What 10 Items Did Each Alone UK Contestant Take?

We’ve created a separate article detailing those 56 items, which you can read here.

OK, so on to what contestants took with them. 

Six items everyone took

Ten items from a list of fifty-six sounds like an enormous decision. Line up what all eleven of us actually chose and it turns out it was not.

Every single contestant took the same six things: an axe, a saw, a cooking pot, a sleeping bag, a fire steel, and fishing line and hooks. Ten of the eleven took paracord. Nine took snare wire.

Every single contestant took the same six things. An axe, a saw, a cooking pot, a sleeping bag, a fire steel, and fishing line and hooks. Ten of the eleven took paracord. Nine took snare wire.

So the real choice was about four slots, and that’s where people separated. Six went for a gill net, six for a fixed blade knife, six for two kilos of pemmican, five for a multi-tool. One person took lentils. One took a recurve bow.

The obvious answers are obvious for a reason. Where it gets interesting is what you do with the last few, and whether you’d still make the same call knowing how it went.

Three of the eleven people on this page now run or lead expeditions for Desert Island Survival. That was not the plan. It is just what happens when a television programme puts eleven people who like being cold and hungry in the same place.

Tom Williams 

Hometown: Portsmouth, based in Lisbon. Won the series.
Instagram: @tomwilliamsalone

Founder of Desert Island Survival. He struggled with his weight and his confidence at school, then found exploration during a year abroad studying coral reefs at university. He’s spent the ten years since running expeditions, and he won this series.

Here are the ten items I took, and the thinking behind the ones that weren’t obvious.

• Axe 
• Saw
• Leatherman multi tool
• Cooking pot (2 litres)
• Sleeping bag
• Fire steel 
• Paracord (70m)
• Gill net 
• Fishing line and hooks (25 hooks & 300m fishing line) 
• 3.5lb of Snare wire

Why a multi-tool instead of a fixed blade knife

Six other people took the knife, so I was in the minority on this one.

My reasoning was that the multi-tool’s fixed blade gives you almost as much as a proper knife. Call it ninety percent. And I didn’t need a knife for batoning, because I had an axe for that. So I was ten percent down on the blade, and in exchange I had the sharpening blade for my axe, the pliers for manipulating snare wire and fish hooks, a mini saw, a sewing needle, and a good deal more besides.

Ten percent worse at one job, considerably better at six others. I’d take that again.

Why a gill net instead of food

Six people took two kilos of pemmican. I took the net.

I backed myself as a fisherman, and I looked at the net as passive income. Calories arriving while I was doing something else. I expected it to out-earn the pemmican comfortably.

It didn’t. That’s the one I got wrong.

What earned its place, and what didn’t

The fishing line and hooks, without question. Thirty-six fish over the course of it, and I don’t think I win without them.

The worst was the net, for the reasons above.

And the best single thing I ate wasn’t fish at all. I caught a duck, and it remains the best meal of my life, hands down.

What I’d change

The net goes. I’d take the bow and arrow instead, because there were grouse all around me and I had no way of reaching them. I didn’t know that when I was choosing, which is rather the point of the exercise.

Elise Wortley

Hometown: London
Instagram: @woman_with_altitude

Elise is a modern-day explorer. Inspired by tales of historic female adventurers, she embarked on ‘Woman with Altitude’. Once battling anxiety after her move to London, nature became her sanctuary, helping her heal and drive her project forward.

Here are the 10 items Elise chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Fixed blade knife
• Cooking pot (2 litres)
• Sleeping bag
• Fire steel 
• Paracord (70m)
• Gill net 
• Fishing line and hooks (25 hooks & 300m fishing line) 
• 2KG lentils

Pip Wright

Hometown: Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Instagram: @wild_wellness_scotland

A wild swimming coach and former Army Commando from Aberdeenshire, who now spends her time getting other people outdoors. She arrived with more directly relevant background than most of the field.

