Jordan Jonas: Arctic Survival and Winning Alone Season 6

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Episode Show Notes

Jordan Jonas is the survivalist who won Season 6 of the History Channel show Alone, lasting 77 days alone in the Arctic using traditional survival skills. On this episode of the Tom Rowland Podcast, Jordan joins Tom to talk about what it actually took to survive that long with almost nothing, the traditional tricks he leaned on to catch fish when his own methods failed, and how that experience has led him into teaching survival skills to others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Jordan Jonas?

Jordan Jonas is a survivalist and outdoorsman who won Season 6 of the History Channel show Alone, surviving 77 days in the Arctic using traditional wilderness skills.

What is the show Alone, and what did Jordan Jonas do on it?

Alone is a survival competition where contestants live completely alone in the wilderness, filming themselves, for as long as they can last. Jordan Jonas won Season 6 by lasting 77 days in the Arctic.

What fishing trick does Jordan Jonas describe from his time on Alone?

After days without a catch, he moved his net to a new spot and hung a shiny tin can cut into fish shapes inside it, a trick he had seen native people use. A pike struck the net right where he hung it.

Does Jordan Jonas teach survival skills?

Yes. Around the time of this conversation with Tom, Jordan announced his first weekend and week-long survival seminars, an idea that came up directly in this episode.

Where can I listen to the full conversation?

Press play above, or find this episode of the Tom Rowland Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

Why I Wanted Jordan Jonas On the Show

Rob Chapman, a past guest of mine, told me I had to watch Alone, and I got completely sucked in watching Season 6. Jordan won it, and what he did out there was remarkable enough that I wanted to hear it directly from him rather than just watch it on television.

Seventy-Seven Days With Almost Nothing

All of the contestants on Alone are legitimate survivalists, but Jordan lasted longer than anyone else in that season, seventy-seven days in the Arctic. The tin-can fishing trick alone tells you something about the level of resourcefulness required — it is worth hearing him walk through the rest of it himself.

From Surviving Alone to Teaching Others

By the time we recorded this, Jordan had already started talking about running his own survival seminars, and between recording and publishing this episode he announced the first one on Instagram. What that program looks like, and why he decided to start teaching, is covered in the conversation.

Final Thoughts From Me

This was one of those episodes where I mostly just wanted to listen. Jordan has lived through something almost none of us ever will, and hearing him describe it plainly, without embellishment, made it even more impressive. Press play above to hear it all.

People & Brands Mentioned

Jordan Jonas, Rob Chapman.

About Jordan Jonas

Jordan Jonas is a survivalist and outdoorsman best known for winning Season 6 of the History Channel's Alone, where he survived 77 days alone in the Arctic using traditional wilderness and fishing skills.

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Episode Transcript

[Verbatim excerpt from the full episode transcript on file in Google Drive (doc 11PusAW9YA6LHniIfcPPIwedbP5AHnHaqLBdnv_kHCAg, EP 109 per Deepgram Nova-2 transcription, 13,908 words total). Full transcript not fully embedded here due to length; excerpt below is verbatim from the opening of the episode.]\n\nSpeaker 1: Yeah. I put it where I'd been fishing and catching a lot of fish, and it sat there for a few days, and I didn't get anything. And I actually was like, oh gosh, I'm actually gonna move my net. I didn't even know if it was worth it, but I got it out of the ice and took it to a whole another spot and plunked it down, and that was it. That's where I just, the next day, checked it, and I couldn't believe it. It took a long time for it to dawn on me that I even caught a fish because, well, I had done some little tricks. So I put, what I saw the natives do is they hang shiny things in their net, and so I did that. I found a tin can that I cut out fish shapes and hung it in my net. And sure enough, that's right where the pike struck the net. This is Jordan Jonas, and this is the Tom Roland podcast. Speaker 0: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the podcast today. I have been watching this show on television that I think is fantastic. It was referred to me by a guy that I've had on the podcast before, Rob Chapman. He told me, man, if you're not watching this show, you should be watching it. It's on the History Channel. It's called Alone. Alone season six. And, man, I got sucked in. It was really good. And spoiler alert, Jordan Jonas wins season six, and he did some remarkable things on the show. It was really incredible. All of the contestants are legit survivalists, and the show is very well put together and very well done. They're surviving in the Arctic. I think they made it seventy-seven days. And our guest today is Jordan Jonas, and I think you're gonna really enjoy this podcast. I did. And while we were doing it, we were talking about maybe in the future he could offer some weekend kinda seminars or week-long survival courses and stuff like that. And I just noticed between the time that we did the podcast and now on his Instagram, he just announced his first one.

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