Every time i watch Cast Away (Tom Hanks) it makes me think about how some people don't prepare at all.

Also if you were in TOM Hank's shoes (IN THE MOVIE OF COURSE!) and your plane was about to take off and you could take equipment with you, what would you take? <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

P.S.-in the movies he didn't even have a knife

If by some miracle I survived the crash I'd have what I always fly with. Full set of clothes (no short pants), including jacket and comfortable shoes. Bic lighter, whistle,cell phone on my person. I'd add needles and thread since they are now OK, maybe even a small fishing kit.
Previous to 9-11 I wore my whole PSK vest and folding
knife.

It seems the easist way would be to have a C02 inflatable vest and a PLB strong enough to be picked up by sensors: Thats all legal on planes now i think?

I was a little HUA when I did my last post. Add GI dog tags, signal mirror and the photon light on the key ring. We should come up with a "legal to fly with" PSK.

I think it should consist of:

Thread
Mirror
Fishing line +Hooks
Cheat card
Photon
magnessium+Flint?
Matches?
Cotton Balls
Aspirin
band aids+ as much 1st aid as wanted
triple antbiotic pouch
needles
paracord
duct tape

Also: if airport security finds a tin wrapped in duct tape with cord around it, suspiciously heavy, THERE GOING TO BE SEARCHING YOU! <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> very thoroughly <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

If you're flying over water, the plane is required to have inflatable life vests available to each passenger. If you don't trust the airlines' life vests and want to bring your own, then - paradoxically - you may be in violation of the airline regs.

There was a thread here - or maybe an article by Doug - about how ferry pilots are flying long distances over water with no life raft, because the life rafts CO2 canisters are classed as HAZMAT and the cost of shipping the raft back home after the ferry flight would be more than the pilot got paid for making the flight. I forget the details, but I'm sure someone else can point to the source. (I don't know if this would apply to a CO2 life vest - obviously, though, it doesn't affect the ones that the airlines are approved to carry on each flight.)

If you're talking about a non-commercial flight, that would be different, I suppose. (After all, there's nothing preventing a ferry pilot from taking a life raft along, other than the expense of getting it back afterwards.)

I think Castaway was one of the best pro knife movies made in a long time.He did have a knife a sak,he just left it behind with his keys.

Then at the end after his rescue and using a skate blade as a knife,he is given his keys back.He grabs the sak and kind of grins.That message was understood by the audience.ofcourse now you can't fly with it!!

Well, as he was flying in a cargo plan, I doubt there would be any restrictions one what he could carry (Don't quote me on that one <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />), so if I were him and flew regulary, I would take a carry on bag with lots of useful gear, just in case. Knife, tarp, FAK, you know the stuff.

>>Well, as he was flying in a cargo plan, I doubt there would be any restrictions one what he could carry

Don't count on it, there was an attempted hijacking of a FedEx plane some years ago. A pilot who'd been passed over for promotion smuggled a hammer on board (he was flying in the jumpseat). His intentions were to kill the Captain, First Officer and Flight Engineer, then ram the plane into the Fed Ex Head Office (located at the airport). (This was years before 9/11, btw.) His first blow paralysed the Captain, causing permament disability; his second hit the First Officer as he turned to see what the commotion was. It ended with the First Officer (badly injured) and the Flight Engineer wrestling with this nutcase while the Captain, in terrible pain and unable to move one arm, called in a Hijack/Mayday and brought the plane around for one of the most incredible landings ever pulled off. (Realizing he was too high to make the intended runway, he put the plane into a 90 degree banked turn at less than 1000 feet altitude, lined up with the crossing runway and managed to bring the plane to a safe landing.)

The would-be hijacker basically had the book thrown at him -3 counts of attempted murder, 3 counts assault with a deadly weapons, attempted hijacking, attempted extortion, endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight (which, surprisingly, is probably the most serious charge, as it carries a possible death sentence in the US and a possible life sentence even in Canada). I forget what his sentence was, but it was enough that he'll never see his kids except through a pane of bullet-proof glass for the rest of his life.

I believe, sadly, that none of the three pilots ever returned to active flying, due to their injuries.

If you remember, he almost took his keys with him, but his girlfriend needed them <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> One would have to go thru security to get to the cargo plane anyway right? I think back when the movie was made, he could have carried a BOB or PSK on the plane. Also he was friends with the crew , i think?

Just as Hanks is inflating the raft, the stow bag gets caught on something and then the line breaks and he floats to the surface. I assume the raft stow bag had a survival kit in it and that is why the writers had to figure out a way for him to lose it.

One of the points the writers of the script were trying to make is that man, with little or no tools or training to survive, can adapt and learn from his mistakes and live to tell his story. Hanks' character evolves physically as well as emotionally. The most telling scene for this is when he sees the port-potty door and within seconds, sees the true potential of this otherwise piece of trash.

He also undergoes a form a spiritual transformation, a willingness to release himself from his former, controlling-self, to a more free thinking- willing to throw himself to the winds of fate and see if they take him off his island. He is no longer bent on constructing his future from a preconceived notion with an attached time table, but rather live his life in a principle/ spiritual ideal driven manner.

Are our PSK's an attempt to control our lives to the smallest detail, even the times of our lives that we don't plan on happening, but we want to control in the event they do? Or are they a simple manifestation of our drive to survive and have a future to live? Or somewhere in the middle?

Wow neuronboy,

That's some pretty deep stuff there. I never looked at the movie Cast Away that way.

