Alone in the Wild
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I quite enjoyed the programme. I'd be a bit worried about bears too, but more so when I was asleep and one snuck up and started rooting around next to my bivi in the middle of the night 
I think I would have spent the first couple of days building a substantial shelter from logs. If you're going to be there for 12 weeks it'd be worth the effort, and maybe incorporate some noise alarms around the outside of some kind to wake me if Biffo turned up in the middle of the night.
I've no idea how much percentage of survival is psychological..........I'd guess about 70% and of course a good smattering of knowledge and skills.
I've never spent 12 weeks in the Yukon on my own, but I'd like to have a go, knowing it was 12 weeks and then I get to go home. As long as you know it's for a determined period I think it would make things easier. It is a long time though with just yourself for company but what an experience!
I think the right frame of mind would help a lot. Remembering it is for 12 weeks and then I get out. My loved ones, although I'd miss them are still going to be there when I get out, and boy will I have a lot of stories to tell. I'd take notes and write a book about the experience especially about my mental state, I'd practice various skills to keep me occupied and become pretty good with that canoe. I'd make stuff, and carve wood as momentos of my experience.
I've no idea if I could last the course. Probably not. It must be so much worse for folks in real survival situations who have no idea of when or if help is going to come.
Good programme though and fair play to the guy. Definately be watching this weeks episode. Does anyone know if he's doing a book? Books give so much more insight than what you see on TV and he may explain more about his state of mind and the highs and lows.
Cold burial is a very good book if you want an idea of what it's really like to survive in the Barren lands
I think I would have spent the first couple of days building a substantial shelter from logs. If you're going to be there for 12 weeks it'd be worth the effort, and maybe incorporate some noise alarms around the outside of some kind to wake me if Biffo turned up in the middle of the night.
I've no idea how much percentage of survival is psychological..........I'd guess about 70% and of course a good smattering of knowledge and skills.
I've never spent 12 weeks in the Yukon on my own, but I'd like to have a go, knowing it was 12 weeks and then I get to go home. As long as you know it's for a determined period I think it would make things easier. It is a long time though with just yourself for company but what an experience!
I think the right frame of mind would help a lot. Remembering it is for 12 weeks and then I get out. My loved ones, although I'd miss them are still going to be there when I get out, and boy will I have a lot of stories to tell. I'd take notes and write a book about the experience especially about my mental state, I'd practice various skills to keep me occupied and become pretty good with that canoe. I'd make stuff, and carve wood as momentos of my experience.
I've no idea if I could last the course. Probably not. It must be so much worse for folks in real survival situations who have no idea of when or if help is going to come.
Good programme though and fair play to the guy. Definately be watching this weeks episode. Does anyone know if he's doing a book? Books give so much more insight than what you see on TV and he may explain more about his state of mind and the highs and lows.
Cold burial is a very good book if you want an idea of what it's really like to survive in the Barren lands
I watched it last night and thought he did OK to be honest. Yes his state of mind was a bit worrying early on but he did get on with a lot of the things he needed to be doing: shelter, food etc... He seemed to be doing a lot better than most 'non bushcraft' people would do in the same situation. The bit about him not liking to kill anaimals was different from what I was expecting, after reading some earleir posts on here, as he said he had used a rifle/shotty on a farm so presumably has shot animals before; I remember him saying that he did not like the gutting part, which is not most peoples favorite part but he got on with it and had a good free meal for his troubles, so good on him. He seemed to have had some good training before he went but just did not have the experience in the bush to make the difference between an OK choice and a good one; like when he was choosing his camp and ended up doing the old 'well this will do' style of decision making. Good show & I will be watching the rest of the series.
I am interested in the topic of 'protein poisening' that was mentioned earlier, where it seems that bringing meat/fish to the campfire is not enough and that you have to be good at finding eadible plants as we well if you want to stay healthy for long periods in the wilderness. Time to start reading that 'Food for Free' book I got recently....
I am interested in the topic of 'protein poisening' that was mentioned earlier, where it seems that bringing meat/fish to the campfire is not enough and that you have to be good at finding eadible plants as we well if you want to stay healthy for long periods in the wilderness. Time to start reading that 'Food for Free' book I got recently....
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!
I hate the smell of rabbit guts, rafty as hell they are.
To get most nasty smells off your hands, use a wedge of lemon and wash under COLD water. Hot water just opens up your pores and lets the smell in further.
'To get most nasty smells off your hands, use a wedge of lemon and wash under COLD water. Hot water just opens up your pores and lets the smell in further.'
