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.
Is there a difference?
Sorry about your dog.
Alone in the Wild
- Thread starter African
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Is there a difference?
Sorry about your dog.
I thought that as well. I wonder if he got ANY advice before this adventure?
He wasn't surviving, he was dieing slowly.
From what I've read, he got quite a lot of advice and training before he went to Tincup. There's a bit of info online about what training and who trained him.
Nice humble guy. Missed his loved ones. I've got loved ones who I'd miss. Good on him.
Everyone is different and some (knowlegeable) folks could quite easily live for 12 weeks in the wilderness of the Yukon. Never mind the food issue, food could be got if no restrictrions. were imposed.The mental problems are by far the worst. No one has mentioned the fact that it's only 12 weeks.ONLY you say but bear that in mind and that thought should get you through. I've never done it so I can't say but I'm perfectly happy with my own company
and I could do with losing a bit of weight.
I probably couldn't do it either but it would be the experience of my life, and I'd dine out on the stories forever.........just have the willpower. I love my son more than anything in the entire world and boy would I enjoy a few jars with him telling him my adventures when I got back.
Probably couldn't do it though. But I'd tell him what I did do....... Full respect to Mr Ed Wardle. He's done more than I could do. Nice one Mr Wardle.
Everyone is different and some (knowlegeable) folks could quite easily live for 12 weeks in the wilderness of the Yukon. Never mind the food issue, food could be got if no restrictrions. were imposed.The mental problems are by far the worst. No one has mentioned the fact that it's only 12 weeks.ONLY you say but bear that in mind and that thought should get you through. I've never done it so I can't say but I'm perfectly happy with my own company
and I could do with losing a bit of weight.
I probably couldn't do it either but it would be the experience of my life, and I'd dine out on the stories forever.........just have the willpower. I love my son more than anything in the entire world and boy would I enjoy a few jars with him telling him my adventures when I got back.
Probably couldn't do it though. But I'd tell him what I did do....... Full respect to Mr Ed Wardle. He's done more than I could do. Nice one Mr Wardle.
Ok,
I've just got to the end of the show and here's what I think.
Summary: a little bit of training, even a single day's worth, goes a long way. He appeared to go out there with the right kit (in most respects) but not a lot of the knowledge required to actually survive. I was impressed though, by and large, with his 'will to survive', bearing in mind that at any time he could give up.
Examples:
Snares - his snares were left 'clean'. No attempt was made to dirty them up in order to remove the human smell. With the exception of the one squirrel, there was no sign of any small game anyway. He also spent the first 7 days without even putting a snare down. When he did put them out, only 5 went out! On average you have to put out 20 in order to catch 1 rabbit; that's if they're placed in the correct place to start with. Eventually he stuck 20 out but it was too late by then.
Fishing - He failed to live by the key survival maxim of "maximum output, minimum input". There should have been a night-line out permanantly. In fact, more than one. He could have had a fish a day.
Food prep and storage - On his first kill, he cooked the whole porcupine in a oner. I felt he should have cooked enough for a meal and dried / smoked the rest for future rationing - smoked food lasts longer. He could have done the same with any fish too.
Shelter - I didn't agree with his choice of improvised shelter. He should have gone for an A-frame instead of a lean-to. A large A-Frame would have given him protection from all sides, from not just the weather but any 'bears' too. I'm not saying that bears couldn't tear it down but his own smell would have been better contained. A lean-to should only be used in very dry but windy conditions - arctic/desert. He did pick up on one point when it started to rain though - he realised that his tarp was too loose and water was getting through.
Salmon - why did he focus so heavily on the possiblity of salmon? It seemed to be his entire raison d'etre. He realised that it was unlikely that he would find any but continued to expend a huge amount of energy on the issue!
Walking - I was in mixed minds about the distances and routes that he took between camps. He knew he was tired yet headed out on 15 mile hikes over a number of days. I appreciate that he was in an area of limited food but had he been wiser about his methods (as outlined above) he wouldn't have had to move at all.
Large game - I felt sorry for him with regards the moose. Had he been allowed to kill it then he'd have been plain sailing throughout.
but those are just my points anyway.
