I have been watching "Survivor" for a while now and many things on the show crack me up. One instance is when they start the show off with no fire starting gear. I always thought that if I were to be on that show,I would be putting together gear ahead of time so that I could sneek it on the show, under the producers noses. I see all these contestants with these goofy, useless necklaces. How about a useful one?
I'm thinking 1" lengths of Ferrochrome rod and magnesium rod (drilled lengthwise) with maybe a 1" cross of carbon steel (for a striker) held together a few braided feet of Spider wire.
Just for a mental exersize, what other ways can you think of to cheat on "Survivor"?

You can't cheat when it's all scripted ahead of time.

"Survivor" is one of those total scams that CBS is famous for. I wouldn't watch it if they paid me to watch. "Reality TV" as a whole is itself a joke, because reality becomes non-reality when a tv camera is present. There is no 'normal' when people face a tv camera, it becomes a performance.

Well I see we don't have any survivor vans..so be it. I enjoy the show if only for the reasons other don't. It's entertainment value. Now back to your question. I've thought about this alot and I really like your necklace solution. Why not manufacture one of those anyway? You know how they never give them any fishing gear until like day 3 or 5. I thought I would just sew extra spider wire into my clothing that could be removed later. Now for the hooks...thought about removing the liner of my shoe, turn it over and carve out little spots for the hooks..the glue liner back in for removal later. Just my thoughts.

Yep... I remember at the start of the reality craze that maybe Survivor would be cool to watch - learn something, see some crazy skilled wilderness folk. Please. It's no different than any other wannabe actor reality show that's highly scripted and more than dubious in both content and performance.

Now, put 10 people out by their lonesome in the middle of nowhere and they have their own cameras and have to survive and record their experiences. With am emergency locator beacon or some way to make sure they really could get out in a hurry by chopper and that might be interesting. Even so, any sort of safetynet precludes a lot of the fear and anxiety a normal survivor would feel I should think.

If my wife turns on a "reality" show - I pretty much just leave the room. They are all crap.

Jeez, you guys! Did I ask for a treatise on the societal value of reality TV. No. I realise it's scripted and crap. If I substituted TSA for "Survivor producers" would that make you happy. This is just an excersize in creative thought. At least Hghvlocity gets it.

Scott

Well, if that's the case, then I think you suggestion is a really good one. Making it non-obvious to the casual viewer means it might be good for urban EDC too. I'm not sure about the cross piece (just from a comfort standpoint, but you could used a couple feet of paracord with a breakaway, maybe a small safety pin to go with the spiderwire holding together the flame kit too. I can see a problem with trying to conceal certain items and the TSA though. :-)

I saw the very first Survivor, which was incredibly stupid and pointless. And now I haven't had TV for a couple of years.

So... is it really true that they aren't allowed to take anything with them, or are they just stupid? I ask because the ones I saw basically didn't know how to do anything that didn't involve a shopping mall.

Since this is all hypothetical anyway... cheating is allowed, right? (ETS Rule #1). If they don't see it at the entrance to the site without a body search, it's yours to use.

We could make a necklace out of 550 cord, in the nature of a charm bracelet, just a lot more useful. All the stuff on your key rings goes onto the necklace, which goes under your shirt.

A siltarp could be tacked inside the back of your shirt, with an emergency blanket or two tucked in between, plus some aluminum foil.

Snare wire & fishing line could be tacked inside your cuffs.

A hatband of braided 550 cord, with fishhooks and split weights slipped underneath. A halfway decent knife could be duct-tapped inside the crown of your hat if there was room, or in a sheath hidden in your armpit.

A wire saw could be hidden in your belt.

Smaller ziplock bags could be filled with flat stuff and tacked inside your shirt. (BTW, I am assuming that nobody here would be stupid enough to wear skin-tight pants & shirt.)

Sue

Well, if the point of the show were actually about survival, then I suppose these would be good ideas, things I would consider.

However, from what I've seen of the show, it is more about how to screw everyone else (figuratively and literally in many cases) and solve problems that have nothing to do with survival issues. In this context, I think if I were on the show by day three they'd find everyone else in the competition with their throats cut by early morning if the objective is to be "the last man standing".

In contrast, I find the "Survivorman" series particularly entertaining and informative.

Those money belts hold a lot of stuff too! And it might not be comfortable, but you could stow one of those plastic pills full of tinder/fishing gear/compass/striker/purifier tab, etc. up you know where.

