Activity

Survival Leadership Activities

Divide the participants into two teams and present them with a survival situation: a
plane crash, a shipwreck, lost in the desert. Then present them with a list of items that
might be useful in that situation.

Challenge the groups to choose item’s preference that will help them survive. After the
teams finish picking their items, ask them to justify their selections and how they would
use those things to overcome their given circumstance.

This leadership activity stimulates critical, creative, and strategic thinking as well as
problem-solving skills that can be useful in your business.

Scenario 1 -
You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to rendezvous with a mother
ship on the lighted surface of the moon. However, due to mechanical difficulties, your
ship was forced to land at a spot some 200 miles from the rendezvous point. During
reentry and landing, much of the equipment aboard was damaged and, since survival
depends on reaching the mother ship, the most critical items available must be chosen
for the 200-mile trip. Below are listed the 15 items left intact and undamaged after
landing. Your task is to rank order them in terms of their importance for your crew in
allowing them to reach the rendezvous point. Place the number 1 by the most important
item, the number 2 by the second most important, and so on through number 15 for the
least important.

Your
Item Ranking Diff Reason
Preference

Box of matches

Food concentrate

50 feet of nylon rope

Parachute silk
Portable heating unit

Two .45 caliber pistols

One case of dehydrated milk

Two 100 lb. tanks of oxygen

Stellar map

Self-inflating life raft

Magnetic compass

5 gallons of water

Signal flares

First aid kit, including

injection needle

Solar-powered FM receiver-
transmitter
 ANSWER :

Item Ranking Reason

Virtually worthless -- there's no oxygen on the

Box of matches 15
moon to sustain combustion
Efficient means of supplying energy
Food concentrate 4
requirements
50 feet of nylon rope 6 Useful in scaling cliffs and tying injured together
Parachute silk 8 Protection from the sun's rays
Portable heating unit 13 Not needed unless on the dark side
Two .45 caliber pistols 11 Possible means of self-propulsion
One case of dehydrated milk 12 Bulkier duplication of food concentrate
Most pressing survival need (weight is not a
factor since gravity is one-sixth of the Earth's --
Two 100 lb. tanks of oxygen 1
each tank would weigh only about 17 lbs. on the
moon)
Primary means of navigation - star patterns
Stellar map 3 appear essentially identical on the moon as on
Earth
Self-inflating life raft 9 bottle in military raft may be used for propulsion
The magnetic field on the moon is not polarized,
Magnetic compass 14
so it's worthless for navigation
Needed for replacement of tremendous liquid
5 gallons of water 2
loss on the light side
Use as distress signal when the mother ship is
Signal flares 10
sighted
Needles connected to vials of vitamins,
First aid kit, including
7 medicines, etc. will fit special aperture in NASA
injection needle
space suit
For communication with mother ship (but FM
Solar-powered FM receiver-
5 requires line-of-sight transmission and can only
transmitter
be used over short ranges)
 Scenario 2

The Situation:

• You have just crash-landed in the woods of northern Minnesota and southern Manitoba. It is
11:32 A.M. in mid-January.

• The small plane in which you were traveling has been completely destroyed except for the
frame. The pilot and co-pilot have been killed, but no one else is seriously injured.

• The crash came suddenly before the pilot had time to radio for help or inform anyone of your
position. Since your pilot was trying to avoid a storm, you know the plane was considerably off
course. The pilot announced shortly before the crash that you were eighty miles northwest of a
small town that is the nearest known habitation.

• You are in a wilderness area made up of thick woods broken by many lakes and rivers. The
last weather report indicated that the temperature would reach minus twenty-five degrees in
the daytime and minus forty at night.

• You are dressed in winter clothing appropriate for city wear—suits, pantsuits, street shoes,
and overcoats.

• While escaping from the plane, your group salvaged the fifteen items listed below. Your task
is to rank these items according to their importance to your survival.

• You may assume that the amount of each item is the same as the number in your group and
that the group has agreed to stick together.

