12 Survival TV Shows You Can Actually Learn Something From
Survival TV shows are hard to miss these days. But most of the “reality” shows on tv today are frustrating to people who actually know something about how to survive in extreme situations.
The “game show” feel of a survival show just reminds you that these people have an entire crew of people right behind them. TV survival shows have scripted scenarios and “challenges” that they say are supposed to demonstrate actual survival. But most of the time it just ends up feeling fake.
If you look hard enough, there’s more than a few survival tv shows that have their moments. Check these out and you might actually learn a thing or two.
1. Survivorman
One of the most realistic survival tv shows you will find is Survivorman. Les Stroud travels to different wilderness scenarios around the world and survives on his own for a week. One of the most striking things about the show is that he operates the camera himself, proof that he is truly alone in the woods.
Stroud gives a lot of good advice on how to survive. Unlike other shows where they tend to do risky things for the ratings, Stroud avoids doing things that might kill him, like jumping off of rocks. He also occassionally does fail, and he’s open about that on the show.
2. Marooned with Ed Stafford
Ed Stafford became famous as an adventurer when he walked the entire Amazon river by himself. Marooned with Ed Stafford is a survival tv show that shows Ed in different situations. Ed knows what he’s doing and he’s proven that on the show.
It’s interesting to see different to survive in different areas of the world or to see how different accidents might play out, but sometimes the different situations he puts himself in are over the top. If you were really surviving in the wilderness, you’d be making cautious and careful decisions.
For example, a lot of the time Ed is dropped off completely naked. That makes for interesting tv because it puts him at a disadvantage. But it’s not exactly realistic to what you need to know if you have to bug out tomorrow. All in all, Ed’s survival tv shows are interesting and full of good information.
3. Alone
Alone is a survival tv show put on by the History Channel. Contestants are a pair of family members dropped out in the woods with a few tools and the content of their backpack. The competition of the game is to see who can survive the longest foraging, hunting, and keeping out of the elements.
The competitors are with a camera crew, and each couple is a pair so they aren’t completely alone as the title says. However, people do start to break down a bit after being alone with that family members for weeks and weeks.
4. Naked and Afraid
Naked and Afraid is a survival tv show where one male and one female contestant who have never met have to work together to survive in the wilderness. Naked.
This show can teach you something about how to survive if you look really hard, but it definitely feel more like a silly reality tv show than a serious example of how to survive in the woods. Although the people all claim to be interesting in survival, the show focuses a lot more on how awkward it is for two strangers to be naked in the woods together.
Naked and Afraid is certainly on of the shows on our list that feels the most like gimmick television. But it’s still worth checking out.
5. Fat Guys In the Woods
Fat Guys In the Woods is an example of how a survival tv show can still be a great way to teach people basic survival skills. The show takes doughy men with no survival skills out into the wilderness with a professional who teaches them different survival techniques.
Since the show gets the drama from people who don’t know what they are doing, they don’t have to drop experts off in the remotest areas of the Himalayas or in Bermuda. They stick with basic skills and situations that might actually happen to a person. That makes this show a great way to brush up on new ways of staying alive if you ever have to bug out or find yourself surviving in the wilderness.
6. Dual Survival
In the survival tv show Dual Survival, two experts with different approaches have to survive in scripted scenarios. They show different approaches to different tasks.
The show doesn’t always have a lot of scenarios that are realistic for SHTF events. But it is interesting how they have two people to debate different ideas back and forth a bit.
7. Life Below Zero
Life Below Zero is a survival tv show that centers around people who actually live off the grid in Alaska. It’s a show that follows real people around their lives, which makes it a great show to learn off the grid techniques.
The downside of the show is that it’s not exactly relatable. Most people don’t live very close to the Arctic circle where cold is the biggest danger every day. At the same time, exposure to cold can be deadly in lots of parts of the United States as well. If you have to bug out in winter, you’ll need to be prepared to protect yourself against this kind of weather.
8. Yukon Men
Yukon Men is a survival tv show that follows people living in a Tanana, Alaska, a remote village in the Yukon. The show talks about their real struggles and challenges in the freezing weather and harsh seasons.
The people on the show actually live here so you see the ways they overcome those challenges in a realistic setting. Like the last show on our list, however, the environment this far North is a lot different than the bug out reality most of us would find ourselves in if the shit hit the fan tomorrow.
9. The Legend of Mick Dodge
Mick Dodge is a man who lives in the Hoh Rainforest. He gave up his life one day, grabbed his gear, and headed out to live off the land. He is more of a naturalist than a survivalist, which means he went off grid to go be in touch with nature more than he did to master his elements. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been successfully off grid and providing for himself for a long time.
It’s things like the fact that Mick doesn’t wear shoes as often as he can that take away from the credibility of the show. It’s worth mentioning that he does wear shoes from time to time and he talks about being safe on the show, but most of us would feel safer and more in control of our situations if we keep our shoes on.
10. Dude, You’re Screwed
Dude, You’re Screwed takes five different people and drops them one at a time in situations where they have to survive with random objects they have. For example, in the clip below the man is in a situation with a golf club.
While one person is surviving, the other critique and discuss what he is doing. The biggest chance for learning something is listening to the people talk. It’s not completely educational, but the commentary points out the dangers in what the person is doing and what other choices they should have made.
11. Ultimate Survival Alaska
In Ultimate Survival Alaska, people compete by surviving in Alaska and travelling while living off the land. They have to get to the end of different journey legs within three days in small teams.
12. Live, Free or Die
Live, Free or Die is a survival TV show that follows people who leave their “normal life” behind and go live off the grid. There is a lot of information on how to survive when you live off the grid. The show gains points because it’s not a scenario or a temporary extreme setting. It’s an example of what a lot of us might think about: living off the land and being completely self-sufficient.
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