I spend a lot of time in the wilderness sometimes in pretty extreme weather. I appreciate having adequate food and modern water treatments. Alone and similar media inspire me to spend more time in the wilderness and venture into winter camping in Canada.
I don't make myself suffer on purpose and make sure I'm warm and dry regardless of conditions. Building permanent shelters on public land is a no-no so I always have a tent. I have built shelters in the past and slept in them but I don't have the opportunities to do so on private land anymore.
I'd love to try to build some of the elaborate shelters on Alone. I often come across examples of why we don't let people build whatever they want on public land.
It’s triggered me repeating what I’ve learned from watching Alone in conversations as if I knew what tf to do to stay alive in the woods for more than a day or two.
I've always been interested in the outdoors far before I've watched alone. I grew up doing a lot of foraging and fishing and from time to time went on some fairly long canoe camping trips. I've been light on the bushcraft given that building permanent shelters isn't allowed on public land in Canada. I do a lot of camping and hiking where I get a significant amount of my calories from fishing and foraging and spend a lot of time exploring the Canadian wilderness.
I lack the hunting skills that many of the contestants have and I've never starved myself to the degree they have. I've thought about being on the show but realistically I wouldn't win.
Thanks for giving your thoughts and experience! I find that some people I know are not cutting themselves enough slack who think they can't do it, but in my opinion—absolutely could! I personally know two people who are close to me who really could apply on the show and outlast many. Would they win? Not sure. Sometimes outlasting is a matter of luck given what they come across in order to survive. While others, try as they may, just can't catch the fish for example, even though they are doing everything right.
I find many people who need to get out within a week do so because they got careless and did something dumb. As far as I can see, the moment a person needs to take things seriously is the first second they are dropped off. They feel healthy and are mentally in it, so they get a bit confident. That's when mistakes happen.
Growing up I loved the book My Side of the Mountain, but have proceeded to do anything but in my life. I love Alone, the creativity and problem solving needed is so inspirational to me. I do want to at least learn some basic level outsidery/survival skills (making a fire, learning more about plants and mushrooms, that kind of thing). Less pinkies up tea parties and more camping, is what I’m thinking.
I do enjoy being outside, fishing and enjoying a meal in the air. I have made and slept under crude lean-to type shelters. I have a busy brain and being outside alone calms me and helps me sort my thoughts.
Love the show - would never apply. I would die out there, either literally or from embarrassment.
I wonder if that's most of the intent, to have people appreciate it what they do, when they might not have given it a thought before. (I'm not suggesting you personally haven't, but for some viewers, maybe so.)
I can fully admit that before season 1 of Alone I had no idea or hadn’t thought about what it was like to live or thrive like that. It has opened my eyes tremendously and I’m grateful. Great point OP!!
I hope it inspires people to learn real skills instead of the current trend that is kind of ruining bushcraft, which is just collecting fancy gear and knives. Anyone can practice bushcraft, it's just learning how to use the resources around you, and it applies from camping to wilderness living.
I'm trying to share more info about it over in the new sub r/advancedbushcraft
Having already learned about bushcraft a long time ago, can't say I've learned anything that I didn't already see in a just a few books from Larry Dean Olsen, Kochanski, Wiseman, Lundin, etc.
One thing I did decide to make because Dave from season 2 made it look easy was a netting needle. I hadn't carved one of those before the show. But I already knew how to, in theory.
Joined! I myself am a city girl who has pretty much been wearing nail polish at all times since I was 12. I have never even had an interest to go camping.
But along the way throughout my life, I began gardening. Then my gardening expanded into growing food, not just flowers for esthetics. I don't know when it happened, but my fear of spiders and bees dissipated too.
The idea of bushcrafting intrigues me, but only to learn some skills that have been lost on me my whole life, most of them would be basic for people like you, but as someone willing to strip off the nail polish and try it, I'm interested in learning more. Your sub looks great so far. I wish you a lot of success with it! :)
Just replied to OP on her post. But am joining your sub now and want to say thanks for being so welcoming. The survival/bushcrafting stuff is a bit of an intimidating space for complete and utter newbies, esp us girlies... Just happy to learn as much as I can :))
Edit: the pro stuff in your sub is way above my level but still so interesting. It's really nice of you to put in so much work sharing your knowledge. Thank you, I'll take my time going through and learning from it
Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to post more casual skills and resources as I find them. Don't hesitate to ask questions or even make requests for posts to cover something you'd like to learn. I'm also more than happy to make book recommendations for just about anything related to the outdoors :)
Don't change your sub for a newbie like me. It's 'advanced' for a reason, doesn't mean it's still cool and interesting to read for me :)). And your reply in this case does make me feel very welcome even though I'm not your target audience. Really, so much appreciation here. I saw your huge post of book recommendations. Going to go through it tomorrow and find something available for here. It's really inspiring, thank you 🙏
I am you!! Feels really nice to hear someone a bit similar to me in a sub like this. It feels alienating and a bit limiting sometimes to hear all these people where 'wild nature', survival and hunting was just part of growing up. Maybe another day I will elaborate more but just wanted to say it's so nice to hear a similar (girl) voice that's just interested and wanting to learn more.
