They were all limited to no more then a 2 quart pot / bottle. I have advocated for years that carrying a pot is far more important then the oft suggested SS water bottle that in theory, could double for a water and food cooking vessel. For those who think the SS water bottle is adequate, watch this show and you see how important and how much more versatile having a pot is. The participants had everything from a kitchen pot to a Zebra Stainless Steel Billy Can (which I always have with me) to a frying pan. Though, I have to admit, I would like to know where the frying pan and a couple of other oddities suddenly came from...

This website has a list of all particpants and what they chose to carry based on a list of 40 approved items provided by History Channel.



In the first few episodes, I think the whole bear and cougar scare was over-produced by the production company. Yes, Vancouver Island has a large population of bears and cougars that some participants actually seen in their respective campsites. Keep in mind though that 1000's of people camp out on Vancouver island in tents in the wilderness every year without incident.

Also as the newer episodes are aired, there is not much mention on the bear and cougar issues so maybe it was an attempt to get initial viewership up?

As for defending with a sharpened spear, not sure how this would work and also there are probably wildlife legal issues on the to contend with.

That said, the Coho Salmon that Alan caught is a wild Salmon as there is still an Adipose fin on the fish. Not sure what the regulations are on the Island but around here, only Adipose clipped (hatchery) Coho Salmon are allowed to be retained from June 1-Dec 31. Also that Dungeness Crab he caught in the gillnet is extremely small. If I were to retain that crab and got inspected by the DFO, (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) people, along with costly fine, I could stand to lose my fishing licence, gear and possibly have my vehicle impounded.

Furthermore, the Tidal Fishing Regulations state: It is illegal to sport fish with nets, including dip nets, minnow nets, gillnets or cast nets. Not sure what type of permits and permissions the production company obtained, but I imagine there was a lot of red tape to jump through in order for the .gov to relax the regulations for the participants.

Speaking of nets, I literally cringed when Alan carelessly pulled that crab out of the gill net and ripped the netting apart. I would be a lot more careful - as a gill net, even though it is easy to see that it is a cheaply made net, it is worth its weight in gold 5x over in a survival scenario such as depicted.