Life Below Zero

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I bet.

I havent sen the show in quite awhile, but believe me, we who were there , see the 'compaction' and are often bewilderd.....but then 90% is pretty much what was going on.

Alot depends on what the lighting was like, as well on the same day, our sleds may start unloaded, get loaded and unloaded 2-10 times, depending on day , way and cargo.....but its been mentioned to me many a time, so I'll be looking when I do get a copy, as the season is soon ended, and the Summer episodes will begin, sometime down the road...
 
Sue runs an airport and lodging for folks who have business up that way, Guides, Hunters, researchers, ect. The "Cabins" are on wheels, tracks or are tents, as the leases given up that was do not allow permanent structures. It wasnt until recently that the Arctic has had the military FINALLY remove their abandoned junk, bases and atomic experiments, PCB spilled oils and fuels, ect. so most all camps and such are all removable, the land reclaimable.

One reason it seems to skip around, at least from this Fall is because we had a "freeze up, and then it warmed up again for almost a month and then we had another "Freeze up", damn near ruined our meats and fish, and alotta dogs got fat this winter from those who's did. The ice that formed at night cut our net webs, the fish with eggs went by and we skipped whitefishing
Also, our needs are different, from time to time, so we go with the flow
Are 55 gallon metal drums still known as Alaskan sunflowers? When we lived up there 40 years ago the drums were everywhere no matter where one went.
 
Caribou,
First let me say I love watching you and your family on the show. As an avid hunter myself I always carry a "survival kit" with me just in case. Seeing as you spend a great deal of time hunting do you carry a survival kit? I am always striving to improve mine and would love to hear what you carry. Kindest regards.
 
Sue ----- again !

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Quote Scattylobo
I am not in the least bit a fan of 'her' part of the show.

I see her more as a mercenary ,making scoots from all who need what she imports to her place.

She is the antithesis of ALL the others on that show ,who eek out a living the hard way.

All she seems to worry about is her FUEL [ something NONE of the others seem to have the luxury of ].

I just don't see her as a part & parcel of the rest of those who really do ,survive "LIFE BELOW ZERO".

my 00.02 cent's ,s'all. Quote

I am sure that you would be concerned with you fuel supply if you were living above the tree line. Where does your fuel come from? A delivery truck in your drive or a natural gas line buried up to your house?

If she runs out of fuel she is out of luck. You can not get much heat out of the small brush that grows up their.

Sure she can get to you but I will bet that you would not last very long up there in those conditions
 
Regardless of whether you like her personality or not, many seem to forget that she runs a one-woman operation, and it IS A BUSINESS IN A LAND WHERE EVERYTHING SIMPLY COSTS MORE TO HAVE DELIVERED.

Where you get free water & a hot shower as a built-in part of your vacation hotel stay, water & hot showers have to be procured & produced with much more effort at her "camp".
Same with food, meals, and many other amenities you & I take for granted.

Charging whatever fees she does to customers is based on the above, and that includes even the smaller items & basic services.

Any potential customer who doesn't like her prices is perfectly free to stay at any of her immediate competitors' establishments instead.
Fuel, food, equipment, tools, clothing, heating systems, electrical systems, storage systems, all have to be flown in.
She doesn't have access to cheap shipping services, she can't hit the local 7-11 or WalMart when she runs short on anything at all.

She lives in a totally different world from 99% of us, and among the others depicted on the show, she is NOT a family trying to survive off the land, she is NOT a loner trying to survive with native methods, she is not a married couple just choosing to live off somewhere by themselves, she does NOT have either the forest or oceanic ecosystems access the others have, and you really can't fault her for trying to run her operation as a for-profit enterprise. You really can't compare her to the other "cast" members.

She is the antithesis of all the others on the show?
Of course she is. She's running a business, the rest are replacing a conventional job with an unconventional lifestyle highly dependent on terrain that she doesn't live in.

It ain't greed, it ain't a "mercenary", it's a job; and in her circumstances, in that spot, there on her own, doing what she does, she has the right to structure her little part of a very hostile world in a way that pays her bills.
Denis
 
Sue is "Unique" and thats the inherent part of her show :D Much like Agnes, who is one of a kind, by virtue of being a Native Alaskan born here, not moved up, and therefore, also unique on the show.

