"[dramatic music]" "¶ ¶" " This is gonna be a bitch." "¶ ¶" " I'm scared to death right now." " I feel like I'm starving." "¶ ¶" " See ya." "Good luck." "[helicopter rotors buzzing]" "¶ ¶" " I am not good in the head right now." "¶ ¶" " [screams]" " I have chills right now." " Whoo-hoo!" "¶ ¶" " Some new technology to learn." " No, I don't" " There's a learning curve to this." " The long wait is nearly over." " I'm ready." "[dratimac music]" "¶ ¶" " Last year, I spent 56 days on Vancouver Island." "¶ ¶" "Good to go." " Here we go." " I don't know if life will ever tbehe same." "But I don't regret going for a minute." "After seeing what I went through on the island, over 3,500 people applied to be on season 2 of "Alone."" "[arr towhwacks]" " Basically, all I g'monna do is I'm gonna cut off his legs and then eat him." " From these submissions, 20 were chosen to spend a week with survival experts and producers." "Participants will be evaluated physically and psychologically." "Their survival skills will be tested, and only the best will make it to the island." "In order to survive alone, you need three basic skills-- shelter building, fire starting, and the ability to find food and water." "The assessment week begins with shelter." "It rains 217 days a year on Vancouver Island, so any structure you build must keep you warm as well as dry." "The best shelters have pitched roofs that can shed water and thick walls for insulation." "¶ ¶" " The setups we're seeing are very interesting." "Everyone's coming at it at a different angle." "Some of it's strong." "Some people approach it very strong, some people very weak." " This is a modified debris hut." "So it's" "Debris just means you scrape leaf litter off the ground, pile it as thick as basically you have time to pile it." " Mine's not very sophisticated." "¶ ¶" " I actually took some of this bark and used it as shingles in case it did rain." " At this point in the process, the best of the best are in the running, and only the truly elite will rise to the surface." " This is what I call cozy." " Debris shelter..." "Great job." "Exactly what wase ked for." " I can tell you this from personal experience-- on Vancouver Island, shelter is life." "In the winter months, the average temperature on the island is 39 degrees, and that means shelter won't be enough." "Fire building is absolutely critical for heat and water purification." " Failure, failure, failure." "It will not ignite." " In order to really last out there, you need to know how to start a fire with friction." " Great piece of bow wood here." "The spindle, you want to be fairly soft wood." "You want to have a pointed end for where it's going to go into your handhold, and then you want to have it carved down here a little flatter." "¶ ¶" " The first thing I looked for was a nice light wood to make the board" "I know this wood here would probably work." "If I scrape this with my thumbnail," "I'm getting a good dent, which means it's nice, soft wood." "And soft wood isolates the heat." " This is a new skill for me, so..." "That was my first hole right there." "By the time I got close-- getting to the ember, it burned through the bottom right there." "It could be the wood." "It could be the humidity in the air." "It could be so many different things." "[scraping] [squeaking] [scraping]" " The color of my dust is very dark." "And it's not a fine powder." "It's kind of a gritty dust." "And that's a good sign." "I bet I've done it 100,0 times." "¶ ¶ [flames crackling]" "So awesome." " After having a good shelter and fire, you've got to find food." "And on Vancouver Island, if you can't catch small game or fish, you can't eat." " [laughing]" "I caught a fish!" "[laughs]" " Participants must prove they can build a wide range of working traps." "¶ ¶" " Nibble, nibble, nibble." "Boom." " I definitely am gonna make a fish trap." "I'm gonna make a M shape out of sticks." "And the fish swim into the channel at the V of the M." "And then they don't have the sense to get out." " This is a South American Arapuca bird trap." "And when the bird comes in, it falls." "And what you end up withs i a live bird trapped in a cage." " I think it's really clever how you've managed to get that built so quickly." " He's built a Paiute Deadfall, but he's modified itto make it easier to set." " Robins will cruise the ground, and they'll go for a wriggling earthworm under there like it's the last day on Earth." "[twigs snap, rock thuds]" " Perfect." " When a ground animal gets stuck in this... [imitates choking]" "It strangles itself." "And you usually find them hanging." "Then you just simply pull them out in the morning, and there's your food." "[leaves rustling]" " At orientation, the participants go through training with their camera gear." "I really had a hard time using