Narrator: In the wild,
The right skills can make the difference
Between life and death.
[flames crackling]
- Ugh!
Narrator: Now, some of "alone's" best competitors
Are taking on a new mission...
- This is, like, some indiana jones-type stuff.
Narrator: They'll have just three days...
- Whoa!
- And limited tools...
- Here's the fun part.
Narrator: For a build challenge
Devised by one of their own.
- Time's the game.
Narrator: At stake for the winner...
- Whoo!
Narrator: Bragging rights.
- You guys have you work cut out for you.
Narrator: Tonight's challengers:
Joel van der loon, 40-day survivor from season seven.
- Oh, this is really good fried.
Narrator: Callie north,72-day survivor from season three.
- Ah!
Narrator: And britt ahart,
35-day survivor from season three
And runner-up from season five.
- Check out that haul.
Narrator: Let the challenge begin.
- Hey, hey.
[suspenseful upbeat music]
- Hey friends, this is jordan jonas
Of "alone" season six, where I had the distinction
Of being able to collect more pounds of food
Than anyone else in the show's history.
Yeah!
I got a pretty fun challenge for joel, callie, and britt.
Let's see it happen.
- All right. The moment of truth.
♪ ♪
- Let's see what we're getting ourself into.
♪ ♪
- [laughs] oh, jordan.
Your challenge is build a raft with a shelter.
- Callie and joel. I got this one.
- A raft. I'm already excited.
- Shoot, I don't even know what my tools are yet.
I'm just thinking about what I'm going to do.
Hopefully, I have the tools to do it with.
- So it looks like we have a parang,
Folding saw,
And then our final item
Is 50 feet of paracord.
- And that is it. No tarp, no ax.
- But you know what? We'll make do with that.
♪ ♪
- "to complete the challenge,
"you must include a shelter large enough for one person,
"be stable enough to spend a night,
"and stay afloat for at least one night.
[laughs]
- It's a good challenge, jordan.
It's a good challenge.
- Let's get started.
♪ ♪
- A raft with a shelter.
Oh, I'm going to crush this one.
So I'll tell you what I'm already thinking about.
It's going to be like a pontoon.
Oh. Well, looky here.
There's some nice, solid driftwood
Already sitting there,
So we're going to go check that out.
This is exactly what I need. Let's get at it.
♪ ♪
I'ma get my pontoons in the water,
And then I'm going to go harvest some bamboo...
[dramatic music]
And make a nice little bamboo platform right across.
♪ ♪
What I really don't like
It's how just the weight of that bamboo
Is making that thing sink like that...
♪ ♪
'cause at this rate, I'm only going to have
Inches of clearance from the water.
That thing is headed straight to davy jones's locker.
I still know what I want to do.
I just have to switch up what I'm doing it with.
♪ ♪
- So I am going out on a scouting mission
To look for dead wood.
So this one, actually, I think would be perfect.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
This dead alder is so excellent.
I'm going to move all my logs over.
I think because I'm on a slope here
And I'm close enough to the water,
I could get away with building it on rollers,
And it would be easier
Than having to be in the water all day.
You can see my notching here
And that way, they can interlock.
So I'm just going to do a
Simple clove hitch on this side.
♪ ♪
So we've got our frame nicely done here,
And now I'm going to work on securing
The top layer of my raft.
♪ ♪
- [panting]
- Okay, I've found a perfect tree right here.
And it's a good thickness,
So if I can find a couple like this,
We'll have a good foundation to a raft.
So I'm just going to start trimming some stuff off.
♪ ♪
I need to get all the bark off
Because although this wood has been dead for a while,
We've had a lot of rain.
Going to have to cut it and let it just dry out a little bit.
♪ ♪
[wood crackling]
[grunts]
♪ ♪
Timber.
Building a raft, it's about having a lot of material
To create that buoyancy.
♪ ♪
This is my biggest challenge for this build,
Is transporting all these materials.
It's going to take up a lot of my day.
It's got to be done.
[grunts and exhales deeply]
Okay. We've got all the logs down.
This is fantastic.
I'm going to get just down into some shorts,
Jump in the water, and I want to do a flotation test.
I'm going to jump on these logs
And I'm going to see how well they float me.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[sighs] no way.
♪ ♪
I need more than this to make sure
That I'm compensating for the added weight from the shelter.
It's always double what you think it should be.
♪ ♪
That's about five hours of grueling work.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- I'm not going to notch any of my top pieces.
The amount of time it takes to notch
Is pretty labor-intensive, so I'm taking a gamble here
And I hope it pays off.
The first one is going to lead the charge.
I'm guessing that some amount of water
Will probably come up through the logs.
I mean, there's lots of gaps.
So our judge for this competition is judge jonas.
He has a reputation in the judging world
As being no-bs,
Gets right down to the point, very serious guy.
