Anyone like that wilderness survival show “Alone” ?

I’m thinking strictly hypothetically but what if instead of ALONE we made a show called TOGETHER.

The premise being each team 3 couples, and it’s like alone but instead it’s a permaculture based competition where teams compete to build a mini oasis which can aid them in their survival.
Teams are allowed to bring 150lbs per person, the only caveat is they must transport this load 6 miles no trail so carrying the cart over logs will be required.
So a team of 6*150lb =900 lbs per team on their own select gear/tools.

I’m thinking start this project as soon as the snow is melting, so teams have a chance to build a nice wofati and garden. The teams be 3 miles apart but allowed to make contact and join forces on projects and trade… say one team has a very successful fish catching method, while another team just killed an elk. The idea isn’t to be the macho one guy who wins like “Alone” the idea is to show how happy and simple life can be off grid.
No limits on what’s in the 150lbs per person could be tools could be gear could be extra food.
( But No liquid petroleum
Or guns! Think Bows and whipsaws, not chainsaws and lighters)

Each team starts with 2 weeks provisions. (They must meal plan this as a team Before deployment.) This gives a nice enough head start to get the ball rolling on good projects.

Each team also is in charge of filming their progress and struggles.

Alone is 90 days which is 3 months usually in very hard climate starting end of summer beginning of winter. With just what they can carry.

In order to level this playing field make the date to win 2 years. Which would mean roughing it 2 years.

Give me some feedback would this be a cool show? If a team wants to bring 10 mil poly and make their living structure have a south facing greenhouse go ahead.

Teams must bring their own seed and tools. (Plan ahead what they want to grow / use)

Since this is more homestead like than survival I think it would be an amazing educational and entertaining experience!

Okay if you went on the show or had ideas about some aspect please share I’m just spit balling here.

The prize if everyone finishes is 2 million dollars, but anytime someone taps out it goes down 100k. Incentive to keep people happy that way. At the end what ever is left is the prize money to be divided between whoever is left.

Example if over the course of 2 years 20 people drop out you all lose. -$2,000,000 Starting with 36 people (6 teams of 6)

So if 6 people drop out, like a whole team has a bad set up and quits….       -$600,000 so the remaining 30 would split $1,400,000 or ~$46,000 each.
Which seems low for 2 years maybe have a match program or something so it’s $92k at least. But the participants would be pretty famous in their respective circles after winning so I’m sure some sponsorships and other jazz could be thrown in. It’s more of a thought experiment.

Here’s how I would approach the challenge, being it’s a networking and team building show, I’d want to work together as much as possible so before heading to the respective locations having a pow wow with all 6 teams looking at a map of the whole area. Say each team starts in the middle and walking out to their spot. One member must flag in their color the way to their station. This will be the site of the trail eventually.

Being it’s going to be rough traversing I’d advise all teams take their time clearing a usable path for their 2’ wide carts. ( they have 3 days to get in their area)
These paths will be indispensable when the weather changes in the months to come and teams must sled to one another to check on each other.
There is a 3 night limit on staying away from your homesite. (In case you wanted to all build each others big structures one at a time after the paths are made.

The whole goal of the show is TOGETHERNESS

Would You watch this show?
Would you want to go on it?
Would your friends want to live off grid with you for 2 years?

What’s in your 150lbs?

Back when television was a thing, I recall a few homesteader shows that worked along these same lines.

But really, my great-grandparents and grandparents already took that challenge a century ago, faced incredible hardship in a harsh climate, and succeeded. Through a combination of steadfast determination, skills, hard work, faith, family, and community. The prize (beyond survival) was land that was your own, free and clear.

So where's my cut of that 2 mil? (kidding).

EDIT: There's no reason why others can't take the same challenge, if they choose. I'm not sure video documentation is required; and I'm not convinced the right candidates would give a rat's patoot about the money or the 1.5 minutes of fame. They would do it because it is their nature to do it.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Back when television was a thing, I recall a few homesteader shows that worked along these same lines.

…..

They would do it because it is their nature to do it.

So what you’re saying is the people who care the most to go on this show “mega permie survivalist homesteaders “ wouldn’t be interested in the money or showing off, they would want the land?

This gets into a thing called “settling”… which I wish I could build a time machine and go do with my ancestors but as of late I’m not aware of anymore places you can “stake your claim”.

I guess I’d rather go in a time machine and watch crazy people take wagons Accross an untamed landscape and settle the middle of nowhere’s again.

Well Doug it seems you’re right. People in permaculture don’t care for fame or money they want LAND & perennials & food forests & market gardens and living pools. Most that stuff just needs the right location and a shovel and some seeds.

Thanks for commenting on my stuff Douglas I have lots of respect for you and your posts. Always cooking up something good to add to the conversation.

