A young sailor from the Navy cruiser USS Shiloh believed to have fallen overboard on June 8 has just been found after a massive 50-hour search-and-rescue operation off the coast of Japan concluded with Navy officials presuming him dead. Not only was the sailor alive (thank God), he was on the ship, hidden in one of the Shiloh’s engine rooms. Like a modern day Huckleberry Finn, Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Mims appears to have faked his own death. Or at least he let his shipmates believe he had died. This raises a lot of questions, like: Why did he do it? And how the hell did he manage to survive in an engine room for an entire week? Surely, the Navy’s investigation that is now underway will yield the answers to those question, but, in the meantime, here’s a packing list for any other sailors out there thinking about faking their own death while aboard a ship at sea. Because you can never be too prepared.