[Closed] Alone In The Wild - big girl's blouse!

i gave up after the first episode after he annoyed the tits off me . anyone would think he'd been alone for years it had been about 4 days before i switched off.

As he said last night at one point, "I can't film myself without crying".
I would imagine most of the time he is fine, but being fine doesn't make good telly.
Massive ammount of respect for what he is trying to do, as I'm sure anyone who has spent REAL time alone would have. A different league to Bear and Ray (although I suspect Ray would rather enjoy the challenge and do extremely well).

just my two pen'orth

never be alone with Ray Mears in the wild. He didn't get that size eating frigging beetles...

I agree, the constant whining gets you down. Isnt he supposed to be fulfilling his lifes dream? Jesus, he needs to be doing a job that bores him rigid, worrying about paying for the kids school dinners and shi**ing it every time the post comes. MTFU for gods sake.

Spamf, likewise, I have huge respect for what he's attempting - I couldn't do it as I couldn't deal with the solitude (I think the best thing about the great outdoors is being able to share special moments and views with family and friends). I'm just not sure that him crying all the time is good telly!

Would love to see a comparison with him and Ray. Ray would have stocked a shelter full of food, hollowed out a canoe, found an indiginous community and learnt a new language by now! 😉

barnsleymitch, I'm with ya on that one, we know what real survival is all about! I have to contend with stocking the house with food only to have two kids come home and demolish the lot, and each day the pattern continues!

I dont think its the fact that he's alone that is driving him nuts - its only been a month after all.

i think its the fact that he's alone AND there are definitely bears out there - that would keep the stress levels high enough to drive anyone mad - couple that with a lack of food and i'm not suprised he has the odd snivel. Even with a gun, i'd be scared witless.

I would have edited the snivelling out if it were me though 🙂

squin, you need to get a gun. I'm packing for bear, yeehah!

im strangely intrigued by this programme,part of me fancys having a go at something like this myself...although it does look a tad mental in parts....im just hoping he does get to see a proper bear as the suspense is killing me!

Hmmm, from the comfort of one's living room with a fridge worth of food and a couple of beers inside you I'd imagine it's fairly easy to suggest that he should MTFU.

Being on your own, no, hang on being the only human in probably a couple of hundred square miles, with bears for company, the constant fear, the complete lack of food, the terrain, and the pressure would I'd imagine make most people have a weepy moment.

i still think law or no law he should have dropped that moose that he saw in the 1st episode.....that would have reduced the lowering of his metabolic rate.....mmmm! moose burgers!

i like me grub and id be shooting anything that moved!

What I'm trying to say is that nobody is forcing him to do this, he is supposedly living his dream, and, lets not forget, being paid to do so. There are a lot of people on this forum with far more mundane, yet ever present things to whinge about, who dont, and one or two people with much bigger issues to deal with who are handling it with dignity.
I find it difficult to listen to his constant bloody whinging, so yes, MTFU or get out.

>What I'm trying to say is that nobody is forcing him to do this,

And no-one is forcing you to watch it.

My take on this is that they made yesterday's show deliberately miserable and pathetic so that next week's will see him pulling his socks up and killing/catching food.

Showing him "on a journey", sort of thing.

I stopped watching it halfway through the first episode, for precisely the reasons I mentioned.

Is the reason for it being an uninhabited wilderness that there’s not enough food to support a population (a bit like a desert environment) or is he just a bit crap at finding food (how much training / experience does he have)?

I agree that his grizzling is a bit annoying, but it’s a compelling watch.

Doesn't an hour's worth of TV contain about 2 weeks worth of footage though? He's still out there and I don't think he's doing the editing himself. It's probably only the odd snivelling session in reality and I'd say he's allowed some.

Another thing that might make it worse is that there are people sort of about- according to the wesbite he doesn't move all the stuff around himslef, some of it is magically transported between campsites so knowing you're sometimes around people but can't interact with them might make things a bit harder.

Also the metabolic changes will probably play merry hell with his disposition.

i gave up after the first episode after he annoyed the tits off me

(I AM liking Land of the Volcano on BBC1 though - great telly).

MrSalmon - how appropriate, he's been waiting for you! 🙂

good place to shed some pounds it seems! i wonder if he can get updates on how corries doing at the moment

His footage reminds me a lot of the Mark Beaumont programme on the BBC. He is doing something he wants to do but what we get shown (whether a true reflection or not) is him moaning, bitching and generally being miserable. It might be editing so we get "The Journey" he's gone on, but it doesn't make good viewing as you find that far from being on his side, you just can't be bothered and end up watching something less depressing.

The Mark Beaumont programme (the round the world one) was uplifting - yes he had a couple of dark moments but it was in the main very positive. I am watching him on Facebook (he's currently getting blind drunk on tequila in Mekkico) and looking forward to the TV serialisation.

Mark Beaumont's book is generally excellent, not too much whingeing, although his attitude to the police when riding through ****stan was a bit questionable, considering the risk he was presenting. Well worth a read!

