S04.E01: Divide and Conquer

[Drogo]

Seven family-member pairs are dropped miles apart on Northern Vancouver Island, where they must locate each other and survive the unforgiving terrain and deadly predators.

[muffkins]

It's Sha-lol people, not sa-lal.  And make a lot of noise and you won't sneak up on a bear.

[dgpolo]

I wish they would show us how far the hikers have gone, periodically.

[OoogleEyes]

Wow! The wolf shows up in the very first episode.

That would be my concern with walking through all of that underbrush. You don't know what's under there. It would be easy to step into a hole or something a nd and mess up your leg. And Josh wasn't even the one hiking! That was quick. Felt bad for his brother.

That was one hell of a shelter she built in one day..

I'm enjoying Alone For Now!

Edited June 16, 2017 by OoogleEyes

[MostlyContent]

8 minutes ago, OoogleEyes said:

I'm enjoying Alone For Now!

Same here!  

I thought the young brothers from IL wouldn't last long, but I didn't figure a tap-out quite early on the first day.  That was bad luck.  

[zibnchy]

So you've got a sprained ankle. Why do you have to tap out right now? Couldn't he make a rudimentary and temporary shelter somewhere near the beach and reassess the ankle on Day 2 and after some rest? They have medical supplies, couldn't he have wrapped the ankle?

He managed to walk down the hill for an hour after the injury so I can't believe the ankle is broken. Well, he is only 19. Maybe he realized he was in over his head and that his mama did not come along on the trip.

[roamyn]

22 minutes ago, MostlyContent said:

Same here!  

I thought the young brothers from IL wouldn't last long, but I didn't figure a tap-out quite early on the first day.  That was bad luck.  

I was hoping they'd last longer.

Brooke built a good shelter, quickly.

 I get the impression that Logan really doesn't want to do this, he's just humoring his dad.  And why the heck was his dad doing the hiking, when there's a perfectly healthy 19 yr old to do it.

Edited June 16, 2017 by roamyn

[mlp]

Whew!  I'm a nervous wreck.  That was quite the tense first episode.  I felt sorry for the young brother who had to tap out but he really had no choice.  That terrain is brutal and he couldn't go on with a sprained ankle especially since it took the fight out of him.

I quite like the woman so far.  She has a great attitude and she's a lot braver than I am.  That shelter she made in one day was really impressive.

I don't understand how the cameras are picking up the people hiking.  Some of the shots are full face like maybe they're holding them at arm's length but some seem to be shooting from a distance.  

I also don't understand how they're going to find someone with just a compass if they don't have the coordinates for where their partner is.

[LittleIggy]

That lady made one hella shelter on the first day! In past seasons, some people took weeks to make a shelter that was not that good.

I hope the hiking doesn't drag on. It could get tedious quickly, IMO.

20 minutes ago, roamyn said:

 

 I get the impression that Logan really doesn't want to do this, he's just humoring his dad.  And why the heck was his dad doing the hiking, when there's a perfectly healthy 19 yr old to do it.

Didn't dad make only .3 of a mile on the first day?

[Quilt Fairy]

39 minutes ago, mlp said:

I also don't understand how they're going to find someone with just a compass if they don't have the coordinates for where their partner is.

It also occurred to me that if the camper moved too far from the drop-off site (as Josh was doing - he said he'd hiked inland for an hour), the compass heading that the hiker was given would be meaningless.

IIRC, the dad was doing the hiking part because they assumed that would be the more difficult role and he had more wilderness/military experience.

This episode left me with the opinion that a 19yo, regardless of his skill set, simply can't have enough experience to succeed on VI alone.

Good ep. Always surprising when someone taps out on the first day.

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Always surprising when someone taps out on the first day.

And yet someone always does.  We should be starting to expect it by now.  The kid should have been able to get by, but he explained it himself:  He lost his mental preparedness, he lost his mindset.  I would have thought if someone was going to hurt their ankle, it would have been the hiker.  His brother was probably like:  "You had ONE job!".

That lady's shelter was impressive for one day.  She practically built a house.  It kind of reminded me of that lady from last year's shelter, can't remember her name, the one who kept taking off her clothes lol.

They probably caught some flak over the fake wolf footage last year, so they put it in the first episode.  I listen to a podcast called "Alone Time", and the hosts had a bet going on between them whether there would really be a scene with the wolf coming toward the lady or not.  Brook!  Her name is Brook!.  And Brad and Josh are the brothers who are out.  I guess we'll learn the names as they whittle down.

