Alone: Skills Challenge - General Discussion

[tljgator]

...I think we're currently without a specific moderator, so what say you all -- just one thread for these things should be fine, yeah? Let's discuss the mad skillz, lol.

E01: Earth Shelter

[SassyCat]

I watched it, but I have to watch it again because I was distracted and only, half watched, but it was good, and has those very scenes we wish they would show in more detail on the ALONE shows.  I remember Jordan, and Amos, but I didn’t remember Clay from any Alone season. All I will say for now is that the adobe shelter was INSANE! 
Its definitely worth rewatching for all that I missed.

[AZChristian]

When they showed Amós and Clay in those tree-filled areas and then Jordan in our barren Arizona landscape, I was thinking that this was a TOTALLY unfair challenge, as the availability of materials was wacky.

I now take that back and can only feel REALLY proud of Jordan, his resourcefulness, and his hard work in building an adobe shelter in three days.

The difference between Clay and Jordan - to me - shows the difference in a strive or thrive attitude.  Did Clay's tarp in a trough technically fill the parameters?  Yes.  But had this been a normal Alone series, whose shelter would have been more likely to have made it past three days?  And which contestant would have been more secure from the weather, etc.?  Jordan, for sure.  Nice job from Amós, as well.  

[Jeanne222]

Darn I didn’t realize Alone Frozen had started up already. I thought my Alone settings would pick it up and I also thought there would be a little break!

[Rebky]

According to my DVR, Alone Frozen premiers next Thursday, 8/11 on the History Channel.

Edited August 6, 2022 by Rebky

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Darn I didn’t realize Alone Frozen had started up already. I thought my Alone settings would pick it up and I also thought there would be a little break!

Frozen doesn't start until 8/11.  Skills Challenge was after the finale of the regular Alone episode this week.

I didn't want to miss any of them, so my DVR and I had a little "record this" meeting.

[tljgator]

They did air the "episode 0" of Frozen -- meet the participants, etc. the other week. Do we want one thread for that whole show, or weekly episode threads like we have for original-recipe Alone?

[rmontro]

I have to admit this show was more entertaining than I expected it to be.  I like the half hour format, goes by quick, and you don't have to sit through much padding.  Jordan was a beast, turning out all those bricks in a single day.  He came to work.  Callie was right, it looked like someone could have actually lived there (modestly).  Clay came off as somewhat lazy, but his decision would be smart in a real survival situation, he would have used minimal calories putting that together.  Amos' shelter was nice too, I thought it had a chance to win.

Do the contestants still have to film themselves in this, or do they get a camera crew?   

[madmax]

I thought Jordan was nuts making adobe bricks, but damn, that looked like a real house!  That was badass.

Amos' shelter was cool; the living roof was really great.

Clay's was serviceable, but probably wouldn't last thru a regular season.

I like this format.

[heckkitty]

There’s no Clay. There’s a Lucas, from season 1, I think, who made his shelter out of clay (adobe) & won. Jordan was in Montana, I think, made his shelter by taking a existing gap between some boulders, didn’t win. 

[SassyCat]

1 hour ago, heckkitty said:

There’s no Clay. There’s a Lucas, from season 1, I think, who made his shelter out of clay (adobe) & won. Jordan was in Montana, I think, made his shelter by taking a existing gap between some boulders, didn’t win. 

Right! Lucas! Not Clay. And it WAS him who I thought was the winner of the shelters, not Jordan. 
 

tljgator - I also am fine with the one thread format.

Edited August 8, 2022 by SassyCat

[Quilt Fairy]

On 8/6/2022 at 6:41 PM, tljgator said:

Do we want one thread for that whole show, or weekly episode threads like we have for original-recipe Alone?

I've been putting up most of the threads for the regular series, and I thought that one thread here in the Alone forum should do for Frozen, especially as we don't know if it will be a regular thing or just a one-off.  Have at it, @tljgator.

Lucas was one of my favorites from S1 (along with Alan, of course).  I think he's the one who put up a yurt.  I can't believe Carrie kept saying this was such a hard decision for her.   Jordan's, I discounted all together.  Amos' was fine, and if there had been additional parameters like blending into the landscape I could see him winning.  But Lucas built a freaking house!

[humbleopinion]

Lucas of "Two Note Song" infamy

[tljgator]

E02. Bushcraft Bridge

"Three former Alone participants take on a difficult challenge they've never tackled before - build a Bushcraft Bridge in three days using just a few simple tools. Lucas Miller (season 1), Callie North (Season 3) and Britt Ahart (Seasons 3 & 5) will compete to show off their skills."

[rmontro]

I had watched about 3/4 of episode two before I remembered that there were two Callies who had been on Alone, and that this was a different Callie than the one who is currently on Alone: Frozen.  I kept wondering why she looked so different. 

