Based on the Novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen

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Survival Kit
Based on the Novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
By Chelsea Ng 5-0
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1) HATCHET
The most significant thing anyone should have if
they were to pack a survival pack, in my point of
view, is a hatchet. Why do I say that? Well, a
hatchet is like a key to everything when you do
not have anything with you in the wild. When we
read the book Hatchet, we figured out that the
hatchet was the most important thing you should
have with you in the wild. Brian Robeson, the
main character of Hatchet, showed us that he
could make a fire with the hatchet that his
mother gave him as a present! Brian used bark as
fuel, and oxygen to get a fire going. He figured
out that he could strike the stone, which is
flint, with his hatchet. Another privilege that
Brian got from the hatchet was that he could chop
things off using his hatchet. He could chop off
limbs, branches, wood, bark, and more. Brian
could use the limbs, branches, wood, bark, and
other things to make objects he needed. You could
make a bed with limbs. Brian was really grateful
when he knew he could make weapons using his
hatchet. He made a spear to catch fish, at first,
and then he made a bow and arrow by using his
hatchet as a tool. Once in the story, Brian
wanted to get the survival kit inside a plane
which he had no way to enter. Brian used his
hatchet to make a hole, so that he could enter.
Success fell upon Brian, and so he could get the
survival pack. The hatchet was the thing that
helped Brian survive. Without the hatchet, Brian
would not be able to survive, and neither will
you, unless you are lucky.
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2) MATCHES
The second most important thing anyone should
have in their survival kit is matches. Matches
can make fire easily. In the book, Brian showed
us that a fire is very important. A fire is your
friend when you are alone. It is a guard that can
keep insects and other animals away from you, so
that you do not need to pack a bottle of bug
spray in your survival kit. The first time Brian
caught a fish, Brian grilled the fish over the
fire. Brian didnt have to eat the fish raw. He
could cook things or even boil water. A fire
meant a lot to Brian, since it was the one thing
that made Brian warm, and feel settled in the
forest with his friend, the fire. Most of all,
the fire could send smoke up to the sky, and the
searchers who search for you, if you are lost,
may see it and know that someone is in a
particular area. A fire will certainly help you
when you are alone in the wild.
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3) COOKWARE
Cookware would be extremely essential to pack in
your survival kit. Cookware can help you carry
water back and forth wherever you go. You would
not need to cup your hands together to get or
drink water. Here, the cookware will save you!
You do not need to cup your hands to get the
water from the lake. Brian didnt have cookware,
so he couldnt get water and boil it. He did
drink water, but he cupped his hands to get the
water from the lake. With the cookware filled
with water and the fire, you could boil the
water, so that it will be cleaner, or if you
would like hot water, you could boil it. Water is
vital for us when it is clean. You will get
unhealthy if you drink filthy and dirty water
like we have here in Jakarta. Dirty water can
also affect your health when it is used to take a
shower or to wash hands.
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4) EMERGENCY TRANSMITTER
The fourth thing you might want to include in
your survival kit is an emergency transmitter. An
emergency transmitter may help you when you are
in an emergency, because once you turn the
transmitter on, it sends signals to many people,
and from there on, they will know that someone
needs help and where the person is located. In
the book, Hatchet, Brian found an emergency
transmitter in the survival pack. At first, Brian
thought it was some kind of radio, but then he
saw a small print saying emergency transmitter.
Brian turned the switch back and forth a few
times, but nothing happened, and he couldnt even
hear static, so he thought that it might have
been ruined in the crash. Unaware, Brian left the
transmitter on. After a short time, a pilot came
to rescue Brian. The pilot told Brian that he
heard Brians transmitter, and that he saw the
tail of the plane in the lake. It is amazing how
mistakes can save you!
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5) WATER
Water would be fifth on my list, since it is
vital for your body. Without eating food, you can
still survive for a short period of time, but
without water, you will only survive for a few
days. You can become dehydrated and faint, and no
one will help you if you are alone. You will have
clean water to drink, instead of having to worry
if the water you are drinking is dirty or
polluted. Packing water in your survival kit will
help you have water, if there is no lake or river
in the area where you are located. Brian was
really lucky to have a lake in front of where his
shelter was, so he could drink, as he had a
constant supply of water. In winter, the lake
would freeze, and his water supply would not be
available to use. The only problem with packing
water in your survival kit is that it is limited.