I've just got to the end of the show and here's what I think.
Summary: a little bit of training, even a single day's worth, goes a long way. He appeared to go out there with the right kit (in most respects) but not a lot of the knowledge required to actually survive. I was impressed though, by and large, with his 'will to survive', bearing in mind that at any time he could give up.
Examples:
Snares - his snares were left 'clean'. No attempt was made to dirty them up in order to remove the human smell. With the exception of the one squirrel, there was no sign of any small game anyway. He also spent the first 7 days without even putting a snare down. When he did put them out, only 5 went out! On average you have to put out 20 in order to catch 1 rabbit; that's if they're placed in the correct place to start with. Eventually he stuck 20 out but it was too late by then.
Fishing - He failed to live by the key survival maxim of "maximum output, minimum input". There should have been a night-line out permanantly. In fact, more than one. He could have had a fish a day.
Food prep and storage - On his first kill, he cooked the whole porcupine in a oner. I felt he should have cooked enough for a meal and dried / smoked the rest for future rationing - smoked food lasts longer. He could have done the same with any fish too.
Shelter - I didn't agree with his choice of improvised shelter. He should have gone for an A-frame instead of a lean-to. A large A-Frame would have given him protection from all sides, from not just the weather but any 'bears' too. I'm not saying that bears couldn't tear it down but his own smell would have been better contained. A lean-to should only be used in very dry but windy conditions - arctic/desert. He did pick up on one point when it started to rain though - he realised that his tarp was too loose and water was getting through.
Salmon - why did he focus so heavily on the possiblity of salmon? It seemed to be his entire raison d'etre. He realised that it was unlikely that he would find any but continued to expend a huge amount of energy on the issue!
Walking - I was in mixed minds about the distances and routes that he took between camps. He knew he was tired yet headed out on 15 mile hikes over a number of days. I appreciate that he was in an area of limited food but had he been wiser about his methods (as outlined above) he wouldn't have had to move at all.
Large game - I felt sorry for him with regards the moose. Had he been allowed to kill it then he'd have been plain sailing throughout.
but those are just my points anyway.
Would you happen to have a link to this information? I'd be intrigued to find out who trained him. I've read his bio and subsequent news articles and he appears to have been completely untrained apart from 'general knowledge' that he collected growing up in Scotland.
Hi Guys I watched the program and felt for all sorts of reasons I would have bugged out earlier and eaten more food, done the worm, slug and snail thing as well.
As a group resource, lets have a serious discussion about what we think he should have taken, the quantities he should have taken it in and why.
Clearly carbs are a big issue. I recall reading that the old time mountain men would take roughly about 1lb of flour for every three days they planned to be out, so that was about 2 x 52lb sacks for a year. The other thing was lard and bacon again because of fat for cooking, calorific values and it bring readily preserved.
So on the food front my comment would be for 100 days, given that he was being flown in he could stash a large amount of the food and return to his langing point to resupply.
25kg flour.
5 kg lard
5kg of bacon
1kg mixed spice and cinamon
2 kg Molases (trace minerals and instant sugar hit at need)
This is boring staple but would get you through, greens, berries and seeds he has.
So what else does he need in equipment and food?
As a group resource, lets have a serious discussion about what we think he should have taken, the quantities he should have taken it in and why.
Clearly carbs are a big issue. I recall reading that the old time mountain men would take roughly about 1lb of flour for every three days they planned to be out, so that was about 2 x 52lb sacks for a year. The other thing was lard and bacon again because of fat for cooking, calorific values and it bring readily preserved.
So on the food front my comment would be for 100 days, given that he was being flown in he could stash a large amount of the food and return to his langing point to resupply.
25kg flour.
5 kg lard
5kg of bacon
1kg mixed spice and cinamon
2 kg Molases (trace minerals and instant sugar hit at need)
This is boring staple but would get you through, greens, berries and seeds he has.
So what else does he need in equipment and food?
