Left to Your Own Devices Trivia Quiz

Answer: Swiss army knife

This pocket-sized knife containing multiple tools is an invaluable gadget for those enjoying a camping trip, even more if you need to overcome the challenges of being stranded out there on your own. Usually they include blades, cutters, saws, hooks, scissors, pliers and other devices on a compact, easy to carry fashion, and can simplify a lot of tasks.

Answer: Allows cooking food and purifying water

A good fire can mark the difference between winning the battle against the surrounding elements or having a really bad time while waiting to return home. Apart from using it to signal your position to rescue teams, you can cook food, purify water, keep yourself warm and enhance your morale, comfort and safety as you get your bearings. Be careful though of lighting your fire on a clear area away from flammable trees and brush: a forest fire is a lot harder to survive than just being lost!

Answer: Improvise a filter using cloth, sand and some charcoal from burnt wood

The best way to purify water is by boiling it to destroy bacteria, but in case you need to drink water and do not have fire and a metallic recipient available, you can filter it by straining it through a rustic filter made from a piece of cloth, a layer of sand, debris or even grass to filter suspended particles, and another layer of finely pulverized charcoal to absorb as many harmful contaminants as possible. Never drink sea water: it will dehydrate you really quick because of the high salt content.

Answer: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan

Panicking during an emergency can drastically reduce your survival time and lead you to take wrong decisions on critical issues, or waste valuable resources and energy. Instead of letting your fears loose, try to stop and collect your thoughts. Think about what you have and what you can do to help yourself. Observe your surroundings to locate shelter, water and to identify sources of danger.

Then plan ahead: all of your action and energy should be directed at maintaining your health, safety and comfort until help arrives.

Answer: Three fires forming a triangle

The recognized distress signals are based on groups of three: 3 fires or piles of rocks in a triangle, three blasts on a whistle, or three flashes of a light, in succession followed by a one-minute pause and repeated until a response is received. It comes from the classic Morse code distress signal of SOS: three dots, three dashes, and three dots.

Answer: It allows you to start a fire during daylight if you do not have matches

While you can use a magnifying glass for any of these activities -except maybe as a hammer because probably you'll break it soon-, fire is a precious resource when you're stranded in the wild. Short of having matches or a lighter, and during sunny times, using a magnifying glass, spectacles or binoculars is one of the easiest ways to get a fire in almost no time.

Answer: Crickets, grasshoppers and other winged insects

Insects are the most abundant life-form on earth, and are also easily caught. They provide 65% to 80% protein by weight (compared to 20% for beef), thus being an important, if not overly appetizing, food source under survival conditions. You may avoid, however, brightly colored insects and caterpillars, insects that bite or sting, most berries and all kind of mushrooms. Though you can survive for three weeks or more by only drinking water, you'll get noticeably weakened and prone to get ill, minimizing your efforts to signal your position and your hopes to be found. Tender plant sprouts, earthworms, raw fish and shellfish, frogs and salamanders are other sources of food that may not be favored in your family table but can mark the difference between surviving for weeks or months in the jungle or succumbing to starvation.

Answer: Stay in one place

Staying in or near one place, known as "point zero", not only increases your chances of being found, but also reduces the energy your body expends and the amount of water and food you will need. Hunker down and stay put. Chances are that someone is already looking for you or soon will be, especially if you let someone know your plans in advance. Also, if you're with someone else, do not separate. Having strength in numbers will help all of you survive.

Answer: You can light a fire purely by friction

Given the right conditions, that is, warm and dry weather and very dry materials, you can make a fire by using different techniques to warm two pieces of dry wood to the point where some dried mosses, finely shredded plant fibers or even pocket lint can catch fire.

The most plausible technique is by using a bow made from a piece of flexible wood and a resistant string, and use it to rotate at high speed a straight wood drill inside a hole poked on a larger, non-resinous woodpiece. Use the high temperature resulting from the friction of the drill inside the hole to ignite your lint.

Answer: A calm and focused mind

Again, panic is your worst companion when you are in an extreme situation and need to economize your physical and mental energy to make the best of what you have at hand. Remember the S.T.O.P. acronym (Stop-Think-Observe-Plan), take all appropriate measures to maintain your safety and health, act wisely and you would leave your unforeseen experience with lots of anecdotes and few, if any, harm.