S06.E01: Icebreaker

[Whyyouneedaname]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 1:51 PM, dgpolo said:

I do have a question since I am no hunter and these people so far are talking big. Is it possible to bring down big game (moose) with the equipment they have, or a wolf or a bear? Would they be able to render a carcass with the equipment they have and before a predator smells the blood and comes for it? Would they be able to do what they need to do to preserve all the meat without predators coming for it either before or after it is preserved? Wouldn't they be basically covered in blood and be a big target? Are these kind of question supposed to be in a different thread?

I do know there is a "bow season" where I live & yes you can kill deer & bear with them. You're not suppose to have a gun with you & could land you in jail &/or a hefty fine if caught with one. I'd guess to preserve the meat they would have to smoke it, not sure that wouldn't attract other animals to their shelter tho. 

[Tanstaafl]

23 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I just picked this up from Wiki, which may help those familiar with the area:

Thanks @Quilt Fairy, anyone interested can search for Lutselk'e (Lutsel K'e) in Google Maps and you will be able to see the general area used for locations as the program credits show that locations have been provided by the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation.

If you zoom out a couple of times on Google Maps you will see how isolated the area is (Lutsel K'e has a population of 300 people).  Google Maps shows Rocher River as the closest settlement but that was abandoned in the 1960's and another town Pine Point was abandoned when the mine shut down in the 1980's.

Fort Resolution is the next closest community but that's only 500 people with services equivalent to Lutsel K'e. Any serious injuries would be taken to either Hay River or more likely Yellowknife both of which have hospitals.

I'm not sure how far the actual locations are from Lutsel K'e or if they used one of the fishing lodges as a base of operations but you wouldn't have to go far from either to be very isolated.

It's just a guess on my part that they used a fishing lodge as their base of operations. In the promo shot with the Buffalo Airways DC-3 on the runway it looked to me like the Plummer's Great Slave Lake Lodge location. It's about 40 kms northwest from Lutsel K'e but probably within their land claims area. It actually has a longer airstrip (5600') than Lutsel K'e (3000').  As well they would probably have more accommodations than Lutsel K'e being able to house 44 guests at the lodge along with kitchen and meeting facilities.  The lodge is generally open from late June to the end of August only, so a very short season which would fit in with shooting Alone starting in late August or early September. Google Taltheilei Narrows Airport for the exact location.

Looking forward to tonight's episode to see how they survive (or not)!

[walnutqueen]

@Tanstaafl - thanks for all the information you've given us.  It is great to have someone here who is familiar with the area and can provide us with helpful insights and context.

Edited June 13, 2019 by walnutqueen

[Tanstaafl]

@walnutqueen glad to help. It is a harsh area to survive "Alone" and it should be interesting to see which person can do it the best, or the longest.

[LittleIggy]

On 6/11/2019 at 3:58 PM, endure said:

I forgot this was on but catching up now.  Nathan brought a gill net instead of the fire starter and we already saw it pay off big for him.

Me, too. Sunday, I was going over the online weekly tv listings for this week and saw “Alone.” I was like “Alone is back!” Caught up On Demand right away. I caught up on “Naked and Afraid XL” Saturday because I had forgot about it, too.

[AZChristian]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Me, too. Sunday, I was going over the online weekly tv listings for this week and saw “Alone.” I was like “Alone is back!” Caught up On Demand right away. I caught up on “Naked and Afraid XL” Saturday because I had forgot about it, too.

I keep the programming on my DVR to pick up new episodes of shows I don't want to miss (Alone, N&A, stuff on PBS).  That way, I don't have to ask my 72-year-old brain to remember stuff.

[Brookside]

How can you claim to be any kind of "survivalist", "outdoorsperson", etc, and be so stupid as to hold a knife like that?  That woman (Nikki?) deserved to get septicemia.  I have only a pretty blunt knife for vegetable chopping and I know better than to cut towards a tendon/body part/digit.  Idiot.

[Ava]

I know, right?  I was sitting there, watching this and thought to myself "Well, that's just stu..." and there she goes, slicing her hand!

