Alone Season 3 just finished airing recently.  The site changes to Patagonia for this season and seemed MUCH more challenging than Vancouver island.  For those of you who aren't current or maybe want to start watching, I will try to avoid spoilers.  I will say that the contestants this season seemed to have learned a lot from previous seasons and they are definitely pushing things further this season! 

As with many in the first two seasons, the isolation got to a few.  The weather in Patagonia seemed to be a bigger factor than Vancouver island.  I watched the reunion episode and they showed a bunch of before and after photos and they made even other competitors cry. 

SPOILERS

Haven't watched the reunion yet.

I thought it was a tough deal for some of the competitors who had to be pulled for medical reasons.

But I guess that's one of the "rules" of this TV show.

In real life, of course, people might have to risk organ failure to show just how long they can survive.

They had that dude with tons of fish but he had to be pulled. Maybe they should have warned him 2 weeks before, that he needs to eat more, then he would not hoard so much.

The girl with the spider bites, she was hardcore to tough that out but in the end, psychology did her in.

The girl who ALMOST won, again, I feel bad that she had to be pulled for medical reasons.

I think most of the ones pulled actually had it in them to win. The winner was actually almost ready to quit, but to be fair he looked physically more durable than the young girl, so maybe he could have hung in there much longer.

I thought Season 2 was more interesting, Jose (Season 2) was fascinating to watch, even made a boat, but then screwed up just like that. Or maybe he wanted to quit and just pretended to capsize.

So I think Season 2 was better than Season 1, and maybe even Season 1 was better than Season 3. Or could be I am just jaded from watching this.

Moral of this show.  Start off fatter lol.  I think the guy won cause he had extra fat to burn so he didn't get kicked for starvation. 

SPOILERS

Haven't watched the reunion yet.

I thought it was a tough deal for some of the competitors who had to be pulled for medical reasons.

But I guess that's one of the "rules" of this TV show.

In real life, of course, people might have to risk organ failure to show just how long they can survive.

They had that dude with tons of fish but he had to be pulled. Maybe they should have warned him 2 weeks before, that he needs to eat more, then he would not hoard so much.

The girl with the spider bites, she was hardcore to tough that out but in the end, psychology did her in.

The girl who ALMOST won, again, I feel bad that she had to be pulled for medical reasons.

I think most of the ones pulled actually had it in them to win. The winner was actually almost ready to quit, but to be fair he looked physically more durable than the young girl, so maybe he could have hung in there much longer.

I thought Season 2 was more interesting, Jose (Season 2) was fascinating to watch, even made a boat, but then screwed up just like that. Or maybe he wanted to quit and just pretended to capsize.

So I think Season 2 was better than Season 1, and maybe even Season 1 was better than Season 3. Or could be I am just jaded from watching this.

SPOILERS

About the medical thing, yeah, first time I recall it being a factor.  But this season, they lasted much longer than previous seasons.  It was tough for Carleigh as she was super close.  And I think it was Dave who had stores of fish remaining.  I recall the narrative that food hoarding was one of the signs of starvation.  I thought he was going to make it further in the middle of the season, then he sort of went downhill pretty quickly. 

The spider bites on her "bum-bum" seemed to be pretty solid.  Then she decided that here journey was over.  She and toothache girl seemed like they could've made it a while longer. 

There were also people from season 2 that I thought could have done on much longer.  Like that guy who built a stove and fashioned something to have almost running water.  But then the psychological part of being alone and away from family did many of them in.

I enjoyed this last season.  Wish they would have had more success with trapping, but seems like fish and the occasional small bird are picked up a prey  Started to wonder if the producers didn't want to show that kind of stuff. 

Moral of this show.  Start off fatter lol.  I think the guy won cause he had extra fat to burn so he didn't get kicked for starvation.

Seems like he was pretty darn close to being pulled as well. 

The show narrative was mentioning how it's tougher for larger males to last as long as they need more calories to even do simple things.  That said, yeah, if someone goes in in better condition, not necessarily fat, I would think that would be like having a sort of built in food stores.  Than say a rail thin person with an already low BMI.  Was never a fan of BMI as it's a ratio and generalizes condition, but it's not like they have access to all sorts of medical tests way out there. 

I agree maybe producers don't want to see them trap animals. I don't actually recall any contestants successfully getting anything except mice, and I really wonder if it's worth all that effort.

I also wonder if bum-bum girl got the spider bites because she was stark naked in her sauna.

It is easy to be an armchair expert (although I am not entirely ignorant of wilderness survival) but I gotta ask why some of those guys are "wasting" their time and precious energy stores, building non-survival stuff. If anything, gathering food whether plants, fish, or mammals, would be high priority. But they go and build saunas, bowling games (I think in Season 2), fancy home decors, etc. Only Jose's boat was, to me, a halfway decent investment of effort for survival reasons.