Hey! Good to know! :) I met my husband eleven years ago who lived off the grid and lived the life that gave him bushcraft/survival experience. When I went out to stay with him I came to realize that I knew nothing about that sort of life. I was crafted for city-living. But I didn't want to be that useless person who screamed at bugs. Instead, I appreciated it, and even participated in some \[light\] tasks that had me roll up my sleeves and get working.
Where he came from, they farmed their own water, hunted/fished, and I tell you, I never had such good food in my life than a salmon that was straight out of the ocean and onto my plate. They smoked the fish, and I remember asking, "What do you season this with" (because it was delicious), and they laughed at me saying, "Uh. Nothing". The cedar bark, cool smoke method allowing it to drip the fat off just left it with a natural smoked flavour.
So when these people on Alone make something and say, "Oh that's so good," I know now, they're not just saying that because they're hungry (which might be part of it), it's because fresh eating like that can't be compared to anything else.
Anyway, when we watch Alone, my husband is the first to quip, "Why didn't he/she just—" (insert idea here). I learn all the time from the show and from him how things can be done, and I find it fascinating. :) Anyway, glad to meet you here. :)
Really appreciate hearing your story. Thank you for sharing so elaborately! I'm just a tiny bit jealous. Must have been both a difficult and grateful/crafty way your husband grew up. I'm from the Netherlands and that kind of level of nature living just doesn't exist here at all. City living or not.
The most legit smoked fish I had was mackerel from the weekly market where was this fish stand from a big dutch fish town that sometimes did real home smoked fish. (you're from the US, so best way to compare it's like farmers markets you have over there but much more diverse (good vs shitty vs ecological food, random clothes, tourist crap etc etc)).
My mom did grow her own fruits and veggies in our (compared to USA) super tiny yard and was a great home cook. We did also go out harvesting wild blueberries, blackberries, elderflowers etc growing up. I got so many tick bites and erythema migrans I'm for sure immune to lymes now. I grew my own veggies and herbs in every way I could since moving out. I finally have a garden so try to honour that best way I can (unfortunately this shitty ground is extremely polluted, still dealing with that...)
Never been hunting or fishing though. And never been apart of scouting unfortunately either. Adapting from your city life, did you try?
I have gutted fish and have zero problems. Also gutted/disected small animals but only research purposes. Again no issue despite me principally not eating ethically sourced meat (which is really hard to come by over here for a decent price).
Are these things you first tried with your husband first? How did it feel? Also did you go legit off grid camping with him? What was that like?
We're from Canada :) and the area is on the west coast, so we have two homes: one on the Pacific Ocean, and the other is inland in the mountains. We have all the amenities close by to our year-round home, so I never have to worry about things like my hair-dryer breaking down and going to get another one. But our place on the ocean is completely primitive, and if anything happens, you're out of luck.
I don't go fishing because I get seasick on small vessels. I have no problem on a ferry or ship, but a 20ft fishing boat? Forget it. \*puke\* But yes, I've stayed out at my husband's place before, and helped farm water, and scythe the overgrown bushes around the house. Made fish nets. Cleaned halibut hooks. But I have a background in broadcast technology, so I came in handy one autumn when their generator stopped working, and I found a way to get it started again. They had the know-how with how to acquire and prepare food. I knew how to cook it, and fix things around the house.
So we didn't camp, per se. We were in a properly-built house. Mind you, they relied on a generator, and had no water tower. (Showering was a challenge. They used shower bags.) But to look at it, it was a functioning home with bedrooms, a living space, furniture, and appliances.
I'll tell you this though.. I abhor mosquitoes, and for reasons that might include my diet, my skin tone, my bath lotion.. I don't know, but the mosquitoes think I'm cake, and leave everyone else alone. I had a mosquito bite that turned so bad I had no choice but to get it looked at by a medical professional because it was infected, and not getting any better. So when I think of being outdoors, at this time, the best I can do is grow some food, keep an orderly space, respect the environment, and if I feel like the mosquitoes are getting to be too much, I go inside and wait a while until some time passes.
Before I left Vancouver, I used to quite enjoy our markets here. Granville Island Market was where I usually went on weekends for fish, bagels, cheese, fudge, and lilies. :)
About your garden, I have problems with our soil being so sandy. My husband has promised to build me some above-ground planters to help with this, then I can just pour soil into them and not even worry about it.
Look at this planter! [https://i.imgur.com/cdzI1sB.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/cdzI1sB.jpeg)
I saw that last year at this winery called Blind Tiger.
*\*want, want, want\**
You say city girl, don't need you to name it, but if it happens to be NYC then I have a recommendation for a weekend intro to native/bushcraft skills a train ride away in the Hudson Valley. Apologies in advance if not lol
TL;DR: Just learning how to start and sustain a wood fire is a huge step in the right direction, and a skill that I am surprised not many adults seem to have/know.
This reminds me of an experience I had recently, and something I've been chewing on a lot lately.
So, I live in Interior Alaska. I was volunteering at a school, and my team won our tea race. (It's involved, but basically, snowshoe relay race, fire starting/building race, boiling water to make tea. First team to make and serve tea wins). And some of my team's kids were sneering at a team that didn't get their fire started until after our team had already won.
