Group Survival Quiz

:This winter survival quiz is popularly given in college classes for group dynamics / organizational behavior with the objective being to match your (or your group’s) score against that of the expert’s. I have read it in books but I also found the quiz online.

Situation: You have just crash landed somewhere in the woods of southern Manitoba or possibly northern Minnesota. It is 11:32 am in mid-January. The small plane in which you were traveling crashed onto a small lake. The pilot and co-pilot were killed. Shortly after the crash, the plane sank completely into the lake with the pilot and co-pilot’s bodies inside. Everyone else on the flight escaped to land dry and without serious injury.

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 the storm, you know the plan was considerably off course. The pilot announced shortly before the crash that you were 70 kilometers northwest of a small town that is the nearest known habitation.

You are in a wilderness area made up of many lakes and rivers. The snow depth varies from above the ankles in windswept areas to more than knee deep where it has drifted. The last weather report indicated that the temperature would reach minus 10 degrees Celsius in the daytime and minus 25 degrees at night. There is plenty of dead wood and twigs in the area around the lake. You and the other surviving passengers are dressed in winter clothing appropriate for city wear — suits, pantsuits, street shoes and overcoats. Assume that the number of persons in the group is the same as the number of persons in your group, and that you have agreed to stay together.

While escaping from the plane, your group salvaged 12 items listed below:

Ball of steel wool
Newspapers
Compass
Hand axe
Cigarette lighter without fluid
Loaded .45-calibre pistol
Waterproof section aerial map
One 20-by-20-foot piece of heavy-duty canvas
Extra shirt and pants
One can of shortening
One quart of whiskey
One family-size chocolate bar

Instructions

1. Rank the above items according to their importance to your survival, starting with 1 for the most important one and proceeding to 12 for the least important one.

2. Calculate your final score by adding the absolute difference between your rankings with that of survival experts. For example, if you ranked an item as 2 while the expert ranked it as 5, your score for the particular item is 3 and not minus 3. The lower your final score, the better chance of survival you have.

The answers with explanations from the survival experts can be found here.

Original at: Unknown