Alone
- Thread starter Dave
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Why do we need to compare series against series?
Make each series it's own entity without worrying too much about the previous. It's the same for all the competitors in that one series - that's what matters.
I think it would be hard to find somewhere remote enough in the UK. I work the Scottish coastline from Oban to Peterhead and I seriously doubt you could get somewhere without someone in a cagoule or beany bimbling past. I was lucky enough to fly over some remote parts of BC this summer. The whole of the UK landmass would hardly make a dent if it was dropped in. Our few stretches of coastline not inhabited would struggle to accommodate 10 contestants. The UK is too densely populated imo.
Great link! I enjoy sea peas, but they are pretty sparse on the W coast. I haven't seen any giant horsetails on the coast. Shore pine tend to be small and infrequent, but so far have evaded the pine beetle where I live. Alan ate hemlock cambium, but it's not efficient to gather in fall. Cottonwood cambium gathered in spring when it's thick is pretty good, and still is a favorite native food - but too much work in other seasons.
I was curious about the extent they were able to move inland because the coast is so devoid of easily gathered food in fall.
Got confused for a moment. Hemlock over there is a tree. Hemlock over here is a highly poisonous herb - completely different plant. I wouldn't want any UK users thinking you can eat hemlock!
That confused me when I moved to the UK - hemlock strikes the fear in people, but I was like... isn't it just a nice tree?
I never knew you could eat the cambium though!
I never knew you could eat the cambium though!
Sorry about that - I've been over here so long that now I only associate the tree (Tsuga) with the name hemlock. I don't think I'd ever bother trying conifer cambium unless in a survival situation like that, and I've drunk tea made from devil's club root scrapings in the spring. That's not a flavor readily forgotten but supposedly a great tonic... I've eaten rabbits which lived in the forests and which apparently consumed lots of conifer needles and inner bark - the taste can probably be duplicated by marinading rabbit in retsina (or Pine-Sol cleaner), and so is an acquired taste.
I'd agree with the blog: cottonwood cambium is sweet and unlike as mentioned in books has a vegetable taste not like coconut as some have said. The blog seems to be a realistic resource without wild claims. I've tried juiced red elderberry, for example, and basically it's not worth the trouble of making jelly or wine out of - but the berries are safe if cooked and seeds discarded. Pacific crab apple trees grow along the coastline to fairly large sizes (20' rather than bush like) and so useful for tool handles, but the apples are pea sized at best and so take lots of gathering work. Once you leave the prolific southern coastlines, plant food is hard work to gather and takes extensive knowledge so as to find the stuff and harvest it at the right time. So while it's great that people are making sure ancient knowledge isn't lost, no botanist is ever going to find enough plant food to survive on the NW island coast in fall. The native peoples had a very structured and well planned approach to colonizing the coast by exploiting every resource in its proper time and preserving food.
I'd agree with the blog: cottonwood cambium is sweet and unlike as mentioned in books has a vegetable taste not like coconut as some have said. The blog seems to be a realistic resource without wild claims. I've tried juiced red elderberry, for example, and basically it's not worth the trouble of making jelly or wine out of - but the berries are safe if cooked and seeds discarded. Pacific crab apple trees grow along the coastline to fairly large sizes (20' rather than bush like) and so useful for tool handles, but the apples are pea sized at best and so take lots of gathering work. Once you leave the prolific southern coastlines, plant food is hard work to gather and takes extensive knowledge so as to find the stuff and harvest it at the right time. So while it's great that people are making sure ancient knowledge isn't lost, no botanist is ever going to find enough plant food to survive on the NW island coast in fall. The native peoples had a very structured and well planned approach to colonizing the coast by exploiting every resource in its proper time and preserving food.
I'm in awe of it - such a harsh and wild landscape, where knowledge is the only thing that will see you through.
Do you know what kind of small trappable mammals would be available up on the NW of the island? Squirrels I'm guessing, but anything else?
Flying squirrels - but they're nocturnal and I've only seen ones which were trapped. Even porcupine will be up in the cut areas where food is more plentiful. All the various weasels will be passing through, but not so easily trapped. Many river otters choose a life in the ocean, but they come ashore in different places. With a rifle food would be available at the nearest clear cut, but trapping would be tough where they were situated - and even a bow would be tough. the sites were chosen to be tough and devoid of large sources of food. My first thought on seeing the bears was in terms of food - even they only stay in forest at beach while raising young to prevent conflict with males, since they are normally highly territorial. The bird life stays out of reach on the water during fall except for eagles ravens and crows - and those choose high vantage points in trees and so would not be within bow range even if legal.
So glad that Alan saw it through though I have nothing but admiration for Sam too.
The greatest thing for me was alan's philosophical musings and how he kept his head when everyone else let their mind take over. We got to see a side if survival that mears et all have mentioned but never been able to show, how a single man deals with the thoughts in his head while on a survival scenario, he never let his mind take over he just thought cogently about the spirituality and meaning to our existence and his final conclusion that everything boils down to love was heart warming, a magnificent individual and a fantastic show.
The greatest thing for me was alan's philosophical musings and how he kept his head when everyone else let their mind take over. We got to see a side if survival that mears et all have mentioned but never been able to show, how a single man deals with the thoughts in his head while on a survival scenario, he never let his mind take over he just thought cogently about the spirituality and meaning to our existence and his final conclusion that everything boils down to love was heart warming, a magnificent individual and a fantastic show.
Finally caught up over the weekend. Alan was my favourite from early on but I was surprised by the rest of the last 4.
I think Alan would make an excellent ambassador for our interest group. If he had a survival program on TV I'd be watching.
Solid program. Well worth a watch.
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I think Alan would make an excellent ambassador for our interest group. If he had a survival program on TV I'd be watching.
Solid program. Well worth a watch.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've just reached the end too: really good. Loved the idea of limited choices at the start too, because it's so difficult - and so many of them obviously misjudged it, not having experience of that specific environment. What would your choices be with hindsight?
Thought i recognised him.
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Where's that like button?
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I havn't read it yet, got sent it by mistake a couple of weeks ago when i ordered a copy of richard maybey's food for free. They told me to keep the book.
Maybe my forestry background Mike but in my head it's both. Though I'm carefull to keep them seperate in my head and plate.
Hemlock the tree is such a pretty plant. One of the nicest woods I've worked was a naturaly regenerated stand of hemlock. The smell and feathery nature of the foliage made the experience very pleasant.
The other hemlock is pretty rare 'round here and is always an interesting find.
Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
Forum member Ross has written a good piece about the show on his blog
http://woodtrekker.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/alone-most-realistic-survival-show-or.html
Well worth reading.
http://woodtrekker.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/alone-most-realistic-survival-show-or.html
Well worth reading.
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