Alone Australia

[Vader]

Will K may become the all-time Alone record holder, for spending the greatest number of days in the game, for the fewest minutes of footage shown on TV? Probably, because he's done nothing of note (other than his bushcraft). He was completely MIA from 2-3 episodes earlier in the series, and barely rated a mention in last night's episode, despite being down to just 5 contestants.

Suzan would be the next worst in the days vs screen time for this season, but the footage of her dealing with gastro in the early episodes ensured that she would be given more screen time than K.

I suspect K was a diversity casting, because of his "neural divergence" (read ADHD or Autism). In the first season we had Peter, who was suffering from PTSD. Peter didn't stay in the game for long, but his footage was compelling, as he detailed his struggles since returning from Afghanistan. Peter wasn't a great survivalist, but he did make for great TV. Watching Peter suffer a PTSD attack after hearing the helicopter was probably the outstanding moment of Season 1. I suspect they were hoping for similar when casting K. We did get his bizarre take on neural divergence, and it's supposed advantages, but otherwise his casting has not provided the entertainment they were clearly hoping for. At least he's shown us some decent bushcraft, even if the producers haven't bothered showing us what he built with the rope he spun.

 

[Vader]

It was interesting seeing Andreas talking about the need for passive food collection - hence building the mousetrap. All of his food has so far come through active collection, i.e. fly fishing. At this point contestants should be doing as little as possible, while maintaining a regular flow of calories.

In the US version, participants regularly set Paiute deadfall traps for small animals, and snares for squirrels and rabbits. They also set fishing nets, which they check on a daily basis. None of these options are open to Alone Aus participants, and that's a big difference in their ability to obtain enough calories to sustain their bodies.

As far as passive food collection goes, they're limited to fishing, with up to 4 lines in the water at the same time (and even then, they need to be within sight of their lines), or live trapping. Tamika is the only participant to have had success with passive fishing (i.e. sitting on the ledge, waiting for them to bite). Andreas is the only one (that we know of) who has attempted live trapping of land-based animals.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

In answer to my own question, I was considering areas in the Australian Alps. These areas meet the scenery, large area, and climate requirements. Areas could possibly be found which meet most of the other criteria. I'm thinking that there could be campsites along some of the Snowy Hydro dams (e.g. Lake Tantangara or Lake Talbingo), which could be made to work.

However, these areas are all within National Parks (both the lakes I suggested are inside Kosciuszko NP), with all the restrictions that entails.

I've thought about this too and I'm struggling to think of a place in Australia that has most of what you have listed. Locations here would either be too difficult (like season one) or too easy so people could last indefinitely.

If they picked a location with a lot of restrictions around hunting / food gathering, would an Aboriginal contestant be exempt from the restrictions as they are in a lot of restricted areas in Australia?

 

[Sqotty from office works]

I've thought about this too and I'm struggling to think of a place in Australia that has most of what you have listed. Locations here would either be too difficult (like season one) or too easy so people could last indefinitely.

If they picked a location with a lot of restrictions around hunting / food gathering, would an Aboriginal contestant be exempt from the restrictions as they are in a lot of restricted areas in Australia?

Nearest place with no restrictions and animals to bow hunt would be new Guinea

 

[TheEscapeClub]

Nearest place with no restrictions and animals to bow hunt would be new Guinea

Is it big enough to rule out any appearances from locals? I worked with quite a few blokes from PNG in WA and in a couple of cases, when they flew home to visit family, they would walk for 4 days to get to their villages. I'm not sure how much meat is there either. Every single one of those ones that I worked with, when we ate dinner would barely eat vegetables, they would just pile their plates a foot high with all different types of roast meats. I asked one about it one day and he said that meat was a luxury in PNG so he was making the most of it.

 

[Sqotty from office works]

Is it big enough to rule out any appearances from locals? I worked with quite a few blokes from PNG in WA and in a couple of cases, when they flew home to visit family, they would walk for 4 days to get to their villages. I'm not sure how much meat is there either. Every single one of those ones that I worked with, when we ate dinner would barely eat vegetables, they would just pile their plates a foot high with all different types of roast meats. I asked one about it one day and he said that meat was a luxury in PNG so he was making the most of it.