[stane]

any place that's not swarming with people in this day and age is a place that wont support human life, (long term)  That's a given.  They should take a slingbow, not a regular bow, so that they'd have the option of using baked clay balls for shots not worthy of an arrow. Forget about using stones, cause they never fly straight. The slingbow is also MUCH easier to always have at hand than a regular bow and you are allowed one spare rubber for it, too.  3 rubbers can be used to pull -shut 3 traps or snares, you know. and if you CUT one of them in half,  you can have   4 such trap "engines" The 3 small game arrows should feature flu-flu fletching, since that greatly reduces the incidence of lost/torn up arrows. One broadhead would probably get hafted for use as a "hoku" knife. All the feathers should be waterproofed before you go. Need to make a pontoon outrigger raft, so that you can easily recon your entire waterfront, service your traps and nets. and approach game and fowl in  a way that they dont normally consider a threat. If you can catch a caribou swimming, while you have such a craft, you can easily arrow it and that will win the show for you (most likely)  Netting can be used to catch crabs, fowl, small mammals, not just fish. 

[stane]

On 6/16/2019 at 11:36 PM, LittleIggy said:

Me, too. Sunday, I was going over the online weekly tv listings for this week and saw “Alone.” I was like “Alone is back!” Caught up On Demand right away. I caught up on “Naked and Afraid XL” Saturday because I had forgot about it, too.

The gillnet is a wasted pick, really, cause you can make  2000+ sq ft of 3"  mesh  netting out of the 2 person hammock, half of the 20x20 tarp,  and the 12x12 tarp. and then use local vegetation to convert the mesh into  1.5".  The gillnet is restricted to being 60 sq ft. of 1.5" mesh.  Yes, netting is useful as hell, but you need a LOT of it to make any real difference.

Edited June 22, 2019 by stane

[stane]

On 6/6/2019 at 9:26 PM, MostlyContent said:

Nathan doesn't bring a ferro rod.  WAIT.  WHAT?  

I agree with him, but then he wasted the pick by taking a bow drill set instead. can fire roll a chunk of your bandanna, using the rust from  your E tool, and then, once you have ashed tinder and charred punkwood, you can start subsequent fires with any hard rock and any carbon steel tool. So dont waste  a pick on ANY fire starting device. You can use the batties that they give you, the flare, etc, to start your first fire, and later, make a big pump drill as a backup means of firestarting. One half as big as you are, with knowledge about "drying cycles", with the removable spindle head and hearthboard contact kept dry in tarp/tape bag,  is a guaranteed fire. Bed your coals in ashes, with some charcoal and have a primitive shelter  over the fire (a small  one, kept dampened.  Use the sleeves of your rainsuit as your water containers.

[stane]

On 6/6/2019 at 10:28 PM, MostlyContent said:

Same!  He was already trying to be funny when (to me) he was clearly not.  

I was reading through the ten items each person chose, and I was amazed at how many people this year did not choose even one emergency ration.  Only one man chose two.  I also noticed that two emergency rations was the limit this year.  Sounds like production doesn't want to stick around for long.  !! 

more than 2 rations has never been allowed and for season one, it was ONE such ration. however, for the first 3 seasons, it was 5 lbs per ration, but then it went down to 2 lbs per ration  That means, that, even if you DO know to take the gorp or the pemmican, it's going to only give you 2 more days, if you're holed up and burning very few calories. That's not likely to make any difference. There's far more vital things to take, likely to make a bigger difference.

[stane]

On 6/7/2019 at 12:50 AM, LeighAnne said:

It's amazing to me that Alone is in its sixth season and in every season a person/team has dropped out or had to leave in the first week.  I'm sorry that Tim broke his leg --- terrible luck.  He was smart enough to put on weight before the challenge started.

I said, "WHAT!?!" so loudly my cat looked up.  You're going to new terrain and you have no idea what the available wood or weather is like.  I know that you're skilled at fires in your home woods, but you're not in your home woods.

