Alone in the Wild

[African]

Hi All

Anyone watched this on TV, on channel 4 last episode tonight?

The bloke seems a bit out of his depth and not sufficiently skilled to me. Great project to put together but would have been much more enjoyable with more training and better preperation.

One of the very few people I've seen miss a stationary squirrel at about 10 yards with a shotgun!!

 

[Angus Og]

http://bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45501

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I admit the guy has guts and is showing alot of behind the scenes skills and his own fears but...
how much of the show is him crying? and him saying he can't do it.
quite boring telly.

anyone that's been into Survival/bushcraft knows that lonelenes does strange things to you, he should have expected it.

oh it's back on...oh...he looks sad again

 

[Draven]

I only watched the third episode, which I assume was the one filled most with sobbing and least with useful information, and I think that if you have an interest in actually surviving on your own in the north american wilderness (or any wilderness, really, but north american in particular because you probably WILL live long enough for the psychological problems to kick in, even if you can't survive) then it is good television. Most people underestimate the psychological implications of being so completely alone.

I've pretty much made my opinion known that I think it was the wrong challenge for the wrong person, and I'm honestly not surprised at all that it didn't make interesting bushcrafty television. Interesting survival television, though, I maintain it was.

I think that the Yukon was a horrible place to set it. Sure, it's proper wilderness, but the animals that you would most likely be able to sustain yourself on (and for a significant period of time, at that) you can't hunt, if I recall correctly from the last thread on the subject.

I think that the bit in the hotel room at the end was probably one of the most worthwhile parts; saying that he doesn't need all the **** in his hotel room and he'd be more comfortable in a hammock - with his block of cheese

Pete

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Channel 4, I'm sure will be getting complaints about it.

Don't get me wrong I admire the guy, I'd never take on such a task!
It's just a large amount of the show was him in varying states of mental anguish sometimes silently crying.
no one likes to see depressed people especially if you're expecting something more varied.

 

[crazydave]

I think its a good counter to the hey ho and gung ho methods from our two favourite tv stars and it shows just how hard it can be, he obviously thought it would be like his other projects but the lack of a daily target obviously got to him. a valuable lesson to those who maintain that they're fine and can hack anything nature throws at them. the movies actually have it right with the omega man, I am legend, jeremiah johnson, castaway etc..

its a long time to be alone when you arent used to it and the american west is full of legends of crazy mountain men and prospectors. les stroud uses the camera as a second person or even a therapist.

 

[PeterHW]

Having read the other thread and now knowing what I expected might be the case....that back up etc was very close to hand....the guy getting into such a mental state was suprising....the tears etc were more like a young child going to boarding school and feeling home sick...however I take on board the thoughts others have mentioned that the body feeding off itself so much could play havoc with his chemicals in the brain and bring about bad mood swings. Essentially though the guy was'nt mentally tough enough...if what we saw was for real...and not just in the crying aspect...but in the discipline aspect as well...and in his ethical outlook. Having qualms about killing animals...set him back a lot IMO...he ought to have begun feeding himself and taking the situation seriously in that regard much sooner...but that is what a TV situation can create...complacency due to the fact that the "Lodge" is a stones throw away. He gave a good account of himself tho in lasting 50 days...like many emotional people he had a high inner pain threshold and simply toughed the hunger out...and that's not easy...

 

[hammock monkey]

It seemed to me that he was un-prepared for such a tough challenge, but the show had value in the way it demonstrated what happens to people, i.e. they (we) generally crumble in those circumstances - even with some training. 50 days is a long time, I've never done it and I doubt I ever will.
I've always felt that there's a certain psychological effect that eating meat can have when you've not eaten properly for a good while, essentially giving you comfort and hope and enthusiasm. He was often lacking these things in the last stages, which was a shame.

Its good to have a cry if you feel the stress and are missing loved ones, but when you get to the stage he was at its make or break, and unfortunately he was in bits.

Anyway, nice guy - he obviously came away with a greater appreciation for those around him, and learned a lot about himself. More power to him.
I'd like to see a write up of his experience once he was back and settled, especially a 'lessons learned' section.

I wonder if someone could interview him for BCUK?

 

[Bushwhacker]

Essentially though the guy was'nt mentally tough enough...

Yeah, he's only tough enough to climb a molehill like Everest.

 

[jungle_re]

Yeah, he's only tough enough to climb a molehill like Everest.

Which in fairness is a great feat but not comparable. The single sole aim such as the peak can be a very strong motivational force. Surviving for extended periods reuires more emphasis on a variety of important things which have to be acheived but the singular goal of surving is not a visual deffinable goal like the peak of a mountain. It seemed to me alot of his anguish came from his own expectation and when it was a lot harder than he first thought all the other external factors killed his motivation and led to quite a negative outlook. If you had a PHD in maths and took an GCSE paper for an experiment and only managed to get a C you would be really peeved prehaps a similar metal process occured to a man who conqured the worlds highest mountain but found he really struggled to live out in the wilderness which he had prehaps falsly thought of as a bit of a jolly.

I did enjoy watching it but the crying and wollowing emphasis did become boring quickly.