[mlp]

Quote

IIRC, the dad was doing the hiking part because they assumed that would be the more difficult role and he had more wilderness/military experience.

That's what the son said.  Dad clearly has more experience but I didn't like the way he was breathing.  I hope the emergency next episode isn't Dad having chest pain.  

[Subrookie]

I could drop my wife 10 miles off, who sits in a lawn chair while I set up a car camp and watches, in remote Vancouver island and tell her to wrap herself in a blue tarp and we still would have lasted longer than these two from IL. 

Embarrassing. 

[MostlyContent]

3 hours ago, mlp said:

I don't understand how the cameras are picking up the people hiking.  Some of the shots are full face like maybe they're holding them at arm's length but some seem to be shooting from a distance.  

They film themselves on this series.  More than a day of the prep stuff seems to be teaching the contestants how to use the cameras.  They are holding the cameras during the herky-jerky close-ups.  They also have a tripod for their longer distance shots when they're building something or instructing us on fishy sperm sacks.  :)

 

3 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Didn't dad make only .3 of a mile on the first day?

When they showed the location of father and son towards the end of the day, I thought the distance was 9.3 miles.  That would only be .7 miles for the dad.  I thought *that* was bad.  Did the distance say 9.7 miles??   

~sigh~  

I guess I'll have to watch it again.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My favorite team from last week wasn't on this episode.  I'm still rooting for the two brothers from a family of nine kids who used to have to provide them food.  

Brook is growing on me, although my husband and I were both yelling at the screen for her to just stand up and the wolf would make an exit.  sheesh.  Her 1st day shelter almost makes me forgive the soap.  

Almost.  

Edited June 16, 2017 by MostlyContent

[Quilt Fairy]

35 minutes ago, mlp said:

Dad clearly has more experience but I didn't like the way he was breathing

I noticed that, too.  It seemed like he had barely started and was already breathing fast and hard (kinda like me when I walk up a flight of stairs).

I didn't notice that the distances between campers and hikers were changing. Sometimes they were listing the distance to another team instead.  And even if the goal was to get them 10 miles apart, the terrain might call for a slightly different drop point.  So just because a team is listed as 9.7 miles apart doesn't necessarily mean that the hiker has gone .3 miles.  I think we'll get a better visual next week as the hikers (hopefully) start to make some progress and we should see the hiker icons move closer to the camper icons.

[GreyBunny]

5 hours ago, muffkins said:

It's Sha-lol people, not sa-lal.  And make a lot of noise and you won't sneak up on a bear.

Down here we say sa-lal.  There's a local business with that name and that's how they pronounce it.  I've never heard sha-lol.  

[LeighAnne]

rmontro said:

Quote

 I listen to a podcast called "Alone Time"

Thanks for this!  I didn't realize someone did a podcast about this show until you mentioned it.

 

I wonder what the "this person/group is obviously going to tap out in the first week, so we can feature a tap out in our first episode" process is.  Like, if you're two brothers who are teenagers, or just barely out of your teens, and the Alone producers say, "You guys are great!  Let's throw you both into the wild with these other, older, more experienced bushcraft people!"  do you think, "That's fantastic!"  Or possibly, "Are we this season's cannon fodder?"

 

Alex (the father) said he's a hunter, so maybe he's used to long hikes by himself.

 

Thanks to Jesse, I now know that if I walk down a bear trail in the wild, I should say, "Don't eat me."  Then the bear will not eat me.

Edited June 16, 2017 by LeighAnne

[cooksdelight]

If you have watched this show for one season only, you know that everyone is dropped off near the shore. Even if you had to walk a little further, wouldn't it have made sense for the husband to follow the shoreline in the general direction he's told his wife is located? He'd know by looking at the direction the compass is telling him to go that she was straight east, west, whatever. 

Everyone is struggling with all the foliage and swamps by trying to go in a straight line. In some cases that makes the most sense, the compass is pointing them toward the inland area. But you would think he'd have tried the shoreline.

From what I can tell, they are moving the "heads" or faces of the hiker as they make their way along in the forest.