the five cameras we were given." "By day two, I wanted to toss mine into the ocean." " Come on, man." "Do what you're supposed to do." " When you hook your moleskin up, put it like so." "You see that?" "No, just on your clothes." "You see where it is?" "I kind of got it on the mic?" "See, in frt onof it?" "My next thing is-- Jose is already on it." "He's getting all the weather covers on." "[wavesra cshing]" " Once they're dropped off, each person will be totally alone." "There are no producers with them, and they must be ready for whatever they encounter." " There's a learning curve to this, you know?" " Look into the lens, not into the--this thing." " The crew continues to teach the participants to use their cameras." " So the top handle actually has a separe atslot that it moves into." " Okay." " Okay?" " I got to say, it was a lot to learn, and it was not easy." " I don't look at the viewfinder." " So you just look at what the" " Look at how the line of this shutter thing" "To me, that looks straight." " Got ya." "Okay." " I mean, you know." " Yeah, I got you." "Okay, cool." "Yeah." "That makes sense." " At the end of an intense week of observation and skill tests, including camera training, safety briefings, shelter building, and fire starting, the final ten are selected." "These are the participants of season two of "Alone."" "[dramatic music]" " I love you." " I have to give you a kiss before you go." " Can I have my kiss right now?" "[both smooch]" "Are you gonna miss me?" " Yeah." "I am." " No." " I'm a stay-at-home mother." "I have two daughters." "Hi!" "To be out in the field," "I think that this'll be a good kni ffeor me." "My other weapon of choice is gonna be an ax." "It serves as a hammer." "It's gonna cut my firewood." "It's gonna cut my lodge poles." "It's gonna keep me alive." "It's a really good tarp." "I think if they're gonna give you a tarp as an option, you probably better take it." "I'm not, like, the normal person that would sign up for this show, that's a survivalist, that's--that's, uh, gung-ho about studying their skills." "I'm not that person." "My work experience have been test of my own strength." "A fishing hook." "Hotshots are wildland firefighters." "Joining the Hotshot Crew is extremely stressful." "What I learned was that mental strength can get you just about anywhere." "Let's go check it out." "I'm the person that says, "I can do this."" " [screams]" " I might drop you down in the hole." "I grew up off the grid and learned many different skills or how to survive." "My kids, that's the big part-- leaving the kids." " [screaming]" " I mean, who would want to leave that face?" "Who would want to leave that face?" "I wouldn't do it unless my mom was watching my children, so there you have it." "I want my kids to say, "My mom did that,"" "or, "I can do that."" "There's no stopping me." "Why would something stop me?" "I want my girls to grow up with a backbone, with a voice, with strength and courage to do what they want to do." "¶ ¶" "I may break." "I may thrive." "And I may do something really stupid that gets me in trouble." "I don't know." "All right, I'm out of here." "¶ ¶" " The remote location of Vancouver Island will present enormous challenges for each of the season two participants." "And the endless hours on your own can be brutal." "But our next survivalist is looking forward to the solitude." "¶ ¶" " Just being outside in nature does a lot for my spirit." "You always come back feeling good." "You know, I call it like a wilder-high a little bit, you know?" "When you get back, you're just, like, sort of floating on cloud nine for a couple of days." "It's great to have stability and a great house and all that sort of stuff, but I've never really been a conventional-type person." "The idea of, like, going to work from 9:00 to 5:00 and, like, having a regular job" "I'm more interested in the growth of the hun maspirit." "I have a girlfriend." "We've been together for five years now." "She's excited for me." "She's a little nervous." " So how long you think you're gonna last?" " I have a great relationship with my family too." "They're super supportive." "They're really stoked for me." "I mean, they're definitely my rock and my support system." " Oh, he's gonna do a great job out there." " Choosing a career of being a wilderness survival instructor, initially, my partsen are like," ""You could be doing anything else."" "It's a great job for me." "Throughout the entire time ,  they've been super supportiv." "This is sort of, like, a culmination of all of the years tofraining, all of the books that I've read, all of the going out and doing it and "getting in the dirt" time." "It's about growth and sort of, like, figuring out who you are and what you're made of, so... ¶ ¶" "I regularly do solo trips, but I