I'd also like to note that in the Patagonia season, it didn't start snowing until Day 51 (I think).  I remember it was about two months before the snow came.  On this season, it starting snowing on Day 5.  So either it started snowing earlier than anyone anticipated or the producers thought, "F**k it; let's throw them in the deep end immediately."

From the previews (I know, the previews are often wrong, but assuming they are accurate) it looks like the contestants are catching a lot of game this season (squirrel, wolverine, maybe a moose?).  Good for them.

i've seen nothing about a wolverine or moose and I HIGHLY doubt it, unless it's first snared to a drag log.

[stane]

On 6/7/2019 at 8:37 AM, humbleopinion said:

Encouraged by the 4 the show spotlighted last night...no one seemed to be cast for their looks or sob story...

Guess Tim put on so much weight he couldn't see his feet and mis stepped breaking his leg on that "broken plates" surface....too bad he didn't use the shovel he found like a walking stick...filming, walking and talking led to his accident....he had the ideal drop site with that boggy area to attract game...

Nathan got humbled real quick when he couldn't get a fire started minute one.

His gamble of no ferro rod paid off when his gill net snagged that large trout...the plastic bucket wasn't appetizing but the fillets looked good.

 Now will keeping a fire going be a problem for Nathan...he really needs to build a shelter with a fireplace and hearth to keep warm....he has ample fish protein to fuel his work to cut logs and build a permanent shelter when he finds his ideal location....

Hope he made fish broth with the bones and head...waste not want not...

 Barry shot Mr. Squirrel so he had a meal...

Nikki- liked that she lived in the bush not just studied you tube videos, is a wilderness guide and commercial fisherman

do  you know what "ample fish" would be for building a cabin? 200+ lbs. not 10 lbs. 🙂 Only half of a fish or animal's live weight is edible flesh. Fish offer only 650 calories per lb, ready to eat. You need  3000 calories per day out there, without the stress of building things, which would double your caloric needs. forget the cabin, for at least a month and go with a simple tarp shelter. When it freezes the first time, you'll still have the  one day needed to dig the 2x4 x 8 ft pit needed, stacking the dirt up 1 ft higher, then have a couple of forked end posts, holding up a ridgeline. Stuff it with dry debris, have a foot thick layer of compressed debris all around you and not need a fire to stay warm. Saves you a ton of time and calories wasted on a cabin and trying to heat it with wood.

[stane]

On 6/7/2019 at 7:19 PM, dgpolo said:

I think I will be surprised if they go 30 days. I watched the rerun of the first season (which I had never seen) and I was surprised at all the animals in that season compared to seasons 2-5, but it looks like this season has already surpassed that. The predators seem to be closer and the climate even worse. It seems they went with more hardcore hunters this season rather than just survivalists.

no, if a fat person like Ray just holes up in his sleeping bag, he's got enough bodyweight to last  3 months. Carleigh proved that, in season 3. Fowler only beat her by having 70+ lbs of advantage on her to start with. He caught 60 fish, she caught only 6. But he wasted lots and lots of effort on a shelter, fishing dock, traps, handrails and steps, hauling big wood back to the shelter, etc.

On 6/7/2019 at 12:50 AM, LeighAnne said:

It's amazing to me that Alone is in its sixth season and in every season a person/team has dropped out or had to leave in the first week.  I'm sorry that Tim broke his leg --- terrible luck.  He was smart enough to put on weight before the challenge started.

I said, "WHAT!?!" so loudly my cat looked up.  You're going to new terrain and you have no idea what the available wood or weather is like.  I know that you're skilled at fires in your home woods, but you're not in your home woods.

I'd also like to note that in the Patagonia season, it didn't start snowing until Day 51 (I think).  I remember it was about two months before the snow came.  On this season, it starting snowing on Day 5.  So either it started snowing earlier than anyone anticipated or the producers thought, "F**k it; let's throw them in the deep end immediately."

