I liked Alone until it devolved into whoever came in with the most extra body mass and who could hibernate and conserve energy the most. Those who tried to hunt, build shelters, anything fun to show on TV, all would lose or be out early due to injury.
Asking because "my bow guy" from Youtube, that I learned bow making from was the winner of Alone season 8 and he's one of the guys that can't put on weight. He tried i.e. put on as much as he could but he knew he had a disadvantage against everyone else because he'd not just go in fat like most others.
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stop reading here if you did not watch season 8 and want to not get spoiled
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Clay Hayes if you want to google his channel. Does survival stuff, bow making and bow hunting / trad bow.
He won, because he knows his stuff, so while the guys that had just put on weight had a weight advantage, he had a knowledge and "actually knows how to survive off the land and has nothing to prove" attitude. While some others had their bow strings chewed up by mice, he immediately hung his bow up. Unlike others that built elaborate shelters and used up all their calories, he built a very simple a-frame hut that he knew how to build. Even though he had no proper clay he built a proper tiny oven to keep himself warm and smoke free inside. He had absolutely super bad luck with fishing. Essentially got nothing for lots of effort.
He was super lucky in that he actually found a deer and was able to shoot is with his trad bow, which is because he goes deer/elk hunting for real every single year with exactly that setup (see his youtube channel). He knew how to preserve said meat by smoking it and he knew how to protect it from the bear(s) in the area, which they weren't allowed to kill because this was filmed in BC Canada. He even had a super close encounter towards the end IIRC with a cougar but might have been the bear, not sure any more (not around his meat but out and about).
He almost gave up. Basically he wanted to give up at the next med-checkin because he essentially had no food but the smoked deer and they told him he won!
I did stop watching before then and that does sound like a much better experience, I will check it out despite the spoilers.
I also remember not liking how restricted each person was - they were plopped on a plot of land and couldn't roam or move if they got unlucky. Also in that they were limited in what they could hunt / survive on. Its been awhile though so might be a bit murky.
