough ammo to hunt long and still be able to ward off bears (see below).

9. Loaded .45 cal pistol: After freezing to death and dehydration, your next biggest enemy is hunger and bears. Since you were involved in a plane crash, you are going to have to wait on a rescue team, don't try to walk out. With the gear you have with you, the nearest town is 20 miles away, you'll die well before half that distance if all you have to wear is business attire. Bears in the area could smell smaller game killed with the pistol which could pose a problem.
Another use would be to signal a rescue team if they couldn't see you but you saw them.

10. Plastic Air Map (if nobody has a sucking chest wound): Use it for the plastic, not the map, besides, it's a flight map. The resolution on that map won't help you, plus they are confusing as hell if you've never seen/used one before. Plastic is waterproof, and depending on the length of time till rescue, your newspaper bedding may have torn and require you to have to sleep in shifts on top of this to stay alive. The only thing that would boost this higher in the list is if one of your fellow passangers sustained a sucking chest wound in the crash and you could use the plastic map to hold to their side when they inhale, and release it as they exhale to prevent their lung from completely collapsing.

11. One Quart of 100-Proof Whiskey: DO NOT DRINK!!!!! Dehydration is your enemy!!!! Use the liquid for an emergency fire starting agent to soak wood pieces of frayed bark for additional fire starting materials in case the SHTF and your first fire went out.

12. Compass: In this scenario, I would consider this pretty much useless. The only use I can think of is if it is completely overcast and you are on the side of a mountain and need to find the south side (usually the warmest side) of the mountain to improve chances of survival.