Hi Dalton,
I watch some of those types of shows off and on. If I could suggest a variation of the show. Why not have 5 couples as a team, each with their own plot of land next to each other. They have to work to create a community. If you survive however long, you get to keep the land you have developed. If you leave, you lose the land. Those 5 couples are competing against other groups of 5 couples to see who can create the best mini town or something.

Matt McSpadden wrote:Hi Dalton,
I watch some of those types of shows off and on. If I could suggest a variation of the show. Why not have 5 couples as a team, each with their own plot of land next to each other. They have to work to create a community. If you survive however long, you get to keep the land you have developed. If you leave, you lose the land. Those 5 couples are competing against other groups of 5 couples to see who can create the best mini town or something.

I love it that’s what this post was supposed to create was an ideal show that people on this forum would like to watch.

The more I think about it what you’re saying is literally basically what I want to do when I build the eco village in the PNW! families working together to build an amazing permaculture oasis together to share and enjoy. However it’s not a game or competition it’s just some cool pioneer families building homesteads…together. WHICH IS WAY MORE WHOLESOME so checkmate i guess I’m just going to have to film the build and make a cool channel about it.
Taking away the gameshow type incentive is a great way to make it more real and adaptable by the audience.

(Have a warning at the beginning of each episode warning ⚠️

DISCLAIMER watching friends build an amazing homestead oasis campground food forest together laughing and playing may cause you to question your life situation and rally some friends to buy some land and raise wild children.  ⚠️ ⚠️

The real incentive would be to spend more time with your families and homesteads than at a job. MEGA homestead becomes everyone’s passion and they all thrive because of it.

Would remove the drama of TV which we all hate. Thank you for throwing your ideas in Matt it was a greatly appreciated addition.

But you would have to work pretty hard to make it work, especially considering less land and more legal restrictions. However I have buddies with about every piece of equipment from saw mills to skidsters excavators tractors dozers you name it I can have it helping on the build on our property just costs labor and fuel.
It will be much more modern but maybe that’s for the better? After all
We are in a brave new world where most people will find this show on YouTube…. Where we could advertise products from the homestead!! So thank you everyone who has snowballed this idea it’s polishing into a 💎 gem!

Keep ‘em coming!

So first episode introduces the pioneer families & dream + legal process

Second episode introduces the vision and the how

Third Episode scouting for road /swales ponds on the land/ clearing and starting hugels figuring out the lay of the land

Forth episode families building campsites  TOGETHER 🏕

5th episode family campout chill and talk about what projects best to start next.

6th more serious clearing and building

7th maybe building the huge community barn that will be the tool workshop during the build (4 shipping containers with a canopy in between making a huge covered space.)40’x80’ covered area with 4 different workshops one in each container

8th episode start milling larger trees 🌲 into Beams and posts and boards for the build.

9th episode Look back on the project thus far (adding any hidden footage and bonus stuff that didn’t make the initial cut)

10th episode a Harvest Dinner (only food from the homestead) review with the pioneers of the progress of the year and the plans for next year and what each family will be doing during the winter when the build comes to a slow creep and the snow moves into camp.

11th be some Wofati construction that’s a nice snow on the ground project (besides my buddies are least busy then  muhahaha)

At this point we kinda will
Have more than enough going on to make episodes more frequently with relevant homestead  content.

The whole build will be out of pocket so the YouTube channel taking off will really help pay back what went in.

It’s funny how you don’t even think of something until someone says something and redirects my squirrel brain 🧠!

This will be fun.

Dalton Dycer wrote:

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Back when television was a thing, I recall a few homesteader shows that worked along these same lines.

…..

They would do it because it is their nature to do it.

So what you’re saying is the people who care the most to go on this show “mega permie survivalist homesteaders “ wouldn’t be interested in the money or showing off, they would want the land?

This gets into a thing called “settling”… which I wish I could build a time machine and go do with my ancestors but as of late I’m not aware of anymore places you can “stake your claim”.

I guess I’d rather go in a time machine and watch crazy people take wagons Accross an untamed landscape and settle the middle of nowhere’s again.

Well Doug it seems you’re right. People in permaculture don’t care for fame or money they want LAND & perennials & food forests & market gardens and living pools. Most that stuff just needs the right location and a shovel and some seeds.

Thanks for commenting on my stuff Douglas I have lots of respect for you and your posts. Always cooking up something good to add to the conversation.

Dalton, my apologies. My response came off as much more negative than I intended.

I didn't mean to dismiss your ideas. I think it's an interesting thought exercise that's worth exploring.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Dalton Dycer wrote:

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Back when television was a thing, I recall a few homesteader shows that worked along these same lines.

…..

They would do it because it is their nature to do it.

So what you’re saying is the people who care the most to go on this show “mega permie survivalist homesteaders “ wouldn’t be interested in the money or showing off, they would want the land?

This gets into a thing called “settling”… which I wish I could build a time machine and go do with my ancestors but as of late I’m not aware of anymore places you can “stake your claim”.

