20:10
Located along the ring of fire in the Philippines is Subi Bay, an area prone to extreme natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis. I'm nervous about being completely exposed out here. A lot of nervous farting, nervous burping. I feel like I'm going to vomit at points. This location looks very dense. It's very hot, very humid, sticky everywhere. I know it'll be tough, but I know I'll make it.
Subi Bay on the island of Luzison gives way to mountainous jungles with thick canopies that block the wind, rain, and sunlight, creating a humid and dark environment below. These jungles are home to monitor lizards up to 6 ft long with sharp razor-like claws to fight and attack their prey. as well as the highly venomous Philippine pit viper, which camouflages itself in the trees and strikes from above. I describe myself as uh a bit of a dirt bag. I'm just a degenerate punk from the suburbs. I consider myself a loud, disgusting, thrillseker and love to get gross.
I'm a executive chef doing 17 hours a day. I absolutely love the chaos. I love the suck. There's nothing like it. As a chef, I am a gross person. I will eat anything. But I do enjoy making it look like it's going to taste good. I've been a survivalist my whole life. My family were big campers. We were always into bushcraft. In 2013, I stayed on a deserted island for 11 days by myself just to see if I could do it. It really brought something out of me and I've been addicted ever since. And I'm taking on this challenge because there's something about reing in the suck for me that just makes everything feel alive. I just want to do something difficult and this is about as extreme as you get.
I consider myself to be very competitive and very stubborn. I played basketball throughout college. I also played football for an allwoman's full tackle football league. I had to be fast and I had to be able to take a hit. I'm a hockey mom. I have two boys and the saying is true. The only difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull is lipstick. I come from an outdoors family. Both of my grandfathers were very big into hunting and camping. My little chickens. They're cooking. I am a tough [__] If I'm not being competitive, I'm not fulfilling something in my life. I'm
taking on this challenge because as an athlete, I love pushing my body to where I can literally not go anymore. Absolutely not. Will I ever give up? I don't like losing. Tapping out for me is not an option. I'm very confident in my abilities to be here. I guess this is it. America, I apologize for what you're about to see. This is the fun part. I think it might be a little awkward being negative, but I'm very comfortable in my relationship. So, finding myself being attracted to anybody here is not an issue. Here we go. There's a naked person in there looking for me right now. So, let's go. John comes with a passion and respect for the outdoors and brings a confident mindset, but his eccentricities could lead him to make bad choices. He begins
with a primitive survival rating or PSR of 6.5. There's a lot of falling leads and you never know what's hiding underneath them. Jess brings an elite level of fitness which could help her in this extreme environment. But her stubborn mentality could backfire when faced with unpredictable circumstances. She begins with a PSR of 6.1. My partner. My friend. Is a naked high five going to make it worse? Yeah. All right. Just so nice to meet John. Oh, this is John.
This is crazy. This is I know. Yeah. I love this place. Yeah. What do you think we're up against? What do you see on the way in? It's super hot and humid, so finding water is definitely going to be a priority number one. Yeah. Are you ready to challenge yourself? Yeah. Make it happen. We're going to be a good team. Cool. Yes. Good. See what we got. Jess and John have each brought a personal item. A mosquito net and a machete. And they have been given a fire starter.
It looks like I also have the map. Awesome. Let's see where we are. So, we should be here. Yeah, there's behemoth right behind us. Looks like we've got some shrimp and some eel over here. Bamboo, some water. That's good. I guess we should get somewhere near that. But we do have to cross some wild boar and some monkeys. All right. Okay, let's go. Um, I'm going to have to make this weird for a second, and I'm sorry in advance. I hate hippies just as much as everybody, but this tree's got to be 200 years old, and uh it's probably seen some. So, I'm just gonna go ahead
ask it to watch our backs. Got it. Is that cool? Yep. All right, Tree, you go ahead and uh just watch out for Jess and I if you care. I consider myself a spiritual person, but to me, it's a little weird. You don't have to, but you know, I understand. Thank you. Cool. Thanks. Let's get gross. Okay. Oh, this has got a lot of thorns on it. Yeah, be careful. Native to the Philippines, the Anabong plant contains hundreds of razor sharp thorns that can puncture more than 3 in deep, causing muscle and nerve damage.
Here's a huge antill right there. So, this part's really steep. Yeah, Jess, my partner, she is in here naked and so she's obviously tough. So, I think we'll be fine. You okay? Good. Okay. This is basically straight down pretty much. Just keeps going and going down. This is treacherous. This It is. Look, look. Got some eggs down here. That's foul eggs. That's a good find. Yeah, that's a really good find. Stick those in my bag.
