Just for fun.....

Welcome volunteer!

As an experiment, you and a group of about 20 other volunteers will be dropped off at a remote location to be determined. Your goal is to stay alive for 7 days. How you do so is entirely up to you.

At the end of the 7 days, you will be picked up.
Alternatively, there is a pickup point 30-50 miles away from your dropoff point. You will be given a general heading towards the pickup point. Once you reach this point, you don't have to stay the remaining time. If you reach it in 5 days, you don't have to stay the last 2, so there is some incentive to moving out.

Each member of the group will be dropped off at a different location within the local area. You can team up with others that you find if you wish, or you can go alone. Once you're on the ground, there are no rules. Just as easily as you can work together, you can also take out other members of the group and take their gear for instance. Just as possible, other members of the group can be hostile to you. The natural wildlife might be a great source of food, but then again it might consider you a great source of food depending on where you're dropped off!

The catch is, you can only take what you can carry on your person, and you will not know where you will be dropped off until you get there, so the environment and climate can vary. Packing a parka then ending up in the desert is a bummer. Try to be flexible. If you decide to trek it, and pack too heavy, then the journey will be tedious. Pack too light and you can find yourself equally in trouble. Carry just your EDC and PSK and "rough it"? Carry your BoB? Something more extensive?

A few clarifications: You will not be put into a climate that would make the pickup point unreachable before 7 days are up. If, for some reason, you don't reach it in 7 days you'll still be picked up on the 7th day as if you hadn't moved out.
If you decide to stay put, it doesn't necessarily mean you can just pitch a tent and hang out- If other members of the group are going after you or your gear, "staying put" may actually mean you'll be spending much of your time on E&E and being on the run!

There is no rescue if something goes wrong, you are on your own. If you are injured, try to keep alive till the 7th day, because only then will you be picked up (unless you reach the pickup point before then).

I know the scenario is very vague- but with the limited information you have, what do you take with you and why? Do you trek it towards the dropoff point, or stay put? Do you go it alone, or team up? What factors drew you to this decision? There is no right answer, of course, just state your thoughts <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Personal thoughts: One person can do 30-50 miles in two days or so in a woods setting if really moving (I've done 50 in 5 days at a relaxed pace with others). My thought would be you want to spend the least amount of time "surviving" as possible, so I would try to get to the early pickup point as fast as I can. I'd take enough water (or the means to get it) , a short gun (pistol), a machete, maybe a saw, comfortable shoes, a compass/gps, a few compressed food bars, clothing I can loose if the climate is warm, maybe a nightvision setup so I can keep moving at night. I'd try to stay light and move fast to the point. Basically, why other people are still trying to figure out what to do I would already be half way there. No reason to mess with others if you don't have to, in a situation like this I wouldn't trust anyone. Again, that is just me.

Ah a Tunnel in the Sky scenario. I'll bring the parka. If it's cold I'll need it. If it's Hot I can always dump it.

This is a good post!! I am not sure if I in the spirit of the rules, but here is what I would take for a drop and hike type situation.

I would take:
CamelBak MULE with my larger PSK and FAK
Poncho rolled up and tied to the camelbak (even in the desert, it can provide you some shade)
Garmin Rino
EDC knife (spyderco milie) and swisstool
Ka-Bar
Nalgene bottle in hip pouch (I kow this can get heavy, but it is invaluable in water collection versus a camelbak)
Headlamp
Extra batteries (in camelbak)
Sunglasses

Clothing:
Cargo pants and my hiking boots
Long sleeved shirt and light jacket
beanie

Food:
Three MRE's broken down to get rid of the extra stuff in them.

That’s about what I take with me when I go hiking anyway, I just modify the clothing as needed, mostly because I know what the weather is going to be like.

Garrett

Well if nobody is bringing a weapon (so far anyway) then maybe I should bring a gun and rob the rest of you. Or better yet use all your gear but make you carry it. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Execllent practice scenario!

Let me think...

My carry gear:

1. GPS Receiver & 4 sets of Lithium Batteries
2. Sattelite Phone & 2 spare charged batteries
3. Aviation Walkie Talkie & 2 spare batteries
4. 406 Mhz Emergency Beacon
3. $80,000 US Cash
4. 1 Gallon of Water
5. 2 MRE's
6. A sleeping bag
7. A Tent
8. A Flare gun with 12 flares
9. A Glock 19 with 4 15 round clips loaded with hollow points.
10. A Beretta CX-4
12. 500 Rounds of 9MM Ammo
13. 3 Boxes of No-Doz
14. 4 Gore-Tex Outfits (Pants/Shirt) layer as needed.
15. A FAK - small, basic.

DAY 1: Tell everyone they are going home in the next 24-48 hours. Anyone who wants to leave, can. Wait for sat phone to come in range. Call wife, have her arrange a pickup at your coordinates via military helicopter. Activate EP beacon. Cordinate with chopper on 121.5 via aviation radio, Pay chopper crew in cash, use leftover money to buy everyone else drinks at the bar.

The end.

DAY 2: Go home.

Never underestimate the power of communications and cash.

... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I once had a navigation/survival exercise with my SF team. We dropped the guys along a forest road from inside a closed truck, in the dark. There were given a coordinate to reach for pickup. Distance varied from 40 to 50 miles from the pickup point. Gear was a sleeping bag, poncho, knife, firemaking gear and one meal, as much water as you desired to carry, a compass and a 1:250,000 scale JOG (Joint Operations Graphic) topo map. They had 2 days and all roads were patrolled so they could not use roads. No one had a GPS in those days either.
The surprise was on me, about 36 hours later everyone was within a mile of the pickup point waiting to come in at the designated time! No one caught a ride, they used general directions to move until daylight, although no one had a real idea where they were precisely. When daylight came they determined a more specific location using the compass and map and moved out in a hurry! I was really surprised they all made it in such a short time. All had slept at night and moved during the day. Running short of water was the biggest complaint. The map scale was not too specific on springs and such. So, the challenge is a good one, but people may just surprise you!!
Today, I would take a light sleeping bag, lots of water, knife, compass, GPS and a supply of jerky and dried fruit. FAK, PSK and a poncho. I would enjoy every quiet moment too!!!
Cheers!

Bad Brian!

Bad Brian reminds me of Australian yahoo with similar posting once who is no longer posting (By choice or by request unknown.).

Dumb post as even if post is in jest, the mindset is now known and if you are recognized in a survival group, it is quite possible you will be "neutralized" for the safety of the group.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />