New TV Survival Show - Alone

B34NS said:
I thought the same thing. Maybe they didn't want to make the YouTube warriors or bushcraftschool guy look bad.
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Maybe it had more to do with the equipment restrictions and potential length of time out there, I don't know, first season, I'm sure new rules will be written and changes will be made.
 
Makes one wonder if any of them have ever been alone before in their lives. Fantasy land vs reality. Kind of reminds me of Heart of Darkness.
 
SwiftDream said:
Makes one wonder if any of them have ever been alone before in their lives. Fantasy land vs reality. Kind of reminds me of Heart of Darkness.
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I agree. I generally like the show except for the over dramatic drama queen typical Hollywood BS. Weird to see a grown man crying like a 6 year old kid after being away from the family for 2 days. It's not like they'll never see them again. Survival "experts" knows that 90% of survival is mental. Panic and an undisciplined mind will get the most geared up geek in trouble faster than a calm, collected, right thinking veteran. I would classify "experts" as someone who's been there, done that and have paved the road not someone who can post on Youtube.
 
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Pentlatch said:
too bad half the contestants were not women , would have been interesting
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One of the guys mentioned that they really tried to find some women to do this challenge and there were several who qualified but declined. As to the early tap-outs and crying, I can only say that isolation affects people differently. Still, a few days is hard for me to accept...if I can get an isolated solo trip for a week...that's a vacation for me (although my wife gets jealous and is my best backpacking partner). It's hard to judge how the stressors of a different environment and conditions affects one's psyche. I've seen my share of solid troops crack in combat and not even in an actual fight. For me, I've always found the best strategy is to make plans and keep busy. Working 16-18 hour-days in a combat zone doesn't allow you much time to worry about or miss the family; you really have to learn how to compartmentalize emotions and even if you're not doing something physical and burning calories, your mind needs to focus on tasks so it doesn't wander...just my experience. I don't think any of these guys were amateur chumps, I just think they psyched themselves out mentally where the stress of the situation, fear of an unfamiliar environment and isolation was more than they anticipated.

I think it does reinforce that survival or handling a stressful situation is mostly mental rather than skill, knowledge or physical.

ROCK6
 
I dunno, I'm thinking that it wouldn't be hard to find women capable. I am thinking that most women would be smart enough to turn it down! Even after ep.5 I would still bet that under non-competition conditions, each of these guys could handle being alone for a while. stresses are cumulative and multiply, even dumb ones. Eventually everyone finds a limit.

At the end of the day, its TV. The market isn't there for a show where six clones of John Wiseman don't have any problems. Or where Ray Mears has a hatchet carving competition against Les Stroud. The market is for a show where all the armchair survivalists can say how much better they would be. Those are tough conditions that those guys are under. Even if those guys have one sniffle in an off moment, of course that's the footage thats used, not the four fish in four casts, or a meal twenty minutes after the trap is set. At the end of the day, the guys who have gone solo for weeks at a time know that they have the ability to do it, those that don't will wonder if they do. And those who can, are out somewhere doing something, not sitting watching TV. I count myself in that second category of shlubs who wonder if they could hack it. I've worked with people who took the bus back to the city after the first day of work, leaving behind a very nice paycheck and easy work to flip burgers because they couldn't be away from friends and family, and I've seen guys nearly loose it after not seeing their wives and kids for four months. It hits everyone different. Some folks thrive, and so its what they do. If everyone could do it, the going rate for a survey tech in northern alberta would be much lower.
 
gadgetgeek said:
At the end of the day, its TV. The market isn't there for a show where six clones of John Wiseman don't have any problems. Or where Ray Mears has a hatchet carving competition against Les Stroud. The market is for a show where all the armchair survivalists can say how much better they would be. Those are tough conditions that those guys are under. Even if those guys have one sniffle in an off moment, of course that's the footage thats used, not the four fish in four casts, or a meal twenty minutes after the trap is set. At the end of the day, the guys who have gone solo for weeks at a time know that they have the ability to do it, those that don't will wonder if they do. And those who can, are out somewhere doing something, not sitting watching TV. I count myself in that second category of shlubs who wonder if they could hack it. I've worked with people who took the bus back to the city after the first day of work, leaving behind a very nice paycheck and easy work to flip burgers because they couldn't be away from friends and family, and I've seen guys nearly loose it after not seeing their wives and kids for four months. It hits everyone different. Some folks thrive, and so its what they do. If everyone could do it, the going rate for a survey tech in northern alberta would be much lower.
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Good assessment. And a breath of fresh air from most of the commentary in the last few pages of this thread. I wonder how many folks here have gone out to unfamiliar woods and have tried to remain there isolated for weeks on end with just 10 items in extremely wet conditions. I sure haven't. And I sure can't criticize the contenders on the show for deciding when to call it quits.
 
