The 'Alone' series - and choosing 10 survival items

I agree with that strategy. There is also the consideration of what items one can improvise versus what is impossible to improvise.

If you haven't seen it: its worth watching the first couple of shows of season 3 on SBS on demand to get a feel for the situation.

Really interesting to see how different people prioritise their actions in the early days. I thought the hippy chick (Callie) was a nutter at first ... but she was the first to start getting her own food. Spoiler ... she gets a LONG way into the adventure and might have won if not for a singular bit of very bad luck!

There is also a numpty who taps out on day 3. He an ass-hat for taking a better persons slot on the start line.  (Maybe the producers actually put a couple in like that as 'cannon fodder'?)

I had my list of 10 items, then started again, then stared again, then started again.
Still haven't decided!!!!

I watch the show religiously, even on the FB fan page season seven, the second season in the artic is now showing.  Over the last few seasons very strong contestants have been chosen, the last season a moose was taken down with a hand carved bow, the guy waited for 3 hours for the animal to fall over and die, was scared it would run off never to be found if he tried to shoot it again. 

It is a good show, no fake drama.  There is now only very minor differences between items that are chosen. Most no longer take food rations. One guy this year took a scotch eye auger as an item.

History channel has now unlocked a number of seasons play.history.com/shows/alone/unlocked#episodes

For those interested there have been 3 Danish seasons of one. They are all on YT, the Danish swear like crazy, translation is not so good. Season 3 was excellent.
Check the play list in the channel, link below is for S1E1

Taking a large animal with a hand-made bow is an outstanding feat.  Also outstanding hunt skills to patiently wait for hours for the animal to quietly expire.  That's the sort of thing I have deep respect for.

I shall be looking that up.
So far I've only seen about half the eps of the patagonia series (Last 3 and first 2 - but haven't seen the middle eps yet)

I copied over the whole list and then thought about each item. The ones in bold are my final 10 list.
Assuming for a coastal, southern Australian location (forested or mallee hinterland) for a stint starting in Mid Autumn and going into winter - and out the other side into spring/summer.  Assume foods present within 2km of camp are: a full range of fish/mollusk/crustacean/macro algae seafoods, small reptiles, rabbits, roo's, cats, foxes, full range of seabirds, yarkala, samphire, seablite, sedge, tree/shrub blossom, wood grubs, wattle seed, grass seed and a few random, small, shitty tasting berries.  With luck, at least 1 feral beehive ought to be somewhere within walking range.  Careful observation enables direction finding and may yield a calorific bonanza if the hive can be opened up.

Shelter

12x12 ground cloth/tarp (grommets approved) - Good waterproofing is hard to find/make.  Even if one finds a cave this can be used as a hammock/groundsheet to greatly increase comfort and thus endurance. Also very useful for collecting large amounts of wattle seed or grass seeds when in season. Can also use for water collection.  BUT tarp comes as standard item for contestant so I'd run with that.
8-mm climbing rope - 10M - can do without.  
550 Paracord - 80m - Possible the most over-rated 'survival' item ever. Can substitute this or rope in many uses with the fishing line.
3-mm cotton cord - 40m (non waxed cord) - Um ... what?  I assume this is good in arctic for wicking in an improvised oil lamp?

Bedding

1 multi-seasonal sleeping bag - because sleeping while shivering is impossible - I've tried it.  It gets close to zero on many winters nights on southern coasts.  Plus its often windy.  Even with a fire in ones shelter and plenty of wearable warmth a good SB is a great asset to morale.
1 bivi bag (Gore-Tex sleeping bag cover) - Nup.  Good shelter and good SB - don't need this.
1 sleeping pad - thats what leaves are for!  Easy to improvise.
1 hammock - I thought about this long and hard.  Its really nice to be off the ground and away from spiders etc - but its quite easy to improvise a good bed frame from natural materials

Cooking

1 large pot (no more than 2 quarts; includes lid) - Very, very useful for cooking many seafoods and indespensible for soups and teas.  With lid it doubles as a water canteen for foraging/hunting forays into the hinterland.
1 steel frying pan (no more than 2 quarts) - got a cooking vessel, and with no oil frying just doesn't work that well.
1 flint or ferro rod set with standard-sized striker - reliable fire starting is a must when one is by themselves and there is no-one to keep a fire stoked 24-7.  Enables cooking fires when away from main camp.
1 enamel bowl for eating. 
1 spoon - easy to improvise.  HOWEVER - doubles as a harpoon tip in some settings where seals live. Thought long and hard about this item.
1 canteen or water bottle - a luxury.  Already have a lidded pot to transport water if needed.  Being on coast it is likely one might even find one or more flotsam bottles.