Your
Item Ranking Diff Reason
Preference

Cigarette lighter (without

fluid).

Ball of steel wool

Extra shirt and pants for each

survivor
Family-sized Hershey bar

Can of shortening

Flashlight.

Piece of rope

Newspaper (one per person)

.45-caliber pistol

Compress kit (with gauze).

Ski poles

Quart of 85-proof whiskey

Sectional air map made of

plastic

Compass.
ANSWER:

The correct ranking of the survivors' items was made on the basis of information provided by
Mark Wanig and supplemented from Rulstrum (1978). Wanig was an instructor for three years in
survival training in the reconnaissance school in the 101st Division of the U.S. Army and later an
instructor on wilderness survival for four years at the Twin City Institute for Talented Youth. He
is now conducting wilderness survival programs for Minneapolis teachers.

1. Cigarette lighter (without fluid). The gravest danger facing the group is exposure to the cold.
The greatest need is for a source of warmth and the second greatest need is for signaling devices.
This makes building a fire the first order of business. Without matches something is needed to
produce sparks to start a fire. Even without fluid, the cigarette lighter can be used to produce
sparks. The fire will not only provide warmth; it will also provide smoke for daytime signaling
and firelight for nighttime signaling.

2. Ball of steel wool. To make a fire, a means of catching the sparks made by the cigarette lighter
is needed. Steel wool is the best substance with which to catch a spark and support a flame, even
if it is a little bit wet.

3. Extra shirt and pants for each survivor. Clothes are probably the most versatile items one can
have in a situation like this. Besides adding warmth to the body, they can be used for shelter,
signaling, bedding, bandages, string when unraveled, and tinder to make fires. Even maps can be
drawn on them. The versatility of clothes and the need for fires, signaling devices, and warmth
make this number three in importance.

4. Family-sized Hershey bar (one per person). To gather wood for the fire and to set up signals,
energy is needed. The Hershey bars would supply the energy to sustain the survivors for quite
some time. Because they contain basically carbohydrates, they would supply energy without
making digestive demands upon the body.

5. Can of shortening. This item has many uses the most important being that a mirror-like
signaling device can be made from the lid. After shining the lid with the steel wool, the survivors
can use it to produce an effective reflector of sunlight. A mirror is the most powerful tool they
have for communicating their presence. In sunlight, a simple mirror can generate 5 to 7 million
candlepower. The reflected sunbeam can be seen beyond the horizon. Its effectiveness is
somewhat limited by the trees, but one member of the group could climb a tree and use the
mirror to signal search planes. If the survivors have no other means of signaling, they would still
have better than 80 percent chance of being rescued within the first twenty-four hours. Other
uses for the item are as follows: The shortening can be rubbed on the body to protect exposed
areas, such as the face, lips, and hands, from the cold. In desperation it could be eaten in small
amounts. When melted into oil, the shortening is helpful in starting fires. Melted shortening,
when soaked into a piece of cloth, will produce an effective candlewick. The can is useful in
melting snow to produce drinking water. Even in the wintertime, water is important as the body
loses water in many ways, such as through perspiration, respiration, shock reactions, and so on.
This water must be replenished because dehydration affects the ability to make clean decisions.
The can is also useful as a cup.
6. Flashlight. Inasmuch as the group has little hope of survival, if it decides to walk out, its major
hope is to catch the attention of search planes. During the day the lid mirror, smoke, and flags
made from clothing represent the best devices. During the night the flashlight is the best
signaling device. It is the only effective night-signaling device besides the fire. In the cold,
however, a flashlight loses the power in its battery very quickly. It must, therefore, be kept warm
if it is to work, which means that it must be kept
close to someone's body. The value of the flashlight lies in the fact that, if the fire burns
low or inadvertently goes out, the flashlight could be immediately turned on the moment
a plane is heard.

7. Piece of rope. The rope is another versatile piece of equipment. It could be used to pull dead
limbs off trees for firewood. When cut in pieces, the rope will help in constructing shelters. It can
be burned. When frayed, it can be used as tinder to start fires. When unraveled, it will make good
insulation from the cold if it is stuffed inside clothing.