I guess I’d rather go in a time machine and watch crazy people take wagons Accross an untamed landscape and settle the middle of nowhere’s again.

Well Doug it seems you’re right. People in permaculture don’t care for fame or money they want LAND & perennials & food forests & market gardens and living pools. Most that stuff just needs the right location and a shovel and some seeds.

Thanks for commenting on my stuff Douglas I have lots of respect for you and your posts. Always cooking up something good to add to the conversation.

Dalton, my apologies. My response came off as much more negative than I intended.

I didn't mean to dismiss your ideas. I think it's an interesting thought exercise that's worth exploring.

Whoa no you came off as realistic. Where can we find an area even large enough for the initial project? Also like you said the incentive wasn’t there for the type of folks who’d most want the opportunity you were right!
No negative if it’s true my friend.
Too many barriers to making it a reality.
Just filming myself and friends build a mega homestead wannabe Krameterhof will be good enough for me! Thank you again Douglas!

Dalton Dycer wrote:I’m thinking strictly hypothetically but what if instead of ALONE we made a show called TOGETHER.

The premise being each team 3 couples, and it’s like alone but instead it’s a permaculture based competition where teams compete to build a mini oasis which can aid them in their survival.
Teams are allowed to bring 150lbs per person, the only caveat is they must transport this load 6 miles no trail so carrying the cart over logs will be required.
So a team of 6*150lb =900 lbs per team on their own select gear/tools.

We loved that show! I like your premise, because I always had a similar issue that it felt like the show was about "survival" instead of "thriving". I feel like a show with your idea is more how we think on this site.

Have you seen Homestead Rescue? I think you might like it, if you can move past the dumb mistakes some of the homesteaders make. The hosts go to different homesteads on the verge of collapse, analyze what is wrong, and help them fix it with limited time and EXTREMELY limited resources. It is exactly how we like to work. Use what you already have, lean on the community around you, (and a little homesteader ingenuity never hurts) and it is incredible what they come up with. That show has given me a lot of ideas to implement without spending a dime.

We also like to make fun of the family dynamics of the hosts, I mean it IS reality TV after all!

Yeah, my father and I watch each new season of Alone each summer and yeah, its about survival, while your show Together will be about thrival.  We'd totally watch your show and thoroughly enjoy it.

The show has already been done. 100 Days Wild on the Discovery Channel. Now on YouTube. A group of very well-meaning and knowledgeable people from diverse places, came together in the Alaskan wilderness to build community. One of the participants learned what she needed while living at our farm & village. ~~So we ended up with some insider information about the show.

I don't think I'll say anything more for now. Watch the show then get back to me and I'll explain some of what happened.

Jim & Laura Fry and children and others.
Stone Garden Farm & village

www.stonegardenfarm.com.   www.ohiofarmmuseum.com.

So to cross topics here, given the settings and structures typically seen on Alone, would be be possible/plausible for a contestant to construct a rocket mass heater that could last 3 months. I am thinking using a trench covered with fat rock and cob traveling through the structure and venting to a chimney outside.

John,

My take on Alone is that the folks participating have some skills in fire building, some shelter building, some trap making, and a few are fairly good at fishing. But most of them aren't good at "exploiting" the environment. They are surrounded by plenty of greens, but most don't know what they are or how to use or preserve them. Just about every one of them go tromping thru the woods making all sorts of noise, instead of becoming "one" with the place. And all the animals just run away. Most all of the "Alone'rs" are lousy at being alone, and most are very poor at budgeting time. They just aren't very good at surviving.  A few of them make it to 50 days alone, some very few make it to 70 days. But in watching the whole show, there's only one, maybe two, who could have made it through the Winter. And that's not surviving/thriving. That's just mostly using up your body slightly slower than the next to last person who bailed out just before you.

~Pretty much like most of the pioneers 150+ yrs. ago who went West. Only a very small percentage were successful in "heading out". The big majority died on the trail, or somehow managed to head back home to the East. They didn't know how to live in such an unfamiliar environment. And they really didn't know how to organize effectively in groups. --That's one of the major problems with the original idea of this discussion. Anybody who could live in the wilderness, is probably already doing it. Anyone who is dreaming of doing it, is very unlikely to succeed. Wilderness survival takes knowledge and training, and folks these days just don't have much of either. (That's actually one of the reasons WWOOF'ing is so valuable. You can get lots of experience that you can use later.)

So to your question about Alone folks building/using rocket stoves. Sure, they could do it. But just about all of them were so poor at food gathering, that they quickly ran out of energy for more projects than the minimum. And except for a very few of them, anything that takes more work than the least work, wasn't going to happen. -Or, if they did build one, some other aspect of their existence would have suffered.

Dear hubby is a fan of the one called Naked and Afraid so I might have seen a couple of episodes of any of the survival shows.



I asked YouTube for survival type shows and got this one: