Truly being alone

[Mortblanc]

Once again, we find there is a vast gulf between the disciplines of wilderness survival, disaster prepping, and doomsday prepping.

Disaster prepping gets used on a regular basis, due to it being done based on frequency of disasters.

Doomsday prepping is dealing with a situation that has never occurred and probably never will.

Wilderness survival skills are used as needed when an outdoor emergency occurs.

The guys that tapped out early on Alone never recognized the difference between going to the woods to practice survival skills and encountering a real survival situation where you do not pick the time, place, weather or your wildlife neighbors.

This might be taken as a wake up call to those that consider wilderness survival an extension of their doomsday prepping. The "Alone" part was only a fraction of the problems they faced. There was also the bitter cold, lack of calorie intake for days at a time and the fact that no one did much to improve their shelters.

One of my most irritating moments with the show was when one of the morons decided to build a boat when he did not even have an adequate shelter.

They were basically living under polytarps in sub freezing weather and no one did anything to improve their structures. It was as if they anticipated "going home tomorrow so why build a real shelter?" for their entire stay, which eventually lasted for over a month.

[bigpaul]

(23 August 2015, 20:47)Scythe13 Wrote: Very little analysis on here though…which is a shame.

analysis of what? one can be alone or one cannot...fact. or are you talking about the tv "entertainment"?(opium for the masses).

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don't base your survival on what you see on the TV, it isn't real life.

[Tarrel]

When I backpacked coast to coast across Scotland, I spent days on end not seeing anyone. Totally self-reliant. I loved it, but it does mess with your head. One day, about two thirds of the way across, I was walking along and just started sobbing like a kid. No reason why. I didn't feel bad or desperate. Wasn't in pain. It passed after a few minutes. I felt loads better afterwards.

I think you have to practise and experience being alone. It's the only way to prepare for it. if you can do that, then it's one less thing to have to come to terms with in a survival situation.

[bigpaul]

if its your normal lifestyle,no problem.

[bigpaul]

I truly believe most people could not live day after day, week after week, month after month, for years even, on their own, most would go stark, staring mad. that's why we hear so much talk on prepping forums about groups and how "no man is an island", yes for many that is true, but for some of us-a few, a precious few, the opposite is the case. its not solitude that does my head in, its other people, their prejudices, their thoughts and their actions(or lack of them).

[Mortblanc]

And once again we have the variations of opinion between those that are discussing a show they have watched and those who are discussing a show they have not watched.

There is plenty to analyze on this particular series, even without the discussion of those who are already social deviants and those who are not, especially those that are here and not on the show.

There were 10 men at the start.

What did they choose to carry with them. They had a choice of clothing and equipment with a "base load" of first aid and emergency gear and were only allowed 10 items outside that allowance.

What was the relationship for the gear chosen to the weather patterns of their area and prior experience, What boots did they choose, what knives, axes, saws, tarps, cordage?

What were their backgrounds and training?

What did they anticipate being able to make on the spot and found impossible to produce?

What was the impact of the predators in the area? (There was a healthy population of bears and wolves present.)

How good were the shelters? Could they have done better? Should they have done better?

What was the most efficient means of obtaining calories in their situation?

Who used the available resources most efficiently?

Who packed on an extra 20 pounds before the contest began?

While some of the outdoor forums have had pages of discussion on these topics are they to be dismissed here due to the experience being taped for TV, with any continued discussion being centered around who is immune from normalcy?

[bigpaul]

define "normal" MB your definition of normal probably isn't mine.

[Devonian]

(25 August 2015, 18:03)Mortblanc Wrote: And once again we have the variations of opinion between those that are discussing a show they have watched and those who are discussing a show they have not watched.

MB the OP simply made reference to the TV show and how he enjoyed it and how it got him thinking about the issues, but then went onto open a discussion about being alone/surviving alone in general, it wasn't intended to be a discussion about the TV show (as far as I can make out), more about how would we or others cope with being alone.

[bigpaul]

yeah, get with the programme

[Scythe13]

(24 August 2015, 18:43)Tarrel Wrote: When I backpacked coast to coast across Scotland, I spent days on end not seeing anyone. Totally self-reliant. I loved it, but it does mess with your head. One day, about two thirds of the way across, I was walking along and just started sobbing like a kid. No reason why. I didn't feel bad or desperate. Wasn't in pain. It passed after a few minutes. I felt loads better afterwards.

I think you have to practise and experience being alone. It's the only way to prepare for it. if you can do that, then it's one less thing to have to come to terms with in a survival situation.

100% with you on this mate.

The thing that surprised me the most, before being 100% alone, I thought "Yeah I can do that. EASY!" But the reality of it is quite different. Usually, in my experience, the people whom boast most about being alone, are the ones whom are alone, through choice, and perceive that to be the same as being truly alone. The programme really highlighted this for me.

A question for you, before you actually spent time alone and went for long periods without human contact, did you assume (like I did) that it would be easy?

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But MB is right, the programme holds great standing for proper analysis. I hear a new thread coming on...

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BP, when you talk about being alone, that's cool that you can cope with that. I like a bit of alone time, but find forced alone-time to be much harder. We always want what we can't have, so being forced to be alone is much harder for me…because even when I don't want the human contact, not having the option of it has made me want it.

What kinds of situations have forced you to be alone? How have you coped with those situations?