haven't really spent more than just a couple weeks, you know, alone on a trip." "That's the hardest part about this whole experience." "Wire for snares and for traps, for lashing and for cordage" "I mean, wire's obviously super strong." "And it's also something that I can use over and over again." "¶ ¶" "Packed and ready to go." " Here he is-- his senior picture." "We're gonna miss him." " Excited,ut b, yeah, definitely sort of mixed emotions right now." " The long wait is nearly over." "[helicopter rotors buzzing]" " Last couple minutes." "I'- m ready." "[dramatic music]" " The participants are making their way to Vancouver Island-- the same location as season one." "It's so remote, it takes multiple planes to get there." "And to me, the journey felt like forever." " Departure, ticketing, and valet." " Said good-bye to my girls." "That was a very difficult thing to do." " Really hard saying good-bye to the kids." "¶ ¶" "I've been through some really difficult things in life." "This won't be the first time for me that everything's been stripped away." "15 years in Brazil as a msiisonary," "I think I'm emotionally well-equipped to handle the isolation." "To a certain extent, that kind of experience really does me well." "It kind of resets something very basic in me." "I taught survival in two venues-- on a ministry basis." "The other was with paying customers." "I'm no longer in the ministry." "I am leaving behind my three kids." "mo[soches]" "I wish I could take you guys with." " Um, no." " Well, you haven't lived till you wipe your butt with moss." " [laughs]" " I am not married." "I do not have a girlfriend." "I am as free as a man can be at this moment." " I'm really glad you finally get too dthis." "¶ ¶" " I don't want to fail technically." "As the weather progresses, it might get very hard to stay fed." "That's my main concern, is being able to e eatnough." "And that raw, wet cold is about the worst." " [laughs]" " I take him to the park." "I sit here on a bench, and he climbs trees and does the slack line." "Then there's the psychology." "I don't know what the psychology of being alone for that long is gonna do to me." "That does kind of scare me." "He climbed stuff before he could walk." "¶ ¶" "The biggest and bulkiest item I'm taking is a 0-degree bag." "Second item is a U.S. Army by ivsack-- basically a GORE-TEX cover that goes over the sleengpi bag-- because I know on the island with that much rain," "I just do not want to have-- take any chance of getting my bag wet." "This is the most dangerous thing I'm taking with me." "One slip with this, and I could very easily take myself out of the show altogether-- off the island." "My faith is a huge part of what I'm doing." "This show is called "Alone,"" "but I don't ever feel like I'm alone." "This is not the first time my faith will have been tested or tried." "I just want to get out and do it." "I'm really tired of talking about it." "Want to go out there and get my butt kicked." "¶ ¶" " As participants make their way to e thisland from all over America, anticipation builds." " Getting a little excited." "I'll be a little bit more excited once I actually make it there." "¶ ¶" "Isolation issue out there," "I don't think will bother me at all." "You know, I'm used to being by myself." "I've been alone pretty much in everything I do." "I joined the military at the age 19." "Enjoyed every moment of it." "Loved to serve my country." "All those tours in Iraq, if I was gonna die, to me," "I should have died a long time ago." "[traffic whooshes]" "What's going on, everybody?" "How's everybody doing?" "all:" "Good!" " That's my sister, amyuntie." "That's my cousin here." "The oldest of all the grandkids in my family and cousins." "Brother right here." "Everybody, this is my brother." "That's my grandma right there." "The rest of my family right here." "I don't have any kids." "I'm not married." "I think that's an advantage to me over everybody else." "I grew up in a small town." "It was a little violent." "My wonderful mother right here." "My mom put us into Boy Scouts and things like that." " Desmond is my adventurous child." " Some of the solace that I had was coming out to the lakes and going fishing." "My mom started to notice, so she brought us out to get us away from the tyci life." "And instead of going out and partying with our friends, we went fishing instead." "This is pretty much the fishing string and hooks I'm gonna have, okay?" "40-pound test line." "Looked up the history of the island and what the people before us did." "A lot of the food came from fishing." "300 yards of fishing line." "So that is my strong suit." "I think it does give me a leg up." "[laughter]" "No, if the bear come around me," "I'm gonna say, "Hey, bear,"" "but, you know, I ain't gonna tap out." "And then if the