Survival item

[Jimmy Higgins]

Hmm... only one thing? I go with a house.

I do love ridiculous hypotheticals. A knife seems completely useless. A hatchet as noted by others would have a much larger scope of use. All you can do with a knife is poke and cut. A hatchet can poke, cut, chop, maim, etc...

 

[Elixir]

Hmm... only one thing? I go with a house.

I do love ridiculous hypotheticals. A knife seems completely useless. A hatchet as noted by others would have a much larger scope of use. All you can do with a knife is poke and cut. A hatchet can poke, cut, chop, maim, etc...

Why not a blast furnace, so you can make your own hatchets & knives?

 

[Treedbear]

If I have no idea of which environment except that it's on Earth I'd go with the warmest sythetic-insulated clothes possible, like a parka. Freezing cold is probably the least survivable situation when there's no guarentee of finding shelter.

 

[Angry Floof]

I'm one of those newbs. If it's a cold place, I'd like to be able to easily start a fire. If it's the jungle, I think I'd like a large sturdy mesh net. I could sleep in it to keep the critters off me and also use it to catch fish. I would only need fire when it was time to cook the fish, and I could make fire eventually but in a freezing climate I would probably die before I was successful in starting a fire.

 

[Philos]

Folks,

I was once so cold in a Pennine cottage that I got in a double sleeping bag and pulled an electric fan heater inside with me. I was still cold!

Alex.

 

[bilby]

If you are going to wind up at a random location on Earth, then a boat is probably your best choice.

A knife isn't much use in the middle of the ocean, and you are not going to be starting a fire there no matter how skilled you are.

 

[Elixir]

If you are going to wind up at a random location on Earth, then a boat is probably your best choice.

A knife isn't much use in the middle of the ocean, and you are not going to be starting a fire there no matter how skilled you are.

And if you end up in the desert with your boat, you can invert it for shade. I'd probably order up a luxury yacht though - easier to keep rattlesnakes out of, and the galley is probably well-stocked.

 

[bilby]

If you are going to wind up at a random location on Earth, then a boat is probably your best choice.

A knife isn't much use in the middle of the ocean, and you are not going to be starting a fire there no matter how skilled you are.

And if you end up in the desert with your boat, you can invert it for shade. I'd probably order up a luxury yacht though - easier to keep rattlesnakes out of, and the galley is probably well-stocked.

Why a luxury yacht?

A full sized cruise liner would contain enough food and drink for a far longer survival time, in far greater luxury - even in the desert or the rainforest. Gimme the QEII

 

[Elixir]

And if you end up in the desert with your boat, you can invert it for shade. I'd probably order up a luxury yacht though - easier to keep rattlesnakes out of, and the galley is probably well-stocked.

Why a luxury yacht?

A full sized cruise liner would contain enough food and drink for a far longer survival time, in far greater luxury - even in the desert or the rainforest. Gimme the QEII

Good points. Also easier to spot from the air - not that I'd want to e rescued...

 

[fast]

It's not a you versus someone else scenario. If you had to choose between a knife and a fire starter, then you'd choose a knife. The knife is a great choice even if you could choose between a knife and many other typical survival items, and that is so whether your current skill level is mediocre or highly skilled, so it makes sense that if you had to choose on behalf of someone else that you'd choose that for him; however, if someone had literally no skills and you had to choose for that person (female) between a knife and fire starter, where a fire is essential, then a knife, though extremely versatile, might possibly be the inferior choice.

From this scenario, I would assume that I would not only have already chosen a knife for myself, it is fairly certain that I pretty much have one on my person at most times. So if I had to chose for someone else, I would select what I needed best. Because if it comes down to survival, anyone with no survival skills is no use at all to me.

If you have nothing and are given the option of carrying one survival item, then yes, a hefty survival knife is the best choice given that you at least have minimal outdoor survival skills. That's up to debate but not serious debate. We are (I believe) on the same page with that. It's a single item with a highly useful primary purpose with secondary uses for versatility. If you are going to assist someone else (not on their survival adventure but) in simply helping them to choose the optimal single item that he or she may carry, then it makes sense to choose for that person as you would choose for yourself; however, where we must be careful at is imbuing our very own skill set as if the unknown person also has at least minimal survival skills. If we randomly pick a guy, I think we're more apt to luck up and find one with a better need for a knife than a fire starter; however, if we know nothing about the person, I think there may be a danger that the person picked (especially if a typical female) may not share your very own skill set.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Can I change my answer to dire wolf?


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[snoiduspoitus]

Just bring a lighter...