 

[BushTucker]

I certainly dont want to take anything away from the guy, he did good to survive as he did ( if you can call it survival ), but, when things got tough he seemed to buckle very easily.

I feel he wasted a lot of precious time, if I were him I would have been fishing while talking and crying in the camera. I also think he did wrong with his constant moving. If he was so weak from hunger why carry a **** load of crap and expend all his valuable remaining energy. I feel he would have been better off just expanding the distance around his camp for food searches.

I know that his mind had a huge inpact on his judgement so maybe I am being a bit harsh here.

 

[76bts]

Thought the show was great and a super achievement to last 50days alone on not a whole lot of food. I think the main aim of the program was in the title being 'Alone' and the phycological problems associated with long term lonliness. I know we would all like to see more bushcraft material in the program but then is that what C4 viewers expect or do they prefer editing to show the tears and torment (drama!!). I think the editing made it look like the guy cried the whole time, he probably had a good cry every couple of days and sure there is no harm in that!

 

[Brown Bear]

Lets not be too hard on the guy. It's near impossible to find 4000+ calories of food a day in a forest when you're not allowed to shoot anything big and meaty. If he could have popped one of those moose he would have been eating like a king for weeks.

I must say though, he did seem to carry a lot of stuff he didn't really need and he seemed to spend a lot of time faffing about when he could have been trap building/fishing etc.

I'm just grateful for any kind of bushcraft on TV though.

 

[Martyn]

Channel 4, I'm sure will be getting complaints about it.

Don't get me wrong I admire the guy, I'd never take on such a task!
It's just a large amount of the show was him in varying states of mental anguish sometimes silently crying.
no one likes to see depressed people especially if you're expecting something more varied.

I think you get what you get when you put a man in that situation and film it. Nobody ...nobody knows how they will handle it till they are in it and you certainly cant script it for a TV show.

Who wants to watch yet another fire by friction tutorial, this has way more educational value.

 

[ForgeCorvus]

If you read the end credits, hes down as cameraman, producer and director
I far as I'm aware the director is the guy who chooses what gets shown.

Fair play to the guy for what he managed to do, I'd like to see the follow-up next year, after Ed has spent some more time with some wildeness instructors (yukon specialists would be best)
I'd be interested in seeing his kit list, which apart from Xlbs of camera gear and two guns seems to have at least one (maybe two) cast iron dutch oven type pot(s) and a full sized axe.....small wonder the load was a back-breaker

 

[dogwood]

Yeah, he's only tough enough to climb a molehill like Everest.

Gotta be careful about assigning too much credit to anyone summiting Everest these days. Sherpas are hauling all kinds of people up to the summit who shouldn't be there.

For example, read about socialite non-climber Sandy Hill (sherpas even took her espresso machine up, for god's sake) in "Into Thin Air."

Everest has become a tourist destination and anyone -- regardless of ability -- can bag the summit if they write a big enough check.

Sherpas have been seen literally carrying people on their backs to the summit and then standing back out of the camera frame.

It's a big controversy in alpinist circles. Real climbers and other people are dying because manifestly unqualified (even first time) climbers are demanding a summit opportunity ("I paid good money for this!!!!") and forcing the issue, clogging the ropelines, the path through the moraines, etc. And that's not just "Into Thin Air."

Wardle did summit Everest, true, but that was with *scores* of sherpas, a full crew, etc. The summit alone doesn't say a single thing about his ability as an outdoorsman.

Of course, like the carefully ignored (lied about) lodge, people and the boats on the lake in "Alone in the WIlderness," Wardle doesn't focus on the sherpas and all that because it's not good for the image.

 

[craven]

there are some very good points raised here, interesting read, interesting program.
i really don't think that the guy was mentally prepared, or even the right type of personallity, there is a good reason why a lot of survival/bushcrafters are loners, that aside tho fair play to the guy, i don't think people realise just how tough it is out there, the one thing that came up for me was his fear of bears, he scared himself silly out there, and with no company or anyone to ground his fear he got more and more paranoid about being attacted, this in psycological terms is like a big cloud following him around, at every step there was fear, facing your fear is one thing, but living in fear is something totally different, you could see the stress on his face! i think for someone thats afraid of bears to go live in the canadian wilderness for 50 days, even if you have enough food, brave or just fool hardy?

 

[Martyn]

i really don't think that the guy was mentally prepared, or even the right type of personallity, there is a good reason why a lot of survival/bushcrafters are loners,

That's an interesting comment, but I'm not sure I understand it. Resisting the temptation to make a flippant quip, there are lots of reasons why some people are loners, but I'm not sure it's something you can switch on and off and I'm not sure coping with being alone is something you can really fully prepare yourself for - or fully know how you will react to.

 

[Crafty]

Well this guy had to go into hospital in the end, and he wen't mentally nutty for a while.
(Not sure if somebody's already said this)

 

[Opal]

I wouldn't have done what he tried but the whole top and bottom of it is, he didn't prepare properly, did he? considering he's done the likes of Everest, it was just an ego trip as far as I'm concerned.

I can get very emotional as the next guy but in my opinion, this was a short program about a man's emotions not survival.

God! I miss my dog, it's been five years since she passed away.