[chuckles]
We've got the bulk of our raft done,
And I am going to collect some cedar bark
That I found in the forest.
And we're going to lay that down.
It's kind of our floor because that way,
It'll just protect me from water
Coming up as much as possible.
♪ ♪
I don't have a ton of paracord left,
So I'm going to start working with the inner strands.
I'm going to secure on in two spots the cedar bark.
Nice. Okay.
So I've got my cedar bark strapped down.
Now I'm going to turn my raft into
More of a living space.
♪ ♪
- I need a freshly downed tree that's still full of resin
And still water-resistant.
So what I'm going to do is I'm going to detach it
From everything from the two bottom logs,
I'll pull that piece to shore,
And then I'll find something to replace these two.
♪ ♪
Let's get to it. Some other pine logs.
Now I know
These have only been down for like a few months,
So they've got to have much more buoyancy.
♪ ♪
Okay. That's going to work out.
Energy level, optimism level, feeling good.
Tomorrow, I need to construct the shelter.
♪ ♪
- So I have literally doubled my materials
To make sure that I'm compensating
For the added weight from the shelter.
I've got two horizontal beams right there,
And these are going to act as sort of like a building dock.
I'm not worried about the strength of this paracord
To bind up this raft.
I just cannot run out of rope.
I'm going to need rope for so many things.
Hey, hey.
We have the first layer.
♪ ♪
It'll float me, but it will not keep me dry,
So that's why I'm going to add a second layer onto this.
So this is a secondary deck,
But mainly for my sleeping platform.
♪ ♪
Oh, yeah. Look at that.
Oh, perfect.
We'll get through this pretty quick.
I'm just going to trim off all of these edges nice and neat,
Tie this down with some inner strands of the paracord,
And then we'll have a finished raft.
Oh, yeah. Wow.
That's pretty damn strong for such small paracord.
I can't help but just looking at the water all day
And just thinking to myself
How much fun it'll be to get this thing floating
And float down the river in it.
♪ ♪
- It's going to be another 100-degree day,
So I'm going to do what I can.
I want to build my shelter
And then put it onto my watercraft.
I've got my bamboo harvested in back,
So I think first I'm going to start out
And make a bottom structure from my little shelter.
And then we're going to make a tepee like this
Where it's all down the middle.
Then I'll take some more of these bamboo pieces
And lash them all the way down
To create my skeleton of my shelter.
♪ ♪
Oh, that sun's going to make a difference.
Ooh, lordy. [huffs]
I gotta tie a knot and then step in the shade,
Tie a knot, step in the shade.
♪ ♪
You're cramping. Mm.
♪ ♪
Ouch, ouch, ouch.
♪ ♪
Hand cramps, finger cramps.
This stinks.
That's it for today.
I barely got anything done.
You guys have no idea what the sun is like out here today.
Holy hell.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Okay, so I'm going to be working on my bed.
I have some of these pieces of alder.
I like these because they're light
And won't add too much weight.
It's actually a very similar design to the raft.
That's perfect.
Now I need to make the frame here.
These are basically like the bed posts.
I'm really excited to see what britt does with his bamboo.
Bamboo does offer such an excellent building material.
It's looking pretty bed frame-y.
So here I have some nice, dry grasses
And bracken ferns here.
♪ ♪
It's all nice and fluffy. It's feeling super cozy.
It looks like it probably will be a little short,
But that's okay.
♪ ♪
Oh, my goodness.
This is perfection. [sighs]
So pretty good progress all-in-all.
We'll check back in tomorrow.
♪ ♪
- I had to call it yesterday because of fatigue,
But I completed my shelter all except for the cover,
So I opted for my number one go-to, which is bamboo.
♪ ♪
All I need to do today
Is split the bamboo to make my makeshift shingles.
♪ ♪
Mostly, I want to keep the sun from directly hitting me.
♪ ♪
I noticed the more weight I put on here,
The lower these logs want to go.
It's still floating.
It's just more underneath the surface
Than I would have liked.
I might have to scrap this idea.
♪ ♪
I was rolling along so nicely.
I'm going too complex.
I'm thinking if I could just have four posts
And then just lace these across
And have a nice, little sun shelter.
[thunder rumbling] oh, no.
If it's light rain, I'll just muscle through it,
But I might have to get out of the water.
A little frustrated.
I got right to the point I needed to be.
Down to the bare bones again.
[thunder rumbling] oh, that's a pain in the ass.
♪ ♪
- [sighs]
This going to be our ridge pole
Marking the back of our shelter.
♪ ♪
That looks--that looks great.
All right, so I need to cut three poles,
One, two, three per side...
♪ ♪
And that is going to be my framework
To attach the roofing material,
Which is going to be grass.
♪ ♪
I want to literally thatch the roof
Like an african-style hut,
Bringing a little bit of my heritage into this build.