You learn something new every day; often more on BCUK. While not applicable in proper wilderness situations, I use latex gloves that I keep in a rabbit cleaning kit I use when out at night (old chopping board sawn in half, knife used just for rabbits, plastic bags for meat...). I dont mind doing it without gloves it's just a lot easier this way. I once forgot to wash my hands after a mate produced some smokes & then drove home, only to find the car smelling funny the next day where I had been holding the wheel.... Doh!
You learn something new every day; often more on BCUK. While not applicable in proper wilderness situations, I use latex gloves that I keep in a rabbit cleaning kit I use when out at night (old chopping board sawn in half, knife used just for rabbits, plastic bags for meat...). I dont mind doing it without gloves it's just a lot easier this way. I once forgot to wash my hands after a mate produced some smokes & then drove home, only to find the car smelling funny the next day where I had been holding the wheel.... Doh!
The Law of the Yukon
"This is the law of the Yukon, and ever she makes it plain:
Send not your foolish and feeble; send me your strong and your sane....
Going outside with an escort, raving with lips all afoam,
Writing a cheque for a million, driveling feebly of home....
This is the Law of the Yukon, that only the Strong shall thrive;
That surely the Weak shall perish, and only the Fit survive.
Dissolute, damned and despairful, crippled and palsied and slain,
This is the Will of the Yukon, -- Lo, how she makes it plain!"
- Robert Service
"This is the law of the Yukon, and ever she makes it plain:
Send not your foolish and feeble; send me your strong and your sane....
Going outside with an escort, raving with lips all afoam,
Writing a cheque for a million, driveling feebly of home....
This is the Law of the Yukon, that only the Strong shall thrive;
That surely the Weak shall perish, and only the Fit survive.
Dissolute, damned and despairful, crippled and palsied and slain,
This is the Will of the Yukon, -- Lo, how she makes it plain!"
- Robert Service
There seems to be a lot of criticism for this fella, but then I believe this is a program on the physical and psychological affect of being 'Alone in the Wild'. It isn't an instructional program on survival or bushcraft. By necessity, he had to make mistakes, so that the consequences of those mistakes could be seen. A survival expert would have coped much better, been better equipped psychologically, to the point where it would have changed the content of the program to 'living outdoors'.
After all, it's not until we are pushed beyond our limits that we can truly find out what they are.
All kudos to him.
After all, it's not until we are pushed beyond our limits that we can truly find out what they are.
All kudos to him.
Hey Ben, you must get the award for one of the oldest members with fewist posts. Joined 2004 with 10 posts...that's 2 posts a year. Nice one. You're probably out there doing it :You_Rock_ fair play mate.
I've total respect for the guy, and big kudos for doing it. I don't think that neccessarily a 'survival expert' would have coped better. It's all very well having the skills and knowledge but the mind is a funny thing and having abundant knowledge and skills dosn't mean you can cope psychologically. Read 'Deep survival' by Lawrence Gonzales. Seasoned hunters have perisihed in a few days when been 'dropped in it', but folks with limited experience have got themselves out of a similar difficult situation.
It's a funny old game and something I'm increasingly interested in.
In this guys situation I'd like to think that knowing it's 12 weeks max would fortify me and make me focus and just know there's going to be an end. I don't know if that would be enough, I've never done it.
A 'real' survival situation must be infinately worse..........not knowing that anyone is going to help you or even realise your missing. That's when the REAL strength of mind would have to kick in.
Knowledge and skills would be a great asset, but if you havn't got the right stuff upstairs it may well not happen.
BOD
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Haven't seen the show but..
It's a respectable period to survive all by yourself so he did fine.
If it was for real he would have probably been rescued.
What's worrying is that he was so ill prepared in his survival training - 4 days! and no practice!
But he was manifestly unfit. Imagine sending a person with his fitness background out there.
You need a manly figure like John Fenna or at least the 20kg of spare provisons that I carry around my tummy.
Fat, and lots of it, not starch or protein is what you need to survive out there as the Inuit have proven.
Poor fellow never had a chance with so little in the bank!
It's a respectable period to survive all by yourself so he did fine.
If it was for real he would have probably been rescued.
What's worrying is that he was so ill prepared in his survival training - 4 days! and no practice!
But he was manifestly unfit. Imagine sending a person with his fitness background out there.
You need a manly figure like John Fenna or at least the 20kg of spare provisons that I carry around my tummy.
Fat, and lots of it, not starch or protein is what you need to survive out there as the Inuit have proven.
Poor fellow never had a chance with so little in the bank!
How did you know that I call my erm"avoisdupois" my 'emergency rations in a most convenient way of carrying them'?
