Question: If You Were Stuck In A Desert What 5 Things Would You Take?

Andy MacLeod answered on 16 Jun 2011:

Hi killagnome. My primary concern would be survival, a secondary one is trying to get rescued.

First: water is essential. We can survive a few weeks without food, but only a few days without water, and in the desert that might be even less. I could take a large amount of water, but that would soon be exhausted, and may not be easy to carry. So what we’d need is a way of getting water in the desert. This may be tricky if there’s no vegetation around, but one way of doing this is to dig a condensation trap. At the very least, I’d need a large plastic sheet, and a container for the water. Dig a pit in the sand, and put the container at the bottom. Lay the plastic sheet over the top and secure it with rocks. Put another rock in the middle of the sheet to weight it down, just over the container. Leave it overnight. Any moisture that evaporates from the ground will condense on the sheet and run down into the container.

But that probably won’t give you enough water to survive on for very long. I’d need to find a way out. I think rather than wandering randomly, it would be best to stay put. Just like I never go walking in the Highlands without telling someone where I’m going and when to expect me back, I wouldn’t go on a desert expedition without letting people know, so I’d hope there’d be people looking for me. If there is no form of electronic/radio communication, a mirror might come in handy there, good for signalling across large distances. Depending on the type of desert, there may be some vegetation around. A fire would be useful to keep warm, and for signalling purposes, so I’d take a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays and hopefully start a fire.

So I’ve got a large plastic sheet, a container for liquid, a mirror and a magnifying glass. I’d probably take a swiss army knife as well. They’ve got all kinds of useful stuff that might come in handy.