Wallaby
Deer
Bush choosing
Fish

 

[Vader]

I've thought about this too and I'm struggling to think of a place in Australia that has most of what you have listed. Locations here would either be too difficult (like season one) or too easy so people could last indefinitely.

If they picked a location with a lot of restrictions around hunting / food gathering, would an Aboriginal contestant be exempt from the restrictions as they are in a lot of restricted areas in Australia?

I can't see them running a competition where one competitor (or group of competitors) have an inherent advantage of the type you describe.

 

[MrsBlueSky]

Hamish bloody Blake is going to host the reunion after the final episode is aired next week.
I thought it was going to be Gina.
Hamish is like Eddie everywhere Maguire and probably hasn't watched an episode in his life.
SBS has just made the whole bloody show too dismal for me.
God willing it won't be on next year.

 

[Vader]

Tonight is the penultimate episode - ep 9 of 10. The recent announcement that Hamish "Everywhere" Blake will be hosting the reunion has given me another good reason not to bother with it (along with the fact that reunions just re-hash everything we've already seen, while adding nothing new).

We're down to just 4 competitors, who have made it to Day 38. I can't see the producers going to the final episode with 4 players still standing, and having 3 taps in the same episode, so I'm assuming at least 1 player (and possibly 2) will go tonight.

I'm assuming that Tamika will not be tapping, given that she's currently warm & well fed. The only thing that I can see making her tap tonight would be accidentally burning down her shelter, and once again, we would have seen that in the previews/start sequence, if it had actually happened.

So...

• Will K and/or Suzan bring their starvation games to an end?
• Or, will Andreas succumb to his self-doubts, despite being well ahead of the other two participants?

Shockingly, I'm going to tip Andreas as tonight's departure.

K might be full of shite when he talks about the advantages/disadvantages of being neurally divergent (i.e. Autistic), but there is one key advantage he hasn't discussed. Being Autistic almost certainly means he has fewer emotions involved when it comes to family/friends back home. For him, the tug of family is almost non-existent, and being alone is not a problem at all. His only real concern is the lack of food (which is definitely a problem, given that he hasn't had any protein since being dropped off).

Suzan continues to show remarkable resilience, despite her lack of food (i.e. protein). Apparently her partner is a well known adventurer, who has done expeditions in Antarctica, so she probably has more experience of hardship than many (including me) have given her credit for.

Andreas is seemingly on the point of giving up on fishing, despite being one of only 2 players to have had success at fishing - not a good sign. His failed mousetrap must have been devastating for him psychologically. His problems are all psychological, but that's the beauty of Alone. The show is only partly about survival - it's also about the ability of a person to cope with prolonged and (almost) complete isolation. We've seen his self-doubts start to manifest over the last 2 episodes, and I'm predicting that it will come to a head for him tonight.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Can I just add at this stage, that if you're a true fan of survival-based shows, with proper hard core survivalists who have incredible resourcefulness and elite primitive survival skills, and you're not watching Naked & Afraid - Last One Standing, then you're doing yourself a massive disservice.

It's the best of the best.

It's well worth your hard-earned getting Binge for a month just to smash your way through 10 x 1.5hr episodes (as well as all the previous 9 Naked & Afraid XL seasons).

 

[Kram]

He's a far right jerk in the US but I did chuckle at Matt Walsh ranting about how stupid the show is.

 

[Vader]

Can I just add at this stage, that if you're a true fan of survival-based shows, with proper hard core survivalists who have incredible resourcefulness and elite primitive survival skills, and you're not watching Naked & Afraid - Last One Standing, then you're doing yourself a massive disservice.

It's the best of the best.

It's well worth your hard-earned getting Binge for a month just to smash your way through 10 x 1.5hr episodes (as well as all the previous 9 Naked & Afraid XL seasons).

Never watched it before. Saw the show's title and said "no thanks". Didn't realise it was a survival show. Will give it a go, on your recommendation.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Never watched it before. Saw the show's title and said "no thanks". Didn't realise it was a survival show. Will give it a go, on your recommendation.

The regular episodes I can take or leave, but the XL seasons are brilliant - maybe watch them first so you familiarise yourself with the best survivalists. And Last One Standing is next level up from that.

 

[campbell]

I like Suzan.