bear grab me, if somebody see the bear fight, they need to help the bear." " Right." "[laughter]" " Come back 20 pounds heavier and with a bear-skin suit on, you know, from eating the mother[bleep]." "au[Ighter]" "Go off in there with everything else." "[laughter] Oh!" " As he go out on this adventure and this journey of his life, that, Lord, that he will experience great and awesome things, that You will protect him, You will guide him." "In Jesus' name, amen, amen." "all:" "Amen." "Come on." "[cheers and applause]" " You gonna come out there and cook for me while we out there?" " Hell, no." " I'm not the type of person to give up." "We was always raised to go and continue to do something until the bitter end." " I just want to see where I'm gonna lbeiving for the next couple months." "I just want to get to my piece of ground and see what I have to work with." "[dramatic music] [airplane hissing]" " After traveling from across North America, the participants arrive at Port Hardy on Vancouver Island." "The Quatsino have lived on Vancouver Island for over 1,000 years." "These First Nation people have a tradition ofoi gng off into the forest alone as a rite of passage." "As the participants witness the ancient dance given for warriors embarking on their journey, it's a chance for them to pay respect to the First Natn iopeople and for the Quatsino to bless the ten on the journey they're about to take." "For one of the participants, the connection to native people is personal." "¶ ¶" " You know, it sounds funny, but when I was a kid," "I wanted to grow up and be a Native American." "I mean, that's-- when my parents asked me what I wanted to grow up to be, that was it." "How they live with nature rather than against nature" "There's a method to living with the wilderness rather than against it." "This is my wife, Rachel." "Soe' wve been married for-- How long has it-- [both laugh]" "How long has it been now?" "27 years, something like that?" " 26, right?" " So this is my son." "This was a graduation picture." "This is my daughter." "[motor rumbling]" " Bye-bye." " See ya, goofball." "¶ ¶" "You can practice in your backyard all day, every day all you want." "You're never really truly tested until you go into the woods for an indefinite amountof time." "I constructed just a big lean-to." "Can someone sustain themselves t outhere?" "Absolutely." "Can you do it by yourself at this particular time ofhe t year?" "We'll find out." "I want to step back away from the life that I'm living right now, get a little more introspective, and find out, what's my next step in life?" "I've been married since I was 18." "I've had my first kid when I was 21." "That's what I wanted to do." "That's what I should have done." "I decided to have those kids." "I devoted my life to them." "A lot of people got to experience stuff like this before they got married." "I never did." "It's gonna be an amazing journey, and it's--it's my time." "Got my hooks in here." "I've got an assortment of hooks." "I need to make sure that I keep my calories up, keep hydrated, for sure, find a source of water." "This fishing line-- it's also a very strong cordage." "This can be used for snares." "My ax." "If I have to give something up," "I'll give up something other than a tool." "In other words, I like to go very tool heavy." "This is kind of a unique ltlite saw." " I'll miss him, but we love him." "He needs this oprtpounity." "He's really excited about this." " I'm really excited." " I know you are." "And when you're out there, remember us and remember that we support you and we love you and we're really happy for you." "Love you." " Loveou y too." " He doesn't quit." "Something will have to take him out, because he won't take himself out." " This'll work." "Can't wait." "[chuckles]" " For the final ten, life on the island can be incredibly challenging." "Winds can whip up to hurricane force during the winter months, but for our next participant, the harsh winter weather is commonplace." " One of my favorite sounds... [loon crying]" "Loons crying." "I hope you can hear it." "This is one of the reasons why I went to the north-- to hear the cry of the loon." "¶ ¶" "I consider myself to be an aboriginal-minded person." "I look at the world with the eyes of somebody that is native." "This is the Yukon Territory, a couple of hundred kilometers south of the Arctic Circle in northwest Canada." "[loon crying]" "That's what I call my hobbit table." "All sorts of things get done there." "I do leather tooling." "I work on arrows as well." "I carve." "¶ ¶" "You cannot impose your presence on the bush." "Bush can have you anytime, so I don't perceive nature as hostile." "One pair of outdoor pants." "This is one of my underpants." "When all around you is olive drab and the sky is gray, seeing bright colors