Based on the Novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen

1) HATCHET The most significant thing anyone should have if they were to pack a survival pack, in my point of view, is a hatchet. Why do I say that? Well, a hatchet is like a key to everything when you do not have anything with you in the wild. When we read the book Hatchet, we figured out that the hatchet was the most important thing you should have with you in the wild. Brian Robeson, the main character of Hatchet, showed us that he could make a fire with the hatchet that his mother gave him as a present! Brian used bark as fuel, and oxygen to get a fire going. He figured out that he could strike the stone, which is flint, with his hatchet. Another privilege that Brian got from the hatchet was that he could chop things off using his hatchet. He could chop off limbs, branches, wood, bark, and more. Brian could use the limbs, branches, wood, bark, and other things to make objects he needed. You could make a bed with limbs. Brian was really grateful when he knew he could make weapons using his hatchet. He made a spear to catch fish, at first, and then he made a bow and arrow by using his hatchet as a tool. Once in the story, Brian wanted to get the survival kit inside a plane which he had no way to enter. Brian used his hatchet to make a hole, so that he could enter. Success fell upon Brian, and so he could get the survival pack. The hatchet was the thing that helped Brian survive. Without the hatchet, Brian would not be able to survive, and neither will you, unless you are lucky.

2) MATCHES The second most important thing anyone should have in their survival kit is matches. Matches can make fire easily. In the book, Brian showed us that a fire is very important. A fire is your friend when you are alone. It is a guard that can keep insects and other animals away from you, so that you do not need to pack a bottle of bug spray in your survival kit. The first time Brian caught a fish, Brian grilled the fish over the fire. Brian didn’t have to eat the fish raw. He could cook things or even boil water. A fire meant a lot to Brian, since it was the one thing that made Brian warm, and feel settled in the forest with his friend, the fire. Most of all, the fire could send smoke up to the sky, and the searchers who search for you, if you are lost, may see it and know that someone is in a particular area. A fire will certainly help you when you are alone in the wild.

3) COOKWARE Cookware would be extremely essential to pack in your survival kit. Cookware can help you carry water back and forth wherever you go. You would not need to cup your hands together to get or drink water. Here, the cookware will save you! You do not need to cup your hands to get the water from the lake. Brian didn’t have cookware, so he couldn’t get water and boil it. He did drink water, but he cupped his hands to get the water from the lake. With the cookware filled with water and the fire, you could boil the water, so that it will be cleaner, or if you would like hot water, you could boil it. Water is vital for us when it is clean. You will get unhealthy if you drink filthy and dirty water like we have here in Jakarta. Dirty water can also affect your health when it is used to take a shower or to wash hands.

4) EMERGENCY TRANSMITTER The fourth thing you might want to include in your survival kit is an emergency transmitter. An emergency transmitter may help you when you are in an emergency, because once you turn the transmitter on, it sends signals to many people, and from there on, they will know that someone needs help and where the person is located. In the book, Hatchet, Brian found an emergency transmitter in the survival pack. At first, Brian thought it was some kind of radio, but then he saw a small print saying emergency transmitter. Brian turned the switch back and forth a few times, but nothing happened, and he couldn’t even hear static, so he thought that it might have been ruined in the crash. Unaware, Brian left the transmitter on. After a short time, a pilot came to rescue Brian. The pilot told Brian that he heard Brian’s transmitter, and that he saw the tail of the plane in the lake. It is amazing how mistakes can save you!

5) WATER Water would be fifth on my list, since it is vital for your body. Without eating food, you can still survive for a short period of time, but without water, you will only survive for a few days. You can become dehydrated and faint, and no one will help you if you are alone. You will have clean water to drink, instead of having to worry if the water you are drinking is dirty or polluted. Packing water in your survival kit will help you have water, if there is no lake or river in the area where you are located. Brian was really lucky to have a lake in front of where his shelter was, so he could drink, as he had a constant supply of water. In winter, the lake would freeze, and his water supply would not be available to use. The only problem with packing water in your survival kit is that it is limited. Once you finish all the bottles of water you have packed, you will have no more. One way to solve this problem is that you could drink the water you packed little by little, instead of drinking great gulps. You could also collect rainwater in the empty bottles. Even if water is limited, it could still be useful for you if you have water packed inside your survival kit.

