Alone

How long could you survive all alone in a wilderness like this with just a handful of items?

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While recuperating from a recent illness, I had just enough energy to scroll through my cell phone. I spent a lot of time watching episodes of the History Channel show, Alone, amazed at the will and skills of the people chosen. If you don’t happen to be aware of the show and what it is all about (perhaps you were on a spaceship or something), each season up to 10 people are chosen to duke it out with nature, with the winner walking home with $500,000. They are dropped off in a remote location (the first two seasons and season four were on the northern end of Vancouver Island, but Patagonia, Chilko Lake, British Columbia, Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, and even Mongolia have been in the mix). Season 11 is currently happening 120 miles north of the Artic Circle. These are seriously dangerous places. The idea is to survive off the land until everyone else has “tapped out” by calling in the rescue team on the provided satellite phone. In season one, half the contestants were gone by day six and the winner went 56 days.

Besides the standard gear that everyone gets such as a heavy coat, six pairs of wool socks, a change of underwear, a large canvas tarp, headlamp, and camera gear to film themselves, each contestant is allowed to choose 10 tools from a list of over 40 items, things that they believe will help them capture food, build shelters, and stay warm. The list even includes some food items such as pemmican, flour, and jerky (a couple of pounds), but they will count as one of your ten items. The contestants on the first show did not have the benefit of previous shows to see how valuable each item was. Sam Larson, a 22-year-old Nebraskan who described his experience as, “playing in the woods” ended up runner-up, but in season five of the show, non-winners from previous shows were allowed to compete again and this time he won by staying 55 days.

What was interesting was that Sam changed almost everything he chose to take from episode one to win episode five except a ferro rod (ferrocerium, when scraped with a hard object creates 3,000-degree F sparks). On a website called, theprepared.com, I found an in-depth listing and ranking of the items chosen by the contestants and more specifically, the winners and the runners-up. There were four items that every winner and runner-up selected at least up to season nine: a sleeping bag (usually a -60-degree bag), a ferro rod, a large saw and an axe. Everyone took a cooking pot of some type; many selected a fishing kit of about 250 yards of monofilament and an assortment of hooks. A multi-tool was a common choice as were 80 yards of paracord, gillnet, snare wire, and a bow (could not be a compound bow) and arrows. Several people, including Sam, chose some emergency rations, although Sam chose different rations the second go-around. Each contestant was required to obtain their own gear and some spent as much as $1,400 doing so.

So, I got to wondering what I would take in a similar situation. Truly, the most important “equipment” would be experience, an iron will and a positive attitude, none of which I possess in abundance, but what else? After reflection, I started with the no-brainers: -60 degree sleeping bag, ferro rod (despite my growing confidence with friction fire, I would want a sure way of getting fire. Without it, you won’t last long), a saw—I think I would opt for the Silky Katanaboy folding saw with its nearly 26-inch blade, a favorite of many contestants, and an axe. Firewood, shelter building and camp chores are all very important. I would next choose a multitool. Several of the contestants had tools customized at the factory or did it themselves. A 10-inch aluminum pot for cooking and heating water would be next. Paracord for shelter and net building would be next as would trapping wire and fishing gear. That leaves one item. I REALLY want to take a hunting type knife, but a bow and arrows would be more practical and that is what I would choose.

It turns out that my list is the same as an idealized list created by theprepared.com website based on all the selections of the winners and runners-up. With it and a little luck, I suspect I could last, say, a day or two.

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Help Idaho Wildlife

When we traveled across the state in October 2017, most of the vehicles we saw using the wildlife management areas did not have wildlife plates. Buying wildlife plates is a great way for non-hunters and hunters alike to support wildlife-based recreation like birding.

C'mon folks, let's help Idaho's wildlife by proudly buying and displaying a wildlife license plate on each of our vehicles! 

See below for information on Idaho plates. Most states have wildlife plates so if you live outside Idaho, check with your state's wildlife department or vehicle licensing division for availability of state wildlife plates where you live. 

And tell them that you heard about it from Nature-track.com!

Wildlife License Plates

Great news! as of 2024, there are three NEW designs for license plates. They still are bluebird, cutthroat trout and elk, but they are beautiful.

Idaho Wildlife license plates provide essential funding that benefits the great diversity of native plants and wildlife that are not hunted, fished or trapped—over 10,000 species or 98% of Idaho’s species diversity. Game species that share the same habitats (such as elk, deer, antelope, sage-grouse, salmon, trout) also benefit from these specialty plates.

No state tax dollars are provided for wildlife diversity, conservation education and recreation programs. Neither are any revenues from the sale of hunting or fishing licenses spent on nongame species. Instead, these species depend on direct donations, federal grants, fundraising initiatives—and the Idaho Wildlife license plates.

Both my vehicles have Bluebird Plates. I prefer the bluebird because the nongame program gets 70 percent of the money from bluebird plates, but only 60 percent of the money from elk and trout plates - 10 percent of the money from elk plates supports wildlife disease monitoring and testing programs (to benefit the livestock industry) and 10 percent from cutthroat plates supports non-motorized boat access.

Incidentally, in 2014, the Idaho Legislature denied the Department of Fish and Game the ability to add new plates or even to change the name of the elk and cutthroat plates (very specific) to wildlife and fish plates, a move that would have allowed for changing images occasionally and generating more revenue. It would seem that they believe that we Idahoans don't want a well funded wildlife program.

I think it is time we let the Legislature know that Idahoan support wildlife funding and that we would like to see these generic plates come to fruition.