can have a positive effect on you." "Hey, what about the personal photograph?" "My wife, Shawna." "Here's a bunch of pictures." "My wife here is from Canada." "I will get my permanent residence here." "Is this supposed to be a good one of me?" " [laughing] Yes." " Oh, okay, it was a nice shiner." " [laughing]" " Have a good background for solving all sorts of problems that can come up there, but I can't solve every problem." "I'm interested in, "What did the local native people do?"" "Pretty much 80% of their resources or more came off the ocean." "This gill net, it's a 3x3-inch mesh." "I'm targeting big fish." "That's why I'm going with a big gauge." "Okay, this is a multi-tool that I modified." "What good are screwdrivers to me outht ere in a place without screws?" "This I made into a small chisel that canut c holes real quick and easy." "And this guy here I ground into a miniature version of a crooked knife." " I'm happy you can go, but I'm gonna miss you." "¶ ¶" " It's nice that there is a prize and all that, but it's a wonderful opportunity to reach out and inspire people to spend more timen inature, to try to get in touch with their ancestry." "The longest part of our htoisry, we have been Stone Age people." "What we are is cave people with TVs, and we're really confused." " It has begun." " When you're out here in the woods, it's just amazing how hard everything is." "[dramatic music] [pensive music]" " With only five days till launch, the participants are training extensively, learning about the local area and continuing to practice their camera skills." "¶ ¶" " We're from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada." " The participants mu astbide by all local hunting and fishing laws while they live on Vancouver Island." " Red tide plays a big factor." "The levels are still too high." "It can bring death very quickly." " You've been given permits that give you the privileges that a BC resident has to hunt and fish." "Where you're going, it's fairly simple 'cause there's not a lot of diversity-- maybe deer." "There's black bears." "There's wolves." "There's cougars." " They are then walked through the emergency kit they'll be supplied with." " It's a basic first-aid kit." "These are your handheld flares." "Three people used these last year to scare away bears." "¶ ¶" " Each person has to dig deep to be able to make it past whatever it is that they have to endure to geto t where they want to be." "[gunshots]" "I'm hoping I can put myself in a presence of mind to be able to be accepting of what that island has to teach." "I am former law enforcement and former military." "I'm currently living out on the Appalachian Trail, trying to find hope and peace." "Very fortunate to still have my parents." "I have my daughter, my son." " [laughs]" " I have two of my three grandchildren here with me today." "These are dove breasts and a couple skewers of dove hearts from dove we harvested yesterday." "Come give Memaw hua g." " Owen, hug, kiss." " I'll see you when I see you, okay?" " Okay." " The last time I get to see them till I get back." "I've been through quite a bit in my life." "Been witness to a lo t of very difficult things that have been very, very emotialonly and physically trying." "That island will renew my sense of hope in people as well as myself." "Molly!" "[dog barks]" "Molly has been with me from day one." "The longest I've been away from Molly has been about a week." "I think she's upset with me right now because I am leaving." "I was so relieved to find this pot because of the spout and the handles and everything." "The KA-BAR is a fantastic, awesomkne ife-- high carbon, very, very, very strong blade." "I can use it to drill holes." "I can use the end to flint nipr obreak." "My biggest fear..." "Quick and easy." "It's that I will not be there long enough to find the answers to the questions that I have." "¶ ¶" " This season, ten new sites were selected for the participants." "Every location had to be as equal to the others as it could." "Each had to have a water source." "There must be food resources-- whether that's plants, mushrooms, or fish-- in the area and timber for shelter and firewood." "The sites were randomly picked by each person." "¶ ¶" "Each fortune cookie has a number in it." "Pick a cookie, crack it open, and that's your site." "¶ ¶" " Site number six." "¶ ¶" " Site numr befour." " Seven." " Five." " Each site is different." "One may have easy access to freshwater but may require a rugged walk to find flat ground, while another may have access to a nice-size cove but lack direct sunlight." " I don't know how I feel about this." "Site number ten." " Oh!" " I only get one person next to me." "That's probably good." "¶ ¶ [hollow clattering]" "All right!" "Awesome." "Want to bring this to the fire?" " No." " Rotating