 

[MrsBlueSky]

Well that got me. I thought Tamika and Andreas would be the final 2. That's proved wrong.
In the interview with Andreas that I posted before, he said at the end that "nobody knows who won" (apart from the winner that is.
I thought he was lying but now probably no. He fell into a hole with his fishing just like Tamika did.
It leaves two people who basically haven't eaten anything decent in 2 months - how's that possible.
K throwing up for next week doesn't look great, nor Andreas wobbly on his feet. Suzan with her seeds and may catch a fish with her positive attitude now makes me switch over to her as the winner and that to me came out of the blue because I never even considered her to be at the end.
It was disappointing nobody got any meat to eat and how about Tamika's morals to forgo the prize because she didn't want to kill the geese. Incredible. I'd kill anything that moved and anything that flew apart from a plane.
K's fake tap was brilliant = the only laugh I've had all season, otherwise it's been very dreary.
Anyway, only one more eposide to go and i hope the winner can really do with the money.

 

[Vader]

The regular episodes I can take or leave, but the XL seasons are brilliant - maybe watch them first so you familiarise yourself with the best survivalists. And Last One Standing is next level up from that.

I see that there are 17 seasons of Naked and Afraid, but "only" 10 of XL.

What's difference between them, other than episode running time?

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[Vader]

Episode 9 was the penultimate episode of the season, and as expected the time started to jump forward. We finished Ep 8 on Day 38, and by the end of Ep 9 it was (at least) Day 53. We covered almost half as much time in Ep 9, as we did in Eps 1-8 combined.

As predicted, there was 1 tap out... though I couldn't have been more wrong in my prediction about who would go.

Tamika's time on the show contained all the highs and lows that we love seeing. Early on she was struggling with a menstrual cycle that wouldn't stop bleeding. Her body hit low ebb, and she was literally in tears as she contemplated tapping. Then she found the ledge, and everything turned around. She caught 4 fish in as many days, and her whole outlook changed. She was able not only to eat, but to store food for the future - food she would consume while the storm was raging (and everyone else was going hungry). She managed to catch 1 more fish after the storm, but that would be her last. After 2 more weeks passed, without any fish, the effects of prolonged starvation really hit her hard. The effects on her brain chemistry started triggering PTSD, from her time in the police. Hooking a big fish, only for the line to snap as she pulled it in, was probably the final straw. You could see her giving up, right there and then.

Tamika survived 53 days... and to her I say "Chapeaux"!

As for the others...

Nobody found any substantial food. Andreas gathered some tree fern fronds, while Suzan gathered sedge seeds. K ate nothing (that we saw). Both Andreas & Suzan acknowledged that they spent more calories gathering the food than they gained from their consumption. This is definitely true for Andreas, who had to walk a long distance to access the tree ferns. It's less true for Suzan, who pretty much just sat there harvesting seeds, and sat again while she removed the husks. By all accounts, Suzan's seeds were the more palatable of the two options.

K's starvation game continues, though the signs are there that it's really starting to take a toll on his body. He's now gone 53 days without anything substantial to eat. He's having headaches, vertigo, feeling light headed, and having trouble sleeping. The preview showed him throwing up, and the medical team pulling someone from the game - everything suggests it will be K who gets pulled. It's very hard to see K surviving long enough to emerge as the winner.

Andreas continues looking for protein, heading to a local creek (which he called a river), in the hope of finding trout. What he found was trout (salmon?) spawning, which explained why he hadn't had any bites in the previous 2 weeks. Fish that are spawning lose all interest in food, as they concentrate their bodies' resources on reproduction. He found deer prints, not fresh, and decided to sit there for a while in the vain hope of ambushing them. It didn't work. Andreas hasn't had any protein in around 3 weeks, and the early lead he'd established is now gone, with his bigger body frame needing more calories than the smaller frames of K & Suzan. Like K, he's starting to feel light headed occasionally, due to low blood sugar levels. At least he remains proactive in his attempts to obtain food, even if they have been largely unsuccessful.

Suzan continues to be the (almost) invisible contestant, having had far less air time than any of the other final-4 players (even less than K, who was AWOL for 2 whole episodes). Suzan spent 5 days in bed, early in the competition, recovering from gastro - and I expected her tap to be imminent. She showed remarkable resilience, and now appears to be physically the strongest of the final 3. My guess is that she's done a lot of harvesting, eating a lot more flora than what we've seen in the show. She hasn't had any protein, but I'm guessing her average calorie intake has been better (closer to meeting her body's needs) than what the men have achieved (even allowing for Andreas' fish). She's the only one who hasn't mentioned any symptoms of starvation (not since the gastro days).

