Why is the submarine the only way off the island?

[PrincessLeia]

this is where i think they werent actually air drops.  This is why the hatch went into lockdown mode, that way you didnt see the "4 wheeler" that pulled it through the jungle and left it there.  I dont actually believe that a plain or helecopter flew over and dropped the food.

You'd think that Kate/Locke/Sayid with their tracking experience would have noticed evidence of this, though.

[puff6962]

What happens to a magnetic field in water?  It shrinks due to the conductivity of the medium.  Thus, whatever is encompassing and hiding the island can be superceded by travel underwater.  The sub may additionally be titanium, as many Russkie subs were, and that would allow a magnetically neutral object for travel.  

[scrod]

WAITAMINNIT!!!!!
Why can't there be air drops?  In the recent past there were 2 airplanes (flight 815 and Yemi's) and a balloon that made it to the island.  Not to mention migratory birds and a racing yacht.  So there is some way to get to the island, just may not be a way to navigate to it reliably.

[Gordon Shumway]

Speaking of re-supply.  How is otherville re-supplied?

[jugdish]

I have a feeling I may be saying this often. Not everything is a big mystery. No way they dragged the food through  the jungle and not leave any marks. The lockdown was there so the food could be dropped off.

The story is told to us facutally. They do not lie to us.

[Psych0666]

Also was there not a thingy in the video in the flame that was about air drops, I'm thinkin the homing beacon for the plane sounds like a good idea, and how do we know they only happen during a lockdown (can't remember) and about the sub being the only way off the island.............. dunno, seems like they should be able to leave by boat, but Desmondp came back, maybe Walt and Micheal will too, maybe the compass bearing they were given is complete bull****, and maybe, just maybe Ben's the only one that knows it, but then maybe what he said about the sub is bull**** too, just a way to manipulate some more, making sure Locke would blow it up, extra incentive like, 'Ye blow that up and I'm actually totally screwed cos everyone here will start getting restless about the fact they really can't go home now' but to be honest I just don't know so I'm gonna wait and see, wait and see.

[TXFlyboy]

Okay LG, I'll take a shot at your question.  If, prior to the Swan destruction, there was a large magnetic anomaly then a wet compass used on planes and boats would be affected.  Ben providing Michael a heading would only lead to the same situation Desmond found himself in.  The compass needle would deflect back to the larger magnetic source (the island - rather than the true north pole) thus as they sailed and the compass showed a course they would really be traveling in a circle around the island.
The sub by using the sonar for depth and the island homing beacon could traverse in a straight line.  They would simply need to follow the soundings from the beacon (louder to softer when departing and vise versa when returning) and ignore the sub compass.  Once they were far enough from the island to escape the magnetic anomaly they could resume on a compass based navigation.

[Psych0666]

Okay LG, I'll take a shot at your question.  If, prior to the Swan destruction, there was a large magnetic anomaly then a wet compass used on planes and boats would be affected.  Ben providing Michael a heading would only lead to the same situation Desmond found himself in.  The compass needle would deflect back to the larger magnetic source (the island - rather than the true north pole) thus as they sailed and the compass showed a course they would really be traveling in a circle around the island.
The sub by using the sonar for depth and the island homing beacon could traverse in a straight line.  They would simply need to follow the soundings from the beacon (louder to softer when departing and vise versa when returning) and ignore the sub compass.  Once they were far enough from the island to escape the magnetic anomaly they could resume on a compass based navigation.

Well that makes sence I like it

[LostGirlDeb]

yes it all makes sense and I like it too
But......
since the anomaly they should not have the same problem correct?
Now the compass would work properly right?
Or am I missing something about the whole magnetic field thing?

So i guess my question should have been since Ben and Patchy knew about the anomaly and that there would no longer be a magnetic pull, why then would he insinuate that if the sub blows there would be no more hope for the people to get off the island
Was it just part of the con job?

[LostGirlDeb]

WAITAMINNIT!!!!!
Why can't there be air drops?  In the recent past there were 2 airplanes (flight 815 and Yemi's) and a balloon that made it to the island.  Not to mention migratory birds and a racing yacht.  So there is some way to get to the island, just may not be a way to navigate to it reliably.

Agree 100% and I agree with Juggy too, that sometimes we seem to loose focus on what they tell us and go off track by over analyzing things
I think the food/supply drops are done by air.  Everything that they have shown us leads us to this logical assumption.

[puff6962]

Why is the now purged Dharma initiative still supplying the island at all?

[PrincessLeia]

Why is the now purged Dharma initiative still supplying the island at all?

I believe that the current inhabitants of the island were still maintaining the illusion of the Dharma work still being done.  The button was still being pushed after all.  It will be interresting to see if the food drops continue now that the Swan & the Flame are gone.

[Nancy Drew]

What if the food isn't dropped but brought in via tunnels?  The ground that the pallet was sitting on could be like an elevator raising it into place from the 20' deep tunnel system that we saw on the map of Otherville.  I don't think it could have been a drop just for the simple reason that no one on the beach heard the sound of a plane or chopper.  And I don't know this for sure, but it would make sense that a plane dropping a pallet of that size, even with all the parachutes on it, couldn't target the exact landing zone if it were flying too high, thus not being heard.  So it would have had to come in low enough to drop it.  Did we see any parachutes with the food drop?  Not only that, but there were trees and brush around and none of that seemed like it had had a huge, heavy pallet dropped through it.

[Wishbone]

I don't believe that the sub was the only way off the island - someone has already mentioned Ben's illusion and I think this is all it is. He needs the others to trust him and not doubt him therefore he has to make them believe it is the only way so people like Juliette will stay put and stop complaining. But he also needs the others to believe he is a man of his word and therefore had to send Walt and Michael off in the boat otherwise he would lose some of his power over the others but I think that Walt and Michael will be back eventually just like Dessie.

As for the food drops - I think it is just how it looks - food supply dropped from a plane with a parachute attached. The others have Dharma food so maybe they usually intercept the food but the losties beat them this time. I think the others used their comms to make Dharma believe there was still experiments going on so they could continue to get the food and since the anomoly they might not get anymore. I thought there was a lot of talk centred around Ben's fridge, maybe just to highlight the fact that he is using Dharma products.

[SmokeyTheBeast4]

If nobody can find the island than what did those guys in the arctic station find