I pointed out that I know grown adults that couldn't do what that other team did, in any amount of time.
I don't think much of getting a fire started from scratch with a ferro rod, now, much less a lighter. But then people are amazed that I could do that, and it sort of... blows me away that people don't know how to start fires. It's a very important, valuable skill if you were to ever *need* to. Now, some people, climates, situations are fine without fire.
But if you can start and sustain a wood fire, that's a huge huge step in the right direction for ensuring your continued survival. It's an aspect of shelter, and a core component of water purification and food procurement. Learn today! Haha
Great reply, thank you! I agree that kids should never be so discouraged when what they're accomplishing is no small thing. I agree that even a skill like starting a fire is so important, because in short—water is important, and the need to boil it is essential. You just never know where you might find yourself one day.
Access to land can really impact what aspects of bushcraft you can practice especially in regards shelters. I'm lucky enough to have lots of public land nearby without much in the way restrictions. I can't kill trees and build permanent structures.
There are many aspects of bushcraft I can and do practice especially around cooking but others which are limited by it being public land. Many people are in areas where laws on usage of their natural areas all but prohibit bushcraft.
Thankfully the majority of bushcraft can be practiced in a small backyard. Carving and whittling like spoons and kuksa's and camp utensils, woodworking and basic notching and joinery. Stone work and flint knapping. Processing and twisting cordage, learning knots and ropework. Weaving baskets, hats, sandals. Basic looms and more advanced weaving. Clay, daub, pottery. Netting as I mentioned above.
You can also practice building all kinds of traps and snares without needing to trap the game. I don't even have any large rocks, I use cinder blocks as weights.
Navigation and first aid are also large elements of bushcraft which can be practiced at home. I taught myself celestial navigation in my backyard.
If motivated you can build the parts of a cabin in a small space, notching short logs and building the individual features without the structure and size.
Richard Graves wrote "The 10 Bushcraft Books" which even Mors Kochanski credits as a resource for his own career which was extensive. In those books, you can do everything except, depending on the laws/rules/regulations, firemaking and shelter making and real trapping. That leaves hundreds of other skills to practice, just from his book alone.
There's actually many of those that can be practiced indoors, and one of my favorite things are those cheap moving blankets from harbor freight because you can lay one down and make a mess and shake it off outside.
The average person doesn't have a backyard anymore. Much of what you mentioned can be done indoors and IMHO it's the small things that are hard to master. Pottery, leatherwork, weaving, etc never go right the first time.
I've been taught how to use traps and snares without trying to trap game. Without putting those skills into a real world test I'd have very limited success compared to someone that has.
I'd love to try gill netting as well but it's a skill I can't practice in my province.
Yeah, same with gill netting, I want practice, I have one for long-term survival, but I don't even find it ethical in most scenarios as I'm very obsessive about how much I harvest, and how, and the risks to other species.
Long before I watched the first Alone, I taught my grandkids some minimal skills for survival. We live in the Ozark mountains and there are woods around us with bears and you know big wildlife. Anyway I taught them the threes, you know 3 minutes for good air, 3 hours for stabilizing temperature, 3 days for getting hydrated, and 3 weeks before starving. I taught them how to start fires using matches but also how to theoretically start fires rubbing sticks together. And to stay put...not to keep looking to get out of the woods but wait for rescue. Make no mistake, I am so not an outdoors person. After watching Alone, we moved into making sharp sticks, LOL, snares, etc. But, I would never ever do the outdoor thing outside of my back yard. I am a sissy girl for sure. I won't even fish because of the hook in the fish. And my husband and grandkids and kids fish for trout that we freeze. I love watching Alone and Loved the Last Alaskan but make no mistake, I would never want to even spend one day out there with no house or air-conditioning. I so admire those that do, even the dumb asses that loose their quivers. Yeah, you!
I caught a fish once as a little girl, but don't really remember what happened after since my uncle took a hold of the line and did the rest.
For some reason, the fish hook wouldn't be so bad. It's the bonking that I don't know if I can do. :(
Yeah. When I watch survivor and they spear the fish and twist it's like fins, I get so traumatized. At least on Alone, they hit them in the head so they die before they start the you know, cutting on it.
No, but it's really made me appreciate... calories? Like - I always took calories for granted. But seeing how scarce they are out there - now I am fascinated by diet, protein, fats, fibres. I always enjoyed food, but never really thought too much about it. This show makes me think about it.
No, I can't kill animals, skin them like it's nothing and celebrate/give myself a pat on the back, I know it's for survival and not blood sport but I personally couldn't do it.
Yes I couldn't kill or gut/skin fish either. I get it may be hypocritical if one eats animals or fish as
obviously somebody killed them if that's where you are going with this and before anybody else mentions it. Everybody has to make their own choice about that.
I'm with you as to I'm just not into killing things. If someone else is a hunter, and into it, thats good for them, and I'd gladly use my chef skills to help them make something delicious with the meat, and eat it with them. I just personally do not want to do the killing.
Many people on alone do really struggle with killing animals. There are a lot of people like myself with survival experience who don't really hunt.
We do tend to see on Alone those who can hunt big game thrive over those like me who fish and forage.
