Anyone Watching "ALONE"?

[Irish#1]

Love this show. History channel at 10:00 on Thursdays. 10 guys get dropped off on the upper shores of Vancouver Island. They have to live off the land. Last man to tap out gets $500K. Half tapped out within the first few days. They're down to four guys who have been there for two weeks. None know how many are left or where they are at.

The island is loaded with cougar, bear and wolves. Their only weapons are Bear pepper spray and a knife. No camera crews or anyone else around. They are given a satellite phone to use when they tap out. One guy had a bear snooping around his lean to while he tried to sleep. another had a cougar come to his tent after smelling the fish he was cooking.

Anyone else enjoy this new take on survival shows?

 

[woolybug25]

I did not, but i'll check it out. I didn't realize it was a contest like that. The previews made it seem like it was just them following people into the jungle. Like Naked & Afraid... just with clothes.

 

[BGIF]

I caught part of last night's show where a guy was whining like a Valley Girl, "I know there are other guys out there but I'm alone ..." Did he know which show he was on?

"I don't know if I can do this"

Etc, etc, etc.

I changed channels.


When I was 13 in the Boy Scouts and selected for the Order of the Arrow we were taken out individually into the Northwestern New Jersey forest near the Delaware Water Gap (where the original Jason, Friay the 13th) movie was filmed) with a sleeping bag and the clothes we were wearing. No knife, no flint, no shelter half. We were forbidden to speak. The area was bears, copper heads, and rattlesnakes among other critters.

We were 13 and 14 year olds and didn't even camera to snivel into much less a shot at 500K.

 

[Irish#1]

I did not, but i'll check it out. I didn't realize it was a contest like that. The previews made it seem like it was just them following people into the jungle. Like Naked & Afraid... just with clothes.

The only similarity is they have to find their own food and water. The area is so wet and damp all the time, no one could get a fire started for the first three days. It must have been filmed in the fall as the daytime highs have been in the low 40's with a lot of rain and high winds.

 

[NDdomer2]

great show

 

[Irish#1]

I caught part of last night's show where a guy was whining like a Valley Girl, "I know there are other guys out there but I'm alone ..." Did he know which show he was on?

"I don't know if I can do this"

Etc, etc, etc.

I changed channels.


When I was 13 in the Boy Scouts and selected for the Order of the Arrow we were taken out individually into the Northwestern New Jersey forest near the Delaware Water Gap (where the original Jason, Friay the 13th) movie was filmed) with a sleeping bag and the clothes we were wearing. No knife, no flint, no shelter half. We were forbidden to speak. The area was bears, copper heads, and rattlesnakes among other critters.

We were 13 and 14 year olds and didn't even camera to snivel into much less a shot at 500K.

I have an idea. Get in touch with the show and fill out an entry form to be on it next year. Sounds like you could win going away. $500K solves a lot of problems.

 

[Buster Bluth]

I caught part of last night's show where a guy was whining like a Valley Girl, "I know there are other guys out there but I'm alone ..." Did he know which show he was on?

"I don't know if I can do this"

Etc, etc, etc.

I changed channels.


When I was 13 in the Boy Scouts and selected for the Order of the Arrow we were taken out individually into the Northwestern New Jersey forest near the Delaware Water Gap (where the original Jason, Friay the 13th) movie was filmed) with a sleeping bag and the clothes we were wearing. No knife, no flint, no shelter half. We were forbidden to speak. The area was bears, copper heads, and rattlesnakes among other critters.

We were 13 and 14 year olds and didn't even camera to snivel into much less a shot at 500K.

Can confirm. Eagle Scout and selected to OA. The silent campout in the dark was miserable, but didn't require 500k to get it done.

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

The situation with trees falling would scare the shit out of me. Good show that I skip to from time to time. First episode I watched no hand tools then there were hand tools. Any info?

 

[Irish#1]

I caught part of last night's show where a guy was whining like a Valley Girl, "I know there are other guys out there but I'm alone ..." Did he know which show he was on?

"I don't know if I can do this"

Etc, etc, etc.

I changed channels.


When I was 13 in the Boy Scouts and selected for the Order of the Arrow we were taken out individually into the Northwestern New Jersey forest near the Delaware Water Gap (where the original Jason, Friay the 13th) movie was filmed) with a sleeping bag and the clothes we were wearing. No knife, no flint, no shelter half. We were forbidden to speak. The area was bears, copper heads, and rattlesnakes among other critters.

We were 13 and 14 year olds and didn't even camera to snivel into much less a shot at 500K.

Can confirm. Eagle Scout and selected to OA. The silent campout in the dark was miserable, but didn't require 500k to get it done.

The situation with trees falling would scare the shit out of me. Good show that I skip to from time to time. First episode I watched no hand tools then there were hand tools. Any info?

I did the camping thing. Just don't think it equates to what these guys are doing.

Each competitor was allowed to bring ten items with them. None could be firearms. Not sure about a bow and arrow.

 

[woolybug25]

lol at people comparing their boy scout camping trips to a being left in the wilderness to fend for yourself.