If I were betting right now, my bets would be 1 - Suzan, 2 - Andreas, 3 - K. Then again, 24 hours ago I was predicting that Tamika would win, only to see her tap out on Day 53.

 

[JamisonRun40]

I kept seeing geese and I thought there were protected. Bit disappointed that Tamika tapped out as I thought she would win. Her shelter was epic. Suzan the surprise packet and out of the three her mentality is sharp. K is wilting fast and having vertigo is not a good sign. Couldn't agree more about Hamish doing the reunion I thought it would be and should be Gina. Gosh I dislike Hamish.
There would be no way SBS could ever film in the Kimberley they wouldn't be allow too. Its protected land.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

I see that there are 17 seasons of Naked and Afraid, but "only" 10 of XL.

What's difference between them, other than episode running time?

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The regular N&A typically feature one male and one female in a 21-day challenge somewhere in the world eg. Africa, Amazon, Swampsville USA etc. It's generally fairly brutal as they're only allowed one survival item each, which tends to be a pot or fire-starter, although occasionally these items are provided so they can choose a knife, insect net etc.

XL is usually an All-Stars kind of arrangement, where there will be four groups of three survivalists (often 3 females, 3 males, 2-male-1-female, 2-females-1-male) in slightly different encampments for anything between 40-60 days. The smaller groups will often find one another and become larger groups, whittled away by inevitable taps and med-taps.

There's been some seriously hairy situations over the years in XLs, including an emergency evac due to a herd of elephants stampeding through a campsite. The combination of extreme cold, heat, hunger, sleep dep, insects, wild creatures, putrid water supplies and general discomfort really sort out who's fair dinkum - any single one of these factors would sort me out.

These XL challenges are for the best survivalists only. Matt Savage, who's largely considered to be the best primitive survivalist on the planet, has done about 260 days in total on about 8 or 9 challenges. Whereas the regular N&A often have fans of the show doing a 14-day challenge, and usually pretty poorly.

Don't let the nudity thing put you off. It's sort of irrelevant from a viewer perspective, but makes the survivalists totally vulnerable in extreme elements.

 

[Vader]

I found the nudity amusing - the fact that they make the contestants strip down completely, only to pixelate/blur all their private bits, rendered the whole gimmick completely pointless. I'm not prudish about nudity, but I'm not going to watch a show just because it has nudity as a gimmick.

Thanks for the explanation. I figured it was something like that, after watching the first 2 episodes of XL S5.

I watched those episodes, and decided that it wasn't for me. Too many alpha American egos, people who were full of their own importance and completely unlikeable. The only likeable one was the female half of the 60-day challenge duo (Lisa?). I'd be quite happy for the rest of them to be placed in a cannon, and fired into the sun.

Ironically, I'd probably watch a European version of this show - one without blurring or alpha American egos the size of Jupiter. But the US version... no thanks.

 

[StingBitten]

Finally caught up the last two eps. Must say this season has finally come good, the first half was shocking - although I put a lot of it down to dodgy editing.

Does SBS have any 'extras' footage? As someone new to camping I'd love to see extended footage of the contestants actually setting up their shelters and/or explaining their process in hunting etc.

Has K actually caught anything? He surely must have and they haven't included it, although that wouldn't make sense.

I reckon Andreas is actually working himself out of the competition with all these big hikes out for game - if he slowed down + with the combo of his earlier catches he could sit pretty like the rest. Don't buy the 'I'm a bigger guy I need more calories' mindset it's just the Alpha mentality asserting itself to stave off mental anguish and depression, but I'm not expert.

I reckon if K actually catches a fish he could win it, would be able to get another month surviving just from that. Andreas won't be a medical tap I reckon he will just call it in. Can't read Suzan at all but it'd be incredible to have two female contestants win the first two seasons of Alone Australia, a great win for the ladies.

 

[Vader]

Finally caught up the last two eps. Must say this season has finally come good, the first half was shocking - although I put a lot of it down to dodgy editing.