This is very dense. So thick through here. Hey, look at this monkey joke. That looks like a monkey. Just think they got teeth like that. That's kind of worrying me. Yeah, that's a monkey. I know the monkeys are watching. They're They're close. I can smell the piss. Caught a little whiff of here and there. It's not a pleasant smell and it just makes you feel like you're walking into somebody else's territory. Living among the trees are a unique population of macat monkeys. These territorial and sometimes aggressive primates dominate the area, stealing
what they can and having no fear of humans. I don't want anything to do with the monkeys. Yeah. This is all thorns right here. All right. Coming in hot instead of straight down. Got it. The eggs broke. We got two. We got two still. I wanted that. Half of our dinner's gone now. Oh my goodness. I'm not necessarily hungry, but I know I need to eat. So, it's kind of frustrating. If we find any more eggs, you're not allowed to bury them.
I hear water. Sounds fast. Like there's a lot of it. See, look. There's a spring right here. Smells good. Smells fine. I'm feeling pretty confident about the water coming off the rafts. I think it's fresh. Let's go take a sip. I think the running water's clean. It's running pretty fast. It's running over clean rock and moss. Tastes good. Tastes fine. I think it tastes fine. All right, cool. They feel better. Yeah, I know. That little bit of water.
Yeah. perk up a little bit. Deep beneath the Caribbean Sea lies an area of intense seismic activity where molten rock is rising from colliding tectonic plates. These clashing forces have created a lush volcanic island that conceals deadly scorpions, venomous centipedes, and the toxic manional tree, which leaks a poisonous sap that was used by natives for prisoner executions. Rising above it all is the island's biggest threat, a deadly volcano looming over a modern-day Pompei. This is Monserat, one of the most active volcanic islands in the world. After a long period of dormcancy, the island's volcano awoke
during the 1990s, triggering avalanches of superheated ash and treacherous mudslides known as laahar. The volcano devastated the capital of Plymouth, forcing thousands to flee and leaving 19 people dead in its wake. The volcano continues to menace the island to this day. Nature is definitely showing that people cannot survive out here. So, got to leave these nerves behind. My name is Chad. I'm from Wrightwood, California. I'm a survival instructor, a martial art instructor, and a computer programmer. People classify me a lot as like a hippie or cuz maybe I appear to be a hippie, but I'm pretty much
spiritual Indiana Jones. My dad actually taught me all the survival skills that I know. So I feel that I have the skills necessary to come out here and thrive how it is today. Everyone projects an image of how they'd like themselves to be seen by other people. I honestly have been caught up in the social media image also and I hope that I could come more in contact with who I truly am as a human being and leave the unnecessary parts behind. I think the next 21 days are going to be extremely challenging for me. Such an eruption obviously just completely cleared the entire area of any kind of life forms. My name is Don. I'm from Quebec, Canada, and I'm a retired
infantry officer from the Canadian Armed Forces. I'm an alpha female. I have nicknames such as Army Barbie, GI Jane, and I think that has to do with the fact that I'm quite small in stature, yet I went overseas as a platoon commander to Afghanistan. And then I became a squadron second in command in special forces. I've assisted men larger than me because they were having difficulties and never dropped out of anything. But in the last year, I've kind of struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder for, you know, traumatic events that have happened in Afghanistan. I feel alone, and I'm hoping that with this challenge, I'll be able to connect emotionally with my partner and kind of figure myself out.
Definitely nervous about being naked in front of some random person. I've never done that before besides like, you know, relationship uh wise. Last part, huh? All right, time to leave the material world and get out into nature. I'm hoping that my partner brings in more primitive survival experience, but I'll lose respect if he's overly confident about his skills, but he actually doesn't kind of produce the results because at the end of the day, I have to survive for 21 days and so there will be a point where I'm just going to, you know, take over. All right, let's get her done. So, this is definitely a first. I'm naked in the middle of a town. There's
no one living here, though. It's a little eerie. Wow. It's an absolutely destroyed church. So, I see my partner and it's just like Malibu Barbie walking at me. I really hope she has the skills to back up those looks. Hey, how are you? Good. How are these rocks treating you? Awesome. I'm Chad. Hi, Don. Don, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. You see my partner and he's got the long hair. He's got the beard. So, the first impressions is that he's definitely a hippie for sure.
Are you nervous or what? I'm I'm more nervous about the nakedness than I am about actually doing stuff. So, you got some skills then I'm guessing. I mean, we'll see, right? One day at a time. And what about yourself? I teach survival back and forth. That's awesome. Well, let's along with a machete, Don and Chad each get to bring one personal item. I actually brought a bow drill kit and this produces large coals. I made it myself. I've used it thousands of times. So, we shouldn't have any issues there.