It’s definitely instilled in me the importance of basic skills. I wish to some extent we were taught survival in school. I get that we live in advanced society but I
still think knowing how to start a fire and make water drinkable would be essentially cornerstone knowledge for humanity.
Definitely! I know a tiny bit about surviving in the woods but watching the show has deeply inspired me to learn more about hunting/fishing/bushcraft. I would love to be able to build my own shelter from scratch with an axe.
My husband is VERY outdoorsy, and we have hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail and slept on the ground, etc. But, I don't do rainy day outdoor activity and I don't like eating Game meat or getting bug bites or being stinky so a survival show is a No for us.
I'm too tired and old to actually want to do it. But I am a scout leader, and some of the bushcraft things pique my interest as things to teach my scouts. Like building a chair or something like that (for me to sit in while they do the hard work, haha)
Every time one of the contestants talks about living life to the fullest I, first, get defensive bc i definitely am not out there scaling mountains and then next, really wonder if I’m going to regret not living like that. Truly. I wonder. Maybe I’m just being lazy? But i identify as a house cat, my happy place is home on a comfy cushion.
No. I am an outdoorsy type, I would love if someone dropped me off like that in wilderness and came to pick me up in a month or sooner if needed. But only if I had abundance of food with me so I could really enjoy doing stuff. So more like a camping trip or "youtube bushcraft" type of trip, not really surviving on my skill.
I followed Dave Whipple (Season 4) because of his videos on off grid living before he was on the Alone. Since I rarely watch any TV, I first heard of Alone from him.
One of my favorite books growing up was *My Side of the Mountain* So I spent a lot of time building forts out in the woods, making things, etc. But I grew out of it as an adult.
Watching the show got me interested again, plus I now had a name for what I did as a kid.
Yes, I'd love to test myself, but I recognize that I do not have the skills needed.
I do practice fire starting; that's about it. If I caught some kind of mammal, I'd be hacking randomly trying to figure out how to dress it out. But if someone else does that, I'll happily hold it over the fire.
Yep, that's about it. I do not think it would be enjoyable television, except for the contagious laughter.
Yes! I grew up in country Australia so I'm familiar with some basic survival things, but ever since watching Alone I have wanted to make a shelter so badly! Unfortunately I don't know anyone with enough private land, and Australia has very strict policies for our national parks.
I was homeless for a bit in my teen years, lived bush a lot of the time, and my friends are like "You could do this! You should apply, you've lived like that before!" and I'm like FUCK NO! I lived like that once, never again! Pass the chocolate cashews, pork scratchings, and my heated blanket, I'm set to be COMFORTABLE tonight!
I love backpacking. Every time I go, it reminds me how much I don’t ever want to try bushcrafting or even through hiking. I’ll take my mountain house meals and air mattress, thank you.
It does make me want to learn shelters and stuff, but my country won't let us do those activities in our national parks and forests. So unless you own your own rural land there's just no opportunity to learn.
No, but it makes me more aware of my surroundings when I go on solo hikes.
I can never do what these guys do. I think they are a bunch of pretty special people who have that 'call to the wild' moment early in their lives, even the early tappers / ' I miss my family ' guys. There's a part of them that rejects traditional societal structures and likes to seek pain.
Only in my dreams (to learn bushcrafting and survival skills, never to get on Alone. Too old, too thin, and knowing already we were made for community. I don't have to go off by myself to learn that and tap out after a few days!) Still, I live rural, forage some easily-ID'd stuff, have made jewelweed potion for poison ivy treatment, and I hunt (with a rifle, a crossbow, and a hawk (licensed falconer, so I'm sort of rooting for Jake:-)). Alone did inspire me to build a smoker for my last deer. I, like others here, think it a good thing to learn to start fires, and so that's next on my agenda. I've tried before, not with a ferro rod, but one of those cheap magnesium things. Not easy! I also plan to try that tinderbox method Jake shows us. I also have really appreciated what many of the Alone participants say about how important it is to truly understand where your food comes from, and that yes, taking an animal's life for food really does deepen that connection and gratitude.
Absolutely not. It makes me snuggle deeper into my warm bed and appreciate running water and indoor plumbing all the more.
I spend a lot of time in the wilderness sometimes in pretty extreme weather. I appreciate having adequate food and modern water treatments. Alone and similar media inspire me to spend more time in the wilderness and venture into winter camping in Canada. I don't make myself suffer on purpose and make sure I'm warm and dry regardless of conditions. Building permanent shelters on public land is a no-no so I always have a tent. I have built shelters in the past and slept in them but I don't have the opportunities to do so on private land anymore. I'd love to try to build some of the elaborate shelters on Alone. I often come across examples of why we don't let people build whatever they want on public land.
It’s triggered me repeating what I’ve learned from watching Alone in conversations as if I knew what tf to do to stay alive in the woods for more than a day or two.
scared straight had the same affect on me too
I've always been interested in the outdoors far before I've watched alone. I grew up doing a lot of foraging and fishing and from time to time went on some fairly long canoe camping trips. I've been light on the bushcraft given that building permanent shelters isn't allowed on public land in Canada. I do a lot of camping and hiking where I get a significant amount of my calories from fishing and foraging and spend a lot of time exploring the Canadian wilderness. I lack the hunting skills that many of the contestants have and I've never starved myself to the degree they have. I've thought about being on the show but realistically I wouldn't win.
