What does it take to survive in the wild? For the cast of the reality show Alone, the answer is some serious survival skills combined with a handful of well-chosen gear items.
Contestants on the History Channel series are dropped at their remote campsites with a carefully curated selection of clothing and gear, including gloves, socks, and winter boots. Each participant can also select 10 additional items from a pre-approved list. Those items – such as a bow and arrow or fishing line – can make or break a person’s chances of surviving and, ultimately, walking away with a hefty $500,000 prize.
‘Alone’ Season 10 cast member Alan Tenta’s gear list
Alan Tenta is one of 10 survivalists competing on Alone Season 10. The 52-year-old from British Columbia teaches an outdoor education class at the local high school. He’s had a passion for the outdoors since he was a child and is eager to test his skills as he attempts to survive in a remote part of northern Saskatchewan.
“The experience will separate the weekend warriors from the true survivalists,” he says in a teaser for the new season (via History Channel). Alan hopes he’ll find himself in the latter camp.
To help him on his Alone journey, Alan has selected the following 10 items to bring with him to Reindeer Lake:
- Ax
- Saw
- Ferro rod
- Fishing line and hooks
- Bow and arrows
- Sleeping bag
- Cooking pot
- Paracord
- Snare wire
- Multitool
The ‘Alone’ contestant explains how he chose his items
Ahead of the Alone Season 10 premiere on June 8, Alan posted a video to his YouTube channel explaining which gear items he’d chosen and why. He said that as soon as he started researching this season’s filming location, he knew that fishing gear was going to be crucial to his survival. Reindeer Lake is a massive freshwater lake with large populations of lake trout, pike, and other fish.
“When you’re out there with no food, you’d be crazy not to bring a fishing line,” he said.
Alan also added a multi-tool to his survival kit. One reason? “It had two blades, so if I broke one, I’d always have a backup,” he shared. The multi-tool also has pliers, which he planned to use to cut his snare wire and fashion fishing lures.
The Alone contestant also shared that he was allowed to make some minor modifications to his multi-tool, including sharpening one of the rulers into a single-bevel chisel and the rounded part of the can opener into a curved blade.
The item Alan wasn’t sure he wanted to bring
Some of Alan’s other survival items were no-brainers, such as a cooking pot that would allow him to prepare food, boil water, and make broth. But there was one item he seriously debated about bringing: An ax.
“This was the one item that I was really struggling with,” he said. “But what finally led me to decide to take it for sure was that if I did make it to freeze up, I wanted a way to chop through the ice and ice fish. I thought I might have to split my firewood as well.”
But Alan stressed that he didn’t expect to chop most of his firewood with the ax because that takes a lot of energy. Instead, he planned to use a large saw.
Another key item in Alan’s kit was a 50-pound long bow and quiver.
“I brought this because I didn’t want to miss an opportunity for a big game animal,” he explained. “We were allowed to hunt several species of big game animals on this season of Alone.”
Finally, Alan selected a waterproof down sleeping bag that would keep him warm in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Wanted insurance in case my shelter leaked or in case I got flooded,” he said. “That was one thing I didn’t have to worry about. One less thing to take me out of the game.”
Alone Season 10 premieres Thursday, June 8 at 9 p.m. ET on History Channel.
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