The youngsters Brad & Josh are gone already, after just a couple of hours. Is that a record for the quickest tap-out? A first for an injury that quick, I think. And I agree he could have taken another day or so to see how the ankle was. He just wanted to go home. You could see the exasperation on his brother's face. That's what the producers were hoping for, I guess, that one partner will want to quit and the other won't.

LOL'ing at the woman not knowing she was handling a poisonous salamander.

[roamyn]

The hikers aren't dropped off at the shore, though.

Derrick from S2 lasted maybe four hours, from what I remember.

And his breathing is what concerned me abt Alex doing the hiking over his son.

Edited June 16, 2017 by roamyn

[cooksdelight]

The husband was dropped off by the shore. 

[AZChristian]

Brooke's work on the shelter was impressive, but hubby and I (both NOT outdoors people) were wondering whether rainwater would run down that hill directly behind the shelter and right into it.  They get a LOT of rain up there.

That terrain is tough.  Good luck to all of them.

[Whyyouneedaname]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

If you have watched this show for one season only, you know that everyone is dropped off near the shore. Even if you had to walk a little further, wouldn't it have made sense for the husband to follow the shoreline in the general direction he's told his wife is located? He'd know by looking at the direction the compass is telling him to go that she was straight east, west, whatever. 

Everyone is struggling with all the foliage and swamps by trying to go in a straight line. In some cases that makes the most sense, the compass is pointing them toward the inland area. But you would think he'd have tried the shoreline.

From what I can tell, they are moving the "heads" or faces of the hiker as they make their way along in the forest.

The youngsters Brad & Josh are gone already, after just a couple of hours. Is that a record for the quickest tap-out? A first for an injury that quick, I think. And I agree he could have taken another day or so to see how the ankle was. He just wanted to go home. You could see the exasperation on his brother's face. That's what the producers were hoping for, I guess, that one partner will want to quit and the other won't.

LOL'ing at the woman not knowing she was handling a poisonous salamander.

If I had posted before reading all the post it would have read almost the same as you :)  go down and hike up the shore, even if you do have to walk a bit down there. You know your partner is going to be somewhat close to the water anyway. I wonder how long each of the teams are gonna remain solo?

[muffkins]

My husband and I were both rather bothered by the fact Josh was hiking quite a ways from the dropoff site.  Quit moving around so much if someone is trying to find you!  I know the terrain wasn't terribly flat, but the one being found has no idea where the hiker is coming from, so don't leave the area.  At least the hiker has a compass and a general direction to move towards.  We also talked about what we would do in that situation..  My thoughts were to make a brace or small pony wall on the downslope, put some poles across to the hill and make a flat platform to sleep on.  leave a space at the back so water runs down the hill, Make a windbreak and sleep under your tarp.  I know the woman of the married couple found a good place, and was making a mansion, but all you need is a temporary place until your partner finds you.  Once you're both together, a permanent place can be worked on.

 

Quote

Down here we say sa-lal.  There's a local business with that name and that's how they pronounce it.  I've never heard sha-lol.

Where is down here?  I'm assuming somewhere along the coast.  I grew up on Vancouver Island, and that's all I ever heard it called, but I know different places call things different names.  My husband is from the Cariboo, and they don't have salal at all in the interior.

Edited June 16, 2017 by muffkins

[booboopbedoo]

I think the boy was scared. He has probably never been alone before and was afraid of the dark.

But you wasted everyones time and someones spot- someone better and more deserving!

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when brothers were alone!

Quote

If you have watched this show for one season only, you know that everyone is dropped off near the shore. Even if you had to walk a little further, wouldn't it have made sense for the husband to follow the shoreline in the general direction he's told his wife is located? He'd know by looking at the direction the compass is telling him to go that she was straight east, west, whatever. 

Most of the shore is not passable and really rough and dangerous. That part of the Island is prone to large waves and no place to hide when the tide comes in-super slippery rocks. I live on VI

[OoogleEyes]

9 hours ago, rmontro said:

  I listen to a podcast called "Alone Time"

Thanks for that, rmontro! 

[ClareWalks]

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

If you have watched this show for one season only, you know that everyone is dropped off near the shore. Even if you had to walk a little further, wouldn't it have made sense for the husband to follow the shoreline in the general direction he's told his wife is located?

I thought the same thing. Easier than bushwhacking through a predator-soaked jungle.