I think the program itself was not that great but it has raised all sorts of interesting ideas on this forum, so I am glad that it was made just for that. As most people agree he was not cut out for the solo life for that amount of time, although I would have thought that most people (most men anayway, sorry to be sexist) would have lasted longer than a few days before loosing it. Although I have only been into bushcraft for 6 months it was interesting to see things he was doing & thinking why is he doing it that way etc.. It's funny how bushcraft gets under your skin and can give you a different view on life.
The main theme from all these threads seems to be that you have to constantly watch the amount of energy you use doing jobs in a place like that. For example the lean to he made was constructed out of huge logs 4"-5" wide, when most of us would have used 1"-2" wide ones and covered them with branches. The amount of energy he must have wasted chopping down all those trees would have been huge; remembering that this lean to was his 'cooking camp' (so he cooked away from his sleeping area = good bear danger management) as his shelter was the tarp/hammock rig set up some distance away.He really did not need to build that at all in my mind, the main reason he did so was to set & achieve a goal. Setting 20+ snares, some deadfalls, 10 night lines etc.. would have been a mush better investment of his time. If he had used the guts from the porcupine to bait/groundbait a couple of spots in the lake (using the canoe) he could probably have had fish every day; instead he left them on the ground as an apetizer for any passing bears...
I am glad that C4 made it though & the guy did OK in the end, as the challange was much tougher than some people realise. As it said in the other thread, the natives dont go out there alone for good reasons.
The main theme from all these threads seems to be that you have to constantly watch the amount of energy you use doing jobs in a place like that. For example the lean to he made was constructed out of huge logs 4"-5" wide, when most of us would have used 1"-2" wide ones and covered them with branches. The amount of energy he must have wasted chopping down all those trees would have been huge; remembering that this lean to was his 'cooking camp' (so he cooked away from his sleeping area = good bear danger management) as his shelter was the tarp/hammock rig set up some distance away.He really did not need to build that at all in my mind, the main reason he did so was to set & achieve a goal. Setting 20+ snares, some deadfalls, 10 night lines etc.. would have been a mush better investment of his time. If he had used the guts from the porcupine to bait/groundbait a couple of spots in the lake (using the canoe) he could probably have had fish every day; instead he left them on the ground as an apetizer for any passing bears...
I am glad that C4 made it though & the guy did OK in the end, as the challange was much tougher than some people realise. As it said in the other thread, the natives dont go out there alone for good reasons.
I dont understand why. Surely the point of his trip was to live off the land, to that extent his intent was not to take enough food to last him 90 days, but to take far less than enough.
If you just want to take enough food with you, then multiply your 100 days by 5000 kcals per day and take half a million callories of food with you - take 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat. Job done. Not really sure I see the point in that though - it's not living off the land, it's just a long camping trip.
However, you are well short on your quantities.
25kg flour = 350 kcals per 100g x 250 = 87500 kcals
5kg lard = 900 kcals per 100g x 50 = 45000 kcals
5kg of bacon 260 kcals per 100g x 50 = 13000 kcals
2 kg Molases 260 kcals per 100g x 50 = 13000 kcals.
Total = 158500kcals (1585 kcals per day).
You need 2000 calories a day if you do nothing at all - more if it's cold. On that food, you would be starving from the first day. You would need to at least double those quantities if you wanted to just get by with a bit of water collecting, firewood gathering and shelter building, and triple those quantities if you want to start hunting/gathering/exploring and want to live to the point of feeling fairly well fed. Also your proportions are off, you want a 50:30:20 - carb-protein-fat. I would also build in a bit more variety, you will hacked off to the point of suicide after 100 days on that diet.
thanks for input, the intention is for an opperational basis, if you add in the food he did catch you have a survivable scenario. But I notice you have not added anything to the list.
Sandsnakes
Sandsnakes
I'll be honest, this guy was thinking so far ahead that he wasn't being open-minded enough to be "looking and thinking" in the present - but rather; "how long can I just keep going".
I personally would of just tried to get the best out of what was there, but he was so fixed on what he was going to do before he reached a location - when he didn't know what was there - he just became a weight to himself.
Obviously, I have never experienced something like that and I know know how I would react - but that's me looking at it objectively.