Seems like he was pretty darn close to being pulled as well. 

The show narrative was mentioning how it's tougher for larger males to last as long as they need more calories to even do simple things.  That said, yeah, if someone goes in in better condition, not necessarily fat, I would think that would be like having a sort of built in food stores.  Than say a rail thin person with an already low BMI.  Was never a fan of BMI as it's a ratio and generalizes condition, but it's not like they have access to all sorts of medical tests way out there.

I totally agree BMI is too rough an estimate. Even for urban dwellers, they are saying BMI is not a good estimate of health or whether a person is over or under weight.

Could be that the producers have very limited medical expertise and gear out in the field for the show. Every time they seem to have a different local doctor "do the rounds" and BMI is easy to calculate. Just put em on a scale, and then you can estimate from that. Kinda bullshit.

I agree maybe producers don't want to see them trap animals. I don't actually recall any contestants successfully getting anything except mice, and I really wonder if it's worth all that effort.

I also wonder if bum-bum girl got the spider bites because she was stark naked in her sauna.

It is easy to be an armchair expert (although I am not entirely ignorant of wilderness survival) but I gotta ask why some of those guys are "wasting" their time and precious energy stores, building non-survival stuff. If anything, gathering food whether plants, fish, or mammals, would be high priority. But they go and build saunas, bowling games (I think in Season 2), fancy home decors, etc. Only Jose's boat was, to me, a halfway decent investment of effort for survival reasons.

Regarding how they spend their time, I think most of them were fighting boredom.  Some of the stuff they made were definitely not "survival essential", but as with the show in general, psychological is a big part of their overall well being. 

I totally agree BMI is too rough an estimate. Even for urban dwellers, they are saying BMI is not a good estimate of health or whether a person is over or under weight.

Could be that the producers have very limited medical expertise and gear out in the field for the show. Every time they seem to have a different local doctor "do the rounds" and BMI is easy to calculate. Just put em on a scale, and then you can estimate from that. Kinda bullshit.

I also am approaching BMI from the other end of the spectrum.  I have a high BMI, but because I am stocky, and used to have more muscle mass.  I've heard of so many stories of people in the military getting in "trouble" fitness evaluation wise because they are pretty muscular.  I don't know many of these people personally, but have heard many stories of people having all great performance numbers in terms of runs, pushups, whatever, but they have a high BMI that is typically associated with obese people.  These people were definitely not obese. 

The limited expertise and availability of tests that can be done in the field is what I was thinking.  Easy "rule of thumb" indicator.  It's not like they can do blood draws and test for kidney function.  That said, Dave looked to be in really bad condition, especially when you looked at his before and after. 

Naked & Afraid is when you get to see REAL big differences BEFORE and AFTER.

And then there is the XL version which is pretty interesting to watch, added group dynamics.

Naked & Afraid is when you get to see REAL big differences BEFORE and AFTER.

And then there is the XL version which is pretty interesting to watch, added group dynamics.

I have watched some Naked and Afraid here and there.  There's also another survival show on Discovery.  I think it's called The Wheel, or something like that.  Where they contestants are put into different locations.  My dad watches it, so catch some here and there, but not really a follower of the show. 

Hadn't heard about that one. Will check.

Hadn't heard about that one. Will check.

The wheel is pretty lame


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Good lesson on how difficult survival really is, even in a place where its relatively easy.

Every one of those people would have starved to death if they were out there even a few more weeks (including the winner). It was too bad about the guy who stored all his food, I think he could have gone on as long as the girl at least.

I think there are two factors that helped the winner. 1) He started off way fatter than everyone else. 2) His shelter was way, way better (and warmer) than everyone else's.

I'm surprised only a few contestants in all the seasons have built a semi decent roof. In those cold climates that can save a ton of calories. Also, too many fall victim to expending way too much effort for so little return. In many cases they would be better off just staying in their sleeping bags.

Good lesson on how difficult survival really is, even in a place where its relatively easy.

Every one of those people would have starved to death if they were out there even a few more weeks (including the winner). It was too bad about the guy who stored all his food, I think he could have gone on as long as the girl at least.

I think there are two factors that helped the winner. 1) He started off way fatter than everyone else. 2) His shelter was way, way better (and warmer) than everyone else's.

I'm surprised only a few contestants in all the seasons have built a semi decent roof. In those cold climates that can save a ton of calories. Also, too many fall victim to expending way too much effort for so little return. In many cases they would be better off just staying in their sleeping bags.

Yeah, he was pretty entertaining.  I was pulling for him to get a hog with his bow. 

The shelters in season 3 were much more elaborate and "refined" than in previous seasons.  They didn't show any significant snowfall around their shelters, but that was something I was wondering about if they got into that part of winter.