All prioritisation stations are testing your ability to stay composed under pressure and think rationally. There is never one right answer, so it the station is all about your process/how you justify your list.

In the station above you could split items up into broad categories (some may fit into more than one category).

You can also immediately discard items that will be unusable on the tropical island.

I will assume there will be no electricity or internet on the tropical island therefore electronic goods will not be of use:

• Laptop
• Phone charger (especially with no phone)
• Camera
• Tv

Items can then be broadly categorised by:

Utility

• Scissors
• Matches
• Knife

Protective/clothing

• Sunglasses
• Suncream (consumable but could be a container afterwards)
• Waterproof Jacket
• Sleeping bag
• Towel
• Umbrella

Containers

• Bowl
• Glass
• Beer
• Suncream

Food/drinks

• beer

Hygiene

• Soap
• Toothbrush

Recreational

• Book

In terms of the broad categories I believe utility to be the most important. It’s in this category can be split into those that are sharp (the scissors and knife) and those that can produce a fire (matches). I want an item that does both these purposes and therefore I would take:

1. Knife
2. Matches (someone else might argue they can make a fire with the knife alone)

In the protective/clothing category I will choose the sleeping bag and umbrella. The umbrella can provide me shade from the sun/protection from the rain and the sleeping bag can provide warmth if required, protection when sleeping and is probably the largest amount of fabric out of the other items listed if I needed to repurpose it into something else.

Next in the containers category there is one item that functions as a container and features in the food and drink category and that is the 3. bottle of beer. I would therefore take that as it is a source of calories/water and can be used as a container.

With regards to the hygiene and recreational categories. They are lower down in my list of priorities in terms of basic needs. I will use my finger to wash my teeth and have regular baths in the sea for hygiene.

My final 5 items would therefore be:

1. Knife
2. Matches
3. Sleeping bag
4. Umbrella
5. Bottle of beer

As you can see above there is no right answer but the station is evaluating your judgement. Approach the station with structure and avoid repeating yourself and jumping around/forgetting which items you have already selected.