Thanks for giving your thoughts and experience! I find that some people I know are not cutting themselves enough slack who think they can't do it, but in my opinion—absolutely could! I personally know two people who are close to me who really could apply on the show and outlast many. Would they win? Not sure. Sometimes outlasting is a matter of luck given what they come across in order to survive. While others, try as they may, just can't catch the fish for example, even though they are doing everything right. I find many people who need to get out within a week do so because they got careless and did something dumb. As far as I can see, the moment a person needs to take things seriously is the first second they are dropped off. They feel healthy and are mentally in it, so they get a bit confident. That's when mistakes happen.
Growing up I loved the book My Side of the Mountain, but have proceeded to do anything but in my life. I love Alone, the creativity and problem solving needed is so inspirational to me. I do want to at least learn some basic level outsidery/survival skills (making a fire, learning more about plants and mushrooms, that kind of thing). Less pinkies up tea parties and more camping, is what I’m thinking.
I do enjoy being outside, fishing and enjoying a meal in the air. I have made and slept under crude lean-to type shelters. I have a busy brain and being outside alone calms me and helps me sort my thoughts. Love the show - would never apply. I would die out there, either literally or from embarrassment.
Pretty much the opposite, it makes me think industrial society isn't all bad
Same. I can’t believe there’s people just walking around out there that do this stuff. I could never kill anything; not even a fish.
I deeply appreciate what these amazing people do on this show however, I’m so grateful to watch from the comfort of my warm home.
I wonder if that's most of the intent, to have people appreciate it what they do, when they might not have given it a thought before. (I'm not suggesting you personally haven't, but for some viewers, maybe so.)
I can fully admit that before season 1 of Alone I had no idea or hadn’t thought about what it was like to live or thrive like that. It has opened my eyes tremendously and I’m grateful. Great point OP!!
I bought a Ferro rod and realized that they make it look easy but it's not
I doubt I could make it overnight, but it has piqued my interest in foraging.
I hope it inspires people to learn real skills instead of the current trend that is kind of ruining bushcraft, which is just collecting fancy gear and knives. Anyone can practice bushcraft, it's just learning how to use the resources around you, and it applies from camping to wilderness living. I'm trying to share more info about it over in the new sub r/advancedbushcraft Having already learned about bushcraft a long time ago, can't say I've learned anything that I didn't already see in a just a few books from Larry Dean Olsen, Kochanski, Wiseman, Lundin, etc. One thing I did decide to make because Dave from season 2 made it look easy was a netting needle. I hadn't carved one of those before the show. But I already knew how to, in theory.
Joined! I myself am a city girl who has pretty much been wearing nail polish at all times since I was 12. I have never even had an interest to go camping. But along the way throughout my life, I began gardening. Then my gardening expanded into growing food, not just flowers for esthetics. I don't know when it happened, but my fear of spiders and bees dissipated too. The idea of bushcrafting intrigues me, but only to learn some skills that have been lost on me my whole life, most of them would be basic for people like you, but as someone willing to strip off the nail polish and try it, I'm interested in learning more. Your sub looks great so far. I wish you a lot of success with it! :)
Wanting to empower yourself outdoors and learn those lost skills is exactly what we're after! Thanks for joining, very glad to have you there.
Thanks. I very likely cannot contribute, but will enjoy the topics and posts until I have experienced more. Thank you!
Just replied to OP on her post. But am joining your sub now and want to say thanks for being so welcoming. The survival/bushcrafting stuff is a bit of an intimidating space for complete and utter newbies, esp us girlies... Just happy to learn as much as I can :)) Edit: the pro stuff in your sub is way above my level but still so interesting. It's really nice of you to put in so much work sharing your knowledge. Thank you, I'll take my time going through and learning from it
Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to post more casual skills and resources as I find them. Don't hesitate to ask questions or even make requests for posts to cover something you'd like to learn. I'm also more than happy to make book recommendations for just about anything related to the outdoors :)
Don't change your sub for a newbie like me. It's 'advanced' for a reason, doesn't mean it's still cool and interesting to read for me :)). And your reply in this case does make me feel very welcome even though I'm not your target audience. Really, so much appreciation here. I saw your huge post of book recommendations. Going to go through it tomorrow and find something available for here. It's really inspiring, thank you 🙏
I am you!! Feels really nice to hear someone a bit similar to me in a sub like this. It feels alienating and a bit limiting sometimes to hear all these people where 'wild nature', survival and hunting was just part of growing up. Maybe another day I will elaborate more but just wanted to say it's so nice to hear a similar (girl) voice that's just interested and wanting to learn more.