I personally would of just tried to get the best out of what was there, but he was so fixed on what he was going to do before he reached a location - when he didn't know what was there - he just became a weight to himself.
Obviously, I have never experienced something like that and I know know how I would react - but that's me looking at it objectively.
I personally think the show is realistic in the sense that it shows how an individual copes with being alone, and the emotions of the isolation having a negative effect on his ablity to function in a survival sense.
I admire Mr. Wardell for his past accomplishments and his guts to try this experiment. He has certainly stimulated a lot of conversation and thoughts about the survival in the wild subject.
I think there are several factors that contribute to the problems this one person encountered. First and foremost, Alan knew just how long he was going to "survive" and tried to reach that goal. I think a person in a genuine survival situation would live one day at a time and try to be rescued, if they were successful it would have taken some skill, the right attitude and a bit of luck.
A person in a true survival situation should focus on basic needs, water, food, shelter, etc. The mental attitude will suffer all sorts of emotions but will depend mainly on a desire to live, see the loved ones again and to beat the odds. That is different from someone that plans to stay a given period of time and knows that there is an end and can even call for an end at any tmie. Alone in the Wild is not so much survival as it is endurance. There is a difference, mainly from a mental perspective.
I admire Mr. Wardell for his past accomplishments and his guts to try this experiment. He has certainly stimulated a lot of conversation and thoughts about the survival in the wild subject.
I think there are several factors that contribute to the problems this one person encountered. First and foremost, Alan knew just how long he was going to "survive" and tried to reach that goal. I think a person in a genuine survival situation would live one day at a time and try to be rescued, if they were successful it would have taken some skill, the right attitude and a bit of luck.
A person in a true survival situation should focus on basic needs, water, food, shelter, etc. The mental attitude will suffer all sorts of emotions but will depend mainly on a desire to live, see the loved ones again and to beat the odds. That is different from someone that plans to stay a given period of time and knows that there is an end and can even call for an end at any tmie. Alone in the Wild is not so much survival as it is endurance. There is a difference, mainly from a mental perspective.
It was on the C4 website on some frequently asked questions about the show. Some of his training was from a guy called Bruce Bennet, he's a very knowledgeable guy about Yukon wildlife and plants in particular.
There's also a few videos somewhere online of Wardle getting bear training (but I haven't watched them).
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
I agree with you on the location thing. In a real survival situation, you would shoot that Moose / Caribou / Bear and is an integral part of surviving in a setting like that. That being said, he kinda dropped the ball on the trapping / fishing.
I watched the whole series ( thanks internet ) and while I enjoyed it ( great scenery ) It not something I will review again.
Now, gotta get some sleep. Up at dawn, 3 day trip, gonna go get some White-tail deer ( have tags for 1 buck and 2 doe)and if really lucky a 3 point or better Elk! It`s finally getting cold enough and the rut is getting close. Good to live in Alberta,Canada!
He mentions in the programmes about his training. The two I remember were the story of the guy getting dragged off in his sleeping bag by a bear and the flowers he was eating being very similar to a poisonous one but his training explained the difference.
I was screaming that at the screen, but of course I imagine it would be easy to forget these things when you're desperate to eat some meat. I assume there would be crayfish, eels or something like that you could trap with the bait too.
I must say, having watched the three episodes, that I actually felt sorry for the guy. I think he went into it with a lot of false expectations, and despite having some grounding as a kid, and probably a fair bit of teaching before commencement, he just wasn't prepared for what he would go through. I thought it was good TV, purely in the sense that Steve and I watched it and commentated throughout on what we felt he'd done wrong and we could have done better! Having said that, loneliness can alter mental states so massively that at the point he started having manic eyes I felt so sorry for the guy. Fair play to him for showing so many of the horrific mental states he went through, despite the fact they took up a lot of the second and third episodes. It appeared to be a fairly honest portrayal of his experience.
Having said that, loneliness can alter mental states so massively that at the point he started having manic eyes I felt so sorry for the guy. Fair play to him for showing so many of the horrific mental states he went through, despite the fact they took up a lot of the second and third episodes. It appeared to be a fairly honest portrayal of his experience.Similar threads
