I just had to watch this to see how ridiculous things on the boob tube are getting. I wasn't disappointed.

Two strangers, a man and a woman, dropped off in some godforsaken location butt naked for 21 days to fend for themselves. That's the premise. Now what would you expect to happen from that?

First episode has a pair dumped off in Costa Rica. The dude was a 40 year old who acted like a 12 year old. The gal was borderline anorexic before they started the event. They enter the woods separately after disrobing, and can take one personal item each (a machete and a ferrocerium firestarter).

As things progressed, the 25 year old woman took the mature, level headed role. The 40 year old boy whined more and more, although he did do the bulk of the physical work.

Three hazards to keep in mind if you find yourself naked in a Costa Rican jungle:

1. avoid the Fer De Lance unless you have a big stick. Pictures of the producer's foot after he got bit were sobering.

2. do not eat your turtle rare.

3. if you make a fire under your shelter roof, make sure the roof doesn't fall into the fire in the middle of the night while you are sleeping under it.

Other items of interest:

a. Do not pi$$ off the howler monkeys

b. It can rain a lot in a rain forest

c. Having a little pudge when you start such an event is a good thing (he lost 45 lbs, she lost 25).

The woman on the show next week is from Juneau. She has an interesting way to catch fish.

This couple was far too pre-occupied with making fire. They should've focused more on making a suitable shelter and getting food. The fire wasted a lot of time, energy and fuel. Their attempts at hunting were futile. They could've made some snares and deadfalls and probably come up with something.

But the biggest issue remains: why on earth would you go into the jungle naked?

thank you for the review. you just saved me an hour of my life i might have wasted watching this piece of .

Apparently this is not a new idea. This guy did it in 1913!

http://archive.org/stream/aloneinwilderne00knowgoog

LOL Wiley. Thanks Benjammin for taking one for the team!

Makes you wonder if this is totally scripted, since it fits perfectly with the incompetent male cool head female you see in today's TV.

Naked in the jungle for twenty-one days? Not even for $1,000,000.

Jeanette Isabelle

Because some Hollywood agent offered you money...though in my case it wasn't enough.
-Blast

Ok, yeah, I understand their motivation. But if they are attempting to demonstrate extreme reality, that seems like an irrelevant premise. If you can't make it with clothing on, you can't make it naked either.

Could be scripted. But I know enough idgets like him that the role in that situation was just as plausible, whether real or contrived.

The choices for take along were okay. The machete was quite appropriate. Not sure the sparker was that important. I might've gone with a spool of drawn steel wire instead. The place was perfect for snares. You could've done something with all the vines, but some hard steel wire would make it a whole lot easier. Fire without the sparker would be harder in that environment, but you only had to get it going once.

Like I say, I had to watch it once. You make of it what you want. There's always the opportunity to learn, or teach.

They could'nt pay me enough..

From the first post, it looks a drama playing there. But after it, it seems a reality one. I'm still confused what I thought about it. As I was reading, it come's in my mind that there is discussion of tent where they stay. But till end there's nothing found what I thought.

actually, the reality show marks the discovery that cheaper shows can be produced by eliminating script writers, cartoonists, actors and consultants and limiting the expense to knuclehead contestants, cameramen, and a director. There is a Marxist explanation for everything.

And if you do, have a fully equipped EMS team ready with IV's and baby food!

Here is a link to the part of the story you didn't see:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ewers-told.html

LOL you too Blast? I passed as well.

I also passed because I figured my non clothed image on a TV even blurred out would give some poor child "ugly man" nightmares.

OK...but would you change yer mind if they let you wear pants?
Being dressed, makes a little difference ...mostly psychological, granted....but the concept is interesting.
I haven't watched the show, only saw the teaser ads.
And I do expect there would be plenty of effort to introduce drama into the story line, because apparently, it's not reality with extra made up drama.
Too bad too, 'cuz made up drama is what ultimately turns me off even when I learn new tidbits, which is naturally, why I bothered to watch in the first place.
And no ... I'm too body conscious to be on TV naked or half naked, regardless of the money involved. Even though losing 40+ pounds would sure be nice.
-KW

If I was limited to one item, I think I'd prefer shoes. There are too many sharp, stinging, or biting things on the ground and a foot injury would be debilitating.

Hmm, one doesn't see aboriginals often with footwear, but they always have a blade of some sort.

Then there's Cody Lundin. While he's part of the long-haired hippie freak crowd, he does make a point that shoes in the wild are essentially unnecessary. He too always has a knife.

In a clothing optional situation, I'd say buttflap takes precedence over shoes.

It sounds like a marketing gimmick. Quite a good one; I expect at least some people will watch out of curiosity and on the off-chance of seeing some boobs. It also levels the playing field as far as EDC is concerned.

Interesting data point. I've heard other experts say that fire is a waste, as a prediction; this goes against the philosophy of many other survival shows (and many threads in this forum) which make fire seem all-important, so that's a refreshing change.

I suspect that too is harder than it looks.

There was (or maybe still is) some sort of hiking barefoot movement I saw some web sites mention a while ago based on the same idea that natives to the area didn't have shoes. IIRC they said you get a better feel for the terrain, build up immunity, etc.

