Up North Journal - Interview with History Channel's TV Show Alone Season 2 Winner David McIntyre, Surviving 66 Days Alone on Vancouver Island

Aug 12, 2016

Sit down with us on this episode as we interview the Season 2 Winner of the History Channel's show Alone David McIntyre. He takes us through his journey on surviving 66 Days on Vancouver Island along with 9 other contestants that were individually isolated to survive on the island.

David gives us his background into surviving the outdoors.

1. Grew up in rural Pennsylvania 
2. Loved learning the Native American ways
3. Studied wilderness survival
4. Went to Brazil on a missionary trip and developed his wilderness survival skills there and started a survival school there.
5. Was asked to apply for the show Alone
6. His father moved to Pennsylvania to raise the family and David's passion came from that rural lifestyle.

Getting ready for the trip

1. Starting in August he began to prepare for the trip
2. Learned in August that he was heading to Vancouver Island
3. Left in late September for the Island
4. Had to buy cold weather survival gear
5. Had 10 items he could take with him off of a list of 40
6. Purchased a lot of the gear from Cabela's

On the island for the adventure

1. Dropped off on the island and he was ready to get to work
2. Developed his plan after he was dropped off and saw what he had to work with
3. Was relieved to see the rocky shoreline for a food source
4. The forest was not what he had hoped for
5. Fire, shelter and water were the first priorities on day one
6. No serious problems with predators
7. Talks about fishing to provide food and his fishing skills
8. His pot of drinking water fell over and put his fire out, he talks about that situation
9. Keeping the positives in the forefront and forget the negatives

What it's like to have to run cameras while trying to survive

1. The problems you need to overcome while surviving and running a camera
2. The technical side of running camera
3. Was taught the basics of videography and learning how to shoot your own story
4. It became an added layer of burden 
5. 4.5 to 5 hours of video a day
6. 2500 hours of video for the 13 episode season with all ten people

Other problems

1. Bears coming into camp
2. Cougar ripping apart a deer within 75 yards from his camp
3. Dealing with the situation at hand
4. At night it is pitch black dark!

 Funny items that kept him going

1. Made a bed of pine boughs and he said "What is your sleep number"
2. Rather joke around than cry

Day 37 he fell in the water

1. Dropped a fishing stick and fell in trying to recover it
2. Both boots flooded and one arm soaked
3. Changed his focus for the day
4. Went to shelter and took all wet clothes off to get dry
5. Got a fire going right away
6. Got a dry set of clothes on

Its not so much the initial mistake that gets you into serious trouble. It's the second and third mistakes or choices you make that gets you into serious trouble.

1. Stop and access the situaiton
2. Make the next move count and not get you into more trouble
3. Can you practice for a situation
4. Do your practicing in a safe location

The wilderness is the wilderness because it has kicked our butt. It's the wilderness because it's untamable, it has already won.

He loves to solve those challenges and problems to survive in the wilderness

 The mental aspect of it and changes that affect the mind in the isolation of the island

1. Changes in the dreams at night
2. Songs stuck in his head 
3. Mind was craving stimulation
4. Dreams were about food and people
5. Dreams of food and people started to fade as time went on and went to dreaming about the forest and food he was catching on the island
6. You start to concentrate on things that has affected us in life, they crept up in the mind as time went on
7. He dealt with it with his spirituality
8. He described it as a spiritual detox
9. When he got a belly full of food he started to think more about his kids
10. You have to be broken sometimes to access God's strength
11. His experience was one of slow and steady progress
12. The moment he realized he had won when his daughter showed up with the doctors during a health check
13. What it was like coming back to civilization

How has this experience changed you

1. You don't need a whole lot to make you happy
2. Love the relationships with family and people that makes him happy
3. Doesn't let negative people in his life
4. Quality more than quantity
5. People are valuable They're worth the investment of time
6. Accepts himself as he is