Alone Season 2

I am pretty sure it was posted in the last series they weren't allowed to short batteries and the like to start fire.

Re the salmon fishing; they only swim to fresh water once every 4 years and only for a couple months in the fall. Somehow I have the idea the show is filmed in late winter/spring?

Here in the interior the only method of native fire starting that I've seen was with chert; now that of course isn't any sort of final word on the subject. I'm in one of the wet parts of the interior and I'd still say it's drier here than where they shoot this. It's worse than Seattle up there but not the wettest place going. South Island sees 2x the rain the North does.
 
I thought there was a salmon run every year, just a differant group of salmon.

Another question i have is, if this place has so many bear, couger, and wolves, what the hell are they eating?

Those animals dont stay somewhere because of the view. How is the red tide going to effect the bears, guessing a big part of thier diet is shell fish?
If you do find a dead bear, from shellfish poison can you eat it?
 
There will be a few every year but not a big run and if you're not there in the fall you miss it.

The bears will just eat roots and grubs and whatever. They're opportunists. They take advantage of the fat years and scratch out the rest.

Animals tend to hide when they die. Other scavengers will have found anything dead way before you.
 
Thanks Pict, for sharing your experience with us on this thread. I would like to address your defense of the editing. I'll get to my point and hope it doesn't appear harsh by doing so. I can sympathize with the editors for the immense footage they have to choose from, but as a viewer, seeing you for the first time on day 6, (and understand this is not a criticism of YOU) then seeing 45 seconds of you pondering your face in the camera --was not the best use of their footage, your footage, and their limited time span. Considering the extra effort it takes the Aloners to film their experience, it was disappointing that most of the participants' first days of setting up camp, etc were left on the cutting room floor. I think the setting up of camps was what viewers were most interested in and I find it astounding that the editors/directors don't realize that. It is hard to feature all 10 in one hour, which is why so many wished they had made it a 2 parter. (Maaybe the first days' films were not that useable-- but I doubt it.)

I honed my survival skills where I could drink form the backyard hose, but I make little apology as a viewer for my lack of experience, critical questioning, cocky ideas, and delusions of grandeur. I have an armchair point of view and the perspective of my own fantasy that I bring to it is what makes watching the show so fun. I learn a lot too. I don't have the experience to appreciate what they are really going through..only someone who has 'been there" truly has. Not much I can do about that.

IRL I have the utmost respect for all of them, root for them, hope they thrive and beat the odds. Meanwhile I will be annoyed that Randy, who I picked as one of my tops, never mentioned he does not know how to fish. Question why people brought down bags when going to the wettest place on earth. Wonder why someone, after seeing last season, would focus on trapping and not set out several forms of critter catching-- fish included-- by day 5. Speculate on where MK got her furniture. and yeah, I am already tired of Mike's orphan stories and MK's girls and girl power talks.

I'm watching and I look forward to every episode.
 
Inthepines welcome to BF, enjoyed reading your post. I agree the editing leaves us asking about maybe comparison of each contestant on shelter building, food gathering, fire starting and a plethora of other survival skills that whets our outdoor survival appetite. Seems like the the underlining mold as most other reality shows focuses on drama. MK and DW and orphan Mike got most of the airtime due to drama prior and during episodes. I believe they are five days into show and still some contestants haven't appeared yet.
Look forward to episode three, lots of great dialogue on this thread.
 
The flip side is of course that with 10 contestants you could spend an awful lot of time just looking at repetitive camp chores. :)

Lets say it takes 5 minutes to build a fire using what's available locally... x10 that's a whole episode of just people building fires. It takes a high level of viewer autism to sit through that. :D

You also need to think about creating a vdeo narrative that the viewer can follow. 10 contestants in 10 different locations. It's going to be disjointed if everyone gets equal airtime or even if you try to fit everyone in each episode.
 
Thanks for the welcome 'Final'...and the responses from you and Sideways.

Yeah I guess you're right about the "reality show drama" formula, but I hoped they were better than that and had a higher vision for this audience. . The spoiler with MK's hand--and then once again leaving it as a cliffhanger suggests that the editors for "Guiding Light" got this job . (Probably shoulda thought of a more recent reference. oh well . it was a soap opera, okay).

Likely the current Aloners are too close to production, and of course they haven't seen this season in full yet, but if I tortured myself at your request to film myself when I had plenty of other things to do--gave you 7 days!!! 30 hours+ of footage and the best you could think of to cull was me (Dave) finding seaweed or me (Justin) having a 10 minute duck funeral?? I'd be umm..yeah pissed. And must we be treated *again* to someone explaining how to use a trigger trap/mouse squasher? Seriously? 9 people-- 7 days- = hundreds of hours of film and that's what they came up with? Mike was interesting, and of course the gratuitous cut on MK hand-- I say gratuitous because they again used it as a teaser. (and it was a lil long gettin' there)..

