Surviorman, Season 2, Ep 5: Alaska

M

MG_Saldivar

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Feb 5, 2005
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This was my favorite ep of Season 2 -- it seemed to hearken back to the 'spirit' of Season 1 -- not sure how to explain it...

I loved his explicit shout-out to knife owners and his attempt at knapping. Eating the raw "used" fish and drinking water straight from a stream (again) made me shudder, but I guess it's par for the course now. :o
 
I can't believe he hit his knife with a rock. I'm so disillusioned... :D
 
I really liked the episode as well. I was up in Alaska at the end of June and the beginning of July so it was nice to see the area again. We didn't go to the Kenai National Park, but we did go to Seward which is about 40 miles away as the crow flies from where Les was. I love salmon, but I don't think I would eat the salmon that he did unless it was a true survival situation.

I read on Wikipedia and another forum that Les was cited for illegal commercial filming. Apparently you have to apply for a permit to film in a national park and some park rangers came across his camp and saw the cameras. After a quick check for $2800 was written to the National Park Service, he was allowed to continue filming.

http://www.outdoors-411.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6576&sid=d357dfd92c742193ebf687da0b1a8377
 
it was a good episode...but why exactly didnt he just use a spear to catch the ever so present salmon that were "jumping all around him" ? and im also always curious of what types of knives he uses
 
Tonight he was using his Buck 119 again, at least that is what it looked like to me. I didn't see any sort of multi-tool, but I may have missed it. I doubt he had one though because about 45 minutes into the episode he was sawing, but he was using his knife and not a saw of any sort.

As for spearing a fish, I doubt they jumped close enough to his kayak to reach them with a spear and if they did, my guess is that he doesn't have the reflexes to actually pull the feat off.
 
AustinTXShooter said:
I didn't see any sort of multi-tool,
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It was hard to spot, but in the scenes where he was trying to make a hook out of a chunk of hard plastic, there were quick edits of shots showing him alternately using the Buck 119 and the Leatherman he's been carrying this season (Charge?).

I spotted one brief shot of him sawing away with the Charge saw while the plastic rested on his thigh. I sure wish he's stop cutting up stuff sitting on his leg. :eek:
 
MG_Saldivar said:
I sure wish he's stop cutting up stuff sitting on his leg. :eek:
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I heard that! It's almost as good as cutting up that fish on a rock right after talking about needing a sharp knife.

I love the show, but that boy do need some fishin' lessons!

chiger,
 
AustinTXShooter said:
I really liked the episode as well. I was up in Alaska at the end of June and the beginning of July so it was nice to see the area again. We didn't go to the Kenai National Park, but we did go to Seward which is about 40 miles away as the crow flies from where Les was. I love salmon, but I don't think I would eat the salmon that he did unless it was a true survival situation.

I read on Wikipedia and another forum that Les was cited for illegal commercial filming. Apparently you have to apply for a permit to film in a national park and some park rangers came across his camp and saw the cameras. After a quick check for $2800 was written to the National Park Service, he was allowed to continue filming.

http://www.outdoors-411.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6576&sid=d357dfd92c742193ebf687da0b1a8377
Click to expand...




FYI dude, Wikipedia is bullshit. Take a look at any page on there and you can edit and save it with whatever information that you want. I hope somebody releases a virus on it and shuts it down for good.
 
I know all about Wikipedia. While you can put whatever you want on there, it is usually pretty damn accurate since it kind of polices itself.
 
Stroud probably practices fasting, because he really goes hungry a lot in these shows and still stays pretty active.

I wouldn't have shattered the bottle. Bottles are more valuable in a situation like that when they are intact. He shatters the bottle, then has to use his oar handle for a canteen. Take a small chunk of the net, tie it around the bottle, and voila, a much better canteen than a kayak oar handle.

There are a lot of other things in the surrounding area that make better fishhooks than an oversized chunk of plastic or a broken piece of glass.

All in all, it still is a good mental exercise to watch it, and it's still way better than Man vs Wild.
 
