A lot of Reality TV is so much bunk ...shock 'n Awe, like Radio Shock Jocks. I've watched some of the Ultimate Survival Alaska shows, initially 'cuz I thought that their basic equipment carried would have some informative value for me ... but have decided, they can bring what they want. They just have to carry it. One show highlighted how one guy always carries a pressure cooker. I was used to good effect in that program, but has not been shown in any other show I saw.
Its still interesting 'cuz of the scenery and such, but there's not much mystery in my mind ...nobody has been left behind at the pickup point yet....somehow I don't think they will.
Nat Geo has had other shows that I enjoyed, that were informative without too much Holly-weird Drama ... different groups or teams, families situated back in the 1880's or some historical period setting where resources were period correct. I thought those interesting given things that weren't around back then and dis-allowance of infinite resources, so some thought had to go into what and how much you could bring 'cuz you had to hump it or only had a given level of financial resources and space to bring stuff.

--KW