I was very upset with the distribution company that made the trailers for the movie. In one trailer Tom Hanks is sitting in a private jet and his friend says, "You were gone for 3 years." WERE. Meaning... He was no longer on the island. Meaning... I already know the ending. Meaning... Why should I go watch this movie if the whole reason to watch a movie like this is to see if he survives until rescued?

As far as Tom Hanks goes:
Did you know is now a spokes person for CC Radios? You know the windup or solar charged radios? Too bad he didn't have one of those on the island heh.

As far as why I have kits: CONTROLING or SURVIVING. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. But I lean more towards surviving. I want to be able to survive with as many others as possible, but I want to be able to (control) do it in the quickest and most convienent ways possible. When the events of 9/11 were unfolding I felt as if all control had been taken away from me. I was a new father and no longer had contol of my fate or my newly blessed family's fate. It was a very frightening place to be. I promised myself I would never be in that place again. And that is why I continue to learn and share at this forum.

For me it´s somewhere in the middle. Having the kit certainly helps to enjoy drifting as I can make it drift my way if neccessary. Maybe it´s even the manifestation of an evolution.

>>Are our PSK's an attempt to control our lives to the smallest detail, even the times of our lives that we don't plan on happening, but we want to control in the event they do?<<

I don't think they can be that.

I think a true "control freak" would never acknowledge the component of the "unknown" in the future by explicitly preparing for it, could not accept the possibility, or the inevitability, of the unexpected. By the minimal preparation of the PSK, we're embracing the reality of the "unknown", and preparing for it... an open acknowledgement that we may NOT be in control. When the Tom Hanks character was (by your analysis) a "control freak", he did not prepare- it would have been out of character.

Some would even claim that the PSKs are evidence that we fear the future. There might be a grain of truth in that, but I prefer to think of it as just wanting to see as much of it as possible. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Wayneburg, I think you have hit on the point, this life is an Odyssey, much like the one Odysseus had on the way back from the Trojan war in Homer's tale. We have many little adventures along the way, several of which make us feel like we have no control but throughout it all we can remain grounded and centered. Some have religious faith, other have faith and family, while others adhere to a set of self-derived principles.

I feel my PSK is a manifestation of my desire to survive the physical so that I can enjoy the metaphysical/spiritual aspects of life. It is a tool for controlling the future(s) and simultaneously a symbol of my surrender to the idea that the future is uncertain -and that I must prepare for it. One can never be completely prepared for every possible contingency. I don't think being prepared is the end of the journey- preparing is the journey. It just may be that we learn more through preparation than we do from a proving event.

The PSK is a layer in my preparedness onion. I also, have food storage, fuel storage, clothing, a rainy day fund, exercise, education, prayer, meditation, etc. Each aspect of preparation leads to goal of being self-reliant and physically, emotionally, and spiritually balanced and fulfilled. It's a lifelong journey. Recognize the PSK for what it is- a small part (albeit a very important part if it keeps you alive) of this preparedness continuum(s).

What a fabulous phrase!
"preparedness onion"
It somehow sums everything up....our different opinions, our different lives, asperations and goals, and above all our level of preparedness
I have never heard such a silly phrase mean so much!

Fear is often based on hard learned experience . It's what you do with it that makes the difference. Bill

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience come from bad judgment." I don't know who said that first, but I have found it to be true more often than not!

While it is true, that fear can be the result of some personal experience; it can also be the result of the lack of that particular experience. How often, when confronted by the potential of a new experience do individuals create fear and panic in their minds due the expectation of what the event will result in? How often do we fear that doctor’s visit, the trip to a new place, a new school, moving to a new locality and a host of events we may have never previously experienced or even if we had, the experience was not particularly bad. I believe we tend to fear those events and situations where we feel unprepared or lack the appropriate information to make a rational mental image of how the event will turn out. As it has been stated in several posts, the process of assembling items which may result in a positive outcome for any particular event, forces us to consider or brain storm on how we would like to respond to a particular event. For many, it is the journey that it is important, the means to an end not the end itself, that makes us want to explore the creation of these kits. Pete

I Enjoyed and have been Inspired by his Phrase "Preparedness Onion" Too! I Think I'd Read something about "a Part of my....",or "Another Layer of my,-Preparedness Onion" What a Great Way to Sum That Up and Put It! I'm a Words and Phrases Guy,-and I Immeadiately Made a Mental Jot,-to Make That One of my Own,-as Well! I'm New,-and Havn't Gotten Round Yet to Saying Hi, and Introducing myself,-though I've been Kicking Around the Tires on This,-in my Thots and Offline. So Far also've Been Busy Reading Much on This Really Quality Site!,-and These Forums. I've Had to Pre Respond,Contribute,and Chime In on a Few. My Intro shall Come in Due Course,-Hopefully Soon. This Site has Recently Become a Great Addition to my Own Preparedness Onion! -Till the Next Time,-ScottRezaLogan [color:"black"] [/color] [email]joblot[/email]

We survive in our comfort zone, secure in the belief that our personal income will continue to provide our basic needs of shelter, fire, water and food. In the civilized world, with the necessary insurance, we can be fairly well assured that our lifestyle won't be interrupted. In the event of a major disaster, that assurance is put in jeopardy. Being placed in a less controlled, uncivilized condition place us in a stressful situation that could cause mental or physical trauma and in many cases has caused death. Being prepared with knowledge of how to make your environment more comfortable under a variety of conditions is what survival is all about. A well stocked PSK with the knowledge to use it can turn a potentially traumatic experience into a can-do exercise.