8. Newspaper (one per person). The newspaper could be used for starting a fire much the same
as the rope. It will also serve as an insulator; when rolled up and placed under the clothes around
a person's legs or arms, it provides dead-air space for extra protection from the cold. The paper
can be used for recreation by reading it, memorizing it, folding it, or tearing it. It could be rolled
into a cone and yelled through as a signal device. It could also be spread around an area to help
signal a rescue party.

9. .45-caliber pistol. This pistol provides a sound-signaling device. (The international distress
signal is three shots fired in rapid succession.) There have been numerous cases of survivors
going undetected because, by the time the rescue party arrived in the area, the survivors were too
weak to make a loud enough noise to attract attention. The butt of the pistol could be used as a
hammer. The powder from the shells will assist in fire building. By placing a small bit of cloth in
a cartridge, emptied of its bullet, a fire can be started by firing the gun at dry wood on the
ground. At night the muzzle blast of the gun is visible, which also makes it useful as a signaling
device. The pistol's advantages are counterbalanced by its dangerous disadvantages. Anger,
frustration, impatience, irritability, and lapses of rationality may increase as the group waits to be
rescued. The availability of a lethal weapon is a real danger to the group under these conditions.
Although it could be used for hunting, it would take a highly skilled marksman to kill an animal
and then the animal would have to be transported through the snow to the crash area, probably
taking more energy than would be advisable.

10. Knife. A knife is a versatile tool, but it is not too important in the winter setting. It could be
used for cutting the rope into desired lengths, making shavings from pieces of wood for tinder,
and many other uses could be thought up.

11. Compress kit (with gauze). The best use of this item is to wrap the gauze around exposed
areas of the body for insulation. Feet and hands are probably the most vulnerable to frostbite, and
the gauze can be used to keep them warm. The gauze can be used as a candlewick when dipped
into melted shortening. It would also make effective tinder. The small supply of the gauze is the
reason this item is ranked so low.

12. Ski poles. Although they are not very important, the poles are useful as a flagpole or staff for
signaling. They can be used to stabilize a person walking through snow to collect wood, and to
test the thickness of the ice on a lakeshore or stream. Probably their most useful function would
be as supports for a shelter or by the fire as a heat reflector.

13. Quart of 85-proof whiskey. The only useful function of the whiskey is to aid in fire building
or as a fuel. A torch could be made from a piece of clothing soaked in the whiskey and attached
to an upright ski pole. The danger of the whiskey is that someone might try to drink it when it is
cold. Whiskey takes on the temperature it is exposed to, and a drink of it at minus thirty degrees
would freeze a person's esophagus and stomach and do considerable damage to the mouth.
Drinking it warm will cause dehydration. The bottle, kept warm, would be useful for storing
drinking water.

14. Sectional air map made of plastic. This item is dangerous because it will encourage
individuals to attempt to walk to the nearest town—thereby condemning them to almost certain
death.

15. Compass. Because the compass may also encourage some survivors to try to walk to the
nearest town, it too is a dangerous item. The only redeeming feature of the compass is the
possible use of its glass top as a reflector of sunlight to signal search planes, but it is the least
effective of the potential signaling devices available. That it might tempt survivors to walk away
from the crash site makes it the least desirable of the fifteen items.

Winter Survival Exercise: Key

The correct ranking of the survivors' fifteen items is as follows:
11 Compress kit (with 28 ft. of 2-inch gauze)
02 Ball of steel wool
01 Cigarette lighter without the fluid
09 Loaded .45-caliber pistol
08 Newspaper (one per person)
15 Compass
12 Two ski poles
10 Knife
14 Sectional air map made of plastic
07 30 feet of rope
04 Family-sized chocolate bar (one per person)
06 Flashlight with batteries
13 Quart of 85-proof whiskey
03 Extra shirt and pants for each survivor
5 Can of shortening