The proverbial desert island

[ictus]

if it was a desert island i would bring a shovel to play in the huge sandbox...that will mentally stimulate you for awhile plus if you get a fire going you can make some glass

if it is a federal prison doesn't sound like you will need much as they give you all kinds of cool free stuff to occupy your time but if i had to pick something i would bring sean connery like in the rock

[Voltage Spike]

i would bring sean connery like in the rock

While I didn't ask the original question, I think most of the posters are missing the point. The idea isn't to escape or survive, it is a question of how you would keep yourself occupied knowing escape isn't possible.

Perhaps the hypothetical situation is what is confusing most people. How about I attempt to rephrase it for astcell: "Assuming you were alone for a year carrying only the items in your pockets, what would be in your pockets?"

[ictus]

i like one guy's idea: the Bible

but second choice would be aladdin's lamp

and third would be a pencil and a thick notebook

a book of cryptograms

a rubix cube

a parrot that would talk to me

[Second]

i like one guy's idea: the Bible

but second choice would be aladdin's lamp

and third would be a pencil and a thick notebook

a book of cryptograms

a rubix cube

a parrot that would talk to me

YES! I'm "one guy".

Aladdin's lamp isn't a bad idea, hopefully Robin Williams would still be inside.

[theCount]

Desert Island Kit

I'd go for the following:

A good survival knife (fixed blade, around 4-5 inches blade length)
Smaller folding knife with marlinspike
Sharpening stone
Starchart
Compass
Pencil and thick notebook

Between building shelter, fishing, hunting, stargazing, exploring, basic mapmaking and taking notes, I think that I will have quite a lot to entertain myself.

Incidentally, I vaguely recall that a Frenchman called Bernard Moitessier (not sure about the spelling) actually went and sailed to a deserted island in the Pacific to live on his own for a few months. I think he wrote a book about his experiences.

theCount

[Roaming Gnome]

Toilet paper, a pocket fiserman and a star gazing manual.

[ranman]

Fortune cokies and a radio...good one. :> Fishing nets and stuff feed the body, not the mind, at least for me, however.

The Ipod or BOFH articles... or maybe an introduction to C...

[Siviak]

the lergest (storage wise) Ipod you can find, a sidekick 2 with the dev kit (if t-mobile has service) and an ebook reader.

[astcell]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am packed.

40GB iPod
Three Surefire flashlights (one small, one large, one LED)
Lithium batteries
Dell Axim X50v with 802.11b and GPS card
15GB of CF and SD cards chock full of ebooks from Calvin and Hobbes to O'Reilly
Blackberry 7250
Yashica T4 35mm (film) camera
Defcon shirt for the location photo contest
SPF 30

I'll see about a laptop and cell phone to try to connect here often. :>

[valkyrie]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am packed.

40GB iPod
Three Surefire flashlights (one small, one large, one LED)
Lithium batteries
Dell Axim X50v with 802.11b and GPS card
15GB of CF and SD cards chock full of ebooks from Calvin and Hobbes to O'Reilly
Blackberry 7250
Yashica T4 35mm (film) camera
Defcon shirt for the location photo contest
SPF 30

I'll see about a laptop and cell phone to try to connect here often. :>

Don't forget the bear claw blessed by the Goddess and smoked in amber. Goddess blessings on your my friend. Stay shiny.

[renderman]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am packed.

40GB iPod
Three Surefire flashlights (one small, one large, one LED)
Lithium batteries
Dell Axim X50v with 802.11b and GPS card
15GB of CF and SD cards chock full of ebooks from Calvin and Hobbes to O'Reilly
Blackberry 7250
Yashica T4 35mm (film) camera
Defcon shirt for the location photo contest
SPF 30

I'll see about a laptop and cell phone to try to connect here often. :>

Just keep your mind intact and don't worry about us. I think we're the last thing you should contact to keep you mind sane.

[Siviak]

Just keep your mind intact and don't worry about us. I think we're the last thing you should contact to keep you mind sane.

the canadian has a point... we are not condusive to sanity

[warken]

hehe..

Survival Handbook

That way thoughout the year, you can read the book and learn how to survive. Has to be the Mini Version though.

[astcell]

I *WROTE* the survival handbook!

My departure date is now DEC 11 though.

[warken]

ok. I read though the whole thing again and still didnt find Survival HandBook.
How about a Dictonary. That way you can become smarter in words so when you come back, you can be ubber smart.