Howdy, I'm taking this class, where I am supposedly stranded on a tropical island (a wee bit like "Cast Away"), and I need advice on what I can make and how I can make it. The instructor says that I dont have anything but the clothes on my back. Any little thing may be of tremendous help. Cheers

Or, instead of that, if anyone knows of some good survival sites, that would be of much help.
Cheers

Who's running this class? When and where are you going?

Shells make a good knife, palm trees provide food and shelter.
This should get you thinking.

your urine is steril, you can drink it if you have to. but I don't reccomend "just trying it", it tastes like piss.  What they eat, you eat.  Watch the animals around you, REST!, don't try to build all kinds of crap etc.  Did this kinda thing in New Mexico for a week.  Where are you going?

That is not exactly true, some birds can eat poisonous things without apparent effect?? Why you ask, because they are also eating something else which counteracts the poisonous caused by the first food.  Some birds will eat poison berries but they have found that these same birds are eating dirt with certain alkaloids.  So the preceding message concerning watch the animals will not hold up for certain. Know the animal , it is more important, however to know the biology and chemistry.

Ben

Water will be your biggest short term problem, unless there is an enemy on the island.-- Be sure to tell your instructor you never leave the house without a lighter and pocket knife. One small aside, if it is during monsoon, ditch the underwear, you would be amazed at what will grow in your crotch after 24/7 of never drying out.--Good Camping--ALLONS11  

Do a search for Jeff Randall-- he runs jungle trips in Central America, and although his site hasn't been updated much recently, he sounds like he is not a total nimrod.

Have you done a check on the reputation of your "instructor?"  Make sure that he isn't some kind of complete jackass/douchebag who is going to get you a whopping case of schistosomiasis or Chagas sickness.  

www.bladeforums.com has a pretty good forum called "wilderness survival" under "tactics and training."  you could ask the people on that forum for more info.  They seem mostly harmless.

It's my opinion that most survival experts out there are nimrods, and that anybody who willingly goes out and invites egg-depositing fleas and bot flies to infest them is nuts.

I have probably spent more than 600 days living in tents, and can say for sure that even in temperate regions this sucks ass.  

I'll take the pussy way out with hot showers and a dry change of clothes any day of the whacky month.

But I ain't giving up my machete.  

FAST! GO RENT AS MANY GILLIGAN'S ISLAND EPISODES YOU CAN FIND AND WATCH THEM 24/7!!!

a good friend of mine is running the course, we will be chartering a boat to take us to an island (in florida) and living off the land. We are leaving at the end of the semester, so it would be right after Christmas.  But he wants us to start thinking of ideas now of what we can do.

A little something from JOTC Panama, anything that has fur/hair YOU can eat, any plant that has clear sap you can eat/drink, plants with a milky sap will cause your air ways to constrict and you will asphyxiate.

You eat mangoes, (which have a clear "sap") and find out you've got an allergy to mango...and little bugs in your buttcrack won't be your biggest worry for a day or so. Take that to the bank. You'll swell up like the Goodyear Blimp and itch like you wouldn't believe. BTW, I ate 'em, climbed the trees, we threw rotten ones at each other, etc., for 20+ years and THEN I had my reaction. They're the only thing I'm allergic to, I love 'em, and I haven't touched one since.
Enjoy.    FWIW...take a radio...too much going on nowadays to be 100% out of touch.  Stay safe.

DON'T drink your urine! (unless you're Kevin Costner in Waterworld-I heard, because I never watched the movie). Whether it's sterile or not, you'll be reintroducing waste products to your body. nnciderr9, you're not related to a guy called "frank-the-spank" are you?
Here's Randall's site - www.jungletraining.com I have NO idea what he's like (especially after reading the link about Ron Hood! THANKS CPL_Punishment!)  I always wondered why Ron was heavy on the one-liners and not too deep on the skills in his videos. He does give out some good advice, but he also sets up some of his scenes like finding the mealworms, etc.
Ustulina, what is your definition of "nimrod"? I suppose you've dealt with "most survival experts" personally or perhaps you're showing YOUR "nimrodness"? I do agree with you on the  machete though. A good $5 Brasil model with a good sheath.
Fartman_2000, does your friend have any survival training/skills pertaining to that region? What are his backup plans? What will he do in an emergency? I hope you have gotten all the answers for these questions, you don't need to post them back here. If this friend teaches to the public, can you pass on his name and school name to me? Tell us what you will be allowed to take, you mentioned "the clothes on my back.", are you serious that's all you'll have? He better provide something for you until you LEARN a few things! From where I'm sitting, I'm missing alot of info regarding this training and I would advise you to reconsider (that's my opinion without any detailed facts). Water is a major concern no matter where you are. Staying healthy should be a real consideration for you too. Beware of "living off the land" unless he gives you a good education on what you'll be able to eat, how to fix it, how to preserve it, what the dangers are concerning food, animal/plant/insects, and general dangers in the area. You're going out there to learn, not hurt yourself.
WSmac

You can make a water still by digging a wide shallow hole, flood it with sea water, set a cup or coconut half in the center. Lay a sheet of plastic (may have washed up on the shore)over the hole and secure the edges or use a raincoat, wind-breaker, etc. or you can use broad leaves if you have nothing else. Ballast the center of the cover with enough sand or rocks to depress it and make sure the low point is directly over the "cup". Water will condense on the plastic or broadleaf cover and be drawn down to the low point and drip into the cup. I've really done this as part of a survival training course I took. It works but you need to build lots of these stills in order to distill any useable amount of water. It sounds complicated but try to visualize the process. To catch fish you can "spoon-out" a depression between the high and low tide mark and after the next high tide (as it recedes) you can bail out the pool you've created till you can beach whatever fish were trapped. Oh, and don't forget that when the professor makes a radio transmitter from two coconuts a conch shell DO NOT set the Skippers foot on fire and (as he chases you) knock Mr. Howell's bamboo ticker tape machine into the professor's workbench!

WSmac my teacher has spent the last 9 weeks teaching us how to prepare, preserve, etc...food. What he wants us to do is to try to think of ways to survive before we get onto the island. It's kind of hard to explain the scenario thats going on, we still have 2 months before we leave, so we are just thinking of things and ways to survive with nothing. but thanks for the concern. Cheers and thanks for all the help.

Sounds good, I am much relieved!
Since I have no Tropical Island experience (someone once gave me a copy of one of those Survivor shows though! ), I'll just have to quote from a book and sound as though I know what I'm talking about.
If you go to the woods or desert, let me know, I can definitely help you there!
WSmac