You have salvaged a rubber life craft and a box of matches. Lost at Sea… You group chartered a yacht for the trip of a lifetime across the Ocean! Unfortunately a fierce fire breaks out on the ship. Much of the yacht is destroyed and is slowly sinking. Your location is unclear because all navigational and radio equipment has been damaged in the fire. You assume that you are hundreds of miles from land. You have salvaged a rubber life craft and a box of matches. Prior to abandoning ship, you must choose 5 of the following items to salvage…

Your Options… 9. A small transistor radio 1. A sextant 2. A shaving mirror 3. A quantity of mosquito netting 4. A 25 liter container of water 5. A case of army rations 6. Maps of the Atlantic Ocean 7. A floating seat cushion 8. A 10 liter can of oil/petrol mixture 9. A small transistor radio 10. 20 square feet of clear plastic sheeting 11. A can of shark repellent 12. One bottle of 160 proof rum 13. 15 feet of nylon rope 14. 2 boxes of chocolate bars 15. An ocean fishing kit & pole

What the Professionals Say… Coast Guard Ranking Item Reasoning #15 A Sextant Useless without the relevant tables and chronometer #14 Mosquito Netting There are NO mosquitoes in the middle of the ocean #13 Maps Worthless without navigation equipment #12 Transistor radio You would be out of range of any radio station #11 160 Proof Rum Could be used as an antiseptic, otherwise of little value. Very dangerous if drunk, as it would severely dehydrate #10 Shark Repellent To repel sharks, of course! #9 Floating seat cushion Useful as a life preserver if someone fell overboard. #8 15ft Nylon rope Could be used to lash people/equipment together. A variety of uses, but none are high on the list for survival #7 Fishing Pole Ranked lower than chocolate as there is no guarantee for fish. Could be used as a tent pole. #6 Chocolate Reserve food supply

The Top 5 “Must Haves” Item Reasoning Coast Guard Ranking Item Reasoning #5 Plastic Sheeting Used to collect rain water and shelter from wind/waves #4 Army rations Basic food intake #3 25L of water Vital to resotre fluids. 25L will supply water rations for several days #2 10L can of oil/gasoline mixture 2nd most critical item for signaling. The mixture will float on water and can be ignited using matches. #1 A Shaving mirror Absolutely critical. The most power communication tool. In sunlight, a simple mirror can generate 5-7 million candle power of light. The reflected sunbeam can even be seen beyond the horizon.