Here are the 10 items Pip chose for the Alone TV show:

• Axe 
• Saw
• Leatherman multi tool
• Cooking pot (2 litres)
• Sleeping bag
• Fire steel 
• Paracord (70m)
• 2kg Pemmican
• Fishing line and hooks (25 hooks & 300m fishing line) 
• 3.5lb of Snare wire

Alan

Hometown: Birmingham

A dedicated father and entrepreneur, Alan proudly manages two businesses alongside his wife. They focus on ethical meat sources and outdoor skills tutorials. A true family man, Alan dreams of his children cheering him on during his TV escapades.

Here are the 10 items Alan chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Fixed blade knife
• Cooking pot (2 litres)
• Sleeping bag
• Fire steel 
• Paracord (70m)
• 2kg Pemmican
• Fishing line and hooks (25 hooks & 300m fishing line) 
• 3.5lb of Snare wire

Mike

Hometown: Manchester

A woodworker from Manchester who came to the outdoors later than most, and says he found something there he’d been missing. Being a father is the thing he leads with.

Here are the 10 items Mike chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Leatherman 
• Cooking pot
• Sleeping bag
• Fire steel 
• Para cord (70m)
• Gill net 
• Fishing line and hooks (25 hooks & 300m line) 
• Snare wire

Javed

Hometown: Ripon
Instagram: @jzb100

Meet Javed, a methodical man with a scientific past and managerial prowess. An extreme sports enthusiast, he’s also charitable at heart. Javed’s ambitious streak once led him to construct his own home during the lockdown – just for the challenge.

Here are the 10 items Javed chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Leatherman multi tool
• Cooking pot (2 litres)
• Sleeping bag
• Fire steel 
• Paracord (70m)
• 2kg Pemmican
• Fishing line and hooks (25 hooks & 300m fishing line) 
• 3.5lb of Snare wire

Eva

Hometown: Leeds
Instagram: @eva__exploring

The outdoors came from her father and she’s made it her own since, through rock climbing, hiking and solo camping. She was among the youngest on the series.

Here are the 10 items Eva chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Fixed blade knife
• Cooking pot (2 litres)
• Sleeping bag
• Fire steel 
• Paracord (70m)
• 2kg Pemmican
• Fishing line and hooks (25 hooks & 300m fishing line) 
• gill net

Louie Seddon

Hometown: Wallasey
Instagram: @louie.seddon

Builder by day, adventurer at heart, Louie dreams of surviving with just an axe. A motorbike mishap once pinned him indoors, depleting his savings and spirits. Louie’s newfound outdoorsy passion ensures he’ll never feel trapped again.

Here are the 10 items Louie chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Leather man
• Cooking pot
• Gill net
• Snare wire
• Sleeping bag
• Fishing equipment 
• Ferro rod
• Bow

Laura Try

Hometown: Lincolnshire
Instagram: @lauratryuk

Laura’s experience from luxury-loving salon owner to outdoor enthusiast is nothing short of genuine. Having once conquered the Atlantic with her oars, she’s always in pursuit of her true self.

Here are the 10 items Laura chose for the Alone TV show

• Sleeping bag
• Knife
• Axe
• Saw
• Trapping wire
• Fishing kit
• Cooking pot
• Paracord
• Gill net
• Fire steel

Naomi Aldwyn-Allsworth

Hometown: Pembrokeshire, based in London.
Instagram: @naomijallsworth

Naomi designs outdoor apparel, which in practice means field-testing it in weather most people would come in from. She now leads expeditions for us, including Tonga and the Philippines.

Here are the 10 items Naomi chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Fixed blade knife
• Cooking pot
• Paracord
• Snare wire
• Sleeping bag
• Fishing equipment 
• Ferro rod
• 2kg Pemmican

Kian Baig

Hometown: From London
Instagram: @_.kianbaig

Kian was the youngest contestant on the series. He studies War Studies, reads survival literature for the fun of it, and does judo. And yes, he’s a proud gold medallist from the 2019 London Youth Games.

He runs our Sweden Alone Adventure.

Here are the 10 items Kian chose for the Alone TV show

• Axe 
• Saw
• Fixed blade knife
• Cooking pot
• Paracord
• Snare wire
• Sleeping bag
• Fishing equipment 
• Ferro rod
• 2kg Pemmican

Which 10 items would you have chosen? And why?

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