CAN I PLAY ..CAN I PLAY <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Para cord for shoe laces
spider wire wraped around the ear pieces of my glasses
(figure i could get maybe 10 to 15 ' on each ear)
couple of needles tucked into the hem of my pants
push some wire through the para cord (snare wire)
how about a couple of slip shot ear studs <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Really like the necklace idea add some slip shot for beads (maybe paint them)
Boy if you did carve out the heels of your shoes , imagine how much gear you could get in there ( very Maxwell Smart!!)

You know guys... There's a whole other portion of ETS. LOL

Ranger Rick's Special Ops Survival Necklace

Just goofin. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Anyway, with a necklace in mind, I'm gonna draw up one for S&Gs because it brings a hilarious thought to mind. I'll post it later.

I think that the point is not to hide things, but put useful stuff in plain sight in such a way that it does not look useful...

I imagine that everybody was searched, and that the producers took the stuff that looked too useful. So, the key is to make it look as innocent as possible.

They ever get an ex-con on there, they'll have to search him/her extra well, given the imaginative ways things are secreted in prison. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Harrkey has the right idea, hidden in plain sight.
Bubba, I like the split shot sinkers for beads and also the paracord for shoelaces. I remember the ex-Seal Rudy was the only one to try a fire drill and his shoelace that was used as a bowstring broke. His choice of wood wasn't to great though as he used bamboo as the hearth board. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
On the food gathering topic, I always thought my much fishing effort would be toward building fish traps.

Uhm, eat the camera guy and use his gear to start a fire.

They don't need fishing gear by then, because the reward challenges start where they can win alcohol and chocolate donuts and ice cream and cheese fries...all the kind of stuff that is PERFECT for people who have had little or nothing to eat for several days!

My wife can get into that show no matter what point in the game it is...and develop very strong feelings about the players.

I think those of us who have seen it a few times can agree that the name "Survivor" is a misnomer. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

And the concept of "hidden in plain sight" was a basic practice of ninja in the old days. Still valid today...and sometimes quite necessary!

I'm glad that no one mentioned body orafices when thinking of places to stash gear <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

It's like the challenges in studying subatomic particles...the very act of observation changes the "behaivor" of the subject being studied!

they dump you off the boat in your undies -- not a lot you can put in there

Gives new meaning to the phrase "The tribe has spoken" <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I like the idea of a necklace, but it would be a pain to dismantle and reassemble for each use... I'm thinking bracelets, it's fashionable to have many on the same wrist. One for fire starting, one for fishing .... Shrink tubing to hold everything together & you could pack come very useful items ...

Sneaking contraband in to the Survivor beach would be pointlessly counterproductive. First of all, how do you intend on sneaking this gear in “under the prodcer’s noses” when your campsite is swarming with camera crews? Pulling a Magfire out of an orifice before your tribe has actually been rewarded firemaking supplies will certainly see it confiscated and quite possibly get you kicked out of the game by the producers for a rules violation. Also, I can't help but think contestants are required to sign contracts agreeing specifically not to bring contraband, so you could also set yourself up for legal issues.

Secondly, in a game where your "tribe" members vote people off based on popularity and strategy, cheating is suicide...

Now, in spite of all that, if you really wanted to try to cheat, what would you need?

Water purification is really a non-issue. Tribes invariably have access to water sources, containers, and the opportunity to use profligate amounts of firewood with which to boil it. Fire making has never really been an issue after the first few days. The show was a little more cavalier in the past about food, but I’ve noticed that after they almost strarved the Survivor: Outback contestants to death, they’re much more generous, at least with starches (and, unfortunately, alcohol). Protein seems to be the thing missed most, which leads me to suspect that fishing gear would be the best bet to bring, so you can stay ahead of the curve until it finally shows up in a reward challenge. Since I don’t believe in cheating, though, were I to become a contestant I’d do what I could to research regarding the improvisation of fishing tackle from found objects rather than trying to sneak in tackle.

I love Survivor; it's one of my very favorite TV shows, but I don’t really watch it to pick up on survival skills, although there are some things to be learned, if only by those who don’t put much thought into the subject. “Don’t camp in dry creek beds” is a notable example. It pains me just the smallest little bit to see it derided for not being a wilderness survival skills course, since that’s not what it has ever aspired to be.