Alone in the Wild
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What a coincidence - not seen the TV programme, but I'm currently reading a book called "Alone in the wilderness" by Joseph Knowles, written way back in 1913!
The guy stripped butt naked and walked off into the wilderness for 2 months (August and September) and only communicated via notes written on birch bark with charcoal, dropped at a cache once a week.
He made fire, trapped and caught his food, made clothing...... all with no clothes, no tools, no equipment whatsoever. I am in awe!
The interesting similarity with the programme described in this thread is that it was the mental challenge that was the hardest part - surviving physically, when you have the correct knowledge and experience, is entirely do-able, but it was the solitude that almost destroyed him.
Interesting book to read if you ever come across it....
Dom.
The guy stripped butt naked and walked off into the wilderness for 2 months (August and September) and only communicated via notes written on birch bark with charcoal, dropped at a cache once a week.
He made fire, trapped and caught his food, made clothing...... all with no clothes, no tools, no equipment whatsoever. I am in awe!
The interesting similarity with the programme described in this thread is that it was the mental challenge that was the hardest part - surviving physically, when you have the correct knowledge and experience, is entirely do-able, but it was the solitude that almost destroyed him.
Interesting book to read if you ever come across it....
Dom.
In an earlier post on this thread I wasn't as clear as I should have been. Some readers may have thought I was having a go at the bloke in the programme.
I PM'd some people and received some assurances but thought I should go on record:
"If any adverse comments are aimed at me then my motivation in commenting is totally misunderstood, it is my fault for not making it clear that I admired what he was doing and I am shocked to have given any such wrong impression. My aim was to learn.
It was never my intention to slag him off. I am keen to learn and as I said, Sometimes it is better to learn from other people's mistakes - so I hope that there is some kind of follow up programme showing how he might have done things differently.
I admire the bloke for doing it. I know that I couldnt as I also said, I am still very much a beginner. I have only stayed out 3 times and then only once on my own hence my previous posts on trying to find a wood so that I can do more.
I repeat - my motivation was solely to learn."
I PM'd some people and received some assurances but thought I should go on record:
"If any adverse comments are aimed at me then my motivation in commenting is totally misunderstood, it is my fault for not making it clear that I admired what he was doing and I am shocked to have given any such wrong impression. My aim was to learn.
It was never my intention to slag him off. I am keen to learn and as I said, Sometimes it is better to learn from other people's mistakes - so I hope that there is some kind of follow up programme showing how he might have done things differently.
I admire the bloke for doing it. I know that I couldnt as I also said, I am still very much a beginner. I have only stayed out 3 times and then only once on my own hence my previous posts on trying to find a wood so that I can do more.
I repeat - my motivation was solely to learn."
Already posted this in another AITW thread, but as there are many knife junkies on here and there will no doubt be speculation on what it is over the coming weeks, thought you may be interested in the SWC knife he uses:
I just watched it online.
I thought it was a great programme. Excellent stuff. To be honest, my final thoughts weren't that this was a programme about survival skills per se, so much as a programme about human psychology. Which, I suppose, as we are all told, mental attitude is the real key to survival. That seemed to be the focus and lesson of the programme.
Can't believe some of you are being critical - the fellow actually went out and did it, rather than the odd night out in some wood in the home counties (which clearly means some of you think you know it all). Get over yourselves.
I don't blame him for being so scared of bears. I know I would be. Again, I notice it is only those who face the next door's cat on a regular basis who are brave enough to think he was exaggerating the risk.
I find some of the comments about his squeamishness at killing animals a bit naive. He undoubtedly had plenty of instruction and training before he went (Channel 4 would NEVER have taken a risk with someone's life - Ed was NEVER at risk). That would have included shooting and meat preparation. I think his attitude was more to do with not wanting to upset some viewers who may be into the whole environmental/save the world thing (who are proportionally more likely to be vegetarian). By presenting his killing of animals in a philosophical manner it acts as an apology.
Equally, I think it was really a marketing ploy to present him as a non-survival expert. Come on, think about it. No TV production company would have taken such a risk with someone's life. Ed would have had plenty of instructions and lessons - enough to put even the most ardent arm-chair expert to shame.
I think both of these observations are solely due to marketing and promotion. Something the monogrammed knife only underlines...
But I loved the programme, and will continue to watch it. One of the best things currently on TV.