Chad's primitive survival item is a bow drill. I'm definitely more comfortable with a fire starter. So, I really hope that he's an expert with it. I brought paracord. Yes. So, it could be used for shelter. It could be used for making nets. It could be used for making fishing line. Uh traps. What else do you have? Um I actually have the map. Let's check it out. So, that's obviously the volcano, and it looks like it's running off every time it explodes this way. So, we got to stay as far away from this volcano as possible. Would you agree?
I agree. It's completely barren. We really need to not stay here. There's no signs of life around here at all. I haven't even seen any insects. So, that's scary, you know. So, I say we head towards that water before it gets dark and maybe set up a shelter. Yeah, that'd be perfect. All right. You ready? Yeah, let's go. Awesome. after you or I'll follow your lead. Dawn and Chad's combined skills make them an exceptionally strong team, but they face an extraordinarily brutal insertion over hot, razor sharp rock and long, steep terrain. If they can climb out of this barren landscape and make it to the lush interior, resources will be plentiful along with a host of threatening inhabitants.
What do you do for work and stuff? Um, I just retired. Really? I was an infantry officer. No way. For 15 years. No way. Finding out my partner is in the military is crazy cuz that's probably the exact partner I was hoping I wouldn't have. You know, people need to spend their whole life out in nature to really develop these skills, and it's not something you pick up on a few months in a survival training in the military. I'm worried she might not have the skills to cut it out here. Dawn may not be as well-versed as Chad in primitive survival, but as a war veteran trained at West Point, she brings toughness and proven leadership skills to the challenge. Dawn has been assigned an initial primitive
survival rating or PSR of 7.1. As a survival instructor, Chad enters this post-apocalyptic landscape with an array of primitive skills. But his overconfidence could hurt him on this monumental challenge. Chad also begins with a PSR of 7.1. You okay? So, these are volcanic rock mixed with like pummus stones and they're extremely sharp. Pain is just weakness leaving the body. You know, you see those people walk over like coals. Imagine if that was just all like razor sharp glass. That is basically what we were walking over. And it's horrible.
Starting to smell more like sulfur. Yeah. Oh, do you hear that? Oh, yeah. The volcano's crazy. The volcano totally knows we're here. I just hope that it stays mellow the whole time that we're here, cuz lava would be an interesting aspect to this party. it goes from like light to dark and like that. Yeah, it looks like we have like maybe another hour left of sun. There's a bit of thorns here. The thorns are like as big as a pinky nail. Know how I'm going to cross through here. She did it. Don, you're crazy. Charge straight through things. Oh yeah.
Some people just by default become the leader and some become the follower. And this may be a situation where I may be the leader and he may be more of the follower. And I think we're both fine with that. You okay? It's definitely getting dark. How much time do you think we have now? Uh we have less than half an hour. We cannot hike in the dark out here. There are huge thorns everywhere. Oh god. I don't think it's going to be dark like in California dark. I think it's going to be pitch black dark out here.
This island looks absolutely postcard beautiful, but let me assure you, there's going to be dangers. This is not going to be an easy 21 days. My name is Angela. I'm from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and I'm 36 years old. I have five kids at home, and I'm engaged to be married. When I was younger, I did some backpacking, got into just hiking around in the woods. But people would think that I'm not that tough just because of the way I present myself. Even my dad said, "You won't make it past one day." So, I'm out here to prove to him and myself that I can pass the most ultimate survival test of my life.
I run marathons, so I'm used to just concentrating and pushing through. Angela is a city girl who brings a strong will and excellent physical stamina into this challenge. But her limited survival skills tested in the low to intermediate range. As a result, she begins with a primitive survival rating or PSR of 6.1. I have never been in an environment like this before. This is intense. These clips are like right down to the water. The jungle is like boom until they're vertical. It's there and it is thick. My name's Darren. I'm 33 years old and I'm working as a rock climbing guide and a chef. Majority of my life I spent alone in the mountains, but uh not
really alone cuz I've always had a dog with me. When I was about 9 years old, my parents started dropping me off to go camping by myself. They just leave me. Decades of experience on his own in the wilderness will aid Darren greatly in this challenge, but his loner attitude could present problems dealing with a partner. His initial PSR has been set at 7.8. This is cool. I can't get arrested for being naked. It's the first time in my life I don't have to worry about someone seeing me and calling the rangers.
