As a huge fan of Kukris this immediately drove me to Alan when this first came out. Was thrilled when he won and even MORE thrilled to learn that Condor had designed their new kukri around Alan's critiques. Picked it up 2 years ago and it's one fine tool! Condor K-tac Kukri.
Hey, finally someone admitted they would have chosen different gear. That's why this person won! Sleeping bag is crucial. A minus 40 degree bag, yes, why not? You can always take it off, but if you don't have it??? That's a basic no brain idea.
technically, the US military modular sleep system is FOUR items, a gortex bivy, a liner, a mid range bag and a colder range bag - all 4 stacked together are suppose to take you to -40 which would probably be overkill but overkill might be a good thing in those conditions.... dunno if it would count as 4 separate items though... seems like it should...
The bivy and each sleeping bag are separate items under History Channel rules. I would go with a sleeping bag with a highly water resistant cover, like goretex.
I'm not sure if the producers would let you get away with it, but Exped makes a down bivy sleeping bag all built into one... the bag has a gortex shell welded in and I've heard that these things are bomb proof... I've seen pictures of these bags floating around on water and Exped makes some solid quality gear... I have no idea how low these bags go as far as temp ratings but you might want to check them out.
I have the entire modular sleep system and it is an amazing piece of gear. I would imagine they'd only let you take one bag out of the system and the bivy would count as a 2nd pick. With that being said, I'd take the black intermediate cold weather bag, it's good down to minus 10 degrees F and would highly consider the Goretex bivy as well. I have used the black intermediate bag in 20 degrees F and slept comfortably in only a tee shirt and jeans with no socks on a mylar sport utility blanket.
Use a Dakota firepit, cause it uses less wood. Prop up a big, flat rock above the exit hole, to reflect heat towards you, and to soak up radiant heat. Then put that rock under your raised bed at night. 2 such fire pits and rocks will suffice to keep you warm under your work awning during the day, and 2 such rocks will really help you sleep well. :-) Because the fire's heat is not wasted off to the side, you'll need less fuel. Dont buck wood to length, either. That's a waste of time and calories. Instead, have the entrance hole of the Dakota pit be a long, tapering one, so that you can feed an entire tree into the flames, base first.
Dakota fire holes tend to.burn wood faster and they are hotter because of the strong air flow that develops. Also they give most of the heat upwards directly into the air...exactly were you dont want it. Better built a regular fire place with a V shaped heat reflector on one side and rocks around it which you can take inside for heating the shelter
@reesej123 Russell Rocks cant store that much heat. A lot less than water can store. So 4 hours...yeah no. As usual your advices dont even work in theory
Interesting to hear that the bivy bag is so important. I was actually thinking it was wasteful. Any thoughts on Jose's bag (canvas and flannel) that he plans on drying out by the fire? It seems from a quick search online that they come in all ranges of cold resistance, although that's not listed on Jose's bio (just says canvas and flannel). He also did not include a bivy sac.
Roarke Suibhne I've slept at -5C in a military sleeping bag and Bivi and was toasty warm, that was on Dartmoor in December on exercise, with no shelter or basha due to the lack of trees and that we'd been bounced. I'd always take a bivi bag....
The bivy isn't about warmth, it's about keeping your bag dry. Tge black intermediate bag is plenty warm enough. I think people underestimate the value of rest and a good night's sleep. Other than the food, sleep would make it much easier to last long term.
I don't think the entire MSS system would count as "1" choice. The Gore-Tex bivy would have counted as 1. Then the other two sleeping bags of the MSS... probably could only take one of the two and it would have counted as another choice.
that's right, one bag and the bivvy would be 2 picks, which you can't afford on this challenge. Season 1 and 2 were given a 20x20 tarp, but not seaons 3 and 4, and it's a REALLY bad eff-over. You are still given the 10x10 "camera tarp", but you have to waste a pick on the "optional" 12x12 tarp and you still only have half the tarp that seasons 1 and 2 got!
they no longer allow a down bag on the Alone show. . Choosing one has already screwed up 2 people You can't really keep them dry on Vancouver, and once they get wet, they are worthless. Synthetic bags have to be opened up and double-stuffed, in order to have enough insulation for this challenge. You wont be hiking around with all this stuff, so get a bag that's PLENTY warm enough, so you dont have to have a fire blazing all the time! While you sit around, weaving netting and making sapling frames for "box-traps" (wrappped in the netting) you can have your legs fully in the bag and the rest of the bag up around your back and shoulders. Save the effort of cutting and hauling wood, and conserve your body fat, too.
you wont be building a cabin. Doing so is a waste of time and calories. It doesn't get all that cold on Vancouver Island, down by the shore and you wont be there more than 3 months, anyway. Keep that shelter and raised bed portable, so you can move it to where the squaw wood is, instead of wasting time and calories hauling wood to a 'permanent" shelter.