Skinny guys starve first!
In the jungle the yanks used to go in "lean and mean" and came out anorexic...the Brits went in "well fed" and came out lean - and still ready to rumble!
Skinny guys starve first!
In the jungle the yanks used to go in "lean and mean" and came out anorexic...the Brits went in "well fed" and came out lean - and still ready to rumble!
BOD
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Quite right John we have the perfect metabolism for long term survival!
I'm always amused when I see the beefcake yanks in uniform. Cut off from their logistics they are going to suffer.
Back to Wardle, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that Chris McCandless (Into the Wild) lasted over 113 days in Alaska while being far less equipped to survive in gear terms.
The kid had more experience living rough it seems
I'm always amused when I see the beefcake yanks in uniform. Cut off from their logistics they are going to suffer.
Back to Wardle, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that Chris McCandless (Into the Wild) lasted over 113 days in Alaska while being far less equipped to survive in gear terms.
The kid had more experience living rough it seems
Hey now, easy us on yanks! We're nice folks and sometimes handy to have around
Generally speaking, there's much higher game density in Alaska than much of the Yukon.
And of course, McCandless spent most of his time in Alaska slowly dying, so I wouldn't say he had more experience *living* rough. Wardle bailed out long before it got to be a real health problem, as he should have.
The McCandless tragedy illustrates how dangerous it is for people to underestimate the specific and unique challenges of the arctic and subarctic.
After watching the preview that ran in the US this summer and then yesterday the web diaries (the real show doesn't start until next week here) I must say I'm appalled at what I see.
I'm not criticizing Wardle, mind you. He clearly didn't know enough to realize the situation he was putting himself in. (By itself, that's a reason he shouldn't have been there.)
But I am shocked at the producers for selecting him and putting him in that position. The area is no joke and it can kill you very quickly and he wasn't up to it. Not even close. The producers must have known this and didn't care because it would make good entertainment....
There is an entire secondary issue surrounding the question of whether someone *can* reasonably survive for long alone in the northern woods a supply mechanism.
A straightforward calorie per hour analysis strongly suggests that the vast majority of the time, a lone individual cannot make it *long term* in a relatively stationary arctic location without enormous amounts of luck with respect to game.
Natives never did long term solo trips for this very reason.
A better (an safer) approach for the show would have been to focus on two or three people doing it. The calorie math works out on that one -- and it would still be plenty dramatic.
A straightforward calorie per hour analysis strongly suggests that the vast majority of the time, a lone individual cannot make it *long term* in a relatively stationary arctic location without enormous amounts of luck with respect to game.
Natives never did long term solo trips for this very reason.
A better (an safer) approach for the show would have been to focus on two or three people doing it. The calorie math works out on that one -- and it would still be plenty dramatic.
forestwalker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
To which the answer is pretty conclusively no. With a high quality kit, a lot of luck it might be doable as a fluke (e.g. bull moose walks into your camp just as fall is starting).
And you need to know the area pretty well; where is the moose going to be, where (and when) do you catch the salmon run, etc.
That would be a fun (and more realistic) version. Or pick 10-20 people, pay Mors (Ray, Lars, e.g.) a few weeks salary to train them, and then have them play "Yukon Settler", going into their site e.g. by canoe (1 canoe/person, a weeks travel, at least one longer portage, that would be the kit mass limit). Make the duration a year.
There was a C4 series a few years back on the Frontier House where they did something pretty close - settler families had to build their own houses, start farms etc.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/project/index.html
IIRC, they weren't asked to go through a winter because it was felt to be too risky for them. One of the assessment criteria to determine the 'winners' was how much firewood they'd got in by the autumn - none of them had enough, only one had got even roughly close to what would be needed.
I also recall one of them left his wife after the series was over, and moved back into the house to live on a permanent basis, so the concept must have had some appeal...
Or the wife was that terrible.... everything , even pain and mental torture and discomfort is relative.
That, for me, is the biggest problem Martyn.
The whole situation would have been planned (by the production team) to be "interesting".
If the man had been mentally and technically prepared to cope well with the situation, they wouldn't have had a marketable program
I was not quite sure why he was walking from camp to camp. The canoe would have used far less calories carrying kit etc.
I remember plenty of squirrels in the rockies and perhaps a systematic hunt for them might have helped. I don't know though, the trouble is without being there it is hard to work out how slim the pickings really would be.
Cheers,
Steve
I remember plenty of squirrels in the rockies and perhaps a systematic hunt for them might have helped. I don't know though, the trouble is without being there it is hard to work out how slim the pickings really would be.
Cheers,
Steve
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