Once you finish all the bottles of water you have
packed, you will have no more. One way to solve
this problem is that you could drink the water
you packed little by little, instead of drinking
great gulps. You could also collect rainwater in
the empty bottles. Even if water is limited, it
could still be useful for you if you have water
packed inside your survival kit.
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6) FOOD
At home, all you need to do when you are hungry
is say, Mom, I am hungry," and then food is
ready in front of you. It was very different for
Brian when he was living in the forest. He had to
make weapons in order to catch animals, or he
needed to find food in order to eat. Then, he
would have to cook it over the fire and eat it.
Brian had a hard time getting food, and it was
one of the problems he had in living in the
forest. From Brians experience, I saw that
finding food is a really challenging thing to do.
If I were you, I would pack food in my survival
kit. The food is supposed to be in packets or
packed in waterproof bags, freeze-dried, or you
could pack ready-to-eat foods, so that you do not
need to cook them. If you pack meat and it is not
freeze- dried, it will rot, so buy food that is
easy to make or the ones that are ready to eat. I
could even pack instant noodles, even though it
is unhealthy. When Brian found the survival kit,
he found the food in it was freeze-dried and
packed in waterproof bags. He found drink mixes
that were ready to drink once water was added.
This gives me an idea that you might want to pack
food in your survival kit.
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7) FIRST AID KIT
A first aid kit would be the seventh most
important thing in my list of things that I would
pack in a survival kit. I would put a first aid
kit in my survival kit, because if I am injured
or hurt, the first aid kit may help me. If I do
not treat or take care of my wounds properly,
they might change from a small wound to a very
serious one that is severely infected. I will
have to wait for my wounds to heal or recuperate
for a long time, if I do not treat them. When
Brian survived after the plane crash, he did not
have any serious injuries, but he did have bad
aches and pains, so he didnt really need the
first aid kit. Brian was a lucky boy!
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8) HAT
The number eight most important thing for me to
pack in a survival pack is a hat. A hat keeps the
sun from burning your head. When you are feeling
very cold, you could wear your hat, and guess
what? You will feel warmer! Brian was very
blessed and fortunate to have been saved when he
didnt experience winter. If he had, he would
have possibly frozen to death. A hat or cap would
have helped him. In the winter, the lake would
freeze, and he would have lost the fish, water,
and he would have had trouble moving from place
to place. Foxes, lynxes, wolves, owls, weasels,
and other animals would swipe the food source
that Brian shared with them. Worst of all, Brian
could have frozen and would not have survived,
but if he had a hat, perhaps it wouldnt have
been so bad after all.
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9) Knife
A small knife would be rated as the ninth most
important thing on my list, because it is easy to
handle, and will be useful. A knife would be
easier to handle compared to a hatchet. A knife
would be useful for slicing meat, or if you would
like to kill a small animal. Instead of having to
kill an animal with the big and heavy hatchet,
you could kill it in a little easier way. If
Brian had the knife, he would not have to make a
weapon with his hatchet. He could make it with
his knife. Actually, the knife could be one of
the other weapons besides the bow and arrow he
made, or the spear that he made to catch fish. In
the book, Brian did not have a knife, but he had
the hatchet. You can see now that the hatchet is
a key to everything in the wild, even though
there are other things as well.
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10) INSECT REPELLENT/ BUG SPRAY
I know that many people get really frustrated
and terrified when they are bitten by mosquitoes.
In the tropics, you may get bitten by a dengue
mosquito and get dengue fever. To prevent this,
you need to wear bug spray or insect repellent.
You may want to pack a bottle of insect repellent
or bug spray inside your survival kit. Brian was
very unlucky to have been attacked by so many
mosquitoes and flies before he had the fire.
Hundreds of mosquitoes blocked his nose and
entered his mouth. As a result of having the
mosquitoes in his mouth, Brian had to spit some
out! The fire really did help the mosquitoes and
flies stay away from him. This is why making fire
is really important when you are in the wild.
Fortunately, there are no dengue mosquitoes in
the forest where Brian lived in, so Brian didnt
suffer from dengue. I am one of those people who
get really frustrated when they are bitten by
mosquitoes. They are just so annoying! When the
mosquitoes bite me, I feel so itchy, that I have
to scratch harshly, and as a result, I leave
scars and scratch marks on my legs and arms. My
suggestion is that you should bring bug spray or
insect repellent in your survival kit.
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