I thought it was a great programme. Excellent stuff. To be honest, my final thoughts weren't that this was a programme about survival skills per se, so much as a programme about human psychology. Which, I suppose, as we are all told, mental attitude is the real key to survival. That seemed to be the focus and lesson of the programme.
Can't believe some of you are being critical - the fellow actually went out and did it, rather than the odd night out in some wood in the home counties (which clearly means some of you think you know it all). Get over yourselves.
I don't blame him for being so scared of bears. I know I would be. Again, I notice it is only those who face the next door's cat on a regular basis who are brave enough to think he was exaggerating the risk.
I find some of the comments about his squeamishness at killing animals a bit naive. He undoubtedly had plenty of instruction and training before he went (Channel 4 would NEVER have taken a risk with someone's life - Ed was NEVER at risk). That would have included shooting and meat preparation. I think his attitude was more to do with not wanting to upset some viewers who may be into the whole environmental/save the world thing (who are proportionally more likely to be vegetarian). By presenting his killing of animals in a philosophical manner it acts as an apology.
Equally, I think it was really a marketing ploy to present him as a non-survival expert. Come on, think about it. No TV production company would have taken such a risk with someone's life. Ed would have had plenty of instructions and lessons - enough to put even the most ardent arm-chair expert to shame.
I think both of these observations are solely due to marketing and promotion. Something the monogrammed knife only underlines...
But I loved the programme, and will continue to watch it. One of the best things currently on TV.
Durulz, I just watched this online and pretty much agree with all you've said. Going out and living with yourself is such an amazingly brave thing to do. I had a giggle though when around the second day he started speaking to the camera as a person.
I talk to inanimat items all the time you should hear what I call my computer when it is not listening to me!
I don't disagree with your general observations, but I just want to pop in on the "bear" portion of your comments -- and refer back to Wardle's fear of bears as well -- because fear of something too often leads to inappropriate actions taken.
One of the greatest myths of the outdoors concerns the dangers of bears. Simply put, brown bears or black bears do not pose a meaningful risk to humans if a couple of extremely basic precautions are taken (i.e. food and waste management, not surprising mother bears with cubs, etc.)
I've spent hundreds of nights alone in (brown and black) bear country over the years and had many bear encounters and sightings and I assure you that bears really aren't something to be afraid of. Mindful of, yes, but not afraid of in the slightest. I'm almost always delighted with bear encounters, even those when curious bears check out the camp...
(The exception to the delight is here in California in the Yosemite back country where the bears can be real pests and you have to chase them out of camp too often, or even out of your tent! But they're not a risk, they're just a pain in the rear... In Alaska, I count every bear siting as nothing but joy (unless they're cubs, of course...)
I've only seen one episode of "Alone in the Wild" but I was concerned about Wardle's paranoia about bears. He WAS exaggerating the risk. Massively.
When the editors left that content in because it was good dramatically, it just served to stoke the fears of a public not habituated to bears. It just furthers irrational fears about bears and that keeps people out of the wild, affects policy, etc.
My 2 cents, for what they're worth.
Well that sucks. I can't access the show from a US IP address. I guess I will have to see if I can find a UK proxy to use.
If you have cable, it will be on the National Geographic Channel in a week or so.
I've been keeping an eye on this one, and I've chipped in on another thread about Mr Wardle and his adventures in the Yukon. I have a couple of things to say on some of the things which have been stated on here.
I'm almost completely with Dogwood on the bear matter, but not quite; I live in Yukon (it is amazing), and I spend countless hours in the Yukon backcountry with work. Bears are part of the deal, and you have to get used to working and recreating in their environment. Like Dogwood said, you have to adjust things to minimize the risk of encounters. My experience with the big, furry ones is that they are amazingly patient and tolerant animals, and are great to see. Even if I don't see them, just knowing they're about is cool. However, I do think there is a risk. I think grizzlies are to be feared the least, just follow the rules and there is no need to fear at all. Black bears, on the other hand, are something which I do have a bit of a dose of fear about; every now and then you meet one who behaves a little bit strangely. I've had my fair share of bear encounters, and the only ones which have scared me a little have been with black bears (and I emphasize, these are the minority of my black bear encounters). I think there is some risk, they are semi-predatory.