That said, I agreed with Amos' picks, and the order he had them.

In episode three though, I liked Amos' shelter the best, though both his and Jordan's were well done.  And there was a Clay in this episode! 

[madmax]

Second episode, I loved the concept of Britt's bridge.  Easily moveable if you needed to carry it to ford multiple streams.  But Callie's bridge was really outstanding.  She even decorated it!  But I think the challenge should have said " You HAVE to use natural cordage."  Based on "Use only natural cordage," Lucas was right to assume he didn't need to use any cordage.

Third episode, I liked Amos' shelter best.  I think it was an interesting design and it hit all the markers.  But Jordan's was good and I could see why Britt picked it.  

[rmontro]

20 hours ago, madmax said:

Second episode, I loved the concept of Britt's bridge.  Easily moveable if you needed to carry it to ford multiple streams.  But Callie's bridge was really outstanding.  She even decorated it!  But I think the challenge should have said " You HAVE to use natural cordage."  Based on "Use only natural cordage," Lucas was right to assume he didn't need to use any cordage.

Yeah, I found the cordage instructions confusing also.  Especially since he included rope in the toolkit lol.  It's like what?  But IMO Lucas had the third best bridge anyway.

Callie's looked like they could have made it a permanent fixture.  I thought it was interesting that hers was the only one actually placed over water.  The contestants are able to construct their entries in their home territory, and the judge just views the videos of their work.  Makes me wonder if they're completely on the up and up with the testing.  Like if they know there's a certain weak spot in the structure where it might leak, and then avoid that spot when they pour the water over it.

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

Like if they know there's a certain weak spot in the structure where it might leak, and then avoid that spot when they pour the water over it.

Since they haven't mentioned any monetary prize for coming in first, I doubt there's any funny business going on.  But I agree that pouring a watering can's worth of water over a shelter is hardly a decent way to prove that it's "waterproof". 

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Since they haven't mentioned any monetary prize for coming in first, I doubt there's any funny business going on. 

It's just for bragging rights, but some people are very competitive.

[tljgator]

E03. "Smoke-Free, Bone-Dry Shelter"

E04. "Wilderness Oven"

[madmax]

Callie sure likes to make her stuff fancy, doesn't she?  I liked the oven that Amos built better, only because I thought the "bear" was cool.

[rmontro]

22 hours ago, madmax said:

Callie sure likes to make her stuff fancy, doesn't she?  I liked the oven that Amos built better, only because I thought the "bear" was cool.

I wouldn't have wanted to choose between the three wilderness ovens, they all appeared to be well done.  Amos and Callie both got style points.  But I would have chosen Callie, just because her bread was done in half an hour, and Amos' took an hour.  I thought Clay kind of shot himself in the foot with his remark that his bread wasn't as brown as he wanted it.

I'm not even sure how wilderness ovens work.  I guess you have to start a fire in it and basically preheat it, then shut the door and it cooks with whatever heat it has retained?

[Quilt Fairy]

On 8/19/2022 at 7:37 PM, madmax said:

I thought the "bear" was cool.

I thought it looked more like a frog. 

[rmontro]

On 8/22/2022 at 7:55 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I thought it looked more like a frog. 

I didn't know what it was.

Callie has won two of these already, but when I saw it was a wilderness boat, I had a feeling she was in trouble.  She had the weakest entry.  Using bamboo was clever.  Clay's kayak was impressive.  

Honestly, if I had got that challenge I would have gotten on the radio beep beep beep.  "Hello, this is rmontro, I am officially tapping out".

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

Honestly, if I had got that challenge I would have gotten on the radio beep beep beep.  "Hello, this is rmontro, I am officially tapping out".

And the reply would be:  "That's OK, we have a better show for you.  It's called Alone: Frozen." 

[madmax]

Clay did have the best boat.

I was originally confused why Britt didn't get dinged for not using the tarp, but it wasn't a prerequisite of the challenge, so I get why Lucas thought it was good.

[rmontro]

21 hours ago, madmax said:

I was originally confused why Britt didn't get dinged for not using the tarp, but it wasn't a prerequisite of the challenge, so I get why Lucas thought it was good.

At first I thought Britt might use the tarp as a sail  ;)

[madmax]

The shelters were all pretty cool.  I did like Jordan's the best, but only because of the food cache.

[rmontro]

Callie (North) is a bush building machine!  Is this the third of these contests that she's won?  A raft with a nice shelter, and even throws in a firepit and catches a fish to eat and cook on top of it.  Pretty impressive.  Joel did a nice job too.  Poor Britt, he really caught some bad luck with the weather.  I think I would have thrown in the towel too.