I have nail polish and toe polish on because I'm going to survive pretty. It's go time. Hi, I'm Angela. I'm Darren. Nice to meet you. Excited. I'm stoked. So excited. This is going to be a blast. Yeah. Darren has this wild Tarzan look. It's not what I expected, but she seems laidback, so that's great. Let's get this going. In addition to being given a primitive fire starter, Angela and Darren have each been allowed to bring one survival item.
I brought a machete. I'm a professional rock climber. So, I brought a good bit of rope. So many things we can make from this. And making natural cordage is timeconuming. Time consuming. Oh, I have the map. Where are we? The survivalists will be off the grid for the next 21 days on the stifling humid mountainous island of Komuk, Thailand. Towering limestone cliffs surround a dense, nearly impenetrable jungle and unforgiving terrain of razor sharp thorns and swarms of biting and stinging insects. Overhead, the trees are dominated by aggressive macaks, carriers of the herpes B or monkey B virus, which can be fatal to humans.
The island is overrun by an outofcontrol rat population numbering in the thousands. These creatures transmit more human diseases than any other life form on the planet. But where there are rats, there are also predators, including the extremely toxic king cobra, which at 19 ft is the world's largest venomous snake. I have never been to the jungle before. I've never left the US before, so this is a totally new experience for me. I've been living off the land and training to since I was a little kid.
Do you have a family at home? Um, I have a dog. That's it. That's family. I haven't found anyone to uh fully understand my wild ways and I'm not going to change my ways really. So, uh, I just have a dog. She's the best family I've found so far. You zero dogs, but five kids. You got five kids. That's That's enough to take care of. Yeah. Angela seems cool, but she's got nail polish and toe polish. I hope she's not someone that is so used to the luxuries of life that she can't live without them. Do you hear that? Yeah. Monkeys. Nice. That'd be cool. I've never seen a monkey before, but they're usually quite selfish and territorial.
Have a good eye for movement. You don't want to know how many things I killed as a little kid. I like to try everything. So far this year, I've eaten like three types of chipmunks, two types of squirrels, a bunch of marmets, couple little birds, had emu and ostrich, lots of buffalo, lots of elk, deer, wild turkey and domestic turkey, spruce grouse, a goose, couple ducks, a couple porcupines. H Darren and I couldn't be more polar opposites. He'll kill anything that moves. I'd better stay on his good side or I could wind up on the menu. So, have you spent a lot of time out in the wild?
I have. I've backpacked, but I've never roughed it to this extreme. I've definitely lived off the land, but uh I've never had to spend this much time with a stranger in a stressful situation before. So, hope you're not too worried. I try not to bite. So far, you seem okay. Darren and I are about 2 years apart, but feel like I'm a little bit more of the adult. Maybe like the way older sister or the ant. Oh, nice. Big clearing. The ocean's right here. And uh looks like we have a cave. Whoa, that's lucky. The cave seems to be pretty clean. I don't see any sign of snakes or too many spiders.
I like it. But, uh, any little holes we see down around the base of it, I'm plugging up with some dirt and some rocks. So, if there's something in it and these make it a little more difficult for it to crawl out while we're there. Darren talks a lot. He's a little bit like he's a guide on this trip and I'm his student. So, hopefully those rules change a little bit. Want to work on a fire now. Okay. Whatever we can get. Like, see there's some palm frrons, but like those things are really pokey. So, like to break the tinder up, I usually rub it between my hands. sort of thorny. I work as a guide
and I'm very keen to teach the skills that I have. I'm not expecting to have a dry spindle and fireboard. Just trying to make the best tinder I can cuz uh everything's wet here. I have started hundreds of fires with a bow drill, but never in an environment like this. This is hot and humid. Good job. Just start stacking around this. Hey, got it. I'm so happy you got the fire started. Yeah, we got fire. Dude, we're set.
Like, at least we'll stay warm tonight. And keep a few of the bugs away cuz like they're getting us. Just when you think you've made it to the top of the mountain, it just keeps going and going. My name's Trenton. I'm 35 years old. I work as a full-time paramedic and I'm from Missoula, Montana. I grew up in rural West Virginia playing in the woods and started practicing primitive survival skills by the time I was an early teenager. Because of his years of primitive survival experience, experts assigned Tinton a primitive survival rating or PSR of 7.9. really exciting to be getting to put years, decades of practice, uh, you know, to the test.