♪ ♪
It takes a matter of five minutes
To gather that much grass.
♪ ♪
What I'm going to do is start shingling on the bottom.
♪ ♪
It's going to take a lot of work,
But this is going to be really, really good.
♪ ♪
The bigger the bundle, the better.
♪ ♪
Oh, I wonder what britt and callie are up to.
- Oh, I'm so tired today. Coming to the end here.
This isn't going to save me in a monsoon,
But a little rain, it would stop.
[thunder rumbling]
- I would love to be just working casually
And leisurely, and it's 105 degrees.
♪ ♪
- I'm a little bit behind track.
Always takes more than you think,
But I want to do it right.
♪ ♪
- I think for my fire pit,
I'm just going to cut a couple logs.
This is going to give us just a little bit
Of a raised fireplace.
♪ ♪
- So if you're wondering what might make a good anchor,
Well, good, old-fashioned rocks work.
- I am going to make the chair for my raft.
♪ ♪
[sighs] already so comfortable.
♪ ♪
- All right.
Well, what was supposed to be a quick assembly
Has turned into me getting rained out.
I'll wait for it to pass,
But I got to finish this tonight.
See, the clock's ticking on this challenge.
♪ ♪
Back out here,
And the last thing I want to do
Is go in here and get in the water,
But I got to do it.
I want to win this challenge.
What I did was I took all the pieces of bamboo
And split them down even further
To create a roof I could drape over my shelter.
[insects droning]
Uh-oh.
♪ ♪
That piece right there just came out.
[wood clattering]
[groans]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
Uh-oh.
That piece right there just came out.
[wood clattering]
[groans]
[insects droning]
Well, I'm out here wading in the dark
And something happened that I can't even see.
[sighs]
Between it being over 100 degrees
Or a torrential downpour, I think the timer has run out.
I didn't complete the challenge.
♪ ♪
- So a few days ago I gave callie, joel,
And britt a challenge to build a raft
With a living space on it.
I gave them a parang, a saw, and some paracord.
The shelter must include a living space
Large enough for one person
That you can comfortably spend the night
Out on a lake or river and stay afloat.
Let's see how they did.
♪ ♪
- I think my biggest fear is that it won't float.
[chuckles] oh, I'm nervous.
♪ ♪
[sighs]
Wow. Okay.
She's a-floatin'.
♪ ♪
Okay, moment of truth.
[laughs]
[branch snaps] mm.
♪ ♪
All right.
♪ ♪
Start my fire.
Let's go fishing.
[upbeat music]
Got one.
It's a bluey, though.
Look at that little guy.
♪ ♪
Ooh-hoo.
Look at that beautiful, wild meal.
♪ ♪
That's as fresh as it comes.
Looking forward to a good night's rest.
So good night.
[dramatic music]
- I am going to put this into the water right now.
Let's hope I've got the strength to push it in.
♪ ♪
This is either going to go perfectly
Or it's going to be horrendous.
So far, so good.
♪ ♪
[grunts] come on.
♪ ♪
And it's floating!
Whoa-ho! Yeah!
♪ ♪
[laughs]
♪ ♪
The water isn't even touching my second deck.
It's not even touching it.
♪ ♪
I mean, this has got to be-- this is success.
I'm laying down.
I'm definitely ready to sleep.
Check it out.
♪ ♪
There's my little, warm den inside there.
Good night, everybody.
[crickets chirping]
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- All right. Waking up on the water.
It was a interesting night's sleep.
♪ ♪
I stayed dry and warm.
And if I was lost at sea,
Um, I think I would do okay.
♪ ♪
- [sighs] good morning.
Well, the important thing is that I am dry.
Still floating very well.
And my raft is stable,
It floats, and I've got it anchored.
♪ ♪
- Unfortunately, britt was unable to get his raft built.
With that said, I'm going to have to choose
Between callie and joel.
With callie's shelter, there's not much to critique.
It's really well-done, floats well,
And just in case it didn't float well,
She had built a raised bed,
Which in the case of a floating shelter like that,
I think is a really good idea.
I was really happy to see how it all came together for her.
And joel did a great job also.
He found some really nice, even logs,
Made a nice, thick base there,
And then he built a little, thatched hut.
So the fact that joel's shelter is something
That you could easily enclose and sleep through the night in
Is a huge advantage.
So both callie and joel did an awesome job
Building their rafts.
They completed
All the requirements
For the challenge.
This is neck and neck,
But ultimately,
I have to choose...
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
Callie.
I really like the way callie went the extra mile,
Built a little fire on her shelter,
Caught a fish, cooked it up.
Congratulations, callie.
You win this week.
- So I'm so grateful that I won this week's challenge.
It means so much coming from you, the moose master.
You're welcome to come and take the old raft for a spin
Anytime you want,
And thank you for recognizing my efforts.