wood today and getting things just battened down and ready for when I'm gone." "It's gonna be harder to leave these guys." "My son Colton, who's 12." " Hi!" " My son Quinn, who's 7." "My partner, Carson." "The longest I've been away from my kids is seven weeks." "I love you more than you love me." " No, I love you more than you love me." " No, I love you more than you love me." " [mumbling]" " I'm confident my mom will do well out there because she's awesome, she's independent, and she's reliable." " ntWa some?" "I am a safari guide in Africa." "I work primarily with KalaharBui shmen." "I also work in anthropology, teaching at Prescott College." "And I am a primitive-skills instructor." "And I lovey mlife." "[laughs]" "¶ ¶" "To test the skills that I've taught for so many years is gonna be really exciting for me." "I teach medicinal plants-- how to make medicinal tinctures." "I make mostly all my own medicine." "¶ ¶" "I think my mental fortitude will help a lot." "I've had some major trauma iny mlife, both spiritual and physical." "¶ ¶ 15 years ago, I couldn't walk." "I have multiple sclerosis." "I was put on all this medication." "Couple years io ntthat," "I just said, "This isn't working for me."" "Oh, and there's heal-all." "It heals everything." "Nature was one of my biggest healers." "Mmm!" "There's not as much variety on Vancouver Island as there is here." "So I'll be a little limited for some of the things that I-- my common go-tos for medicine." "I'm a little nervous." "You know, I think to go into it with a big head, thinki, ng"Oh, I'm gonna do great at this,"" "I think that's just silly." "I think anyone going in with that idea doesn't realize how hard it is." "¶ ¶" "Hypothermia's probably my most serious concern." "There was no way I was gonna not bring a sleeping bag." "It's a minus-30 bag." "Silky saw-- cuts through stuff like butter." "The cutting edge on here is extremely sharp." "My next item is a pan." "Voilà." "We could have gone with a 2-quart pot." "This is more like q10uarts." "The drawback is that there's no lid." "I just thought, "Size matters in this case,"" "so..." "[laughs] [guitar strumming]" "I've been through some trauma in my life... [voice breaking] The death of my stepson two years ago." "And, uh... [sighs]" "He drowned." "He was missing for a long time, and I spent a month looking for him till we figured out what happened to him." "¶ ¶" "And I've been able to come through it and still have joy and happiness in my life." "I'm a happy, joyful person, even though I'm crying right now." "[laughs] Um... ¶ ¶" "Having gone through traumatic experiences will be a blessing, because I've had to deal with grief, and I've had to deal with my [bleep], you know?" "Like, we all have it." "Phew!" "Vancouver Island... [grunts]" "Here I come." "[giggles]" " Okay, you hit this, and you need us in there as quick as we can to come rescue you, 'cause if not, you're gonna die." "You're in immediate danger, and you're gonna die." "[dramatic music]" "¶ ¶" " We have a sht,ir woolen." " In addition to the ten survival tools each person must select, the participants must also decide what they'll wear." "They're only allowed a certain amount of clothing." "But they're on their own to select the specific garments." " And we have two woolen sweaters, thermaunl derwear, and a choice of either a baseball cap or a brimmed hat, a light jacket." "Most importantly out here is the rain gear." "High-legged hunting boots, scarf, gaiters, three pairs of socks, pair of sandals, underwear--two pairs of-- gloves, two pairs of pants." "And then that all goes down into their pack that we supplied them." "If it gets damaged, they have to repair it themselves." " The dangers are real on the island." "The participants are supplied with emergency equipment." "Every safety effort has been taken to keep everyone as safe as possible while they're alone." " This is all the essentials they need to help them survive, and if any major issues happen, then they can contact us." "Basic backcountry dimecal kit, their personal flotation devices, pepper spray, hand flares, air horns, bear scarers." "They'll give a blast on these air horns, and hopefully that'll frighten away the game." "[air horn blares]" "So then it comes to communications." "Here we have their sat phone, if they need to contact us if they can't contact us any other way." "This is how we mitonor them." "We can send messages, and they can send messages." "This is their lifeline to us." " The yellow GPS not only allows producers to track the movement of every participant, it also serves as the tap-out button." "If you're in serious trouble, emotionally distraught, or simply ready to go home, a push of the button brings in the rescue crew in minutes." " This is your buddy." "Keep it on you all the