I am a bit harsher on the kid who tapped than most of y'all. When he said he was an hour from the beach I said "you're an IDIOT." Why the hell was he so far away? Looking for a campsite? You want to have to hike an HOUR back to the shore to fish every day? Moron. Of course he fell and hurt himself, too. I just thought hiking that far from the beach was so phenomenally stupid and there was no excuse for it. If the vegetation is getting thicker and thicker, just set up camp near the beach. As others have pointed out, your partner won't be able to find you if you're miles from the target, either.

[Quilt Fairy]

7 hours ago, GreyBunny said:

Down here we say sa-lal.  There's a local business with that name and that's how they pronounce it.  I've never heard sha-lol.  

It occurred to me that perhaps the first time most of the participants heard about that plant, it was in their VI preparedness training, and they picked up the pronunciation of whoever taught it.  While they have some local people come in, it seems that the majority of the support team is British, which appears to be common on these types of reality shows. (Guess that SAS training comes in handy if you want to go into show business.)

[Kinbari]

I live on Vancouver Island, and sa-lal is the standard pronunciation here. That being said, there may be a First Nations pronunciation that I have not heard. Also, the hikers are probably choosing not to follow the shoreline because it's all inlets and steep, slippery rocks up there - it's much easier to injure yourself trying to traverse a rocky cliff than it is navigating through the salal. 

[humbleopinion]

They need to have an alternate team, prepped and ready to go in case of these first day tap outs.

A team that can take the place of any withdrawals within the first week and they would have to stay beyond the lag time to make it fair.

[derriere]

11 hours ago, Subrookie said:

I could drop my wife 10 miles off, who sits in a lawn chair while I set up a car camp and watches, in remote Vancouver island and tell her to wrap herself in a blue tarp and we still would have lasted longer than these two from IL. 

Embarrassing. 

 

Kids today. They don't make 'em like they used to.

[Tracer34]

Somehow, I missed the 1st episode where they introduced the contestants.

I just don't understand why Josh and Logan decided to bushwhack uphill through the tangled undergrowth. Aside from making it harder for their partners to find them by moving away from the beach, none of the areas seemed any better than just sticking to where they were dropped off.  Not only that, but Josh left all his gear back at the beach.  I'm not the least surprised that he tapped out and I think his ankle was his babyish excuse.

That said, Brook made a terrific shelter in the same amount of time that the two boys did a lot of nothing.

[Ocean Chick]

I've not watched it yet, but my mom was from Oregon and she taught me to say sa-lal.  So to me, that's how it's pronounced.

[humbleopinion]

How many have gotten a sprain playing a sport, stopped retied your shoe and just kept on playing?

The fragile brother, Josh who floundered in the thick growth for a couple of hours, fell by not placing his feet carefully, lost his hat and managed to stumble down back to the beach at a good clip which tells me the sprain probably wasn't that severe, was not feeling the adventure vibe at all.

The other brother, Brad had a muted reaction when he got picked up...maybe planned all along to bail early?

As they sat in the orientation seminars the week prior, they slowly realized that the wild animals are not props but would actually attack you, you needed to defend yourself, and the weather was wicked... their enthusiasm for the  challenge waned.

Josh could have hunkered down up and out of the beach and waited for Brad.

Meanwhile, use the cold ocean water to keep the swelling down and elevate the ankle...it could be good to go in a day or so.

Their Knife and Forging business got some publicity.

[pagooey]

Good lord, they could've just dropped me off to drag a camera hither and yon in the salal tangles for 15 minutes, and come up with enough B-roll for this entire episode. (And then put me back on the helicopter with a quickness, please and thank you.) 

That was a mighty fast tap-out. I feel a bit sorry for the young brothers, but after Pretty Teen Man-Bun nailed himself with his hatchet early last season, I don't have a lot of faith in the real young 'uns' skill sets. They can't seem to just calm down and slowly construct an impenetrable fortress, like Brook.  Youth and rampant energy don't always translate to methodical survival play, I guess. 

I'm also worried about Dad Alex's breathing. He reminds me of a combo of Mike Ehrmentraut and, with that little watch cap, Jacques Cousteau. 

