Alone, the popular survival show on the History channel, drops 10 individuals into remote locations with a limited amount of equipment – 10 items. There they attempt to survive for as long as possible. The last person standing wins $500,000.
There have been ten seasons and I was able to find the items brought by the winners of most seasons (except for the first and ninth seasons). These items are what the winners of each season brought with them.
| Key insights: • An axe, saw, multi-tool, cooking pot and a ferro-rod are indispensable and should be in your bug-out bag • Gill nets help you conserve energy by doing the fishing for you • Sleeping bags made of 100% wool dry quickly in the sun |
| Season | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Ferro rod | • | • | x | • | • | • | • | • |
| Axe | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Saw | • | • | • | • | • | • | x | • |
| Multi-tool | x | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Fishing line w/hooks | • | • | • | x | • | x | • | • |
| Gill net | • | x | • | x | x | • | • | x |
| Pot w/ lid | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Snare wire | x | x | • | • | • | • | • | x |
| Sleeping bag | • | • | x | • | • | • | • | • |
| Bow and arrows | x | x | • | x | • | • | • | • |
| Paracord | x | • | x | • | • | x | • | • |
| Slingshot | • | |||||||
| Bushcraft knife | • | • | ||||||
| Limited rations | • | • | x2 | |||||
| Bivy bag | • | |||||||
| Shovel | • | |||||||
| 12×12 tarp | • | |||||||
| Fly swatter LOL | • |
What every winner brought: Axe, Cooking pot
What 7/8 brought: Ferro rod, Saw, Multi-tool, Sleeping bag
What 6/8 brought: Fishing line w/ 25 hooks
What 5/8 brought: Snare wire, paracord, bow and 9 arrows
Most hilarious item: Retractable fly swatter. This is just showing off
Thoughts
I like the idea of gill nets – when you need to conserve energy, having nets do the hunting for you is wise.
One winner didn’t bring a ferro rod, but just like with gill nets, it helps to conserve energy that will be scarce in the later stages of the contest. Making a fire from scratch takes time and effort.
Sleeping bags chosen were wool, which can dry out quickly in the sun.
Multi-tools are underrated. Everyone should have one.
Don’t get cheap paracord. Get military grade with a nylon core, which can be repurposed for other things, like making traps or even as fishing line.
Axes and saws should be in every household.
Still don’t understand using one valuable slot for a very limited amount of food (pemmican for one guy). Really didn’t understand Sam Larson, the winner of Season 5, taking two slots for 2lbs of flour and 2lbs of trail mix. But hey, they won.
I was surprised that two winners didn’t bring either a bow and arrows or slingshot with them. They would solely rely on trapping and fishing. If I saw a grouse and didn’t have a weapon on me I would be demoralized.