This TV show (on the History channel) is the best of the survival reality genre. It doesn’t have the built in stupidity of being naked, it doesn’t have gimmicky games, and it doesn’t endorse risky stunts, it focuses on surviving in the woods alone. And that “alone” part is exceedingly difficult. It is what sends people home. The producers did a great job the second season of selecting highly skilled people for the endurance challenge. But the aloneness gets them, even the highly skilled.
For those who don’t know, the show deposits ten outdoor skills experts at ten different spots on Vancouver Island, all supposedly inaccessible to each other. Each location has ready access to fresh water. All of the contestants are allowed a basic supply kit and in addition are allowed to take ten items from a list of 50.
The challenge is to stay on the island as long as possible. And the reward to the last person standing is $500,000. Last year the winner lasted 55 days and was surprised that he had won so soon. He was prepared to stay much longer.
Here is a list of the supplies that are allowed, borrowed from the show’s website. I will resume commentary at the end of the list.
The contestants are allowed the following “regular” items:
- pair high leg Hunting boots
2. 2 pairs of Outdoor Pants (can unzip into shorts)
3. 1 t-shirt
4. 2 fleece or wool shirts (hooded or unhooded)
5. 3 pairs wool socks
6. 1 hat (brimmed, wool or baseball)
7. 1 bandana or shemagh
8. 1 pair gloves
9. 1 light outdoor jacket
10. 2 pairs underwear
11. 1 rain jacket and rain trousers
12. 1 thermal underwear (long)
13. 1 pair of gaiters
14. 1 pair of Crocs, Teva sandals or Keen sandals
15. 1 toothbrush
16. 1 pair of prescription eye glasses
17. 1 personal photograph
In addition, they are allowed the following winter items:
- 1 wool sweater (heavy)
2. 1 pair of gloves (wool/Dachsteins)
3. 1 trapper’s hat with ear protection or toboggan
They are also allowed the following safety/tracking/transmission items:
- 2 safety tools (may consist of a canister of wild animal repellant, an air horn and/or 1 flare)
2. 1 rules and regulations guide
3. 1 backpack
4. 1 camera pack
5. Camera equipment
6. 1 emergency flare
7. 1 satellite phone
8. 1 emergency personal flotation device
9. 1 first aid kit (military type – tourniquet, wadding, ace bandage, alcohol, plastic bag, etc)
10. 1 small mirror
11. 1 20×20 canvas tarp
12. 1 10×10 tarp for protecting camera and equipment
13. 1 GPS tracking device
14. 1 head lamp
15. 1 emergency rations pack to include water and food
And finally, they are each allowed to select any ten items from the following list:
Shelter
- 12×12 ground cloth/tarp (grommets approved)
2. 8 mm climbing rope – 10M
3. 550 parachord – 20m
4. 1 hatchet
5. 1 saw
6. 1 ax
Bedding
- 1 multi-seasonal sleeping bag that fits within provided backpack
2. 1 bivi bag (Gore-Tex sleeping bag cover)
3. 1 sleeping pad
4. 1 hammock
Cooking
- 1 large (no more than 2 quart) pot, includes lid
2. 1 steel frying pan
3. 1 flint or ferro rod set
4. 1 enamel bowl for eating
5. 1 spoon
6. 1 canteen or water bottle
7. 1 bear canister
Hygiene
- 1 bar soap
2. 1 8 oz tube of toothpaste
3. 1 face flannel
4. 1 40 m roll of dental floss
5. 1 small bottle bio shower soap
6. 1 shaving razor (and 1 blade)
7. 1 towel (30” x 60”)
8. 1 comb
Hunting
- 1 300-yard roll of nylon single filament fishing line and 25 assorted hooks (No lures)
2. 1 primitive bow with 6 Arrows (must be predominately made of wood)
3. 1 small gauge gill net (8 m x 2 m OR 1.5 m deep x 3.6 m long and 2” [50 mm] mesh)
4. 1 slingshot/Catapult
5. 1 net foraging bag
6. 1 3.5 lb roll of trapping wire
Food
- 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
Tools
- 1 pocket knife
2. 1 hunting knife
3. 1 Leatherman multi-tool
4. 1 sharpening stone
5. 1 roll of duct tape or 1 roll of electrical tape
6. 1 small shovel
7. 1 small sewing kit
8. 1 carabineer
9. 1 LED flashlight
10. 1 pair of ice spikes
All other items are prohibited – and in particular the following items are specifically prohibited:
