Any of you guys watch this show?
How real do you think it is (as opposed to scripted/embellished)?
How real do you think it is (as opposed to scripted/embellished)?
Naked and Afraid
- Thread starter Been Jammin
- Start date
I watch it a lot. I think it's real enough. They will call in medics on occasion but it has to get pretty bad. I think its hard for most people to fathom what those people are going through. It's more real than any of the other survival shows, although not real informative at times
I agree. I have a few observations/things I am curious about.
I assume that the people on the show have seen a significant number (if not all) of the past episodes. It should be pretty obvious to them that if they are not happy with their partner, and act like a douche, it is going to hurt their chances of completing the challenge. If their partner leaves, their chances go down. If the two of them can't get along well enough to cooperate, their chances go down. It would suck to be stuck with someone that is annoying you, but you have to figure out a way to make it work.
In almost every episode, the participants get emotional/reach their breaking point somewhere around day 14. Their body is suffering from lack of calories and systems stop functioning normally. This includes the brain. They are not thinking clearly. They become more irritable, depressed. A lot of them tap out at that point. If they can just push through that phase of the challenge, they usually make it through the whole thing.
I'm pretty sure that during the day, they are surrounded by a camera crew, and armed protection, when there are large predators in the area. It has to be really hard for them at night, when they hear predators extremely close by. The big cats can see very well, and if one of them wanted to much on a person, those people would have no chance of surviving.
I always wonder why they don't spend the first night right where they take off their clothes (I'm sure the answer is that they are not allowed to). In almost every episode, they get their bags and hike a long way. Find a place where they want to build their shelter. End up running out of daylight before they are able to complete their shelter and build a fire. They end up having a miserable first night and start the challenge off playing catch up. If it were allowed, I would sleep as comfortably as possible where I met my partner. Get up a dawn, hike to where I want to camp, and have more time to build a shelter/fire.
It is pretty obvious that they are wearing a necklace with a GPS tracker around their neck. I wonder why they never tell the viewer why they all wear the same necklace.
That's interesting. I always assumed the necklace was a microphone, I guess I never thought of GPS.
I think I heard it mentioned on one of the shows or previews, but it seems it's not really about how good at surviving you are, it's about how much pain and suffering you can withstand over 21 days. Most of the people on the show don't seem to excel and better their situation. They make a shelter, find water, and starve for 21 days. They usually survive on adrenaline towards the end. There's only a handful of participants I've seen actually excel. I think that's why through the later seasons they've started providing them with more than one survival item (i.e. the group gets a firestarter and can pick an item).
I rarely see them make weapons. If I'm in the jungle surrounded by big cats, one of the first things I'm doing is making a weapon. I would imagine there's the thought in the back of their mind that the crew wouldn't let anything dangerous happen.
Another thing I often wonder is why they wait until day 21 to try and make the trek to the extraction point. Why not make the journey in the beginning, or at least split the distance. I bet they're instructed on the area they should camp.
I think I heard it mentioned on one of the shows or previews, but it seems it's not really about how good at surviving you are, it's about how much pain and suffering you can withstand over 21 days. Most of the people on the show don't seem to excel and better their situation. They make a shelter, find water, and starve for 21 days. They usually survive on adrenaline towards the end. There's only a handful of participants I've seen actually excel. I think that's why through the later seasons they've started providing them with more than one survival item (i.e. the group gets a firestarter and can pick an item).
I rarely see them make weapons. If I'm in the jungle surrounded by big cats, one of the first things I'm doing is making a weapon. I would imagine there's the thought in the back of their mind that the crew wouldn't let anything dangerous happen.
Another thing I often wonder is why they wait until day 21 to try and make the trek to the extraction point. Why not make the journey in the beginning, or at least split the distance. I bet they're instructed on the area they should camp.
Microphone. Never thought of that, but it does make sense. Maybe it is both.
They must have pretty explicit instructions, since they all follow pretty much the same script.
We are dropping you off here. On day 1, you will hike to somewhere around here to set up your camp. You will stay there until day 21 then have a difficult hike/swim/climb to here where you will be picked up and taken home.
They make it seem like they are making all of those decisions themselves, but none of them ever deviate from that plan.
They also make is seem like they are eating absolutely nothing in between the meals that you see them eat, but they will often mention a food that we didn't see them eat, so you know that most of them are probably eating a little something on a daily basis (just not a substantial meal).
