A plane with you on board has crashed. You survived. Now what?

It is about 10 a.m. on an August day and your plane has just crashed in the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States. The small twin-engine aircraft, containing the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot, is completely burned. Only the frame remains. None of the survivors is injured.

The pilot was unable to communicate your position to anyone before the disaster. However, before impact he had reported that you were 70 miles southwest of a mine, which is the nearest known settlement, and that you were about 65 miles off the flight plan route.

The surrounding area is flat and, except for occasional cactus plants, appears completely arid.

The latest weather report indicated that the temperature would reach 43 degrees that day, meaning that the ground temperature would be 54 degrees. You are dressed in light clothing: short-sleeved shirt, trousers, socks and dress shoes.

Before the plane caught fire, your group was able to salvage the 15 items listed below. Your task is to rank these items according to their importance for your survival, assigning "1" to the most important, and so on up to "15" for the least important.

You may start from the following assumptions:

• the number of survivors is the same as your group

• the group has agreed to stay together

• all the salvaged items are in good condition

LIST OF INTACT ITEMS

1. FLASHLIGHT (WITH 4 BATTERIES)

2. FOLDING KNIFE

3. PARTIAL AERIAL MAP OF THE AREA

4. LARGE PLASTIC RAINCOAT

5. COMPASS

6. FIRST AID KIT (TABLETS AND GAUZE)

7. .45 CALIBER PISTOL (LOADED)

8. PARACHUTE (RED AND WHITE)

9. CONTAINER OF SALT TABLETS (1000 TABLETS)

10. 1 LITER OF WATER PER PERSON

11. A BOOK ENTITLED "EDIBLE

    DESERT ANIMALS"

12. A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES PER PERSON

13. 2 LITERS OF HIGH-PROOF VODKA

14. AN OVERCOAT PER PERSON

15. A MIRROR

This exercise can be done individually, in a group, or even better in both ways: first alone and then discussing it within the group. In some cases, people who created an individual ranking were able to survive, but after creating a second group ranking of the items they made wrong choices... and vice versa.