- Fuel or matches
2. Bug spray/mosquito repellant.
3. Sunscreen/chap stick
4. Sunglasses
5. Beauty products
6. Map (detailed topographical)
7. Compass
8. Unapproved technology (anything with a battery or an engine, eg. cell phones, computers, watches, etc.)
9. Professional snares
10. Firearms of any kind
11. Ammunition
12. Explosives or gunpowder
13. Animal poison
14. Professional fishing rods
15. Fishing lures, flies, bait kits
16. Fishing traps
17. Food or beverage (except the options from the selection list)
18. Decoys
19. Animal calls
20. Tree stands
21. Professional bows or crossbows
22. Scopes of any kind
23. Tents or shelters
24. Stoves, pressure cookers or other cooking appliances
25. Hydration packs
26. Fire pits
27. Electric or propane lanterns
28. Inflatable boats
29. Filtration, purification devices, iodine tablets
30. Coolers or food storage boxes (except optional bear canister)
I’m not sure why they exclude specific items — if an item isn’t on the list, it isn’t allowed — but they do. And it just makes this post longer without adding any clarity.
I will now tell you the ten optional items that I would choose. Rest assured: this is only an academic exercise; I would never attempt the challenge. The contestants are way too uncomfortable (wet, cold, sleeping on the ground) and I hate being uncomfortable. That’s enough for me to stay home. But the more legitimate reason to stay home is the abundance of wildlife of a predatory nature. Vancouver Island has healthy populations of bears, mountain lions, and wolves. Those animals often play a supporting role in the show – and never in a constructive way.
Many of the items that I would select are obvious and appear to be selected by every contestant, like the tarp, axe, sleeping bag, pot (with lid), and ferro rod. That’s five items and it covers only the very basics: shelter, fire, and water purification (by boiling). I would also take a water bottle so I could store a little water while purifying more.
That leaves only four items and one of them must be a knife. I would probably choose an ultra-durable bushcraft knife instead of a multi-tool. It’s not as versatile, but then again, I wouldn’t expect to have much need of a screwdriver, whether flathead or phillips.
Based on what I have seen on the show, a gill net is essential. It is the most reliable provider of protein. One guy made his own gill net, so that is an option, but having a good one ready-made seems a better choice.
Down to two items and the list I’m considering remains long: paracord, saw, fishing line and hooks, trapping wire, food (gorp), sewing kit, and flashlight.
Contestants can use anything they find. Given that they are all situated on oceanfront property, the variety of stuff that lands on the beaches is incredible. Most of them find some kind of cordage and I would plan to do the same – no paracord, no wire. A flashlight would be great, but it would run out of juice and that would be annoying – no flashlight. A sewing kit would be incredibly useful for fixing clothes over the long haul, but not so much in the short run, which is all I’m counting on – no sewing kit. Good old raisins and peanuts would be binged on at the first sign of hunger and then where would I be – no gorp.
I would take a saw to help built a solid shelter. It’s seems essential if I am to sleep at all, otherwise my concerns about predators would overwhelm me. And I would take fishing line and hooks. There is plenty of seafood – snails, limpets, to use as bait. And procuring fish is the best way to get substantial food.
Which ten items would you select? The bonus question is what other item would you most want.
The item I would most want is a book. It would help fight the aloneness and boredom. The sophisticated 1% of me would want something like a complete volume of Shakespeare or some lengthy anthology. But the rest of me would want the most recent baseball encyclopedia. They don’t publish baseball encyclopedias anymore because a market of one person (me) isn’t adequate to cover the cost of production. All the information is online of course, but that is cold comfort to a survivor in the woods.
I wouldn’t last long alone in the woods, but I would last longer if I had a book — I’d even promise not to use the paper to help build a fire.
Now we know that gorp is an acronym and that Bob is quite an outdoorsman.
Theoretically.