Alone in the Wild

[ericire12]

With Les its not really a survival situation either. He and a team of people go in ahead of time and scout everything out for about a week or so -- He showed that in one of the "behind the scenes" episodes he did.

Basically, he goes into a predetermined area with other survival experts and locals ahead of time to learn to live in that very specific area. They teach him to identify the local edible plants, where all the sources of water are, where shelter can be found, and what can be used to his advantage in that very specific area. Basically they are removing as many variables from the equation as possible and educating him as much possible about the specifics of that location before he goes in and starts filming. He also has a support team camped a couple of miles away from him at all times.... in one episode they had to do a helicopter extraction for the entire crew because of some drastic weather changes.

If you think he is lost and making it up as he goes, you are mistaken. Its really nothing more then an extended camping trip where he is filming and teaching survival techniques as he goes.

[Badgersmilk]

CHRIST!  Next thing your gonna say the Easter Bunny is a fake too! 

I'm still watch'n Ed tonight. 

[r_w]

If you think he is lost and making it up as he goes, you are mistaken. Its really nothing more then an extended camping trip where he is filming and teaching survival techniques as he goes.

Fair enough.  For a week all you need is shelter and water. 

It is the self-filming plus managing and lugging the 60+ pounds of gear that I find the most impressive.

And that he was straight up about the behind the scenes.

[ericire12]

Fair enough.  For a week all you need is shelter and water. 

It is the self-filming plus managing and lugging the 60+ pounds of gear that I find the most impressive.

And that he was straight up about the behind the scenes.

I'm not bashing the guy -- I watch the show all the time and think it is great. I am just pointing out that you have to remember that they are making a TV show.... much like all Reality TV, its always more TV then it is reality.

[Badgersmilk]

With the way Ed was burning calories doing that hike, even if he had caught a rabbit, or a fish, he'd need probably four of each a day PLUS the plants to compensate.  An average rabbit's good for like 600 calories.  ONE MRE = 5,000+!  CALORIE / ENERGY MANAGMENT!  

KEEP YOUR FEET DRY!  If your crippled with infected soar's, your just worm food waiting to happen...  "Worms gotta eat to"

And those are 3/32" snares for stuff like coyote, fox, badgers.  You want 1/32" snares for rabbits.  You cant keep snares in a mesh bag with your gear, picking up all kinds of YOUR scent.  Should have packed them in a air-tight baggy with some rubber gloves.

Signed, Armchair Quarterback    




I'd love to do his trip!  Probably like someone else there for company.  And STILL not make it 90 days!  

Ed made mistakes, but it HAD to be real!

[Sponsor]

[Badgersmilk]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3478144/Six-Primitive-Traps-for-Catching-Food-in-the-Woods

Flawed pictures, but gets the idea accross.  Type "Army Survival" in the search window while your there.

[ratcatcher55]

If you really want to see how tough you are....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Hartwell

I was weathered in camp with a couple of bush pilots in BC and they brought this up. It was the largest search and rescue in Canadian history at that time. The pilots started calling nurses emergency rations after the incident.

The Wikipedia version is a lot more PC than what I heard from them. Hartwell had tried to fly around a long line of snow squalls and had run out of fuel. There was several feet of snow on the ground but they could a large lake (Slave Lake?) from the crash site. After 2 weeks, Hartwell tried to get the teenager to go down to the lake for help but he would only go so far and then return.

The RCMP found the crash site after calling off the search by accident.

[ratcatcher55]

If you really want to see how tough you are....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Hartwell

I was weathered in camp with a couple of bush pilots in BC and they brought this up. It was the largest search and rescue in Canadian history at that time. The pilots started calling nurses emergency rations after the incident.

The Wikipedia version is a lot more PC than what I heard from them. Hartwell had tried to fly around a long line of snow squalls and had run out of fuel. There was several feet of snow on the ground but they could see a large lake (Slave Lake?) from the crash site. After 2 weeks, Hartwell tried to get the teenager to go down to the lake for help but he would only go so far and then return.

The RCMP found the crash site by accident after calling off the search .

Fixed.

[Timothy]

With the way Ed was burning calories doing that hike, even if he had caught a rabbit, or a fish, he'd need probably four of each a day PLUS the plants to compensate.  An average rabbit's good for like 600 calories.  ONE MRE = 5,000+!  CALORIE / ENERGY MANAGMENT!  

"Rabbit starvation, also referred to as protein poisoning, is the form of acute malnutrition caused by excess consumption of any lean meat (e.g. rabbit) coupled with a lack of other sources of nutrients usually in combination with other stressors, such as severe cold or dry environment. Symptoms include diarrhea, headache, fatigue, low blood pressure and heart rate, and a vague discomfort and hunger that can only be satisfied by consumption of fat or carbohydrates."

Better find another alternate food source....

Stroud does a good job, I enjoy his show too.  I've been aware that he's had assistance from early on in the episodes.  Once he was rescued from a local tribe due to being stalked by a black panther, and not the Chicago kind!   

[Badgersmilk]

I'd really like to see Ed go out again with his new found experience.  Somewhere else though, Alaska?  With Sara as his partner!