Out of the wild. Discovery Channel show.

I am really surprised that there are no commentaries on this forum about a tv show on Discovery channel. I have seen 3 shows so far and I like them more and more. It is about a group of 9 people that are dropped in a remote area in Alaska and they are supposed to hike out. They were provided with some equipment, maps and compass but no food. Only an over and under rifle shotgun combination (410/.22LR), one pocket knife for all of them, one hatchet, one saw, sleeping bags, clothing, tarps to make Yukon packs and cover themselves. Each person was provided with bear protection spray, water bottles and a gps with a button that if you want to quit you press it and they come and pick your up. There is no price for whoever finish the trek.
There were all kind of people and what I was surprised more than anything else is that the best qualified people dropped first. You can find more information in www.discoverychannel under Alaska Experiment.
Have anybody watched these shows and would like to share some commentaries.

I watched the first show. Would sort of like to see more of them but what I saw confirmed for me that my reluctance to hike with more than 3 others who I know well makes for more successful trips.

Maybe the best qualified people quitting first means they are smarter. Best to know one's limitations rather than to press on foolishly.

And boy oh boy is Alaska a tough place to live off the land! Looks to me like fending off hypothermia is a fulltime job.

The shows are on Tuesdays at 10:00 EST. Like I said in my post, the more I watch them the more I like it. It look a little foolish at the begining but I grows on you.
Actually it is not that you cannot quit at anytime, what surprised me that the best qualified person, a young man that is an outdoor guide for fishing and hunting quit about the second or third day into the journey.
Also is a proof that sheer will power and not giving-in without trying harder could make the different between life and death.
If you have Comcast on Demand you can watch the shows anytime.
they are under World and News, Discovery Channel, Out of the Wild.
Thanks for the comments.

Yes, I can't help but be fascinated by the show. Typical with such things, they tend to pick a bunch of people who don't know what they're doing. Despite their inexperience, and the more knowledgable ones quitting they are doing surprisingly well.

They've made some feeble attempts (handlines) at fishing but those have largely been ineffective. With all the streams around, I'm wishing they would make fishing spears and construct some stone weirs in the streams to guide the fish to a spot to spear them and to create eddys where some fish will rest to get out of the strong current. I think they'd get more fish and expend fewer calories in getting them if they did something like that. Once the weir was constructed, they might be able to spear a significant amount of protein and fat rich salmon.

As it is now, they have a calorie deficit in what is expended to acquire the food they do have.

I can't help but admire the determination and teamwork in the remaining six people. The bad attitudes of the two somewhat experienced people who quit was somewhat of a liability. They might be better off without them in the long run.


Tom A.

I have seen all the episodes. Not a bad show. Talk about putting people in a bad situation.

I like it so far, I was surprised at the first 2 drop outs.

I wonder if I can catch the aired episodes online somewhere. I have seen the commercials...just the show itself is on too late for me.

I've been following it also, and in spite of all the drama, it's a pretty accurate show.
In spite of all the tourism BS, Alaska is actually a very unforgiving place to live in.
But it is very easily do-able, you just gotta live by her rules, not yours...........

i've been following it as well, and so far i'm liking it. the commercials though, drama doesn't eve touch it.
"The alaskan wilderness has claimed its first victim; who will be the next to fall?"

riiiieeeeght....

the way they go on, you'd think these people were dead rather than headed home.
i was surprised and a bit disappointed when the outfitter and what's her name dropped out; those tow were a refreshing change from the city slickers.

Kinda surprised and impressed by last nights episode, with the head shot to the porcupine and the neck stomp finishing it off.

Some shows have cut away and not shown that kind of stuff, I like that they are showing a more real food gathering.

I'm sorry, but I am weary of the whole genre of contrived
survival shows that insult the land and native peoples.
Alaska sadly has always been an extractive economy from russian fur traders to Klondikers to miguided 'bear experts' and assorted other lost souls who go there 'for something' with little thought to giving anything back besides one more 'cabyn in the woodses.'
Porcupine is very edible, but I doubt any of his quills were kept
for additional use. Anyone ever held a porcupine quill box or embroidered knife sheath?
That porcupine was murdered and wasted for no great good beyond the boardroom of the Discovery Channel. I hope they discover the bear spray nozzles don't work.

To each his own I guess.

I have eaten porcupine, not my favourite but OK if you are really hungry.

They can be a real nusiance around a cabin, or in a tree plantation/maple sugar bush.

Mike

Actually yes. I have a quilled neck knife sheath and a bag. However I see killing and eating a porcupine as no different than killing and eating a chicken. As there is no shortage of chicken feathers, I'm not aware of any shortage of porcupine quills either. I really so don't see the problem here.

Cheers,

Tom