Oh my god. My name is Jennifer and I'm kind of new to the survival scene. I don't claim to be an expert, but I'm smart, I'm tough, and I'm a team player. I hope to learn a lot from my partner and I hope he learns something from me. Despite her limited experience, Jen's testing revealed excellent social and team building skills and she earns a starting PSR of 6.4. As long as I make it to the location, I am confident in my ability to make it the 21 days. That really is a very long way down. In the far northwest corner of India, Jen and Trenton are being inserted high above the steep valley region of Udampur. Extremely hot and dry by day, the exposed ridge line offers little protection from the frigid nighttime
winds and sudden violent thunderstorms. Gray linger monkeys and leopards prowl the mountainside and the dreaded black scorpion causes hundreds of deaths in India each year. I like people. I just like being around people who are very competent at what they do. And if not, we'll make do. Oh my goodness. This is so uncomfortable. I have never in my life imagined doing something like this. Oh my god. But this is my first real chance to prove myself as a survivalist. feel like it's going to make me stronger and more confident just knowing how far I can push myself.
Hello. Hi. I'm Jen. Hi, Jen. I'm Trenton. Nice to meet you. Here we are. in India. It's beautiful. It is. Yes. Weather is fantastic. It's not too hot. Oh, there's a couple bugs on my butt, but other than that, flies on my vagina. Our new sensation. Yeah. Uh, so that's random. Yeah. Stoked. Here's our bag. Cool. Let's look. She seems nice. I mean, of course. Yeah, she's a pretty girl, but otherwise we'll kind of have to wait and see what she's got for skills. So, what did you bring?
I have a pot as my survival item. I think that it will help with the purification of water and make things a lot easier. Yeah. Awesome. So, I have a cookery. My survival tool is just a nice Nepalese machete that a really good friend of mine made. Well, I have the map. At a starting elevation of 9,000 ft, Jen and Trenton must continue up along the ridge in search of one of the few fresh water holes in the area. There, they hope to make camp and a fire to withstand the extreme cold of night.
The sun is hot. Yeah. No, I'd like to get out of it here. The pine needles stick right into your feet and the thorns are pretty horrific. Ow. So, one thing, if it really does start bothering you, and please forgive me if I'm like doing the teacher thing. Oh, I hope to learn a bunch from you. So, please do not feel like you're annoying me. I'm easy to get along with. Cool. Good. I think I am. where that huge guy. Holy. I'm not going to be eating monkeys. So, oh, there's another one. Grey Langanger monkeys in this area are known to carry rabies and Japanese encphilitis and can become aggressive if they feel threatened.
Wow, that was not in Montana anymore. Look at that. It's a big water source. Well, it's still kind of funky, but I'm thinking it's definitely water, right? Where there's water, there's animals. Yeah. And if they're coming in to feed, really is a hunting option. There's tadpoles, there's frogs. It's a watering hole for many animals. So, I mean, it's definitely, I think, the life source of this area. I'm going to mud up. Are you in? Definitely a little burnt. The mud will create a barrier between our skin and the ultraviolet rays of the sun and uh possibly retain some moisture. And that's good because it really is so dry up here.
We're beyond handshakes now. I'll let you get your butt cheek. Thank you. I just stupidly got more sun than I should have let myself. So, I'm a little worn out, but we're doing pretty good. This would probably be our best bet and maybe try to Yeah, I think you're right. set up shop around here and just be weary of the monkeys. They're a strong animal and definitely not something that I want to mess around with because they seem a little curious as to what we're doing. So, I'm just afraid that they're going to be aggressive because we're in their territory and because they have young ones with them.
We're going to need all this debris for our shelter tonight. And then we're going to change gears into fire making just to be able to start hopefully drinking some water here relatively [snorts] soon. The one stick I brought with, you can probably dig with. I think that Trenton is kind of a little possessive over his survival tool. He made me a stick instead of letting me use the knife. Let's see this. I'm glad I brought this. My survival tool is the tool I've always wanted. It's really important to me. until I see what kind of skills she has.
I'm really not sure I can trust her with it. So, I'm going to have to go get some more materials, too. I will be back. We'll start digging. Cool. All right. Sorry. The roots are making it a little rough as you get lower, but this is what I got. Neither of us brought a fire starter. Um, so I'm kind of put to the test here. I've been working pretty hard at getting myself accustomed to being naked, but I guess I have to get used to it.
I am going out there to really be the best that there is. And I feel pretty confident that I will be. My friends always see me as someone who can survive the toughest situations. I don't know what I'm getting myself into. Just 4° south of the equator, the Amazon rainforest is home to the most biodiversity on the planet. Cayman, anaconda, and piranhas skullk in the lagoons, while 2 million species of insects attack from the ground. But the greatest threat to survival are the torrential downpours. More than 80 in of rain per year drench the forest, leaving the jungle floor a tangled, flooded mess of mud, roots, and debris.