At least they could have showed Randy maybe reading the instructions on his gill net or finding a picture of a fisherman on his line label and practicing holding a stick for a rod. Or even give us more Larry--kicking trees and paw-paddling the shrubbery. That was hilarious. I'm sure he must have drop-kicked SOMETHING this week--show us that!!!

Sideways I was glad they broke up the intro eps into less people. 9 is too many to follow in one hour, But again, the early days could have been given 2 hours even if 2 eps. Nooo they don't have to show 10 people starting a fire-( but I wouldn't put it past them ..gosh what if it took a whole hour for just one??) but segments of scouting their area, first impressions, looking for water, setting camp etc.. would have been worthwhile.

It's a crapshoot as to what footage they get but they can do a whole lot better than this. i do love this show, was so happy to see it back and I'm just a little disappointed. (don't know if you could tell ... :-) )
 
I'm not disappointed in the least. More curious than anything. Of course I want to see more which is what a successful show is all about. And they have to meet all the associated costs while turning a profit, mostly ad dollar based.
 
Episode 2 was a bit slow for sure but I'm okay with it. I'd be disappointed if the show was merely bushcraft. I may be "alone" on this but I actually thought watching Dave reflect upon his image and Justin silently calculating his duck situation, was quite interesting. There are thousands of videos on you tube that deal with bushcraft. I enjoy the whole aspect of what the show entails.

Pict wrote earlier about the screaming headaches he had to push through. This is the kind of thing I wish there was more of on the show. Simple physiological responses the body has to low blood sugar etc. The pain and nausea that come from hunger headaches can be debilitating as anyone who has spent any time hungry can attest to. I also wonder if any coffee drinkers lamented their lack of caffeine in their hours of tape. I also agree with his point about the indigenous people. Peoples like the Haida were most definitely skilled in making fire with natural means but they also had community support while doing so. In that environment, while hungry, alone, and with the pressure of failure on you shoulders, it would be a most daunting task. If Randy is able to get a fire going with a bow drill or other means I will truly be impressed.

There is a reason many cultures have rights of passage which include being sent off alone, and why banishment from a community is such a severe punishment. Nothing about being alone is easy.
 
Inthepines said:
Thanks for the welcome 'Final'...and the responses from you and Sideways.

Yeah I guess you're right about the "reality show drama" formula, but I hoped they were better than that and had a higher vision for this audience. . The spoiler with MK's hand--and then once again leaving it as a cliffhanger suggests that the editors for "Guiding Light" got this job . (Probably shoulda thought of a more recent reference. oh well . it was a soap opera, okay).

Likely the current Aloners are too close to production, and of course they haven't seen this season in full yet, but if I tortured myself at your request to film myself when I had plenty of other things to do--gave you 7 days!!! 30 hours+ of footage and the best you could think of to cull was me (Dave) finding seaweed or me (Justin) having a 10 minute duck funeral?? I'd be umm..yeah pissed. And must we be treated *again* to someone explaining how to use a trigger trap/mouse squasher? Seriously? 9 people-- 7 days- = hundreds of hours of film and that's what they came up with? Mike was interesting, and of course the gratuitous cut on MK hand-- I say gratuitous because they again used it as a teaser. (and it was a lil long gettin' there)..

At least they could have showed Randy maybe reading the instructions on his gill net or finding a picture of a fisherman on his line label and practicing holding a stick for a rod. Or even give us more Larry--kicking trees and paw-paddling the shrubbery. That was hilarious. I'm sure he must have drop-kicked SOMETHING this week--show us that!!!

Sideways I was glad they broke up the intro eps into less people. 9 is too many to follow in one hour, But again, the early days could have been given 2 hours even if 2 eps. Nooo they don't have to show 10 people starting a fire-( but I wouldn't put it past them ..gosh what if it took a whole hour for just one??) but segments of scouting their area, first impressions, looking for water, setting camp etc.. would have been worthwhile.

It's a crapshoot as to what footage they get but they can do a whole lot better than this. i do love this show, was so happy to see it back and I'm just a little disappointed. (don't know if you could tell ... :-) )
Click to expand...