I think the difference is modern society is not used to bare feet so our tender feet are going to get messed up without shoes where the barefoot natives had built up a tolerance over time.

Try a knife and a firelighting kit.
No self respecting " Aboriginal" stires out of doors without them. They leave that sort of nonsense to so called "civilised" people.

A firelighting kit and a container. You can always sharpen a stone.

I accidentally saw a few mins of that show while flipping channels. In the version I saw there were these two naked tenderfoots hopping around on the African plains going "ouch ouch ouch!!!'

I would humbly suggest that if they are allowed to keep one item from their clothes - it might be a good pair of shoes. Hahahaha!

Pete2

I understand that abos going without shoes will develop calluses that are a good 1/2 inch thick or more. These also crack so that the effect must be somewhat like the lugs on a good Vibram sole.

I excavated a large ruin at Canyon de Chelly some years ago with excellent preservation, and we found lots of sandals which often had intricate patterns on their soles. Archaeologists in an earlier day often wondered why they put decorative patterns on the soles of the shoes where they would be worn away. As a sometimes rock climber,it seemed rather evident that the patterns would give a good grip when traversing the many vertical routes in the canyon,some of which would rate as 5.8/5.9 on contemporary scales.

I agree that our modern wimpy feet benefit from decent shoes.

I gotta say, you gentlemen deprived the forum of a great deal of innocent amusement by declining the opportunity. having one of y'all, or Izzy on screen would guarantee a steady audience and intense discussion here.

Being nude isn't the issue. Between the ages of four and sixteen I had about eight surgeries to correct some pretty ugly birth defects followed by another six or seven in later years. My body is covered with a fascinating web of scars and weird shapes, I got over being self conscious of it decades ago. The main issues were not enough money to make up for losing my job, potential loss of credibility in both my scientific and plants careers, and the fact that even pixilated I'd be hated by just every guy who saw the show.
-Blast (aka "Pringles Can")

p.s. I'd chose shoes over pants.

Bwa-ha ha ha ha!!!

Everything's bigger in Texas, eh amigo?

The second show - set in Tanzania - was definitely more entertaining than the first. And proved my point that your two pieces of gear should be pot and fire starter.

Not sure I would agree with that. The knife was definitely a requirement in that environment. Making fire was work, but they got it figured out. No knife would've left them defenseless and unable to finally protect their feet the way they did. Maybe the fire kept the hyenas away, maybe not.

Maybe pot and knife, but firestarter? Not if you know what you are up to.

No sale.

It's all true: blast remains an icon in the graffiti art in the halls of RPI.

That's perhaps the only thing for which men can experience what it's like for women to be objectified. An occurrence of nature that you cannot help draws attention to you, and some people just cannot look past that to see the person you are. Getting stared at and getting comments about parts of your life that strangers, acquaintances, and even most friends should have no part in, are just really weird, uncomfortable, and degrading. Often it feels more like harassment, even though it's supposed to be a source of envy. I find that well-endowed women tend to sympathize readily, because they have experienced the same kind of treatment.

It took the male survival expert three days to make fire. They were in dire straits, unable to drink the filthy water. A cutting tool could have been fashioned from a rock in a couple of hours. "The knife was ... a requirement." Of course, and so are shoes, clothes, etc. But they were only allowed one tool/implement each. Being able to purify water is the most basic requirement. His tanto kabar is macho, but I'll take drinkable water.

Born and and raised in Minnesota, a mix of Dutch and Scandinavian.
But it took Texas to make me feel at home!
-Blast

Don't forget the infamous midnight modification of the South Dakota State University Campanile logo down on I-29.
-Blast

You are the Where's Waldo of collegiate counterculture masculinism.

OTOH, imagine a world where prime time television consisted of reality shows of folks who actually knew a lot about the challenge subject, possessed the integrity to resist directorial manipulation abd gratuitous nudity, and were committed to saying that which is true, useful and uplifting. This would be an environment where Tyber, Blast and Izzy might participate in survival shows. Would anyone watch? Would any corporation buy commercial time?

"infamous midnight modification of the South Dakota State University Campanile logo "
This calls for details!

Do a google image search for "South Dakota State University Campanile" then imagine the combination of a fifth of Southern Comfort, a ladder, paint, and several thousand parents arriving the next day for Parent's Weekend. I used to be a bad boy.
-Blast

What do you mean "used to be"?

you know ... on second thoughts. If I had an Exposed Pair Of Boobs following me all over Tanzania, I might be naked-and-afraid too. I'd probably run for it. :-)

Pete2

Shhhhhh!
-Blast, a pure and fine citizen of this country.

In my opinion 1 hour isn't enough to really portray the amount of time that is passing. Les made it work with Survivorman and 7 days of survival, but 21 days is a long time... and it seems to be compressed down to arguing, complaining, and then success. It feels like it could have been 5-6 days.

On the Island episode they were so eager to start they definitely made a mistake setting out across the water right away (and with no improvised extra flotation?). In hindsight I imagine they would have been better off waiting till first light, so they could avoid the extreme sunburn.