From the previews (I know, the previews are often wrong, but assuming they are accurate) it looks like the contestants are catching a lot of game this season (squirrel, wolverine, maybe a moose?).  Good for them.

they give you batteries for the light for the cam, the cam, the satellite phone, the head lamp. given the fishhooks and the tape, you can easily start many fires with the batteries. and if you bed your coals, and  primitive shelter over your fire,  you'll only have to start ONE fire 'from scratch". 

[stane]

On 6/10/2019 at 1:05 PM, Tanstaafl said:

The first snow can be from late August through to early October. Only once can I recall it snowing at the start of September and staying when I lived in Yellowknife. Most likely the snow won't stay until late September. Great Slave Lake also has a big effect on the weather, both temperature and precipitation depending upon your location.

Their location is too far south for good snow to build igloos. You really need to get above the tree line where the snow is drier and the wind compacts it into very hard drifts.

It will however be interesting to see who comes up with the best shelter. Trees aren't very big and it will be a lot of effort to get enough wood. I don't think that we will see any of the elaborate shelters that we've seem on previous seasons.

you can build an igloo out of 2" deep snow of any sort, if you  have access to brush and some water.  What you do is make a big pile of brush, the big ends all pointing one direction. You gather snow in  your coat and toss it onto the brush, until you have a layer about 4" thick. then, you spray water onto the snow, creating a good overal crust. Repeat a few times. Knock a hole into  the igloo at crawlin area, and remove the brush. Presto, hollow snow/ice shelter. Do the  crawl-space the same way, make a brush/debris "door"  a raised wooden bed, debris on it and a debris "blanket' made with netting,  and you're all set.

[stane]

On 6/7/2019 at 7:16 PM, rmontro said:

I kind of feel silly that I put in the effort of learning Tim's name.  That was a pretty nice shot right through the squirrel's head though.  I don't think that thing suffered much.  Tim was bragging on about all the animals he was going to whack when he broke his leg.  Seems like karma, but he might have been able to back it up.

That is surprising.  Once winter sets in, it seems like there would be little chance of getting food in the arctic.  An extra bag of food might make the difference (the guy with two bags is Brady, by the way).  IIRC, Sam (last season's winner) was still munching on his rice (or whatever it was) after everyone else had tapped out.

Sam won only cause he was fat and lucky. A WW2 study proved that 160 lb men need to eat  1500 calories per day, or fast and save up their food. eating less just increased the rate at which they lost weight. The only reason to save food is to use it as bait for catching more food. Carbs and protein have only half the calories of fat, so taking rice is a stupid move.  Carbs for bait can be had by peeling cambium from trees,shredding it,  boiling it, and roasting it. 

On 6/7/2019 at 12:57 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

That was rather suspicious timing. 

Along with "I just took a 3 hour tour of my area that I didn't film and oh look I found some great wood to start a fire."
 

"Canadians."  *shakes head*  That was funny. 

where would you get the wire, hmm? use a chain of fishhooks, wrapped with duct tape.

[stane]

On 6/10/2019 at 1:00 AM, Kelda Feegle said:

It's legal to live in the woods for over a year and kill bears in Canada? That surprised me.

I wish that they were allowed to add a person if someone goes out in the first week, they could just make them stay the extra few days if they are the last to make it.

what do you think that the innuit and native americans do? anyone can get a "subsistence permit" that lets you take any animal, bird or fish, in any way, as long as it's consumed for food by the permit holder or his dogs. This show is never going to be allowed to last 4 months and only rarely 3 months.  There would be no profit in it for the producers at 4 months, betcha!

[stane]

any number of things are more vital than the ferrorod, if you know the half dozen other ways to make a fire. They are given plenty of shelter materials and clothing. If need be, they can use their body heat to dry out feather sticks or tall grass, making it easy to ignite. Once you are out of the wind/rain, it's not that hard to fire-roll a chunk of your bandanna, using rust from your shovel as an accellerant. then you bed your coals, have a small primitive shelter over your fire and dont need to start any more fires "from scratch. Fire is a very small issue. You can use the flare for your first fire, or the batteries that they give you, or make a big pump drill. Use drying cycles if the wood is wet. That's easy with a pump drill, half as big as you are.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=boggy+creak+rust

[stane]

On 6/8/2019 at 8:39 PM, Tanstaafl said:

Hi Everyone, long time listener, first time caller. I've watched all the seasons of Alone and usually enjoy the program with the exception of the year that they had two person teams. I'm glad that it's back and in an area that I've lived in and close to sites I've visited.  I think that this will be a more difficult location than Vancouver Island, Patagonia, or even Mongolia due to the weather and the lack of resources.