I am also agreeing with Durulz. The guy went out and did it. I also commented in another thread that I thought he'd done something silly....but I respect him for doing it. If you've spent most of your life in the UK, then you have no concept of the vastness of the wilderness out here. 30,000 people in an area WAY bigger than Blighty, and the fact that if something goes wrong when you're out in it....you're hooped. The wilderness of the far North is daunting and it can get on top of you. The reason I can say this is I'm British, I just live and work in Yukon. For the critical ones amongst you, ease up on Mr Wardle, he tried and succeeded in staying out there for a considerable period (longer than I would have been able to). The reality of it is, most people from Blighty would probably brick it when they looked out over the Yukon, and were unable to see a Tescos within the next mile.
I'm almost completely with Dogwood on the bear matter, but not quite; I live in Yukon (it is amazing), and I spend countless hours in the Yukon backcountry with work. Bears are part of the deal, and you have to get used to working and recreating in their environment. Like Dogwood said, you have to adjust things to minimize the risk of encounters. My experience with the big, furry ones is that they are amazingly patient and tolerant animals, and are great to see. Even if I don't see them, just knowing they're about is cool. However, I do think there is a risk. I think grizzlies are to be feared the least, just follow the rules and there is no need to fear at all. Black bears, on the other hand, are something which I do have a bit of a dose of fear about; every now and then you meet one who behaves a little bit strangely. I've had my fair share of bear encounters, and the only ones which have scared me a little have been with black bears (and I emphasize, these are the minority of my black bear encounters). I think there is some risk, they are semi-predatory.
I am also agreeing with Durulz. The guy went out and did it. I also commented in another thread that I thought he'd done something silly....but I respect him for doing it. If you've spent most of your life in the UK, then you have no concept of the vastness of the wilderness out here. 30,000 people in an area WAY bigger than Blighty, and the fact that if something goes wrong when you're out in it....you're hooped. The wilderness of the far North is daunting and it can get on top of you. The reason I can say this is I'm British, I just live and work in Yukon. For the critical ones amongst you, ease up on Mr Wardle, he tried and succeeded in staying out there for a considerable period (longer than I would have been able to). The reality of it is, most people from Blighty would probably brick it when they looked out over the Yukon, and were unable to see a Tescos within the next mile.
Pete, I agree black bears can get a little weird on rare occasions and there *are* more cases of black bears exhibiting predatory behavior than grizzlies. (That said, the numbers are still insanely small and the risks modest, as you know.)
For folks not familiar with black bears (I know Pete is!) 99.9% of the time, you can just run a black bear off, no problem. And taking an aggressive posture with a nuisance black bear is the best move.
Almost all black bears run off when confronted. If you ever see a black bear creeping around behind you, poking his head around trees and, most importantly, following you... that's when you've got to pay a lot of attention because it's a sign of predatory behavior: They're taking their measure of you.
And that's when you REALLY get macho with them, before they get the nerve get macho with you. It almost never happens, but if it does, getting tough with the bear and making a ton of noise sends them packing. Bang sticks, shout, all that.
But seriously, with a few precautions, all your bear encounters will be joyous and not alarming. They're incredibly smart, incredibly interesting, everything about bears is grand.
I can only recall him saying that he didn't like the gutting/skinning part, and to be fair, who does?
It's not the best job in the world. I certainly don't 'enjoy' doing it, it's just something that has to be done.
I do also wonder how many people have actually killed an animal and prepared it.
Like anything else, you get used to it. But I agree, I don't like gutting because of the smell, mostly.
Skinning doesn't bother me -- but I'm a brain tanner so I tend to skin with an eye to what I'll do with a hide so I'm very focused and excited to see what kind of hide I get if I do my job right!
I saw the programme, I was amazed at the electric fence! 50 days alone? I doubt many people would be able to do that and not have a sense of paranoia or fear about the animals surrounding him. If he has been told wild tales about bears in a style that has left him concerned then you can imagine the effect that will have on him after 50 days of constantly staying alert in case the nasty bear turns up. I think he achieved something beyond what many of us ever will, which is 50 days messing about in wild Canada and getting paid for it!
Thanks for that. Book can be found online for free here:
http://www.archive.org/stream/aloneinwilderne00knowgoog
After a time you take less notice, in fact I prefer to do the gutting etc as you can spot any disease that may be present. I still find Mackeral the smelliest! After a few of those your hands smell it seems for days afterwards!
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