Anyway. I guess Alan only narrates the "Making the Cut" episode, since there's no narration for the core show itself. But after someone brought up my beloved F*ckin' Larry on the other thread, I got to thinking: how great would it be to have HIM narrate a director's cut or DVD commentary of this show? Critiquing everybody's screwups. "What the bleep is this bleep doing now? Dude, you bleeped your bleeping ankle, maybe get the bleep out of the bleeping woods. Soap? I will throw your bleeping soap into the bleeping ocean!" (YMMV, depending on whether you thought F*ckin' Larry was a ticking time bomb or a hilarious guttermouth who just got sick of his job.)

[roamyn]

9 minutes ago, pagooey said:

Anyway. I guess Alan only narrates the "Making the Cut" episode, since there's no narration for the core show itself. But after someone brought up my beloved F*ckin' Larry on the other thread, I got to thinking: how great would it be to have HIM narrate a director's cut or DVD commentary of this show? Critiquing everybody's screwups. "What the bleep is this bleep doing now? Dude, you bleeped your bleeping ankle, maybe get the bleep out of the bleeping woods. Soap? I will throw your bleeping soap into the bleeping ocean!" (YMMV, depending on whether you thought F*ckin' Larry was a ticking time bomb or a hilarious guttermouth who just got sick of his job.)

While munching on pastry and waving some mouse skeleton at the tv.

I would pay History to see this!

[Quilt Fairy]

53 minutes ago, humbleopinion said:

The other brother, Brad had a muted reaction when he got picked up...maybe planned all along to bail early?

I think it was just disbelief.  And maybe an attempt to keep all the swear words he was thinking from coming out of his mouth.

[piequinn35]

Did you miss us?

I thought the wolf turned around to call his pack. "I'll be back lady!"

[holly4755]

Look,, it a young kid who's brother probably sold it to him as a great adventure, who had never seen such a thick wilderness.  I think it was jsut a lot harder than he thought it would be. The injury could have been real or manufactured, this was not what this kid expected and it was hard.  He must not have seen this show before or he would have seen that Larry could not find a good campsite, you have to make your camp site what it will be, it does not start out perfect. And it is very hard.  We only saw 4 teams this show, is that correct? 

[humbleopinion]

Team Ribar:

Dad Alex hiking in, Son Logan had the bear sniffing near his tarp at night.

Team Whipple:

Wife Brooke building the shelter, Spouse Dave hiking in.

Team Richardson:

Josh Sprained ankle, Brother Brad picked up before by helicopter...the are done by 430pm on Day 1.

Team Bosdell:

Shannon dropped off, Jesse hiking in on a bear trail to make it easier to make progress but every snapping of branches or rustling could be a bear.

[GreyBunny]

<nm> please delete

Edited June 16, 2017 by GreyBunny

[qtpye]

2 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I think it was just disbelief.  And maybe an attempt to keep all the swear words he was thinking from coming out of his mouth.

 

3 hours ago, humbleopinion said:

How many have gotten a sprain playing a sport, stopped retied your shoe and just kept on playing?

The fragile brother, Josh who floundered in the thick growth for a couple of hours, fell by not placing his feet carefully, lost his hat and managed to stumble down back to the beach at a good clip which tells me the sprain probably wasn't that severe, was not feeling the adventure vibe at all.

The other brother, Brad had a muted reaction when he got picked up...maybe planned all along to bail early?

As they sat in the orientation seminars the week prior, they slowly realized that the wild animals are not props but would actually attack you, you needed to defend yourself, and the weather was wicked... their enthusiasm for the  challenge waned.

Josh could have hunkered down up and out of the beach and waited for Brad.

Meanwhile, use the cold ocean water to keep the swelling down and elevate the ankle...it could be good to go in a day or so.

Their Knife and Forging business got some publicity.

 

Brad, after he had been picked up,

"Josh, are you okay?"  Josh nods his head.  Brad then begins a string of curse words that would make F'in Larry proud. 

I was skeptical about the premise, but they really drew me in.  I did not think about it before, but until they are reunited, someone else can tap you out, when you are still rearing to go.  In previous season, everyone was the master of their own destiny, so nobody felt cheated by the tap out, except for the people who were pulled for starvation purposes.

Edited June 16, 2017 by qtpye

[humbleopinion]

I'm side eyeing that the lady got dropped off at a flat area with all this convenient dead wood to build a VI mansion that she can stand up in less than a day.

Wish they would show a random drawing of the teams from a hat which teams land in which places...they don't have to reveal to the teams the exact locations but it makes it transparent that the better camps aren't producer rigged.