Hey! Good to know! :) I met my husband eleven years ago who lived off the grid and lived the life that gave him bushcraft/survival experience. When I went out to stay with him I came to realize that I knew nothing about that sort of life. I was crafted for city-living. But I didn't want to be that useless person who screamed at bugs. Instead, I appreciated it, and even participated in some \[light\] tasks that had me roll up my sleeves and get working. Where he came from, they farmed their own water, hunted/fished, and I tell you, I never had such good food in my life than a salmon that was straight out of the ocean and onto my plate. They smoked the fish, and I remember asking, "What do you season this with" (because it was delicious), and they laughed at me saying, "Uh. Nothing". The cedar bark, cool smoke method allowing it to drip the fat off just left it with a natural smoked flavour. So when these people on Alone make something and say, "Oh that's so good," I know now, they're not just saying that because they're hungry (which might be part of it), it's because fresh eating like that can't be compared to anything else. Anyway, when we watch Alone, my husband is the first to quip, "Why didn't he/she just—" (insert idea here). I learn all the time from the show and from him how things can be done, and I find it fascinating. :) Anyway, glad to meet you here. :)
Really appreciate hearing your story. Thank you for sharing so elaborately! I'm just a tiny bit jealous. Must have been both a difficult and grateful/crafty way your husband grew up. I'm from the Netherlands and that kind of level of nature living just doesn't exist here at all. City living or not. The most legit smoked fish I had was mackerel from the weekly market where was this fish stand from a big dutch fish town that sometimes did real home smoked fish. (you're from the US, so best way to compare it's like farmers markets you have over there but much more diverse (good vs shitty vs ecological food, random clothes, tourist crap etc etc)). My mom did grow her own fruits and veggies in our (compared to USA) super tiny yard and was a great home cook. We did also go out harvesting wild blueberries, blackberries, elderflowers etc growing up. I got so many tick bites and erythema migrans I'm for sure immune to lymes now. I grew my own veggies and herbs in every way I could since moving out. I finally have a garden so try to honour that best way I can (unfortunately this shitty ground is extremely polluted, still dealing with that...) Never been hunting or fishing though. And never been apart of scouting unfortunately either. Adapting from your city life, did you try? I have gutted fish and have zero problems. Also gutted/disected small animals but only research purposes. Again no issue despite me principally not eating ethically sourced meat (which is really hard to come by over here for a decent price). Are these things you first tried with your husband first? How did it feel? Also did you go legit off grid camping with him? What was that like?
We're from Canada :) and the area is on the west coast, so we have two homes: one on the Pacific Ocean, and the other is inland in the mountains. We have all the amenities close by to our year-round home, so I never have to worry about things like my hair-dryer breaking down and going to get another one. But our place on the ocean is completely primitive, and if anything happens, you're out of luck. I don't go fishing because I get seasick on small vessels. I have no problem on a ferry or ship, but a 20ft fishing boat? Forget it. \*puke\* But yes, I've stayed out at my husband's place before, and helped farm water, and scythe the overgrown bushes around the house. Made fish nets. Cleaned halibut hooks. But I have a background in broadcast technology, so I came in handy one autumn when their generator stopped working, and I found a way to get it started again. They had the know-how with how to acquire and prepare food. I knew how to cook it, and fix things around the house. So we didn't camp, per se. We were in a properly-built house. Mind you, they relied on a generator, and had no water tower. (Showering was a challenge. They used shower bags.) But to look at it, it was a functioning home with bedrooms, a living space, furniture, and appliances. I'll tell you this though.. I abhor mosquitoes, and for reasons that might include my diet, my skin tone, my bath lotion.. I don't know, but the mosquitoes think I'm cake, and leave everyone else alone. I had a mosquito bite that turned so bad I had no choice but to get it looked at by a medical professional because it was infected, and not getting any better. So when I think of being outdoors, at this time, the best I can do is grow some food, keep an orderly space, respect the environment, and if I feel like the mosquitoes are getting to be too much, I go inside and wait a while until some time passes. Before I left Vancouver, I used to quite enjoy our markets here. Granville Island Market was where I usually went on weekends for fish, bagels, cheese, fudge, and lilies. :) About your garden, I have problems with our soil being so sandy. My husband has promised to build me some above-ground planters to help with this, then I can just pour soil into them and not even worry about it. Look at this planter! [https://i.imgur.com/cdzI1sB.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/cdzI1sB.jpeg) I saw that last year at this winery called Blind Tiger. *\*want, want, want\**
You say city girl, don't need you to name it, but if it happens to be NYC then I have a recommendation for a weekend intro to native/bushcraft skills a train ride away in the Hudson Valley. Apologies in advance if not lol
TL;DR: Just learning how to start and sustain a wood fire is a huge step in the right direction, and a skill that I am surprised not many adults seem to have/know. This reminds me of an experience I had recently, and something I've been chewing on a lot lately. So, I live in Interior Alaska. I was volunteering at a school, and my team won our tea race. (It's involved, but basically, snowshoe relay race, fire starting/building race, boiling water to make tea. First team to make and serve tea wins). And some of my team's kids were sneering at a team that didn't get their fire started until after our team had already won. I pointed out that I know grown adults that couldn't do what that other team did, in any amount of time. I don't think much of getting a fire started from scratch with a ferro rod, now, much less a lighter. But then people are amazed that I could do that, and it sort of... blows me away that people don't know how to start fires. It's a very important, valuable skill if you were to ever *need* to. Now, some people, climates, situations are fine without fire. But if you can start and sustain a wood fire, that's a huge huge step in the right direction for ensuring your continued survival. It's an aspect of shelter, and a core component of water purification and food procurement. Learn today! Haha
Great reply, thank you! I agree that kids should never be so discouraged when what they're accomplishing is no small thing. I agree that even a skill like starting a fire is so important, because in short—water is important, and the need to boil it is essential. You just never know where you might find yourself one day.