you HAVE to take the gillnet and the 2 person hammock, both made out of 9-strand paracord, so that you can weave 2500 sq ft of 3" mesh netting. That will feed you, if you know what to do with it. If you want/need 1.5" mesh netting, simply fold over the 3" mesh netting and tie every other mesh. You can make several traps for birds, crabs and mammals, using sapling frames, and still have lots of netting to use as gillnets and to make a big net fish-weir. as well as a holding pen for your catch. keep them alive until you're ready to eat or preserve them. That pen will be great bait for a bear or a seal, too. :-)
Only half of an animal or fish's live weight is edible flesh. So you need to average catching 8 lbs per day, altho you can juice enough kelp to replace 1 lb of that food, and you need the carbs. Fish and game offer no carbs, people. So you can be getting enough calories and still be depressed, lethargic and have poor brain function. Catching fish or game is very difficult once winter sets in, so the 700 lbs of fish and game needed has to be caught in the first 2 months. A 200 lb bear and 500 lbs of fish are needed, along with juicing about 1500 lbs of kelp, in order to win without being fat and lucky.
People dont seem capable of counting, or understanding what gear is needed, nor what strategy is needed. You only get 10 items. If you take a sleeping bag and a bivvy, that's 2 picks used up, and you can't afford it. Seasons 1 and 2, they gave you a 20x20 tarp and 10x10 tarp. So why not cut up the 20x20, and not waste a pick on a bivvy, hmm? Dont waste a pick on a ferrorod, nor an axe. you can fireroll a chunk of your T shirt for your first fire, and then, once you have charred punkwood, ashes, force-dried tinder, you can start subsequent fires with flint and steel, or with a McElroy pump drill. You can also bed some coals and a bit of fuel wood in a thick layer of ashes, down in a Dakota fire pit and the fire will be re-ignitable for 8+ hours, which is longer than you'll get to sleep under Alone conditions!
Some people if your going in the wild it's not suppose to be modular like the city , it's gong back to ur roots how .that why it's called survival of the cutest . Dam people stay in the dam city .
As a huge fan of Kukris this immediately drove me to Alan when this first came out. Was thrilled when he won and even MORE thrilled to learn that Condor had designed their new kukri around Alan's critiques. Picked it up 2 years ago and it's one fine tool! Condor K-tac Kukri.
Alan reminds me of a person voice that does documentaries , very intelligent, and smooth ! Congrats on your win alan you definitely deserve it!
He reminds you of Stacy Keach
I love this mans voice
Hey, finally someone admitted they would have chosen different gear. That's why this person won! Sleeping bag is crucial. A minus 40 degree bag, yes, why not? You can always take it off, but if you don't have it??? That's a basic no brain idea.
technically, the US military modular sleep system is FOUR items, a gortex bivy, a liner, a mid range bag and a colder range bag - all 4 stacked together are suppose to take you to -40 which would probably be overkill but overkill might be a good thing in those conditions.... dunno if it would count as 4 separate items though... seems like it should...
The bivy and each sleeping bag are separate items under History Channel rules. I would go with a sleeping bag with a highly water resistant cover, like goretex.
I'm not sure if the producers would let you get away with it, but Exped makes a down bivy sleeping bag all built into one... the bag has a gortex shell welded in and I've heard that these things are bomb proof... I've seen pictures of these bags floating around on water and Exped makes some solid quality gear... I have no idea how low these bags go as far as temp ratings but you might want to check them out.
I have the entire modular sleep system and it is an amazing piece of gear. I would imagine they'd only let you take one bag out of the system and the bivy would count as a 2nd pick. With that being said, I'd take the black intermediate cold weather bag, it's good down to minus 10 degrees F and would highly consider the Goretex bivy as well. I have used the black intermediate bag in 20 degrees F and slept comfortably in only a tee shirt and jeans with no socks on a mylar sport utility blanket.
he's soo cool
Thanks for the Tips Alan !
Well, this isn’t 10 items, but I love AK
Use a Dakota firepit, cause it uses less wood. Prop up a big, flat rock above the exit hole, to reflect heat towards you, and to soak up radiant heat. Then put that rock under your raised bed at night. 2 such fire pits and rocks will suffice to keep you warm under your work awning during the day, and 2 such rocks will really help you sleep well. :-) Because the fire's heat is not wasted off to the side, you'll need less fuel. Dont buck wood to length, either. That's a waste of time and calories. Instead, have the entrance hole of the Dakota pit be a long, tapering one, so that you can feed an entire tree into the flames, base first.
Dakota fire holes tend to.burn wood faster and they are hotter because of the strong air flow that develops.
Also they give most of the heat upwards directly into the air...exactly were you dont want it.
Better built a regular fire place with a V shaped heat reflector on one side and rocks around it which you can take inside for heating the shelter
@@martinerhard8447 I would dig a pit for my shelter making a fire place that can also as a meat dehydrater
@reesej123 Russell Rocks cant store that much heat. A lot less than water can store. So 4 hours...yeah no.
