Question: if you were stuck on a island alone, how would you survive?

Jennifer Bates answered on 16 Nov 2016:

There are four things to think about, perhaps after setting up a signal for help, called the core 4: shelter, water, fire then food!

You’ve got to get shelter first in case night time temperatures drop, so I’d either find a safe hollow in a tree (one that doesn’t have something else living in it…) or build on from bend branches and leaves/moss.

I’d then look for fresh water, ideally fast moving water like a river, or water collecting in leaves but not puddles or ponds that are standing still because they could have been there a long time and have too many nasty things in them. I might think about things to hold and catch more water too. I wouldn’t drink yet though, I’d wait till I had…

Fire! Find some dry leaves and moss to get it going with flints and rubbing twigs, then add dry non-green (not fresh) wood. And make it safe, so it won;t spread. I’d find something to hold my water in over it and boil it so I can make it safer to drink.

Then food – and with plants I’d play it safe. Avoid mushrooms, they can be nasty if you are not sure, and unless are are absolutely certain be careful with berries and nuts. You could leach some toxins from nuts by putting them in fast moving water with ash from the fire for several days then cooking them. And I’d use nice straight twigs and flints to make spears and other tools so I could hunt, if there are any animals to hunt.

Oh and once I’d sorted the core 4 out I might think about building a boat to leave. But I’d want to make sure I could survive first before trying to escape, just in case…