I want to get off the island so I will need the inflatable raft. I need water while on the island and water to take with me in the raft so I will need the water purifier. I need something to store the water but the pot looks heavy and the legs may poke through the inflatable raft.

The first aid kit looks comprehensive so I should be able to improvise a water storage container with items from the first aid kit and items on the island.

I can take one more thing and I need a way to signal for help. The options are the flare gun and mirror. Having read every article Doug has probably written, I'd go with the mirror.

Jeanette Isabelle

An inflatable raft is a really bad way to get off a deserted island unless you know where you are, where you want to go, and the wind and water are very cooperative in getting you there. The island is almost certainly a better place to be than on the raft.

For me, it's water purifier, knife, matches, and tent, in that order.

Without water, I've got three days to live. With a knife, I can make shelter and have a good shot at making a fire. With the tent, shelter gets a lot easier, and ditto fire with the matches.

I don't need a mirror if I can build signal fires. An argument could be made that the flare gun could be used for signalling and for firestarting, but I think I'd rather have the matches.

1. Tarp - shelter, heat reflector, cordage, water still/collector/storage/carrier, raft's shell/sail, aerial signal, fish trap, shoes and clothes, wind screen, etc. The larger the better.

2. Knife - multitool. It must be a large knife.

3. Mirror - day signaling. Must be a large one. Other day signaling measures, including signal fires, require spending possibly limited resources.

4. Flashlight - night signaling, fire maker, night light. 4xD cells incandescent Maglite please. Modern D-cells have a tin shell and a lot of power, so with a knife you can strip a piece from one and short battery terminals with it to make fire many times. When depleted, the reflector can be tried for fire starting (depends on its type and size, those fascetted in LED lights are useless)

The actual list will depend on the actual items quality, your condition, weather, and location (which includes possible island resources and chances to be rescued), but 1 and 2 are essential, even if 3 and 4 are nothing at all.

The pictured knife looks a lot like the model with a fire rod in the handle (Strike-a-light). That would lessen the need for matches. That pot looks very heavy, but it would certainly work for boiling water, hence scratch the water purifier. I would go for mirror, knife, tent, matches. My choices could vary depending upon the environment of the island - desert? rain forest? steppe?

This thread catches my attention because I am making plans to travel to an island whose population will vary from two to seven during my unfortunately all too short stay. I WILL pack a bit more....

Come to think of it, the first order of business is to find a nice natural shelter,like an open cave or breezy rock shelter and then the stakes, poles, fabric,etc of the tarp/tent can be usefully recycled.

My plan exactly Tarp should provide much more scraps than a typical tent. It resembles a dozen or even more of animal hides used by primitive men. The costco blue tarp is probably pictured (I have 4 of these). It's huge, watertight, and reinforced with quite a strong, easy to get out "thread".

Quibble about the water purifier: does it 1) just "purify" non-salt water to make it safe to drink OR 2) does it make salt water into fresh water?

If it turns salt water to fresh, it goes to number one on my list; if it is just a "purifier" of fresh water, it drops down a lot---you have to have fresh water to purify, something that may be scarce on the island. The tarp may be more useful for catching rain water.

The Katadin Mini is pictured: http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-Mini-Ceramic-Microfilter/dp/B00G3QNRG4 so, that's just a fresh water filter. You can do fine for many months drinking straight from the surrounding water (if it's not salted).

OK, with the water filter out, and assuming that I am on the proto-typical South Pacific deserted island, and that I am looking at staying on the island for a while,(not sailing off on the raft) my picks would be:


1. Tarp: a real multi-tasker: shelter, ground sheet, rain collection, hammock, etc:
2. Knife; another multi-tasker, if not the ultimate multi-tasker
3. Rope; another multi tasker; can unwind strands for fishing line etc; increases the uses and options for the tarp.

but number four is a hard choice between Matches and the Pot. They sort of go together. But since the matches will run out, and the pot is useful even without a fire, I'll go with that for number four.

That leaves the problem of making fire. . .oh boy, I'm Tom Hanks in Castaway!

In general, I prefer things that will last and not get used up. But if I got 6 choices, I would add the matches even though they will eventually get used up and the hand saw (not really much of a multi-tasker) which will be very useful in cutting wood and help take the load off the knife...

I think my choices would be (no particular order):
---
Water filter
Knife
Mirror
Tarp