It's a lot about creating drama where there isn't any..I think of it as the outdoor survival show drama theme (formula) right? Everybody loves drama even if they have to make it up. All the one's I've seen have it..Did you catch Trailblazers? I think I saw the first one where the trailblazer guy chopped the back of his hand with his machete while cutting fire wood in very low light, the medic comes out from behind the camera and gives us a good look at it, he severed the tendon that connects the thumb and was evacuated out. I guess most of us have had a similar experience, but that doesn't help any. Saw that just after I watched the lady in Alone chop her hand, I couldn't really tell how deep or long her cut was...I'll just have to stay tuned in next week and find out.
 
marlyscanoe said:
Pict wrote earlier about the screaming headaches he had to push through. This is the kind of thing I wish there was more of on the show. Simple physiological responses the body has to low blood sugar etc. The pain and nausea that come from hunger headaches can be debilitating as anyone who has spent any time hungry can attest to. I also wonder if any coffee drinkers lamented their lack of caffeine in their hours of tape.
Click to expand...

I spent a few days in an actual survival situation a few years ago. I was stranded at 10,000' on a mountain top in 150 MPH winds. I had the worst headache ever. I'm still not sure if it was altitude sickness, dehydration, low blood sugar, stress, or caffeine withdrawal. I carry sugary snacks, water, and instant coffee in my pack now to fight as many causes as possible.
 
I like this edit better than season one, I feel like its showing more of the thoughts from the contestants, which is more what I like about the show. I think this would be better suited to other styles of storytelling, but its a format people are familiar with (and by people, I mean TV execs.) The execs are in a tough spot, they want viewers to hang in to the end, but they have a limited number of eps to air. They also have to edit the massive amount of footage (my guess would be 60 hours a week if some folks used two cameras at a time sometimes) My guess would be that you are looking at an editing team of four to six running though video at high speed, trying to pull out bits that are interesting stories to tell, but they will miss stuff. (remember, they were not there either, so unless the contestant really points it out, they may miss things that the contestant would have chosen) Not sure of the timeframe, but generally TV stuff has to be done and in the can well in advance of airing because a problem with production can kill a season. So this would have been a pretty tight production timeline.

My understanding was fall going into winter, as the bears would be more likely to be getting well fed, and starting to den up, rather than coming out lean and hungry with cubs to feed. But I could be wrong there.

I don't know about the specific tribe of that region, but many of the BC coastal tribes were "quasi-agricultural" creating clam farms, tending certain plants. Stocking away food for lean times is very intensive process, but more efficient as it scales up.

Looks like season three will be Patagonia, that should be pretty cool as well.
 
beeperboy said:
I spent a few days in an actual survival situation a few years ago. I was stranded at 10,000' on a mountain top in 150 MPH winds. I had the worst headache ever. I'm still not sure if it was altitude sickness, dehydration, low blood sugar, stress, or caffeine withdrawal. I carry sugary snacks, water, and instant coffee in my pack now to fight as many causes as possible.
Click to expand...

Rough day, apparently you made it back. I would say all of the above for the headache. I drink one cup of coffee a day but its the first thing I do in the morning. I have been through that initial starvation headache many times in other exercises and knew it would go away in a few days on its own. The body uses periods of fasting to detoxify. With nothing coming in it takes out the trash. It has more to do with the lack of carbs than anything else.
 
I'm hoping they do more with the online short videos this year for showing detailed skills oriented content. Keep in mind we are the people who will sit through an hour tutorial on friction fire shot with one camera. The general public just isn't into the skills like we are. If you tune in to learn how to do wilderness survival I would say ther are better venues for learning skills. Alone really does set those skills in a realistic context so you get to see how we were forced to make choices and prioritize. You also get to see how the imponderable factors of hunger, fatigue, and isolation affect the overall progression while resolving multiple problems.

Production was very hands-off. I'm only one contestant but they never once told me what to do out there and I told them flat out I wasn't open to suggestions. By the same token, i'm not about to tell people who have made a career out of television how to make a TV show. My job was to apply everything I know about wilderness survival and bushcraft to solve my problems and provide 1/10th of the raw footage for the show. They have to consider a viewing audience of 2.5 million (last years figure) in choosing how to set up he show. Hardcore wilderness survival and bushcraft enthusiasts make up a tiny, well-informed fraction of that audience.

Some of the online comments are amazing. It seems this show is a magnet for every blowhard out there. Here's the challenge. If you think you have a solution for something we faced out there, go out to the bush, fast for four days (water only) and then shoot a two camera set of your project. Starvation will take the swagger out of anyone.
 
On starvation, this is the list History Channel gave for last year's show. Was it changed for season 2?

