The 10 Most Popular Items Brought on the Show Alone

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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
Season234567810
Ferro rodx
Axe
Sawx
Multi-toolx
Fishing line w/hooksxx
Gill netxxxx
Pot w/ lid
Snare wirexxx
Sleeping bagx
Bow and arrowsxxx
Paracordxxx
Slingshot
Bushcraft knife
Limited rationsx2
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

This is the face of peak performance (in nailing mosquitos)

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.