Hygiene

1 bar soap - I don't underestimate the health and psychology benefits of these items.  But they are all luxuries and Aboriginal people lived without them ok.
1 8-oz tube of toothpaste
1 face flannel
1 40-mm roll dental floss
1 small bottle bio shower soap
1 shaving razor (and 1 blade)
1 towel (30” x 60”)
1 comb

Hunting

1 300-yd roll of a single-filament fishing line up to max of 20 lbs weight test + 25 assorted barbless hooks, no bigger than size 7/0, no lures. Near the sea so crazy not to take this stuff.  The fishing line also useful for securing the tarp when making shelter and for land based hunting.  Carefully braided it might be possible to string a small bow?  Also: Barbless hooks?  WTF.  No way.  I'd be using hatchet to put barbs on them on day 1!
1 Primitive Bow Recurve or longbow + 9x Arrows + simple quiver OR arrow attachment.  Watch out kangaroos and other larger prey!  
1 small-gauge gill net - If near a creek mouth of any size this could be real useful ... but lacks versatility?  Although could be useful in making a bird trap.
1 slingshot/catapult + 30 steel ball bearings + 1 replacement band - Rabbits and birds watch out!  I'd be practicing with this item every spare moment using small stones and keep the bearings for hunting sea birds.
1 net foraging bag - um. No.
1 roll 3.5 lbs of 20 or 21-gauge trapping (snare) wire - I looked around on the web and I think this equates to 50m of length.  Very tempted ... but no.  Can snare rabbits with fishing line provided they are checked regularly.  
3 lbs of one solid block of salt. Not useful in the setting.  Very handy 'bait' for large herbivore mammals in the artic I gather?  (care to comment Tim Horton?)

Food (2 items max)

2 lbs of beef jerky (protein) - nup.  heaps of protein in the environment and its hard to digest.
2 lbs of dried pulses/legumes/lentils mix (starch and carbs) - thought about it - but it tends to pass through digestion too quick to give up all nutrients.  Not so useful for sugar boosting blood to create mental acuity for short periods during hungry times.
2 lbs of biltong (protein) - nup.  As for jerky
2 lbs of hard tack military biscuits (carbs/sugars) - Good carbs/sugars and probably fortified with some vitamins too.  Essential to have a small, durable source of carbs for when sickness/injury strikes or for raising blood sugar in dire times to improve hunting success.  I thought about chocolate but wondered if on a really empty stomach it'd tend to pass right thru pretty quick without giving up max nutrients to your body?  Simply having a reserve of high energy, tasty food is an important psychological boost.
2 lbs of chocolate (simple/complex sugars) - see above.
2 lbs of pemmican (traditional trail food made from fat and proteins) - Nup.  We aint that cold.
2 lbs of GORP (raisins, chocolate, peanuts) - see 'pulses'
1 lb of flour (starch/carbs) - considered it but reckon the hard tack stores better and can be transported in a pocket in a small serve
1/3 lbs rice / 1/3 lb sugar / 1/3 lb of salt - considered it but there is way more energy in 2lbs of hard tack than in 2/3 LBS of rice and sugar.

Tools

1 pocket knife - as long as it is a good one with a blade at least 9cm.  Way more dexterous than a Leatherman for carving tools, dressing game etc. easy to carry and keep sharp.
1 hunting knife (blade edge length no larger than 10”) - Q: does this even come with a scabbard? Tempted if a scabbard is allowed.
1 Leatherman multi-tool or similar - Owned one of these once.  But not for long.  They do everything poorly rather than a few things really well.
1 sharpening stone - should be able to improvise from natural materials.
1 roll of duct tape or 1 roll of electrical tape - LOL.  I love this stuff but can do without.
1 small shovel - would love to have this but can be improvised.
1 small sewing kit - would love to have this but not at expense of other items
1 carabiner - LOL. (Pity it isn't 1 Carbine with 20 rounds)
1 LED flashlight - Not that scared of the dark and when batteries run out - then what?
1 pair of ice spikes (studded walking aids for icy conditions) - Not relevant
1 scotch-eyed auger - WTF?  LOL.
1 adze - not intending to make a dug-out canoe!  What else would one use this for?
1 2-handed draw knife (blade no longer than 5 inches) - WTF?  Not sure how this would be useful.
1 hatchet - really usefull for sharpening stakes, essential for chopping out tree roots and breaking into bee hives in hollow logs.  Essential for carving large wooden implements like improvised spade to dig pitfall traps or dig up rabbits.  The back end doubles as a hammer for belting stakes into the ground and for working any metal that one might scrounge up into useful tools (its surprising where random horseshoes, bolts, bits of fence wire etc turn up!)  Useful for butchery. Useful for de-barking tree trunks to obtain flat building material.
1 saw - immensley useful for building shelters, furniture and other things quickly and with minimal energy.  I know this from experience - way superior to axe or hatchet for collecting and sizing useful timber.
1 ax - Experience has taught me that I prefer a carpenters hatchet.

Would be great to get an Australian equivalent or southern hemisphere alone show. Both the Danish and US/Canada version they are dropped off a few weeks prior to winter to make the contest extra tough and reduce the length of time the show would run for.

Anyone got a good location suggestion in Australia/NZ. Needs fresh water a good fishing potential and hardcore needs to really test the contestants.

I reckon we'd need to flip the concept and make it about desert survival.  Drop them on remote bores or even set up full 10 000 litre water tanks at different locations.  Give them the exact same list of gear to select from.  See who can improvise their way through a novel scenario.  

The saying is you have not lived till you wiped you butt with moss.

The desert outback Australia WA "spinefix" territory will be kind of interesting.  On the alone show they get something like 5 square miles..  Might need more for desert, I suppose there is no shortage in space.  There is no big predators, NT desert with buffalo might get viewers excited.     

Forgot about the crocs up north.