I am the 5th white guy moved up , and I gladly step aside to allow viewers to see not only what we do, but how we pass that onto our kids, and more so for the wife and daughters, showing traditional stuff being taught, something I cant do....., so we all have unique places, and thats what makes for a great show :D

I dont carry a "survival bag" I carry a "travel bag", my "possibles bag' in old time jargon.and it has everything I need to stay out a night or three all year round. Im constantly shifting/sifting through it as I use the tools and such in it. Water proof fire kit, compass, spare knife, honeing stone, a German canteen with cups made all of metal, so I can thaw the canteen if the contents freeze, a first aid kit, wire, can opener, spoon, spare harpoon blades fishing lures and string, ect , ect, ect, and it changes with the seasons. Getting stuck out for a couple extra days is normal, not a survival situation, and usually due to crappy weather, or engine break downs.Its not routine, but it is something that happens enough that it dosent bother us much at all.

I Always have a military heater MRE, and a couple more in the boat or on the snowmachine,as they are water proof, float, have a warm meal inside, a cup of coffee and matches, so that never gets opened, or at least very rarely , and only for "Survival" purposes. In winter we take a couple silver packets of Life raft rations in the bag, the greasy cakes stuff, pure calories to keep a body warm at -40 when spending 5,000 calories ina day isnt hard....
 
OK,OK

So aside from the fact I cannot abide her 'personality' :fire:-- or lack thereof.

I see her as TOTALLY unable to survive under any of the conditions that the shows other "cast" do :neener:.

You all can defend her as you see fit,I don't have any problem with that:) [ but y'all seem to have one with my view ? ].

I was an LEO,and as such I met too many with her "personality" = or lack thereof as I stated.

Cannot abide such.

my 00.02 cents s'all
 
The only thing with Sue that I find annoying is her constantly saying how she is so close to getting killed, or just how critical every issue is to survival, but then again, she is up there essentially alone and I am sitting here nice and comfy in my home, with 911 available for real emergencies. Or maybe the producers encourage her to be making every event a life and death struggle, so as to increase the tension of the show.

In any event, I have been a real fan since the show started. I would not want that life for myself, but I greatly admire the fortitude and tenacity of all of the show's characters. I will continue to watch until and unless it deteriorates into a soap opera focusing on personal relationship issues.
 
Caribou: Your calling Jon 'your son' shows the type of man you are.
A loving, caring, adult human being. I'm sure not many noticed that, but just wanted you to know that your accepting him as your son shows your true love for Agnes. Thanks so much for being a part of LBZ and illustrating to viewers your and Agnes' love, happiness and your real life travails.
 
Thanx, Caribou fan.

When my wife devorced her first husband, I had allready known her a couple of years. When we got together a year after, I well knew both boys, and the whole "package". They were almost 4 and just turnd 2, and easy to get along with.

Being friends first and knowing each other well enough has made a difference, I think.

Me and her have been along together for 23 years, married for 19 inna few days, and shes still my best friend.

Scatty, does sue strike you as former Military? she strikes me that way, often.....
 
@ caribou

funny but its normal that you treat you son,as your son :D.

And you are normal !!.

as to this "
Scatty, does sue strike you as former Military? she strikes me that way, often "

I don't see anything but a mercenary that is looking for the dollar and is 100 % business oriented.

And MUCH,MUCH better armed than any others in the north.

And yea, I know she was attacked = how can you forget as she reminds us on every show.
 
does sue strike you as former Military?
No.
Most women, or men, in the military don't come away from it with a completely changed personality, and anti-social, loner, behavior.

To try to put it as delicately as possible in keeping with THR rules.

She strikes me as an older 'lady' without her 'lady' girlfriend any longer. :what:

rc
 
Some of you watch a edited show and see maybe 10 minutes a week of a person.

How can you judge someone based on that? She is trying to survive by herself in a wicked climate.. She was almost killed by a bear, Read the link I posted to her camp.

Walk a mile in her shoes, heck, walk 100 feet I doubt you could.

Don't care for her then simple, don't watch. Is she my favorite on the show?, no, but it's the way it is.

No "odd" folks here on THR:D
 
Caribou, I too really enjoy the show and have been a viewer from the start. Thanks for allowing us into your lives.

I do have one burning question regarding camera crew and logistics...where the heck do they stay? I'll guess with Sue they stay in one of her buildings, but is there lodging in your village?

And when they stay with the guy in the Brooks Range (his name escapes me), do they pitch tents and rough it as well? And assume they bring in all their rations, but what of water? They must also be getting it locally from the lakes and rivers?
 