MrSalmon - how appropriate, he's been waiting for you!

Eh?

[i]MrSalmon - Member

MrSalmon - how appropriate, he's been waiting for you!

Eh?[/i]

Sorry, yesterday's episode was him slowly starving as he moved his camp (which took him 2 days of effort) in expectation of the salmon run, but he ended up catching bugger-all as he was too early, no salmon!

But his is not alone?

Who charges his batteries up for his camera?

Either that or its one hell of a Duracell

I'm finding this program interesting, but like a few others, do struggle with the chap somewhat. Couple of things I thought;

Why is he expending so much effort to go looking for Salmon that may not even be there - Surely he could travel alpine style for a day, before committing to carrying all his gear on the 'off chance'.

Does he ever actively hunt, I don't think wandering around in the woods at random is really increasing his chances of bagging something worthwhile. However I did wonder if he killed anything of great size would its smell attract bears before he had time to finish it.

Either way I'd love to have a bash at it and very jealous of his opportunity.

I won't be watching it again unless there's an episode where he goes dogging with the grizzlies - seeing Whingie McMoanerson getting a big old fashioned bear bumming would be worth paying to watch.

[i]barnsleymitch - Member
I won't be watching it again unless there's an episode where he goes dogging with the grizzlies - seeing Whingie McMoanerson getting a big old fashioned bear bumming would be worth paying to watch. [/i]

According to the Radio Times, I think your in luck BM! - happy days.

Cheers squin (loosens belt and grabs the lard).

MrSalmon - how appropriate, he's been waiting for you!

Eh?

Sorry, yesterday's episode was him slowly starving as he moved his camp (which took him 2 days of effort) in expectation of the salmon run, but he ended up catching bugger-all as he was too early, no salmon!

With you now! Still had to think about it though... 😳

>Who charges his batteries up for his camera?

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/alone-in-the-wild/articles/the-faqs-how-the-programme-was-made

he is whining a lot
he seems to have no common sense
he may be a mentalist
he lacks basic survival skills

BUT he got off his arse and did something seriously challenging unlike most of the sulkers on here, so fair play to him

i'd love to do something similar

Last night he was talking about playing dead if a brown bear went for him, fair enough no doubt good advice but he was clutching a pump action shotgun at the time. I know what I'd do if a brown bear went for me.

[i]he lacks basic survival skills[/i]

I think thats the biggest problem - he didn't appear to have any idea of how to build a shelter or where and how to lay snares - might have benefitted from a little learning/practice before going in at the deep end, rather than reading Lofty Wiseman's book and seeing a photo of a salmon in a river and thinking "ooh, I know, I can survive on fish"

I haven't been watching this but feel I may have been missing out. Have people seen Grizzly Man? Highly recommended.

I watched the first episode on iPlayer last night while the second one was on. I really liked it and will probably watch the second one tonight.

The shots where he has the camera on some sort of boom as he's walking along remind me of Sir Digby Chicken Ceasar.

[img] http://pds8.egloos.com/pds/200802/17/83/f0004183_47b839f59adb2.pn g" target="_blank">http://pds8.egloos.com/pds/200802/17/83/f0004183_47b839f59adb2.pn g"/> [/img]

All I'm reading here is a bunch of armchair critics TBH. Fairly typical STW know-it-alls.

IMO he wasted precious energy hiking for three days to a similar location to his first expecting it to be like the garden of eden.

he didn't shoot an elk when he had a clear view. tried to shoot a squirel with a rifle when he had a shotgun - which he could also use for fish

he's whining about bears but has a bear fence at night, a rifle and shotgun and probably pepper spray.

cringe worthy, but good for him for doing it

haven't been watching this but feel I may have been missing out. Have people seen Grizzly Man? Highly recommended.

I know I shouldnt have, but I pi**ed myself laughing when they found what was left of him in mr chocolates stomach. Really young man, what were you thinking?

LOL at sfb re: ray mears

i qutie enjoyed it, tiresome though his whinging was, i know i would be the same, not even like moving is easy! no trails or paths, just endless un molested forest.

fantastic to drive a brush cutter through and make a thousand miles of singletrack? 😉

iDave - Member

BUT he got off his arse and did something seriously challenging

And absolutely pointless.

It's not as if he's the first to do it. Plenty of people in the 19th century lived that way and made their livelihood from it. It's not as if he's exploring or finding new things. All he's doing is pratting about in the woods, which is ultimately what I do every other day or so.

But I am enjoying it.

allthepies - Member
>Who charges his batteries up for his camera?

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/alone-in-the-wild/articles/the-faqs-how-the-programme-was-made

Thanks for posting the link. I thought the area looked very familiar - it's about 20 miles from where I spent 6 weeks living under canvas in 1986.