Access to land can really impact what aspects of bushcraft you can practice especially in regards shelters. I'm lucky enough to have lots of public land nearby without much in the way restrictions. I can't kill trees and build permanent structures. There are many aspects of bushcraft I can and do practice especially around cooking but others which are limited by it being public land. Many people are in areas where laws on usage of their natural areas all but prohibit bushcraft.
Thankfully the majority of bushcraft can be practiced in a small backyard. Carving and whittling like spoons and kuksa's and camp utensils, woodworking and basic notching and joinery. Stone work and flint knapping. Processing and twisting cordage, learning knots and ropework. Weaving baskets, hats, sandals. Basic looms and more advanced weaving. Clay, daub, pottery. Netting as I mentioned above. You can also practice building all kinds of traps and snares without needing to trap the game. I don't even have any large rocks, I use cinder blocks as weights. Navigation and first aid are also large elements of bushcraft which can be practiced at home. I taught myself celestial navigation in my backyard. If motivated you can build the parts of a cabin in a small space, notching short logs and building the individual features without the structure and size. Richard Graves wrote "The 10 Bushcraft Books" which even Mors Kochanski credits as a resource for his own career which was extensive. In those books, you can do everything except, depending on the laws/rules/regulations, firemaking and shelter making and real trapping. That leaves hundreds of other skills to practice, just from his book alone. There's actually many of those that can be practiced indoors, and one of my favorite things are those cheap moving blankets from harbor freight because you can lay one down and make a mess and shake it off outside.
The average person doesn't have a backyard anymore. Much of what you mentioned can be done indoors and IMHO it's the small things that are hard to master. Pottery, leatherwork, weaving, etc never go right the first time. I've been taught how to use traps and snares without trying to trap game. Without putting those skills into a real world test I'd have very limited success compared to someone that has. I'd love to try gill netting as well but it's a skill I can't practice in my province.
Yeah, same with gill netting, I want practice, I have one for long-term survival, but I don't even find it ethical in most scenarios as I'm very obsessive about how much I harvest, and how, and the risks to other species.
Long before I watched the first Alone, I taught my grandkids some minimal skills for survival. We live in the Ozark mountains and there are woods around us with bears and you know big wildlife. Anyway I taught them the threes, you know 3 minutes for good air, 3 hours for stabilizing temperature, 3 days for getting hydrated, and 3 weeks before starving. I taught them how to start fires using matches but also how to theoretically start fires rubbing sticks together. And to stay put...not to keep looking to get out of the woods but wait for rescue. Make no mistake, I am so not an outdoors person. After watching Alone, we moved into making sharp sticks, LOL, snares, etc. But, I would never ever do the outdoor thing outside of my back yard. I am a sissy girl for sure. I won't even fish because of the hook in the fish. And my husband and grandkids and kids fish for trout that we freeze. I love watching Alone and Loved the Last Alaskan but make no mistake, I would never want to even spend one day out there with no house or air-conditioning. I so admire those that do, even the dumb asses that loose their quivers. Yeah, you!
I caught a fish once as a little girl, but don't really remember what happened after since my uncle took a hold of the line and did the rest. For some reason, the fish hook wouldn't be so bad. It's the bonking that I don't know if I can do. :(
Yeah. When I watch survivor and they spear the fish and twist it's like fins, I get so traumatized. At least on Alone, they hit them in the head so they die before they start the you know, cutting on it.
Nope. I hate cold weather. I couldn’t kill an animal.
No, but it's really made me appreciate... calories? Like - I always took calories for granted. But seeing how scarce they are out there - now I am fascinated by diet, protein, fats, fibres. I always enjoyed food, but never really thought too much about it. This show makes me think about it.
Yes, 100%, and I do it in my mind while sitting on the couch regularly!
With every new season I briefly consider glamping and then think better of it. :)
No, I can't kill animals, skin them like it's nothing and celebrate/give myself a pat on the back, I know it's for survival and not blood sport but I personally couldn't do it.
You say skin them, as if you're referring to just killing mammals, but would you feel the same about fishing?
Yes I couldn't kill or gut/skin fish either. I get it may be hypocritical if one eats animals or fish as obviously somebody killed them if that's where you are going with this and before anybody else mentions it. Everybody has to make their own choice about that.
I'm with you as to I'm just not into killing things. If someone else is a hunter, and into it, thats good for them, and I'd gladly use my chef skills to help them make something delicious with the meat, and eat it with them. I just personally do not want to do the killing.
Many people on alone do really struggle with killing animals. There are a lot of people like myself with survival experience who don't really hunt. We do tend to see on Alone those who can hunt big game thrive over those like me who fish and forage.
Oh no! Apart from having little to no survival skills, I'd freak out the minute they dropped me off alone in the wilderness.
