The activity is an excellent test of planning and lateral thinking. It is relatively self-explanatory, simply hand one out per Patrol or pair or per person, give them about 10-15 minutes and then conduct the report back.
The report back is fairly important as the patrol may have picked a 'wrong' item for reasons which no-one else has thought of.
The basic survival kit was adapter from on old 'Troop Night in Pictures' publication. The Advanced version is simply built upon the basic one.
The advanced version is best suited for older Scouts,
possibly as a training session for some of the higher level expeditions.
There is no absolutely correct answer to this problem.
At the end of the activity you will be asked to discuss the items in turn
and why you chose them.
| ITEM | ITEM |
| Axe | Blank firing pistol |
| Book on plants and wildflowers | Chewing gum |
| Compass | Dried food (10 days supply) |
| First aid kit | Insect repellent |
| Knife | Matches |
| Mirror | Newspaper |
| Roadmap | Saw |
| String | Sun tan lotion |
| Survival Manual | Sweets |
| Tinned food (2 days supply) | Toolkit |
| Trenching tool | Water bottle |
| Waterproofs | Wire |
| Shotgun cartridges | Collapsible water bottle |
| Petrol | Radio Cassette player |
| Tent | Water purifying tablets |
| Large sheet of polythene | Pegs |
| Magnifying glass | Stove |
| Fuel for stove (3 days supply) | Can opener |
| Torch with battery (12 hours) | Spare battery |
| Mallet | Sleeping bag |
| Bag of coins | High powered catapult |
| Bag of ball bearings for catapult | Shotgun |
One of you have crashed in an wilderness area in spring, the area is wooded and miles from anywhere. You must select some items from the crash to take with him, however you only have a small rucksack capable of holding up to 18 kg of equipment. Each item can only be chosen once - no choosing ten boxes of matches or 30 days worth of dried food. Your patrol must write down the items they want to take.
There is no absolutely correct answer to this problem.
At the end of the activity you will be asked to discuss the items in turn
and why you chose them.
| ITEM | Kg | ITEM | Kg |
| Axe | 2 | Blank firing pistol | 2 |
| Book on plants and wildflowers | 0.1 | Chewing gum | 0.1 |
| Compass | 0.1 | Dried food (10 days supply) | 1 |
| First aid kit | 1 | Insect repellent | 0.1 |
| Knife | 1 | Matches | 0.1 |
| Mirror | 0.1 | Newspaper | 0.1 |
| Roadmap | 0.1 | Saw | 2 |
| String | 0.1 | Sun tan lotion | 0.1 |
| Survival Manual | 0.1 | Sweets | 0.1 |
| Tinned food (2 days supply) | 3 | Toolkit | 2 |
| Trenching tool | 2 | Water bottle | 1 |
| Waterproofs | 2 | Wire | 0.1 |
| Shotgun cartridges | 1 | Collapsible water bottle | 0.2 |
| Petrol | 2 | Radio Cassette player | 10 |
| Tent | 7 | Water purifying tablets | 0.1 |
| Large sheet of polythene | 0.2 | Pegs | 1 |
| Magnifying glass | 0.2 | Stove | 1 |
| Fuel for stove (3 days supply) | 1 | Can opener | 0.1 |
| Torch with battery (12 hours) | 0.5 | Spare battery | 0.3 |
| Mallet | 1 | Sleeping bag | 2 |
| Bag of coins | 5 | High powered catapult | 0.5 |
| Bag of ball bearings for catapult | 3 | Shotgun | 12 |