As usual your advices dont even work in theory
But the MSS would’ve counted as multiple bags and a bivy…probably not allowed
Experience Is Golden.
awesome
Interesting to hear that the bivy bag is so important. I was actually thinking it was wasteful. Any thoughts on Jose's bag (canvas and flannel) that he plans on drying out by the fire? It seems from a quick search online that they come in all ranges of cold resistance, although that's not listed on Jose's bio (just says canvas and flannel). He also did not include a bivy sac.
Roarke Suibhne I've slept at -5C in a military sleeping bag and Bivi and was toasty warm, that was on Dartmoor in December on exercise, with no shelter or basha due to the lack of trees and that we'd been bounced. I'd always take a bivi bag....
The bivy isn't about warmth, it's about keeping your bag dry. Tge black intermediate bag is plenty warm enough. I think people underestimate the value of rest and a good night's sleep. Other than the food, sleep would make it much easier to last long term.
I don't think the entire MSS system would count as "1" choice. The Gore-Tex bivy would have counted as 1. Then the other two sleeping bags of the MSS... probably could only take one of the two and it would have counted as another choice.
that's right, one bag and the bivvy would be 2 picks, which you can't afford on this challenge. Season 1 and 2 were given a 20x20 tarp, but not seaons 3 and 4, and it's a REALLY bad eff-over. You are still given the 10x10 "camera tarp", but you have to waste a pick on the "optional" 12x12 tarp and you still only have half the tarp that seasons 1 and 2 got!
they no longer allow a down bag on the Alone show. . Choosing one has already screwed up 2 people You can't really keep them dry on Vancouver, and once they get wet, they are worthless. Synthetic bags have to be opened up and double-stuffed, in order to have enough insulation for this challenge. You wont be hiking around with all this stuff, so get a bag that's PLENTY warm enough, so you dont have to have a fire blazing all the time! While you sit around, weaving netting and making sapling frames for "box-traps" (wrappped in the netting) you can have your legs fully in the bag and the rest of the bag up around your back and shoulders. Save the effort of cutting and hauling wood, and conserve your body fat, too.
I cant imagine a contestant would take poorly insulated boots or a 40 degree bag. Where do they get these people?
Well he won so
Hey, i have the same knife.
you wont be building a cabin. Doing so is a waste of time and calories. It doesn't get all that cold on Vancouver Island, down by the shore and you wont be there more than 3 months, anyway. Keep that shelter and raised bed portable, so you can move it to where the squaw wood is, instead of wasting time and calories hauling wood to a 'permanent" shelter.
you HAVE to take the gillnet and the 2 person hammock, both made out of 9-strand paracord, so that you can weave 2500 sq ft of 3" mesh netting. That will feed you, if you know what to do with it. If you want/need 1.5" mesh netting, simply fold over the 3" mesh netting and tie every other mesh. You can make several traps for birds, crabs and mammals, using sapling frames, and still have lots of netting to use as gillnets and to make a big net fish-weir. as well as a holding pen for your catch. keep them alive until you're ready to eat or preserve them. That pen will be great bait for a bear or a seal, too. :-)
when the U S govt spent millions of dollar on a sleep system, then its good enough for me. I dont need to do any more research.
Only half of an animal or fish's live weight is edible flesh. So you need to average catching 8 lbs per day, altho you can juice enough kelp to replace 1 lb of that food, and you need the carbs. Fish and game offer no carbs, people. So you can be getting enough calories and still be depressed, lethargic and have poor brain function. Catching fish or game is very difficult once winter sets in, so the 700 lbs of fish and game needed has to be caught in the first 2 months. A 200 lb bear and 500 lbs of fish are needed, along with juicing about 1500 lbs of kelp, in order to win without being fat and lucky.
alone is a great show but every season eventually devolves into a starvation competition.
People dont seem capable of counting, or understanding what gear is needed, nor what strategy is needed. You only get 10 items. If you take a sleeping bag and a bivvy, that's 2 picks used up, and you can't afford it. Seasons 1 and 2, they gave you a 20x20 tarp and 10x10 tarp. So why not cut up the 20x20, and not waste a pick on a bivvy, hmm? Dont waste a pick on a ferrorod, nor an axe. you can fireroll a chunk of your T shirt for your first fire, and then, once you have charred punkwood, ashes, force-dried tinder, you can start subsequent fires with flint and steel, or with a McElroy pump drill. You can also bed some coals and a bit of fuel wood in a thick layer of ashes, down in a Dakota fire pit and the fire will be re-ignitable for 8+ hours, which is longer than you'll get to sleep under Alone conditions!
Where are you going to get the flint and steel from?
You are a silly man -
Some people if your going in the wild it's not suppose to be modular like the city , it's gong back to ur roots how .that why it's called survival of the cutest . Dam people stay in the dam city .
Remi Lussier I've never heard of survival of the "cutest"??? Please elaborate.
Survival of the finest ***meant to say lol