This is Amazonia. The question isn't am I ready for the Amazon? The question is, is the Amazon ready for me? I'm Jake Nodar. I'm 36 years old and I'm from Darntown, Maryland. I have loved the outdoors since I was a kid. I feel pretty confident in my hunting skills and anything moving that's remotely edible, I'm going to kill it and I'm going to eat it. I want to go out there and prove that, you know, a gay guy can be out here and do this. You know, we're we're not all cutting hair. I'm very confident that I will be able to sail through the 21 days. I'm planning on gaining weight. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. In addition to his sense of humor, Jake's lifelong experiences as an outdoorsman leave him highly suited to the challenge. But his arrogance could
undermine his partnership. He's been assigned a primitive survival rating or PSR of 7.3. I have to pee, but I always have to pee when I'm nervous. I'm Jamie Little from the desert in Tucson, Arizona. I feel like my whole life has been in preparation for this challenge. At 5' half an inch, people mistake my size for inability, but I am powerful. I've always been an adventure seeker, racing mountain bikes, crosscountry running, and not only have I taught primitive survival skills to teens, I'm also a certified wilderness first responder. I worked hard to get here. Topping out's not an option for me. Succeeding in this challenge will mean that I can succeed anywhere.
I hope to gain a better understanding of myself. I'm in a transitionary period of my life. It's really going to help me with whatever I choose to do after this. As a wilderness therapy instructor and first responder, Janie has managed every sort of backwards crisis, but her own struggles with indecision and self-doubt could compromise her success. She begins with a PSR of 6.0. Well, my whole life has led up to this one moment. Bye clothes. I'm nervous. Yes, I am very comfortable with my own nudity.
I'm shy. When it comes to my partner's nudity, that's a different story. I haven't seen a naked lady in probably close to 30ome years. So, well, there it is. I think being attracted to my partner would be a bonus. I can only imagine what's going to come next. Hi. Hello. Happy to finally meet you. I'm Jake. Jamie. Nice to meet you, Jamie. It's just hard not to look at all of you. Yeah, it's fine. I had to tell Jamie about 20 times, eyes up here, sweetie.
You know, should we look at our sacks? As well as a magnesium fire starter. Jake and Jamie have each brought one survival item. A little machete. Not so little. How about you? What' you bring? I have my cookie. Oh, seeing two knives is a little frightening. Um, you know, there's there's a handful of things that would be really nice to have out here. So, do you have a map in your bag? Yes, a map. Nice. So, that's us. To have any chance of survival, Jake and Jamie must leave the predators and boggy marshes of the lowlands behind. They'll push miles deeper into the jungle in search of dry terrain.
Do you do a lot of outdoor activities? No. First time. Yeah. Just kidding. Way to ease yourself in. This is not my first outdoor adventure. Good. Yeah, I like that. Looks like we've got some water to cross. We're definitely going to have to think about some of the critters that are going to be in this. Oh, perfect. There's a piranha right there. Jake said he solid pro on jumping. I don't know. It's kind of scary. I mean, it's definitely risk, but we need to get across to higher ground.
I just hope neither of us have any open cuts. Something went the back of my leg. What the is out there? Got it. Good job. So far, I think that we've got like a good thing going. We're driving right now as partners. I'm not out here searching for romance, but he's a good-looking guy, too. And that's that's a bonus, for sure. Holy smokes. Look at that tree. Oh my gosh. Wow. I think that's a lapa tree. That might be the biggest tree in the Amazon. We could build a platform in here.
Yeah. And like use the tree for sides. Like this looks like home to me. Yeah. We don't have any beverages to Cheers. But no, we do a stick. Cheers. Yeah. Cheers. Home. We have got all the materials we need for a great shelter. It's just going to take a little bit of time. I already feel a blister. Like already I did one tree and I have a blister. My first impressions of my partner is she's great. She's out there working her ass off. So I like that about her.
Positive attitude and a great work ethic. That's all I can ask for in a partner. It's the end of day one and we're still hard at work at our shelter. I don't know that this is actually a shelter. It's not a shelter. We're at our platform. We are in a compost pile. This is probably the worst shelter that anyone has ever constructed. The mosquitoes being bastards. Oh my god. It's just much better when we're laying down because that way our backs aren't also being attacked. So like just our front so we're lining.