Lobo,
Sue isn't there to "survive in the wilds", via the lifestyle the others use.
The producers chose to depict a different type of loaner, one who simply chooses to be alone much of the time, while running a business, instead of being a live-off-the-lander.

I'm no fan, she's the least watchable of the regulars, but criticizing her because she runs a business in a place & of a type that leaves her alone & forced to charge customers for services to stay in business, is silly.

It's just a different type of survival than what you want to see, and you have no conception of the costs involved in doing it.

As mentioned, potential customers are, or certainly should be, aware up front of what's involved, and they're free to either change plans to lay on a beach in Tahiti, or to use one of the many competitors' facilities located in Sue's immediate area. (In case it escaped you- that was a facetious reference to the point that she HAS no competitors, or anybody else at all, in her immediate area. Harsh conditions, nobody else wants to try it.)

If her customers were not understanding what was involved in getting supplies up there & were not willing to pay the costs of using her base, she wouldn't still be in business.

Survival way up there involves more than hunting, fishing, and trapping.
Her version is simply her version, and one that most of us would find intolerable.

OK for a couple guys to live alone via huntin' & trappin' and charge by the pelt, not OK for a woman to choose to live alone via a business & charge what it takes to make a sustained profit?

And, LEO has nothing to do with it.
I'm retired LEO, too. :)
Denis
 
RCMODEL = we agree

I see her as too much ---- period.

And I CHOOSE to watch the show DESPITE her being part of a show that deals with NO ONE ELSE like that.

I enjoy the real L.B.Z. people that are doing what seems almost impossible --- that does NOT include her.

I would LOVE to have her offer that "job" of her's to anyone who wants to try it.

I would be one of the first in line,and I promise I would NOT be 1/100 th as miserable under the same circumstances :evil:.

And I mentioned being an LEO ,due to the EDP's that I met during my 26 years on ----- she reminds me of many of them.

I have learned that the MUTE button of the remote is my bestest friend when they show her :banghead:.,Long as I get to it fast enough.

btw = it would be VERY,VERY,VERY interesting to see who actually does go up to her place,since that is NOT EVER SHOWN ???.

Funny,no ?.

If a normal hunter were to be there,why would they ALL object to being filmed ????,yes I am very curious.
 
Caribou.....Andy would disagree with you on your choice of drinking utensil. He told the "kid" he's teaching the ropes of living in the north that a metal cup would stick to your lips at -50 degrees and to use a wooden one.:D Congratulations to the both of you on your up coming anniversary. May you share many more years together.
 
Thanx, Caribou fan.

When my wife devorced her first husband, I had allready known her a couple of years. When we got together a year after, I well knew both boys, and the whole "package". They were almost 4 and just turnd 2, and easy to get along with.

Being friends first and knowing each other well enough has made a difference, I think.

Me and her have been along together for 23 years, married for 19 inna few days, and shes still my best friend.

Scatty, does sue strike you as former Military? she strikes me that way, often.....
caribou- I really enjoy the show quite a bit, but I really love watching your segment of the show. It's absolutely fantastic how you and Agnes are teaching your children skills that have been handed down for ages.
 
My wife and I enjoy the show. For us, the best 2 segments are caribou's family and Sue. My wife only watches for her segment. She doesn't care for the "made for camera" butchering scenes.
 
I lived in Delta Junction, amd.at that time, hometown of Ft. Greely, AK and CRTC(Cold Regions Test Center). I had loads of fun living there. No Walmart, but the Fred Meyers store carried anything you could possibly imagine. I hope to take my wife up to Alaska some day to visit.

I applaud your way of life and how you are raising your generations that follow. Do you get regular US Mail service?
 
@ medic51al

It really appears that he does have a 'can' on his rifle.

Funny that they have not mentioned what that is ---- if not a suppressor ?.

AND = if that is a can,its pretty costly as far as actual cost AND 200.00 tax stamp !.

I will NOT rant on about 'her' again as this show was more of the same :banghead::cuss:.
 
It really appears that he does have a 'can' on his rifle.

Funny that they have not mentioned what that is ---- if not a suppressor ?.

AND = if that is a can,its pretty costly as far as actual cost AND 200.00 tax stamp !.

I will NOT rant on about 'her' again as this show was more of the same :banghead::cuss:.

I was wondering that also. I think it is just a "muff" cover. I have only seen him shoot his shotgun on the show.

Wasn't it great how they ended the season with SUE!!:D;) That lasting moment to hold you over till next season. Hope there is another.:)
 
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