6) FOOD At home, all you need to do when you are hungry is say, “Mom, I am hungry," and then food is ready in front of you. It was very different for Brian when he was living in the forest. He had to make weapons in order to catch animals, or he needed to find food in order to eat. Then, he would have to cook it over the fire and eat it. Brian had a hard time getting food, and it was one of the problems he had in living in the forest. From Brian’s experience, I saw that finding food is a really challenging thing to do. If I were you, I would pack food in my survival kit. The food is supposed to be in packets or packed in waterproof bags, freeze-dried, or you could pack ready-to-eat foods, so that you do not need to cook them. If you pack meat and it is not freeze- dried, it will rot, so buy food that is easy to make or the ones that are ready to eat. I could even pack instant noodles, even though it is unhealthy. When Brian found the survival kit, he found the food in it was freeze-dried and packed in waterproof bags. He found drink mixes that were ready to drink once water was added. This gives me an idea that you might want to pack food in your survival kit.

7) FIRST AID KIT A first aid kit would be the seventh most important thing in my list of things that I would pack in a survival kit. I would put a first aid kit in my survival kit, because if I am injured or hurt, the first aid kit may help me. If I do not treat or take care of my wounds properly, they might change from a small wound to a very serious one that is severely infected. I will have to wait for my wounds to heal or recuperate for a long time, if I do not treat them. When Brian survived after the plane crash, he did not have any serious injuries, but he did have bad aches and pains, so he didn’t really need the first aid kit. Brian was a lucky boy!

8) HAT The number eight most important thing for me to pack in a survival pack is a hat. A hat keeps the sun from burning your head. When you are feeling very cold, you could wear your hat, and guess what? You will feel warmer! Brian was very blessed and fortunate to have been saved when he didn’t experience winter. If he had, he would have possibly frozen to death. A hat or cap would have helped him. In the winter, the lake would freeze, and he would have lost the fish, water, and he would have had trouble moving from place to place. Foxes, lynxes, wolves, owls, weasels, and other animals would swipe the food source that Brian shared with them. Worst of all, Brian could have frozen and would not have survived, but if he had a hat, perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad after all.

9) Knife A small knife would be rated as the ninth most important thing on my list, because it is easy to handle, and will be useful. A knife would be easier to handle compared to a hatchet. A knife would be useful for slicing meat, or if you would like to kill a small animal. Instead of having to kill an animal with the big and heavy hatchet, you could kill it in a little easier way. If Brian had the knife, he would not have to make a weapon with his hatchet. He could make it with his knife. Actually, the knife could be one of the other weapons besides the bow and arrow he made, or the spear that he made to catch fish. In the book, Brian did not have a knife, but he had the hatchet. You can see now that the hatchet is a key to everything in the wild, even though there are other things as well.

I know that many people get really frustrated and terrified when they are bitten by mosquitoes. In the tropics, you may get bitten by a dengue mosquito and get dengue fever. To prevent this, you need to wear bug spray or insect repellent. You may want to pack a bottle of insect repellent or bug spray inside your survival kit. Brian was very unlucky to have been attacked by so many mosquitoes and flies before he had the fire. Hundreds of mosquitoes blocked his nose and entered his mouth. As a result of having the mosquitoes in his mouth, Brian had to spit some out! The fire really did help the mosquitoes and flies stay away from him. This is why making fire is really important when you are in the wild. Fortunately, there are no dengue mosquitoes in the forest where Brian lived in, so Brian didn’t suffer from dengue. I am one of those people who get really frustrated when they are bitten by mosquitoes. They are just so annoying! When the mosquitoes bite me, I feel so itchy, that I have to scratch harshly, and as a result, I leave scars and scratch marks on my legs and arms. My suggestion is that you should bring bug spray or insect repellent in your survival kit. 10) INSECT REPELLENT/ BUG SPRAY