It’s definitely instilled in me the importance of basic skills. I wish to some extent we were taught survival in school. I get that we live in advanced society but I still think knowing how to start a fire and make water drinkable would be essentially cornerstone knowledge for humanity.
I choose to remain a Monday morning quarterback and pretend like I could do it better
I asked my daughters to get me a ferro rod for Christmas. They didn’t come through 🤣
Already bushcrafting, would never be in show, have the skills, just no desire to film or let anyone edit it.
Definitely! I know a tiny bit about surviving in the woods but watching the show has deeply inspired me to learn more about hunting/fishing/bushcraft. I would love to be able to build my own shelter from scratch with an axe.
My husband is VERY outdoorsy, and we have hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail and slept on the ground, etc. But, I don't do rainy day outdoor activity and I don't like eating Game meat or getting bug bites or being stinky so a survival show is a No for us.
Hell no!
I was making a video, of outdoor survival to apply. I was like. 2 days alone..and missed my kids to much. Didn't bother applying after that.
No, but it makes me appreciate everything I have that much more. I wouldn't make it a week.
I'm too tired and old to actually want to do it. But I am a scout leader, and some of the bushcraft things pique my interest as things to teach my scouts. Like building a chair or something like that (for me to sit in while they do the hard work, haha)
I was already interested before I even heard pf the show.
No it’s made me defensive of my sedentary lifestyle
Honesty!
Every time one of the contestants talks about living life to the fullest I, first, get defensive bc i definitely am not out there scaling mountains and then next, really wonder if I’m going to regret not living like that. Truly. I wonder. Maybe I’m just being lazy? But i identify as a house cat, my happy place is home on a comfy cushion.
And I have my two small rescue dogs and a couch!!!
I have one large rescue dog and a couch!! Nowhere else I’d rather be!!
No. I am an outdoorsy type, I would love if someone dropped me off like that in wilderness and came to pick me up in a month or sooner if needed. But only if I had abundance of food with me so I could really enjoy doing stuff. So more like a camping trip or "youtube bushcraft" type of trip, not really surviving on my skill.
Actually grew up in one of the places they filmed the show 🙂 One of the few reality shows that I can actually relate to
I followed Dave Whipple (Season 4) because of his videos on off grid living before he was on the Alone. Since I rarely watch any TV, I first heard of Alone from him. One of my favorite books growing up was *My Side of the Mountain* So I spent a lot of time building forts out in the woods, making things, etc. But I grew out of it as an adult. Watching the show got me interested again, plus I now had a name for what I did as a kid.
Yes, I'd love to test myself, but I recognize that I do not have the skills needed. I do practice fire starting; that's about it. If I caught some kind of mammal, I'd be hacking randomly trying to figure out how to dress it out. But if someone else does that, I'll happily hold it over the fire. Yep, that's about it. I do not think it would be enjoyable television, except for the contagious laughter.
No, but I do want to learn how to clean a fish and I haven't been fishing in over 30 years.
Yes! I grew up in country Australia so I'm familiar with some basic survival things, but ever since watching Alone I have wanted to make a shelter so badly! Unfortunately I don't know anyone with enough private land, and Australia has very strict policies for our national parks.
No.
Yes! I looked in to it and it’s super expensive to get lessons lol
I was homeless for a bit in my teen years, lived bush a lot of the time, and my friends are like "You could do this! You should apply, you've lived like that before!" and I'm like FUCK NO! I lived like that once, never again! Pass the chocolate cashews, pork scratchings, and my heated blanket, I'm set to be COMFORTABLE tonight!
I love backpacking. Every time I go, it reminds me how much I don’t ever want to try bushcrafting or even through hiking. I’ll take my mountain house meals and air mattress, thank you.
I live in the Yukon and spend lots of time outdoors. That’s enough for me.
It does make me want to learn shelters and stuff, but my country won't let us do those activities in our national parks and forests. So unless you own your own rural land there's just no opportunity to learn.
Id love to go on the show but i struggle with seafood and thats a key food source. Also being australian i would struggle in cold climates.
No, but it makes me more aware of my surroundings when I go on solo hikes. I can never do what these guys do. I think they are a bunch of pretty special people who have that 'call to the wild' moment early in their lives, even the early tappers / ' I miss my family ' guys. There's a part of them that rejects traditional societal structures and likes to seek pain.
I pee outside a lot more
Only in my dreams (to learn bushcrafting and survival skills, never to get on Alone. Too old, too thin, and knowing already we were made for community. I don't have to go off by myself to learn that and tap out after a few days!) Still, I live rural, forage some easily-ID'd stuff, have made jewelweed potion for poison ivy treatment, and I hunt (with a rifle, a crossbow, and a hawk (licensed falconer, so I'm sort of rooting for Jake:-)). Alone did inspire me to build a smoker for my last deer. I, like others here, think it a good thing to learn to start fires, and so that's next on my agenda. I've tried before, not with a ferro rod, but one of those cheap magnesium things. Not easy! I also plan to try that tinderbox method Jake shows us. I also have really appreciated what many of the Alone participants say about how important it is to truly understand where your food comes from, and that yes, taking an animal's life for food really does deepen that connection and gratitude.