Does SBS have any 'extras' footage? As someone new to camping I'd love to see extended footage of the contestants actually setting up their shelters and/or explaining their process in hunting etc.

They have thousands of hours of unused footage. Participants are given multiple cameras (from memory one main camera, 3x GoPros, and 2x trail cameras), and are expected to provide a minimum amount of footage every day (from memory it's around 16 hours per day - though I could be wrong here). That means the final 4, who made it to day 53, would have provided at least 800 hours of footage each. My guess is that they probably 10,000+ hours of footage, of which around 8 are included in the show.

Whether any of those 10,000+ hours of unused footage will ever be made publicly available is highly unlikely. They'll probably have 2-3 minutes of new footage in the Reunion special (which I won't be watching). Beyond that, the footage will almost certainly be buried forever.

Has K actually caught anything? He surely must have and they haven't included it, although that wouldn't make sense.

He's caught 2x eels, which he had to release. No fish.

To date, competitors have caught a total of 10x fish, and 1x possum. Andreas (5 fish & 1x possum), and Tamika (4 fish) account for almost all of it.

While it doesn't make for great television, it appears that Suzan has been doing a LOT more foraging than the other participants, and that this has been the key to her survival. I strongly suspect that she's going to emerge as the series winner, and the only food we'll have seen her consume will be a handful of berries (which gave her gastro) and a tablespoon full of sedge seeds. If foraging turns out to be the key to her victory (and I'm making assumptions here), then we really needed to have seen more of it - and that's yet another failing by the production team.

I reckon Andreas is actually working himself out of the competition with all these big hikes out for game - if he slowed down + with the combo of his earlier catches he could sit pretty like the rest. Don't buy the 'I'm a bigger guy I need more calories' mindset it's just the Alpha mentality asserting itself to stave off mental anguish and depression, but I'm not expert.

He is a bigger guy, and he does need more calories - but you're correct about the amount of energy he's burning now, in search of those calories. His last catch was on day 37 or 38, so it's now over 2 weeks since his last protein. The advantage that he had earlier is now gone. Presumably he wouldn't have gone to that river if he was still able to catch fish at his beach - presumably they've stopped biting, as they're now focused on reproduction.

I reckon if K actually catches a fish he could win it, would be able to get another month surviving just from that. Andreas won't be a medical tap I reckon he will just call it in. Can't read Suzan at all but it'd be incredible to have two female contestants win the first two seasons of Alone Australia, a great win for the ladies.

At this point, a single fish isn't going to give him an extra month. A single fish (of the size they're catching) has enough energy to meet the body's needs for 1-2 days. K's body is shutting down, and it's only a matter of time before he's pulled on medical grounds.

The reason you can't get a read on Suzan is because they've barely shown her. If she wins, she'll easily take the record for fewest minutes shown for a season winner. I suspect she's not being shown because she's spending most of her days foraging, which just doesn't make for sexy television. It does, however, provide her with a regular food source - while the others are either starving (K), or depending on irregular and unpredictable protein sources (Andreas).

 

[StingBitten]

They have thousands of hours of unused footage. Participants are given multiple cameras (from memory one main camera, 3x GoPros, and 2x trail cameras), and are expected to provide a minimum amount of footage every day (from memory it's around 16 hours per day - though I could be wrong here). That means the final 4, who made it to day 53, would have provided at least 800 hours of footage each. My guess is that they probably 10,000+ hours of footage, of which around 8 are included in the show.

Whether any of those 10,000+ hours of unused footage will ever be made publicly available is highly unlikely. They'll probably have 2-3 minutes of new footage in the Reunion special (which I won't be watching). Beyond that, the footage will almost certainly be buried forever.

He's caught 2x eels, which he had to release. No fish.

To date, competitors have caught a total of 10x fish, and 1x possum. Andreas (5 fish & 1x possum), and Tamika (4 fish) account for almost all of it.

While it doesn't make for great television, it appears that Suzan has been doing a LOT more foraging than the other participants, and that this has been the key to her survival. I strongly suspect that she's going to emerge as the series winner, and the only food we'll have seen her consume will be a handful of berries (which gave her gastro) and a tablespoon full of sedge seeds. If foraging turns out to be the key to her victory (and I'm making assumptions here), then we really needed to have seen more of it - and that's yet another failing by the production team.