It's a hard, but wildly beautiful, land. The bear thing is funny: a kind of schizophrenic duality between wanting to avoid them like the plague, but desperatly wanting to see them. The mossies are worse - there is no way to avoid them below the tree line. Above the tree line and it's ok.

I can understand why he has been getting as emotional as he has. We had a few knocks. Out of our team of twelve, one guy fell down a waterfall and broke a bone (ankle?), with no way to medivac. Managed to get a doc out to him, but we stayed in our location for 4 weeks until he was mobile enough to walk out. Nearly ran out of food and also got snowed in during that time. Radio reception rarely allowed us to get a comms link.

The big difference was - we were a team, and the emotional resilience that we needed came from the mutual support of other team members.

I want to go back

All I'm reading here is a bunch of armchair critics TBH. Fairly typical STW know-it-alls.

Yep, people who think that Mayhem with a bit of mud is like the Somme...with out the Germans and gas attacks. Seriously some people here need to get some ****ing perspective or just STFU as they are making tits of themselves.

People do tough things for all sorts of reasons and one of the things that makes them such worhtwhile experiences are the bad bits, where you run out of water, or injure your self or just plain fall apart. You just have to take a breath and carry on OR sit down and die. If it was all good times and fully bellies it would be a 2 week all inclusive vacation to Spain and every one would do it.

Rant over.

SSP

I'm amazed (or am I?) by the negative, know-it-all posts about this.

I wasn't aware of the program until I read about it here and I've just watched both of the episodes on 4OD.

I don't watch much TV these days, but this, in my view, is better than 99% of the rubbish that is normally on when the TV is on and is definitely worth watching.

Whilst I agree that he probably should have bagged more animals in the first episode and maybe built a better shelter, the silence, the lack of company and the presence of bears must make for a strange experience. If this were filmed in somewhere like Scotland then the lack of large predators would probably make it less intimidating.

NB. a gun isn't a lot of use if you're awoken from deep sleep by a large bear that's trying to kill you.

I would love to do something like this and expect that it could be very difficult. Reading books and knowing a few techniques are not the same as actually doing it. Struggling to find food must be very demoralising, especially as it is obviously going to be followed by a weakening of the body.

Whilst watching the programme, my view was also that the editing has been done to provide a narrative. He is enjoying aspects of the venture, but there are obviously going to times when he's feeling down and these instances have been given a lot of air-time. If he finds a good source of food he'll presumably feel much better very quickly.

I can excuse him having his camera kit moved around by others -how else could it be filmed well enough?

Indeed, you have to "catch" *all* your food - think about that for a moment. No popping down the supermarket or raiding the fridge/freezer. If you haven't shot/caught some food then you go empty - or make do with eating weeds/plants. Fine if you're Grizzly Adams but take a bloke from a Western society and plonk him in the wilderness and it's going to be hard.

maybe some people who have posted do actually know something about wilderness survival? if you happen to be sitting in an armchair at the time does any criticism become invalid or do you need to be posting from Siberia?

NB. a gun isn't a lot of use if you're awoken from deep sleep by a large bear that's trying to kill you.

he has an electric bear fence to out round his sleeping area.

I think its great that he's doing it, for him its a challenge, and good luck to him.

Now it would be funny if when he was walking around shouting "Hello Bear!", Bear Grylls popped his head around a tree and said "Hey Ed, I found a fishy!" 😆

🙄

** Tumble weed moment **

Seriously though, your all taking for granted so many factors.

Its not so much a physical thing so you can't compare it to Mark Beaumont cycle around the world which was greatly demanding mentally and physically however he was never too far from things we take for granted such as help, accomodation, communication, company and food. Take away all of this and I'd imagine the feeling of dispair would be overwhelming. People did live like this centuries ago, but they lived in packs/tribes whatever you want to call it. Nomadic people were conditioned to live like this over hundreds of years and bred animals such as cattle for food.

I certainly don't think he's a big girls blouse! Respect!

Now Bear Brylls, that's another forum thread! Hotel room and 3 course meal anyone?

Maybe some people do know about [b]real[/b] survival, but I doubt that many do.... I don't think a critic's current location makes much difference.

He does have a bear fence, although he mentions the batteries running out and in the 2nd episode he said that he's not using it. I wonder how effective the fence would be in the event of a bear charging full-speed at his bivvi anyway?

Bear fence? Why not make sure bears don't find you (like not cooking / eating near camp etc...) because lets face it there might be 17000 bears in the Yukon but there is onyl 1 of him so a bear would be really lucky to spot him given his luck at spotting them 😉

SSP

He needs to kill a bear to get a sense of control over his situation.
And start shooting animals for food.

And start shooting animals for food.

Yep, although shooting a squirrel from point blank range, with a shotgun is not best practice, and he missed?

I wondered how he would have eaten it had he shot it as it would have been blown to smithereens! 😐 He is dreadful tbf and has made a right mess of it. Why cant he survive on fish? Why didnt he bait the traps with the fish he did catch?

Hopeless.