I know that they are on Great Slave Lake, but does anyone know their exact location? I lived in Yellowknife for 11 years and from the promos with the Buffalo Airways DC3 I immediately thought of Plummer's Great Slave Lake Lodge at Taltheilei Narrows. From the little I saw in the promo it looks like the airstrip at the lodge, plus it would make sense for a base of operations as there is an airstrip that could be used until after freeze-up and you have power, plenty of accommodations,  and some level of internet communications.

Just looked at the credits and the locations were provided by the Lutselk'e First Nation so it's definitely the east arm of Great Slave Lake (GSL), but I'm not sure if it's close to Lutselk'e, out around Plummer's or maybe close to another lodge in the area.

Assuming this was shot starting in late August or early September 2018 as it looks from the foliage, I've checked the historical weather at Environment Canada and September was no problem, just a little above or below 0C most days, more below 0C as the month went on, October wasn't too bad either with temps from a few above 0C to single digits below. It wasn't until November that temps dipped into the -20C range. I can't see anyone doing more than about 60 - 90 days so I doubt that anyone made it to December when it started to get into the low -20C and high -30C temperatures.

Anyone who took a gill net should be okay provided they can get it into a decent area on the lake. There are lake trout and grayling plus most of the other northern fish - northern pike (jackfish), pickerel, whitefish. They will need to catch as much as possible as soon as possible though as the early September weather may have been cold enough to freeze any sheltered water early in the month. Did anyone bring an ice auger to set their nets once the ice is thick enough?

If the sites are about 10 km apart whether you get a moose going through your area will be a matter of what sort of habitat you have around you, basically the luck of the draw. It is a big animal though so getting one with a bow would be hard, but not impossible. It might require a few kilometers of tracking once shot before it bleeds out. Dressing a moose and packing the meat to your camp would not be a problem. Keeping it from predators (mainly bear) would be the issue but the weather looks like it would be cool enough to keep for a number of days while you smoke it.

The trees are what I always called scrub pine, not very tall or big around. Trying to cache meat in a tree may not even work to keep it away from bears. Even collecting enough wood may be a problem once it turns cold as chopping down a tree doesn't get you a lot of wood.

As for other animals, no way would I hunt a black bear with a bow but some people are crazy enough to do it. Another promo shows someone with a wolverine and that's pretty touch and go too as they are mean animals and would be likely to attack you. I'm assuming that it would have been snared and not shot with the bow.

If someone does get a moose or a bear they should be set food wise for a couple of months. Other than that you're looking at hares, squirrel, mice, ptarmigan. Shame that you can't shoot the ravens.

My guess is 60 days or less for whoever wins.

moos can be 800 lbs of meat, bro, so the potential is there for a moose kill to last a LOT longer than 2 months.  in fact, it could and probably would get you thru the winter. but, it takes TWO people to extend the show, and the odds of two people both scoring big meese is about nil. I'd say that foot snaring a caribou to a drag log, or catching one that's swimming the lake is the best chance anyone will get for winning by means of  taking a big animal. Netting fish and ducks is by far the most likely means of winning (instead of being fat and lucky, as it's always been done. Many people have taken a black bear with an arrow and Chief AJ has taken a moose and a grizzly with his. (no word of how BIG they were, tho).

[stane]

if you get a good hit thru the chest,  with a truly sharp broadhead,  and have brains enough to not pursue the critter for half an hour, they almost never go more than 200m before laying down to bleed out. Sometimes, they barely make it 50 ft, if the heart was sliced.