time." "If you hit this button, it means..." " You're out." " But you're not" "Yeah, you're tapping out." ""Coast Guard be alerted," stuff like that, 'cause that is the emergency button where you're in deep [bleep]." "Okay, you hit this, and you need us in there as quick as we can to come rescue you, 'cause if not, you're gonna die." "You're in immediate danger, and you're gonna die." " I never tapped the button, but I was glad to know I had an instant line to help in case anything went wrong." "Our next participant knows fea w things about staying safe in dangerous conditions." "¶ ¶" " I was in the Army for about 15 years, recently got out." "For the majority of that time, I was either a sniper or working down at the sniper school." "I founded and I'm the director of an organization called Hike 2 Survive, where we take veterans on overnight camping trips." "There's a huge suicide epidemic in the veteran community." "We're trying to give guys a purpose and a connection before they get to tt hapoint." "And to me, that's what keeps gmeoing." "[insects chirping]" "When I get out in the woods, everything just kind of slows down." "And I think that's, you know, pa rtly from doing what I did in the military." "You're sittingn ia hole with, you know, a couple other guys for three, four, fe ivdays, you're pissing and [bleep] in a bag." "Survival's a big part of that." "Being in the military, you still have that human interaction, which is, you know, vastly different." "This is a strange situation." " You look like a caterpillar." " Very few people have ever gone out by themselves completely shut off from everybody." "And the only historical ones I can think of went crazy pretty fast, so... [laughing]" "I'm about halfway there, anyway, so it's, uh-- it's not too big of a jump." "All the years in the military, if you have one thing, it's gonna be this." "You have two blades-- one regular, the other one is serrated." "I have three stepkids, but I raised them." "I actually have a grandbaby." "Over the course of 15 years active duty in the military, years of my life have been spent away from family and friends and everything else, so that is a normalcy for me." "Getting ready to go through a divorce." "For some people, that might weigh heavy on them, you know, going and doing this and having that in the back part of their head." "For me... allow me to release a little bit." "Some people want to challenge themselves." "This is that challenge that I've alwa wysanted to put myself through." " With only one day until launch, the participants pack their bags with the 10 preapproved items they've selected from a list of 50." " A good sleeping bag." " Everyone has chosen to bring sleeping bags, ferro rods, saws, axes, and either a pot or pan." "Knives, gill nets, fish hooks, and emergency rations are common choicess awell." "But some have decided to bring unique items." " This is a hammock." "This blue rope here is basically braided fishing line." "A closed steel ring-- a lot of stuff I can do with a steel ring." "From the steel ring to the actual net of the hammock is an extra 20 feet of paracord." "The actual net itself-- it's basically a gill net." "Five or six different things in one." " So I went with smaller, sharp, high-alquity saw with the curved blade and the large teeth." "This particular saw works on the draw." "¶ ¶" " There will always be those times where I got to deal with my painful past and hurtful history." "Back in the '60s, Mom and Dad weren't quite ready to be married and to have kids." "We were sent to Boys Town in Omaha, brNeaska." "I got kicked out when I was 15." "So, like, where do you go when the orphanage kicks you out, right?" "Joined the Air Force." "as a survival instructor." "We would go to the mountains and learn how to survive there." "Go to the desert, out onhe t ocean." "How to survive as a prisoner of war." " Wow." " Look atht at guy." "If a bear comes after me, he better think twice." "I've been teaching men, women, and children how to survive in the wilderness, how to set up a trap, how to build a shelter, how to make friction fires." "I am so busyea tching it that I rarely have a chance to go on missions." "Now, if you were going with me, we could share body heat." "Barbara is just this kind, compassionate woman." "I am blessed that she loves me and likes being married to me." "I'm gonna, of course, bring a ferro rod with an orange attachment for striking it that will prevent me from losing it." " Fiona knows someinthg is up." " I don't know how you know, but..." "Aw, poor baby." "I want to prove to myself that I can do it." "I'm not out there to beat nature." "I'm out there to cooperate with nature." "I have three children." "I'm a grandfather by three." "When my daughter passed, she was only ten years old." "In those situations