Do you have children? No children. No. Never been married. I am a flaming homosexual. I think I have about 50 different emotions coursing through my body all at the same time. I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm apprehensive. I don't really know how to process everything that's going on right now. My motivation in this challenge is my faith and my family. I hope that my kids can draw what I'm doing as a source of strength later in their lives. Now that it's coming down to crunch time, I'm pretty nervous. What I love about survival is just finding new ways to push my limits. Most my survivor skills I gained in my four years in the Marine Corps. I'm feminine for sure, but I think that you don't
have to be butch to be a badass. I'm thinking that this environment is going to be pretty tough. I'm out of my element for sure. Carrie and Tom are being inserted along the western shore of the Matuk River in the dense southern jungle of Cambodia. In this humid climate, they'll face temperatures that climb well beyond 100°, creating a dank breeding ground for venomous snakes, poisonous spiders, and 10-ft Siamese crocodiles that crush their prey with a bite force of 3,700 lb per square inch, the strongest in the world.
Guess it's time to get naked. I'm doing this challenge just to prove to myself that I can do it. I'm going to use my mental strength and ride out the physical pain in order to survive. There is no prize. It's just can you get through it. So, I just want to prove it to myself. I want to get through it. For me, that's the ultimate success. I'll survive because I really don't have any other option. I'm not tapping out. I have the skills. I have the mind power. So, there's really no reason for me not to survive. Here goes nothing. Hi. Wow. Want to go out on a limb and say you're my partner?
Yes. Hey, I'm Tom. Carrie. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well. I can honestly say it's the first time in 40 years I've ever met somebody naked. So, this is the most awkward thing ever. A little bit. Where are you from? I'm from Tucson. How about you? Denver. Yeah. All right. Cool. Sweet. We'll be all right. Don't worry about it. for sure. Because of his lack of primitive fire skills, Tom has brought a fire starter. And with the abundance of bamboo in Cambodia, Carrie opted for a machete. Oh, that's a good one. Yep. Nice. And uh see what else we got.
A map. Oh, sweet. Let's figure out where we're going to go. Carrie and Tom need to find fresh water and a safe location to base camp for the night. Their best option is to head inland several miles through the thick snake ridden jungle to one of the ancillary creeks in the area. Before coming to Cambodia, Carrie and Tom were evaluated by experts and given an overall primitive survival rating or PSR. Their previous military experience earns them both a base score of 5.0. Tom's military officer leadership brings him to a 6.6. Carrie's mental toughness and primitive skill set brings her to a 6.4, just a few points below Tom. Carrie and
Tom's PSR will be re-evaluated at the completion of their 21-day challenge. So, since this thing's still rolling, I guess I'll make my uh first diary cam. This is uh I just met Carrie. It's looking good. I think uh I think we'll make a team. So, here we go. So, what do you do? Well, I have 14 years in the military. Nice. Just where I get most of my experience from. How about you? Um, I was in the Marine Corps for a while and now I am out and doing something totally different.
Okay. Yeah. So, what made you decide to take on this challenge? Um, I've always kind of wanted the adventure. Really? Yeah. So, here I am. And here we are. Oh, I should probably also warn you I'm fairly klutzy, so at some point you're going to fall. Yeah, I will hurt something, break something. He's very talkative and very kind of like upbeat and happy. So, um, right now that's great. I'm like pumped about it, like cool, let's talk and get to know each other. But I'm sure once I start feeling the pain, I'm going to be like, shut up.
So, uh, what do you think priority should be day one? Definitely. First thing we need to do is make shelter. Yeah, I agree. Bamboo. That's what we need. Yeah. Try to find trees that we can prop it up in. Have you built shelter with bamboo before? I have actually has It's been a little while, but I'm It's like riding a bike, I feel. I got a lot of ants on the floor. You want me to hold you your hand while you go down? I think I'm good. I'm just like really afraid about walking between rocks when I can't see what's like in there, you know?
Yeah. You say there's cobras. This is prime snake territory. The Cambodian jungle is home to over 30 types of snake, including the highly venomous king cobra, which can grow up to 18 ft and strike with a head speed of 50 mph. We're starting to go down, which tells me there should be water ahead. Y thinning out a little bit. Yeah, these rocks feel good on my feet. I think we're approaching this. That's definitely water. Water bed. Yeah. And it's running. Thank god. I think up there is some bamboo we might be able to get for a shelter.
Yeah. With a running stream and a wide open stone clearing, this site is an ideal area for Carrie and Tom to set their base camp. I'll start cutting my mail. Okay. I'm going to head down there and look for some vines. But it also leaves them more exposed to the cold Cambodian nights, which can drop into the low 50s. They'll need to make fire and build a strong shelter in order to stay warm. I'm figuring sleep here. Yeah. Right here. Is that where we got the rock?
Yeah. We'll put the fire here. Mhm. All right. I'm going to cut more floor out of these little guys. Well, we should make a decision about the bottom because Well, I'm not saying lash. I don't want to stand here. Like, yeah, I can start lashing them, but um All right. So, let's We're going to If we're going to do this, we're probably going to both have to do it at the same time. You know what I mean? Well, we can cord it across and then just start that weaving from the back where our heads are. Are you going to find cord that long?
