Stranded on a desert island: Which 4 would you choose?

[NuclearDem]

36. Depends on the nature of the island.

Foliage, terrain, animal life, and climate, among other things.

1) Knife - in this situation I would actually prefer a hatchet, since it's not as unwieldy as a saw and useful for more fine control or self-defense like a knife while still being useful for procuring firewood.

Still, knife is plenty useful for fashioning most sorts of tools and for preparing food.

2) First aid kit - should go without saying. Yes, one can fashion splints, dressing, and bandages without it, but disinfectant, gauze, antivenom, and more specialized medical equipment is potentially life-saving.

3) Tarp - good enough for a shelter. Only real need for a tent would be for dealing with a serious insect population. Depending on the size it can be cut up and used for all sorts of things.

4) Flare gun - unmistakeable distress signal. A flash from a mirror could be interpreted as any number of things reflecting light and ground markings might not be visible at certain altitudes and do nothing to alert ships.

Now, the reasons why I didn't choose other things:

Sunscreen - not essential, I don't burn easily.

Toilet paper - nicety, not a necessity. Potentially useful as dressing, though.

Pot - wouldn't be cooking anything complex enough to justify it, and plenty of things can be fashioned to hold water.

iPod - Nicety, not a necessity.

Hiking boots - agonized a bit over whether to take these or not. Since I typically wear my own boots most of the time anyway, I figured not, but they'd be useful on an island with tougher terrain or heavy rainfall.

Hand saw - only real use is for harvesting wood, and it's not even entirely necessary for that. Knife fulfills the role of sharp utensil.

Inflatable raft - only really useful if a ship is nearby, and in that case, flare gun is more viable for alerting it.

Flashlight - not essential. Really shouldn't be out and about late at night for fear of getting lost or stumbling into a situation you're not prepared for. Not bright enough to use as a signal either.

Insect repellent - useful, but also substituted by picking a shelter away from insect-heavy areas.

Hammock - useful only for breaking down into components. Free rope!

Compass - not entirely necessary. Other navigation methods would suffice.

Mirror - see justification for flare gun.

Vitamins - can get most of your vitamins from wildlife.

Water purifier - depending on rainfall and wildlife, this varies in usage. A fair amount of insects (like grasshoppers) have enough water in their bodies to not need any additional water to digest them. Coconuts are good sources. If the first aid kit has iodine drops, that works. Collecting rainwater is also a suitable source. Purifier is only really useful in situations with little rainfall or small existing water reserves.

Fishing rod - fashioning a spear with a knife is good enough for fishing, and it serves more than one role.

Rope - really tough call to not include this, but for most purposes, sections of the tarp can be used for the most essential purposes (splints especially).

Hunting rifle - nothing big enough to justify it.

Tent - tarp already serves as a suitable shelter, and can be used for more purposes.

Matches - plenty of ways to light fires without them.

Volleyball - I'm sorry, Wilson.