where I am alone, those memories... are larger than they are ever at any time." "I am going to learn in a deeper, more amazing way how to live with that painful past and hurtful history." "¶ ¶" " Holy crap." "What the hell have I done?" " [laughing] Oh, my GodI'. m alone." "[dramatic music]" " Like last year, the cast is on Quatsino Sound, northwest Vancouver Island." "Its rugged landscape goes from fjords to the sea." "It's got abundant forests, from cedar to hemlock." "¶ ¶" "A large population of cougars and wolves amro free alongside black bears." "It's one of Mother Natu'sre gems, exposed to the massive waves of the Pacific and the treasure she brings in." "¶ ¶" "From ropes to plastic bottles, what was trash to others became indispensable tools for me." "I could walk on the beach and find 100 feet of rope, which I could turn again into 800 feet of rope." "It's all down to luck and chance, and that is part of the game out here." "¶ ¶" "It's easy to have a romantic idea that fish can be picked out of the water with bare hands and that hunting big game will be easy and abundant." "That idea soon changes when you get out here and it rains for 30 days in a row." "[rain pattering] [indistinct chatter, chuckling]" "Before launch, the crew does a gear drop at each location." "The heavy cases they're hauling contain additional cameras, so when each participant gets to his site, they're ready to go-- no handholding." "The location of each gear stash is marked with a brit ghribbon to ensure it's easy to find." " See ya." "Good luck." "[helicopter rotors buzzing]" " I remember exiting my chopper last year and immediately feeling that I was on my own." "So this is home." "We are here." "This is crazy." "I'm a complete lunatic." "[dramatic music]" "¶ ¶" "After an intense week of training, it's up to the participants to survive alone." "It's hard to describe how I felt standing there-- excited, anxious, scared, and determined." "I can tell you this-- no matter how much they think they're ready, they're not." "You don't know what you're going to encounter until you're out there." "And sometimes the biggest challenge isn't bears or the cold." "It might just be the predator inside you." " It's the anticipation, the build-up, the time that we spent, from the applications, the screening, the boot camp, everything all the way up till now." "All the traveling, the saying good-bye to family." "Last couple minutes." "I'm ready." "[helicopter rotors buzzing]" " I just want to see where I'm gonna be living for the next couple months." "I just want to get to my piece of ground and see what I have to work with." "[engines purring]" " The long wait is nearly over." "¶ ¶" " All right, girl." "¶ ¶" " I'm just ready to get out to my site and just start, you know?" "¶ ¶" " Keep it simple." "I'm just--you know, just ready to get out there." "¶ ¶" " Here we go." " [screams, laughs]" " Whoo!" "¶ ¶ [helicopter rotorsuz bzing]" "¶ ¶" " I shaved my beard." "It's kind of time I got to start changing the way that I live my life now." "Feeling really anxious, but besides having kids, this is about the most exciting thing I've ever felt." "[helicopter whirring]" " You've been in these before, have you?" " Couple times." "[switch beeps, helicopter whirring]" "¶ ¶" " The ten embarking on this adventure are about to take part in something only a small handful of people can truly understand." "The experience will test them, brk eathem, build them up, and tear them down." "No matter how their journeys end, they will walk away profoundlyha cnged." "It will be the first time in their lives that they will be 100% alone, struggling to survive in complete isolation... ¶ ¶" "All while the whole world watches on." "¶ ¶" "I wish I was on that boat going out again." "Good luck to them all." "¶ ¶" "Now... they're on their own." "¶ ¶" " We're about to embark on an extended wilderness survival exripeence." " This is it." "It h basegun." " [laughing] Oh, my God. m I'alone." " What the hell have I done?" " When you're out here in the woods, it's just amazing how hard everything is." "[thunder rumbles]" " It is not easygoing up here." " 50-mile-an-hour winds." "I got to go back to camp." "Ugh." " I swear to God, if that thing chews my sleeping bag up," "I'm blowing this place up." " I'm so disappointed in myself right now." " If you suffer a mechanical injury, there's nobody here to help you." " If I don't start catching fish and soon, I'm a goner." " Look at that!" "Squished mouse-- my favorite!" " I'm starting to see more and more signs of bears." "Just heard a loud noise out there." "I'm not sure where it was." "[whistles]" "Hey, bear." "Yo, bear." "I got to get out of here." " Oh, my God." "The bears are here." "Not good." " Hey." "Don't come over here." "[animal bellows] Get out of here!" "¶ ¶"