Cuz then you're going to be stretching that. We don't know where it's going to go. Well, quite honestly, since you're I tell me if you disagree, but I think you're better at this than me. So, if you want to lash that while I hold this and then we can trade off and you can do this and that, I'll start the fire. Okay. What do you think? Yeah, that's fine. Cuz I abysmally failed so far. And we still have to get fired for tonight. If we don't, it's going to be incredibly miserable.
It's going to get cold. You really need the other person for body heat. I'm going to be sleeping naked next to someone I don't know. is really kind of unnerving. It wasn't until I'm here and it's happening that I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I'm not really comfortable with this." I love my wife dearly and I would never intentionally jeopardize anything in our relationship. We need that fire. Think we got it going. We have our fire going and um we actually put down a shelter. Um, it's not finished, but we're up off the ground.
It's freezing. I think it's going to be a long night. we got the fire going, but it's uh still cold tonight. It's uh a little bit disconcerting for me. We had to kind of huddle for warmth. And uh doing that, I mean, I know it's just for warmth, but it just still feels kind of wrong. It's not natural anymore to be that close to anybody but my wife. It's so cold here at night. Like, it is unbearable. The fact that Tom has a problem sharing body heat is absolutely ridiculous. I have a feeling it's going to be a rough night. It's so cold here at night. Like, it is unbearable. The fact that Tom has a problem sharing body heat is absolutely ridiculous.
One heck of a crazy night. Last night was really rough. Um, it was freezing and the wind was blowing. I mean, we tried to like keep body heat, but it was awkward and listening to him talk about his like how mad his wife would be or some I'm like, I don't care. I don't care. Like, that's how I feel. So, I just got out and slept on wood, which is better. It's okay if I throw this behind you. Mhm. Day two, the plan first and foremost is to hydrate. I didn't think after one day I'd be hurting this much for water, but right now I'm just hurting for water.
The river water in Cambodia contains potentially dangerous bacteria. To avoid getting sick, Carrie and Tom will need to boil the water each time they want to hydrate. We're using thick bamboo to boil the water in. Check out this piece. Nice. Yeah. When you get a thicker piece, it's really easy to reuse it over the fire. And then it actually will hold more water. So, we'll get more water per boil. You can see it steaming. Give it a minute and take it out and drink it. Cheers. We had a victory. We need that fire. That's got to be our number one priority. That was good.
We'll see how tonight is. Honestly, it can't be worse than last night, just comfortwise. Um, we're a little bit worried just cuz our fire's pretty far away from us. Um, so we might get cold. What else are we doing? Suffering. Oh, yes. Bye guys. Peace out. Over the next 3 days, Carrie and Tom fortify their shelter, collect materials, and hydrate. But a failure to find food has led to serious malnourishment. He's like obsessed with collecting firewood. be absolutely obsessed with it. Like nothing else matters and we've never ran out of firewood at night ever.
Me and Tom are very different. He's fine with setting up shop where we have and just starving and just making it through the 21 days. And I feel like I'm just want more of an experience. Like I don't want to go home and be like, "Yeah, I kind of just sat on a rock for 21 days and here I am." Like I just don't want that. I want to wait a little bit more and warm up and then go for firewood. All right. [clears throat] You can make a firewood run too if you want. This bores me to death. We have a functioning site. We have the basics of what we need. We need to stick with what we know.
Is that how you want to live? No. But I think that's how we need to live. We got water. I don't I mean, but isn't this more about more than just surviving? No. This is not about more than just surv. Like honestly, if I have to sit here and cook water and knit a roof for 21 days, I will kill myself. I'm really taken aback by her assessing of the situation that we're in. I'm running ragged. I'm all for being adventuresome. I'm all for trapping animals. I just don't have it in me to do it right now.
Roger that. I'm tired. I'm hungry. Um, I've had almost no calories in the last 4 days. I feel like there's a huge disparity in work effort between the two of us right now and it's really frustrating me. My plan is to go off on my own, go adventure a little bit. I want to find food and just be by myself for a little bit. I'm just going to keep walking down the river cuz I'm hoping that it leads to salt water or I can find some crabs or I don't know, just anything. I really can't go that much farther cuz I'm freaking getting tired. I just keep hearing faster water.
I probably have been hiking for like a mile or so. I'm hoping that this ends to the water. Oh, yes. Perfect. Did not realize how claustrophobic I was until just now. And this clearing is amazing.