[mlp]

Quote

They film themselves on this series.  More than a day of the prep stuff seems to be teaching the contestants how to use the cameras.  They are holding the cameras during the herky-jerky close-ups.  They also have a tripod for their longer distance shots

I know that.  What I can't picture is how the hikers are filming themselves from the side as they walk along.  They can't be using anything stationary like a tripod because they're on the move.  Maybe they're just holding the camera out at arm's length but it seems like it would be awkward.

[GreyBunny]

That IL team didn't even stay long enough for lunch. Besides not placing his feet right, he should have marked his trail so he wouldn't get lost.

8 hours ago, muffkins said:

Where is down here?  I'm assuming somewhere along the coast.  I grew up on Vancouver Island, and that's all I ever heard it called, but I know different places call things different names.  My husband is from the Cariboo, and they don't have salal at all in the interior.

I'm from Seattle, my dad is from the Olympic peninsula and my mom is from southeastern Alaska. We all say "sa-lal."

ETA:  just looked it up on wikipedia and it's also known as "shallon" or "gaultheria" in other places.

Edited June 16, 2017 by GreyBunny

[AZChristian]

7 minutes ago, mlp said:

I know that.  What I can't picture is how the hikers are filming themselves from the side as they walk along.  They can't be using anything stationary like a tripod because they're on the move.  Maybe they're just holding the camera out at arm's length but it seems like it would be awkward.

Selfie sticks?

[MostlyContent]

33 minutes ago, mlp said:

I know that.  What I can't picture is how the hikers are filming themselves from the side as they walk along.  They can't be using anything stationary like a tripod because they're on the move.  Maybe they're just holding the camera out at arm's length but it seems like it would be awkward.

I agree.  From the looks of it, that's what I think they're doing, though.   I think dealing with the cameras and filming must be one of the most frustrating parts of the whole experience!  

Huh, didn't the ferro rod and the sleeping bags used to be on the 'ten items' list in the previous seasons?  I was just reading here:

http://preview.history.com/shows/alone/articles/gear-list

....and it looks like the ferro rod and the sleeping bags are now listed with all the equipment they are supplied with, like clothing and a toothbrush.  I don't remember them getting a fixed blade knife in this list either, previously.  

Maybe someone with a better memory than I seem to have can answer another question I have.  Didn't some of the food choices used to be 5 pounds?  Now it look like most items are 2 pounds.  No more than 2 food items per person.   

Edited June 16, 2017 by MostlyContent

[holly4755]

the food varied, mostly it was 5 pounds, but it was 2 pounds of salt or sugar or a few other basic things and 5 pounds of the mixed meats or veggie mix. 

[Callaphera]

3 hours ago, humbleopinion said:

Their Knife and Forging business got some publicity.

I assume this was in an effort to turn the Alone appearance into an appearance on Forged in Fire. Is there a third History Channel show to hit a trifecta? Pawn Stars, maybe?

Edited June 16, 2017 by Callaphera

[humbleopinion]

 Josh would somehow disqualify himself from the Forged By Fire show and be unable to continue in the competition by getting a debilitating paper cut when drying his hands in the restroom...

Edited June 16, 2017 by humbleopinion

[SRTouch]

On 6/16/2017 at 3:25 PM, holly4755 said:

Look,, it a young kid who's brother probably sold it to him as a great adventure, who had never seen such a thick wilderness.  I think it was jsut a lot harder than he thought it would be. The injury could have been real or manufactured, this was not what this kid expected and it was hard.  He must not have seen this show before or he would have seen that Larry could not find a good campsite, you have to make your camp site what it will be, it does not start out perfect. And it is very hard.  We only saw 4 teams this show, is that correct? 

Yep, soon as he said he had walked a mile from the beach I questioned whether or not he'd watched the earlier VI seasons. Kid, just about everybody has found the beach to be not only the grocery store, but a Super Walmart with all KINDS of useful trash that can be MacGyvered into just about anything.

Like you said, several folks have set up a temporary camp the first night and then scouted around for a better location. Off the top of my head, IIRC fan favorites Lucas and Mitch both moved in Season 1.  Larry definitely drew a lousy site and he ended up pretty close to winning it all during S2 after moving a couple times. And of course last season's big winner, Fowler, put a lot of time and effort moving to his spot in the sun atop of his hill..

Edited June 21, 2017 by SRTouch