He is a bigger guy, and he does need more calories - but you're correct about the amount of energy he's burning now, in search of those calories. His last catch was on day 37 or 38, so it's now over 2 weeks since his last protein. The advantage that he had earlier is now gone. Presumably he wouldn't have gone to that river if he was still able to catch fish at his beach - presumably they've stopped biting, as they're now focused on reproduction.

At this point, a single fish isn't going to give him an extra month. A single fish (of the size they're catching) has enough energy to meet the body's needs for 1-2 days. K's body is shutting down, and it's only a matter of time before he's pulled on medical grounds.

The reason you can't get a read on Suzan is because they've barely shown her. If she wins, she'll easily take the record for fewest minutes shown for a season winner. I suspect she's not being shown because she's spending most of her days foraging, which just doesn't make for sexy television. It does, however, provide her with a regular food source - while the others are either starving (K), or depending on irregular and unpredictable protein sources (Andreas).

Thanks for your extensive reply - I guess with Suzan if she's not being shown regularly enough it doesn't make sense that she'd be the winner. From all accounts, it's very likely to be Andreas surely?

Have you watched the US versions of Alone? If so do you have any favourites? I've only ever watched the Aus version.

 

[Vader]

Thanks for your extensive reply - I guess with Suzan if she's not being shown regularly enough it doesn't make sense that she'd be the winner. From all accounts, it's very likely to be Andreas surely?

Have you watched the US versions of Alone? If so do you have any favourites? I've only ever watched the Aus version.

I've watched all 10 seasons of the US version.

Seasons 1 & 2 have strong similarities with Alone Australia. These seasons were set on Vancouver Island, which (like the Tas & NZ settings for Alone Australia) turned out not to have much in the way of food resources going into winter. As with Alone Australia S2, Alone S1 saw a lot of people take a bow & arrows into the bush, only to find themselves with nothing to hunt. The Alone producers learned a lot after S1, where some of their campsites were really badly chosen, right next to major bear tracks. One contestant literally woke up in the middle of the night, to find a bear rubbing itself against him, through his tarp - he tapped out the following morning, and I don't blame him one little bit!

Season 4 marked the first time they really tried to tweak the format, with "pairs" of contestants. One half of the pair was dropped at the main campsite. The other was dropped several miles away, given a bearing to their partner's campsite, and told to go forth and find their own way there. Once again, it was set on Vancouver Island (S3 was filmed in Patagonia, Argentina). Most of the pairs eventually joined up. The format really didn't work terribly well.

Season 5 was an "All Stars" series, filmed in Mongolia. There were plenty of fish to be had early on, but the whole thing turned into a starvation game once the river froze over. The winner did SFA for the entire contest - he buiilt his shelter, then spent all day every day just lying in bed, using no energy, but eating nothing.

Seasons 6 & 7 are my favourites, and those of many other viewers. They were filmed at Great Slave Lake, in Canada. Season 7 had a slightly different format, in that participants had a finite finishing point - the prize would be shared between all contestants who were still active after 100 days. The runner-up lasted 89 days.

Season 8 was another starvation game, owing to the lake having SFA in the way of fish. The problem here was that a landslide downstream had blocked the lake's exit river, preventing the salmon run from reaching the lake.

Seasons 9 & 10 were just average - not particularly memorable, for either good or bad reasons.

I haven't bothered watching the European Alone series.

I don't recommend the Alone: The Beast spinoff series. I didn't bother watching Alone: The Skills Challenge, though I think this would appeal to you - it's about bush craft, rather than survival.

 

[Vader]

The big differences between the US & Australian versions are the weather, and food availability.

The weather in the US version, most series of which have been filmed in northern Canada, becomes positively brutal once the winter cold kicks in. We're talking snow on the ground, and temperatures of -20C. This requires them to build substantial shelters, well insulated to keep the warmth in.

Food availability is much better in the US version. Depending on the location & season, there are some very large fish, which can be caught passively by netting. They supplement these with rabbits & squirrels, again caught passively using snares. These are further supplemented by squirrels and grouse, shot using bows & arrows. There have been 3 "beast" kills over the 10 series, each of which has resulted in victory.

If craft work is your thing, then you'll really like Alone S2, where one of the contestants spends almost his entire time whittling and crafting things.