Food

1. 5 lbs of beef jerky (protein)
2. 5 lbs of dried pulses/legumes/lentils mix (starch and carbs)
3. 5 lbs of biltong (protein)
4. 5 lbs of hard tack military biscuits (carbs/sugars)
5. 5 lbs of chocolate (Simple/complex sugars)
6. 5 lbs of pemmican (traditional trail food made from fat and proteins)
7. 5 lbs of gorp (raisins, m&m’s and peanuts)
8. 5 lbs of flour (starch/carbs)
9. 2 lbs of rice or sugar and 1 lb of salt

Is this a "pick one" list?
 
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Some of the online comments are amazing. It seems this show is a magnet for every blowhard out there. Here's the challenge. If you think you have a solution for something we faced out there, go out to the bush, fast for four days (water only) and then shoot a two camera set of your project. Starvation will take the swagger out of anyone.[/QUOTE]
,

Absolutely! Most of the point of discussion forums on these things are to give 'blowhard opinions"!

I know if I was out there i'd be wrestling those bears , eating surf and turf, and forging metal tools. For me the show is my fantasy of something I would love to try but don't have even the balls --never mind skills and mental fortitude--to do so.

Yes, only those who go can know. But I can make no apologies for loving the concept of the show and living vicariously through the participants from the comfort of my LR. It's an astounding challenge!. If i wasn't fascinated by their courage, skills and resolve I wouldn't be counting the days until Thursday. So yes i question/analyze their choices and decisions, speculate about what they should be doing, and yeah, occasionally mock them. But i'm also blown away by their (your) ingenuity, stamina and courage.

Despite the blowhard ideas, I'm sure those watching and commenting truly have the greatest respect for the challenge and those who take it on. From my couch it can only ever be entertainment to me.
 
The show is based on very interesting content, but the way they present the show with no continuity, by jumping around from one contestant to the other every few minutes makes it a pain to watch. I'm passing up on it for that reason. This was the main reason I dropped Dishnetwork.
 
beeperboy said:
I spent a few days in an actual survival situation a few years ago. I was stranded at 10,000' on a mountain top in 150 MPH winds. I had the worst headache ever. I'm still not sure if it was altitude sickness, dehydration, low blood sugar, stress, or caffeine withdrawal. I carry sugary snacks, water, and instant coffee in my pack now to fight as many causes as possible.
Click to expand...

If you are going up to 10K feet in Canada you would definitely need to prepare for altitude sickness. Canada being up north can even have a thinner atmosphere than say California where I am.
Most folks will "feel it" above 8K but some will feel it above 6K depending on their body and experience BUT even the best climbing guides can have bad trips where they don't acclimatize well. So you always need to check for, notice and treat the symptoms.
A headache is almost always #1 for many people and often no big deal if it is minor. I have had a mild headache and tingling fingertips at altitude at times but not much worse.
Water is a big part of treating it so a water bottle and most probably a pot/stove are needed. Coffee (which I love!) and many teas will act as a diuretic and speed dehydration so be careful about that.
The buddy system works well here were each check each other's physical status and make sure each other are staying hydrated and fueled.


So far I am enjoying S2 as much as S1. I know it is TV but at least it is more realistic than some other survival TV shows. Looks like the same producers make Forged in Fire which rocks! "It will kill" :)


Back to Alone 2 I think just to get picked is a feat of showing skills or some other strong character aspects. A buddy once got on the game show, Jeopardy, which makes him pretty much a genius of diverse subject compared to must of us including me. He had to make it through numerous try out sessions to get on the TV. When he payed some other contestant blew the other 2 away and my poor buddy just stood there. So we can only observe and comment only to some degree regardless of skill or experience level.
Dropping a key tool happens. I have had a buddy loose our car keys in the Tuolumne high country as we hiked out after being "benighted" on Matthes Crest due to our slow indirect approach that morning. We had to trace out steps the next morning after descending back to our truck which we broke into to get our gear. My buddy wanted to turn around in the dark to find the keys, I stopped him. That could scenario cold go south in a heartbeat stumbling around in the dark.

So it is easy to be a viewer. Love rthe show and much respect to all 20 folks so far.
 
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Codger_64 said:
On starvation, this is the list History Channel gave for last year's show. Was it changed for season 2?

Food

1. 5 lbs of beef jerky (protein)
2. 5 lbs of dried pulses/legumes/lentils mix (starch and carbs)
3. 5 lbs of biltong (protein)
4. 5 lbs of hard tack military biscuits (carbs/sugars)
5. 5 lbs of chocolate (Simple/complex sugars)
6. 5 lbs of pemmican (traditional trail food made from fat and proteins)
7. 5 lbs of gorp (raisins, m&m’s and peanuts)
8. 5 lbs of flour (starch/carbs)
9. 2 lbs of rice or sugar and 1 lb of salt

Is this a "pick one" list?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure that was a "pick one" thing to count as rations.
 
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