Maybe the contenders who opted out early on exhibited wisdom relative to their own situation. They saw the signs in themselves and knew they wouldn't make it. So, they called it quits.
 
gadgetgeek said:
I dunno, I'm thinking that it wouldn't be hard to find women capable. I am thinking that most women would be smart enough to turn it down!
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Truth. Haha! Exactly my thoughts. I don't think they even casted for women just based on the format of their other shows. This is a New York production house making a show about the wilderness. After watching, I think a lady would have won it. I would have personally liked to see someone like Lel Tone compete against these guys.
 
Alan is definitely my favorite going forward. he talks about the psychological aspect, but seems to be able to maintain a way to keep him focused and slightly off center. It is cute that they were conveniently provided life vests as evidenced by this episode, but what about the 1 gallon jug Lucas also had at his camp. That can't be factored in from the emergency rations, can it?
 
Not a popular opinion these days, surely, but I don't think women would be doing very well. If you've seen that Bear Grylls show "The Island" then you'll know that the women were crying before even getting off of the boat, and they required a lot of help and 'affirmative action' from the crew just to get by.

Women, even moreso than men, are not used to isolation. They are more socially dependent than men, so I think this situation would be affecting them worse. As well, there is the problem of exhaustion in cases of extended wilderness living as women are starting from a large strength deficit. Along with muscle deficit from the beginning, over time women tend to conserve fat while men conserve protein, which could increase their starvation risk due to weakness.

And there is also the issue of being more vulnerable to predators in general and, how shall we say this, during full moons.

Good to remember that no one has tapped out so far due to environment, nor exhaustion. It has all been fear of animals, not being prepared, and/or critical mistakes.
 
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Vinjints said:
Alan is definitely my favorite going forward. he talks about the psychological aspect, but seems to be able to maintain a way to keep him focused and slightly off center. It is cute that they were conveniently provided life vests as evidenced by this episode, but what about the 1 gallon jug Lucas also had at his camp. That can't be factored in from the emergency rations, can it?
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Alan was my favorite from the beginning. Maybe Lucas found the jug along the shore? I have to admit that the Lucas canoe has been a psychological win for him.
 
For half a million dollars you would have to drag me out!
Its weird none of them mention the reward/money aspect as motivation to keep going.

I bet the producers told them not to talk about the reward
 
Not sure why gender speculations entered into thing...

As for the show, as of last episode, the remaining 4 have been out there for 3 weeks.
It has rained all but 3 of the days, pretty much.
They seem to be maintaining weight pretty well also.

I wonder how many people here would really do as well, let alone better?

I'm confident I could do a week (as long as the back spasms stayed away, and one of my items taken was a bottle of muscle relaxers), but 3 weeks?
Probably not.
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
Not a popular opinion these days, surely, but I don't think women would be doing very well. If you've seen that Bear Grylls show "The Island" then you'll know that the women were crying before even getting off of the boat, and they required a lot of help and 'affirmative action' from the crew just to get by.

Women, even moreso than men, are not used to isolation. They are more socially dependent than men, so I think this situation would be affecting them worse. As well, there is the problem of exhaustion in cases of extended wilderness living as women are starting from a large strength deficit. Along with muscle deficit from the beginning, over time women tend to conserve fat while men conserve protein, which could increase their starvation risk due to weakness.

And there is also the issue of being more vulnerable to predators in general and, how shall we say this, during full moons.

Good to remember that no one has tapped out so far due to environment, nor exhaustion. It has all been fear of animals, not being prepared, and/or critical mistakes.
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How do you figure when the guy who charges people for bushcraft classes loses his fire steel? Had nothing to do with physical limitations.