I always thought the survival items were interesting. You never see both of them show up with a machete, so the producers obviously help them decide what to bring. In places where the overnight temperature drops low enough that hypothermia is an issue, they have to have a fire starter, because if they aren't able to get a fire started it is game over on night 1. In some places, they have to have a pot to boil water. I suspect that the producers pretty much choose what they are going to bring and just make it look like the participants are choosing.
They must have pretty explicit instructions, since they all follow pretty much the same script.
We are dropping you off here. On day 1, you will hike to somewhere around here to set up your camp. You will stay there until day 21 then have a difficult hike/swim/climb to here where you will be picked up and taken home.
They make it seem like they are making all of those decisions themselves, but none of them ever deviate from that plan.
They also make is seem like they are eating absolutely nothing in between the meals that you see them eat, but they will often mention a food that we didn't see them eat, so you know that most of them are probably eating a little something on a daily basis (just not a substantial meal).
I always thought the survival items were interesting. You never see both of them show up with a machete, so the producers obviously help them decide what to bring. In places where the overnight temperature drops low enough that hypothermia is an issue, they have to have a fire starter, because if they aren't able to get a fire started it is game over on night 1. In some places, they have to have a pot to boil water. I suspect that the producers pretty much choose what they are going to bring and just make it look like the participants are choosing.
I don't watch it that often but I have watched a dozen or so episodes. I do think the necklace is a microphone. I don't think they'd have a need for GPS tracking since they have a camera crew with them. I tend to believe it's pretty real for the reasons stated above. They typically don't do much but lay down and try to survive while starving for 21 days.
I enjoyed XL the last time they had it. You basically had one group of three guys that excelled and another large group that struggled. Jealousy developed because the small group didn't always share. I recorded XL last night but haven't watched it yet.
I enjoyed XL the last time they had it. You basically had one group of three guys that excelled and another large group that struggled. Jealousy developed because the small group didn't always share. I recorded XL last night but haven't watched it yet.
I saw XL last night. This is the 3rd season of XL. They appear to be in, by far, the worst environment yet. Really tough to see them surviving for 40 days. The bugs and rain look like enough to do them in (not to mention the predators, snakes, etc).
I have watched it quite a bit but the above really sums up the show which makes me question just why it is I watch haha!
Now that you mention it, I am re-thinking my interest level in the show.
Every once in a while, they will have a bad ass that makes it look easy. He/she seems to get a decent meal close to every other day. They make some kind of clothing. They build an impressive shelter, etc. Some of them do some pretty impressive things.
My favorite was an island episode where the idiot guy brought goggles but was afraid of sharks so he wouldn't swim. The girl should have killed and eaten him.
My favorite was the batshit crazy girl (name was something like Honora) that brought a magnifying glass as her survival item to the Brazilian desert.
I liked the dual survival show where they dropped to survival prospects off in a situation one could find themselves in and then they had to survive for a few days but they went over survival techniques which was interesting.
I think a blend between the two would be good TV.
I don't know if you saw the XL episodes with her. She got pissed off at the 2 guys she was partnered with and decided to tap out. But, before she left, she vindictively threw all of their survival items into a pond. Cooking pot, machetes, fishing line, etc. Just grabbed it all and ran away from them and threw it into the water. I don't know how they didn't lose their shit and do something to her that they should not have.
Fortunately, they were able to swim around the area and find enough of the lost items to make it through after she was gone.
That's the season of XL that I saw. She was a complete idiot.
The regular episodes were losing their luster with me so I like they have the XL now. Looking forward to this new season. What tells me it's the real deal is how much weight they lose. One of the guys lost something like 70 lbs over 40 days.
I watch all the dual survivals also. Much more informative which I like. Some of the stuff they've done on that show is just crazy. Killing fish with a poison root, countless ways they've started fire, building a grass canoe. I like the earlier episodes better than the later seasons
I watch all the dual survivals also. Much more informative which I like. Some of the stuff they've done on that show is just crazy. Killing fish with a poison root, countless ways they've started fire, building a grass canoe. I like the earlier episodes better than the later seasons
One of the most interesting survival shows I've seen was a 3 part series called naked castaway. Dude was put on an island for 60 days with absolutely nothing. Filmed the whole thing himself