I spent a summer traveling through Alaska many moons ago and camped a bunch of places by myself for weeks at a time. Fending for yourself is far different then a boy scout camping trip. You get loopy, you get nervous. Everybody thinks because they pitched a tent in the woods, that they are Bear Grylls. What these people are doing is far more mentally exhausting then anything I, or most of you, have done. Simply being alone and dependent is something most people do not get a chance to actually experience and can cause psychological distress quite easily.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Different folks are different. Some are wired a lot tighter than others, and some genuinely love the wilderness. One of my current house buddies, a retired Catholic priest, when he was much younger {he's 78 now} would go into one of the Lake Superior isolated islands with just a knife, and beat out an existence --- including the old make-a-fire-by-friction bit.

Some people are tougher than others, and some people are more skilled. So, BGIF is more correct here than most: if someone volunteered to get into this "contest", they get little sympathy from me if they're breaking down sobbing and lamenting that they're "alone" [with a tap-out signal.] Mocking BGIF is off-base.

Would I have done this? He!l yes IF I had the wilderness skills like my buddy --- I loved being out in the wild alone when I was young. Can't imagine it being a negative experience unless there was bad luck with an accident or a snakebite, etc.

 

[woolybug25]

Different folks are different. Some are wired a lot tighter than others, and some genuinely love the wilderness. One of my current house buddies, a retired Catholic priest, when he was much younger {he's 78 now} would go into one of the Lake Superior isolated islands with just a knife, and beat out an existence --- including the old make-a-fire-by-friction bit.

Some people are tougher than others, and some people are more skilled. So, BGIF is more correct here than most: if someone volunteered to get into this "contest", they get little sympathy from me if they're breaking down sobbing and lamenting that they're "alone" [with a tap-out signal.] Mocking BGIF is off-base.

Would I have done this? He!l yes IF I had the wilderness skills like my buddy --- I loved being out in the wild alone when I was young. Can't imagine it being a negative experience unless there was bad luck with an accident or a snakebite, etc.

So you don't think the retired Catholic priest went through mental anguish in his adventure? These people go into the contest knowing they will be... tested. So mental breakdown is part of the game. It should be expected and armchair QB's acting like they are pussies cracks me up. Especially when they act like they could do better than trained survivalist because they got a fire-making patch in cubs scouts.

My comment was regarding people acting like they understand the first thing about the psychological distress someone goes through when they are truly stranded. Forgive me if I get a giggle out of someone comparing their 13 year old boy scout trip to being left in the Vancouver Island wilderness. It's silly.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I'm positive that Father Mike thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing as he has regaled me with how he went about the "survival" days [and is perhaps my best friend --- NO fooling around with facts.] This went right down to the showing me how you spot "weeds" like the northern plantain called thing [nothing like the tropical fruit] and strip seeds to either eat on the go, or grind up and make a small biscuit.

Don't be demeaning him. He got his training in this by having a farmboy upbringing, and time with a Potowatomi shaman named Brown, who is well-known for survival in the woods training. Father Mike is one of those guys who still goes up north during elk season, and gets out at 4am to track the things prior to the city slickers showing up with their shoot permits. He can render a deer and not only get all the edibles out of it, but make a pair of moccasins using the brains as a tanning substance and a collarbone as a scraper.

No. No anguish. He'd laugh at me if I suggested that --- and he is the nicest guy on the planet.

 

[Irish#1]

The show pointed out that the largest concentration of cougars in the world is on the island. I believe they said there were more than 2,000. Most cougar attacks in Canada occur on this island. The show also reports about 200 wolves on the island and that most reside on the northern part of the island, which is where the participants are. I don't remember how many bear they said were on the island, but several contestants have had encounters with them as well as the cougar.

Add the constant rain and gale force winds with temps in the 30's and 40's, lack of food and dry wood for a fire, I have a hard time equating this to boy scout camping.

 

[Irish#1]

Up to 21 days. Last nights episode was a little unusual and not as good as the previous episodes. Alan was funny throughout the show. He starts out reciting Edgar Allen Poe and other poets. You just don't expect that from a big guy from Blairesville, GA.

Mitch built his canoe made with a plastic tarp to find food. Trying to return he found he couldn't paddle against the tides and had to hike back to his camp.

I think the four remaining all had their spirits lifted finally having something substantial to eat.

 

[T Town Tommy]

I watch the show and I think they are doing a pretty good job of capturing the emotional and psychological effects of the contestants. As far as if I could last that long out there, it's hard to say. Having been in the military and living through somewhat similar circumstances, I can say it isn't as easy as some may think it is. Personally, I think the person that can occupy their mind the best will win the contest at the end of the day. The four remaining people know how to survive off the basics they have. It's the mental part that is going to beat you down.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I agree with that. My priest buddy felt that he was in the presence of God at every turn, sort of a Nature Mystic, so there was no mental stress for him.

 

[Irish#1]

At first I thought the young kid from Nebraska might win it. Simply because he's young enough not to think too deep about where he's at, situation, etc.. The last two shows he's show a chink in his mental armor. I now think Mitch might win it. I haven't seen him talk about missing anyone or being lonely. Each day he has an agenda which keeps him focused on the goal.