Above image taken by Martin Schalter on Unsplash photos
The global popularity of the Alone Tv series, has many folks imagining how they would fare in such a challenging ‘survival of the fittest’ situation. Would they be able to build a secure shelter and hunt for food? Would they be comfortable spending so much time alone? Are they closer in character to Edward Michael “Bear” Grylls or Walter Mitty? From the competitions run already we know that some contestations only last a day while others can hold on for seventy days. I’m thinking here about Woniya Dawn Thibeault who survived 73 days by herself, building a shelter out of tree branches, hunting for food with a bow and arrow and surviving fierce winter storms. She survived for 10 weeks on 10 hares, 10 squirrels, one grouse, and quarts of berries. In the process, she lost a third of her body weight.
Obviously if you wanted to enter the Alone competition, or simply to go into the wilderness by yourself, you’d need to give serious consideration to what tools you’d take to support your safety, survival, and comfort. Factors influencing your decision would include the terrain, climate, and weather conditions of your destination. For example, will you be in the desert, forest, mountains, beside a river or in a coastal area.
In Alone with a Tasman Tiger, Sebastian Ward is told he can only take ten items. This is what he selects.
1. knife with belt carrier
2. lighter
3. water container
4. saw
5. sleeping bag
6. cooking pot
7. head lamp
8. tarp
9. fishing line and hooks
10. axe
You can learn how he, and indeed the other five contestants, go in securing a shelter, finding food and managing interactions with wild animals, when they are dropped in the wilderness in Western Tasmania with their ten items. Did they choose wisely? Will they last longer than a week? The clock is ticking for them all.
Night sky image from Joe Leahy on Unsplash
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