I suggest you meet more ladies ;)
 
This is a crappy comparison, but I have noticed on Naked & Afraid that the women are usually better than the men.

I know of several episodes that men have tapped out leaving the women to go it alone.
 
B34NS said:
How do you figure when the guy who charges people for bushcraft classes loses his fire steel? Had nothing to do with physical limitations.
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He made a video explaining why, and admits that the reason is not an excuse.
Basically (I'll give you the short version), they could not have a lanyard on anything beforehand (that counts as extra paracord).
He planned on making a lanyard when he got there, but didn't do it right away.
His rain pants had no pockets, but his jacket did...however, when making the fire on the beach, he put the ferro rod on the jacket (he wasn't wearing it).

When he picked up the jacket, the ferro rod went to the sand.
The waves then took it away.
Then he spend many hours looking for the ferro rod, but to no avail.

So basically, a simple oversight.

Last Saturday, my brother lost his compass in the woods when he went back to the trail to grab the heavier objects that couldn't be brought it on the first trip; he too had been thinking that a lanyard would be a good idea, but hadn't gotten around to it yet.
Luckily, seeing as we weren't on a survival show that limits equipment, he had a back-up compass in his ESEE Knives ferro rod (as do I).

Simple mistakes are, well, simple. :)

heefageLA said:
This is a crappy comparison, but I have noticed on Naked & Afraid that the women are usually better than the men.

I know of several episodes that men have tapped out leaving the women to go it alone.
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And I've seen several where the woman left and the guy finished it.

I also saw one where they both decided to tap at the same time, as incessant rain had put their fire out, and they were getting hypothermic...at least it was a team decision. :thumbup:
 
B34NS said:
How do you figure when the guy who charges people for bushcraft classes loses his fire steel? Had nothing to do with physical limitations.

I suggest you meet more ladies ;)
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Yeah, because anyone who dares to criticise feminist ideology must be a virgin.

It's just the reality of it, there are perhaps 1 out of 100 bushcrafters and survivalists who are women, so that severely limits the pool of 'competitors'. This is partly cultural but also suggests the drive that women as a whole have for this activity. And it is just a hard fact, even if inconvenient, that women do not do as well with physically demanding activity.

Those are just some facts people would have to face up to before jumping into a scenario like this. It's nothing against women, both sexes have their shortcomings. Men may be too confident, rely on only their strength while refusing to question themselves, which is probably a big factor in most of these guys leaving so early. Women might focus more on their skills and consider their position without overconfidence. That would certainly be a benefit but does not eliminate their shortcomings. And over time these shortcomings would make it less likely for them to survive longer than men.

Physical limitations and anxiety compound the potential for serious mistakes. An argument can also be made that society has made these men less masculine, more dependent, hence all of the fear and crying going on.

Men have historically been the hunters in communities for a reason. I suggest you read something apart from Women's Studies propaganda. ;)
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
Yeah, because anyone who dares to criticise feminist ideology must be a virgin.

It's just the reality of it, there are perhaps 1 out of 100 bushcrafters and survivalists who are women, so that severely limits the pool of 'competitors'. This is partly cultural but also suggests the drive that women as a whole have for this activity. And it is just a hard fact, even if inconvenient, that women do not do as well with physically demanding activity.

Those are just some facts people would have to face up to before jumping into a scenario like this. It's nothing against women, both sexes have their shortcomings. Men may be too confident, rely on only their strength while refusing to question themselves, which is probably a big factor in most of these guys leaving so early. Women might focus more on their skills and consider their position without overconfidence. That would certainly be a benefit but does not eliminate their shortcomings. And over time these shortcomings would make it less likely for them to survive longer than men.

Physical limitations and anxiety compound the potential for serious mistakes. An argument can also be made that society has made these men less masculine, more dependent, hence all of the fear and crying going on.

Men have historically been the hunters in communities for a reason. I suggest you read something apart from Women's Studies propaganda. ;)
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Was just an observation of mine. Women thrived in the area these contestants are in for over 13,000 years, so...try again :cool:

You're right, maybe you're not a virgin, but you certainly haven't hiked the PCT, AT, or JMT then.
 
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