I guess there are some mistakes he makes, i guess that just makes us human after all. Its still my favorite show on tv. Plus he is trying to teach us certain things we can use in survival situations , regarding the paddle handle, and like he said, he films it as its done, mistakes and all. Thats what i like about him. He seems honest with us and himself. Les Stroud is the greatest host on tv! To me anyway.haha
 
Jeezz.. You have to pay to film or photograph something in your own country? Unbelievable!!! I think it's time for a revolution.
 
I've been thinking about why I like this ep and why it reminded me of S1... After sleeping on it, I think the difference for me was that, despite all the un-treated-water-drinking and carrion-fish-eating, Les was actually surviving this time. As others have commented, in all the S2 shows to date, he seems to have been enduring, not surviving:


1. Kalhari - near-collapse from heat exhaustion (or heat stroke?) plus the head cold he had before starting filming...

2. Ecuador - panic attack at thought of a jaguar; "Dirty Jobs"-type bug infestation, foot fungus

3. Labrador - Okay, this is now my second fave ep of S2 and he was pretty 'up' the whole time (but he did eat recycled dog meat AND the whole production team had to be rescued along with him).

4. S. Africa - As somebody else on this forum stated, he's walking by huge herbivores yet this ep caused the term "Starvingman" to be coined. Also, the muddy water...


I realize there were plenty of obstacles/mishaps in S1 (deadfalls that didn't work, attack by tiny crabs in Costa Rica, Georgia swamp parasite) but somehow S1 had a different tone...

Sorry, I don't know how to put it any better. :o
 
It was an interesting episode full of beautiful scenery. Sometime I would like to see a situation where he has to deal with a bear problem. I was expecting to see bears at some point in that show, so that was a bit of a dissapointment.
 
chiger said:
I heard that! It's almost as good as cutting up that fish on a rock right after talking about needing a sharp knife.

I love the show, but that boy do need some fishin' lessons!

chiger,
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Or batoning the Buck 119 with a rock. {{{{{shudder}}}}}} With driftwod all over the place too. The shame.

With piles of beach rock around, it should be easy enough to keep a knife sharp-- your choice of grit!

I was more at home with this show as any, as it was closest to my own experience camping on the beach. You can really make nice shelters from driftwood. I would really be surprised of you couldn't find more containers for water--- I wouldn't have broken that bottle either.
 
I'll keep watching if only to see if he ever catches a fish:D. Seriously, though, I don't understand why he continues to demonstrate how not to find anything to eat other than bugs and bushes. Either focus on it and do it right or forget it and spend more time on actually getting enough bugs and bushes to be worthwhile.

All he has actually done is demonstrate how to withstand hunger for a week at a time. Stretch one of the episodes to a month and the crew would have to intervene to save his life. I still like the show. :) Regards, ss.
 
I thought at first he was cutting the fish on a rock, but after watching it again, I think it was a piece of wood--like a stump maybe. I could be just wishful thinking.
 
It's shaped like a rock, but it's a big chunk of driftwood. I had to go back and watch it again.

The fire piston was nice. Just watching him use a bow drill hurts my back.
 
.but why exactly didnt he just use a spear to catch the ever so present salmon that were "jumping all around him" ?
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He also could have attached a piece of net to a forked branch and tried to catch them.

I was expecting to see bears at some point in that show
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There was a black bear caught on film. He also stated that he had scared off a couple others as well.

As far as never catching his shelter on fire before. Didn't he catch some tree roots on fire in a shelter last season?
 
I saw that episode last night. I saw most of the show but did he actually try to find any shellfish? The salmon were spawning and usually will not bite on bait. I have caught them with spinners because the noise/vibration causes them to strike it.

Of all the places I would choose to be stranded would be a temperate coastal beach just for the shellfish. Clams, barnacles, chitons, urchins, mussels are all edible and very tasty. He could have have got salmonella, shigela(sp?) or several other microbes and been dead within 2-3 days from the sh&^s by eating rotten salmon.

There were several places that looked like oyster beds that he kayaked around.
 
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