Watching Alaska reality shows

I've been watching the Alaska reality shows, and it's interesting seeing which Jon boats the folks buy up there. It seems like Alweld and the Grizzley are the faves. That says a lot for the rougher service and environment they expect to use their boats in.

They seem to be longer and wider than the skiffs around here and they all seem to use pull start tillers.

Insane isn’t it! Those folks rely on their boats. That’s the real test environment in my opinion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We watch Life Below Zero.

In the beginning, the Hailstones had a beat up boat with a borrowed motor. They made it work, though. Now they have the same rickety ol' boat, but with a nice, newer motor. It's a 60hp Yamaha, I think.

On last week's episode, Jessie made a ridiculous raft by bolting logs together. He tied it to the front of his boat, loaded it up with logs for firewood, and pushed it home on what appeared to be a very dangerous river. No thank you.

" they all seem to use pull start tillers"

I suspect that a pull start tiller has far fewer parts and is more reliable in their environment.

No batteries to charge or run down....think of the "stuff" it takes for remote steering; battery-powered starters; key switches; and on and on... No marinas or boat stores up there.

richg99

I'd hate to have to pull start a 60hp motor several times a day.

.Mike said:

On last week's episode, Jessie made a ridiculous raft by bolting logs together. He tied it to the front of his boat, loaded it up with logs for firewood, and pushed it home on what appeared to be a very dangerous river. No thank you.

Click to expand...

Have you see the 20ft+ long flat bottom boat that Jesse built himself out of wood?

Scott F said:

I'd hate to have to pull start a 60hp motor several times a day.

Click to expand...

I would hate to be stuck in griz country with a dead battery.

Definitely the place for the KISS principal to rule, one reason why flasher isn't necessarily better.

-CN- said:

Have you see the 20ft+ long flat bottom boat that Jesse built himself out of wood?

Click to expand...

I've seen every episode!

Jessie has definitely improved his setup. I'm torn on whether he's a good fit for the show, though. He doesn't really do subsistence living like the rest of the people they follow. He drives a truck, lives along a road, has power lines running right past his property, and seems to buy much of his food. He has definitely chosen a tougher lifestyle than me, though!

He fits as well as Erik did. The first few seasons, he represented himself as living a subsistence life. The next couple seasons, we visit the hunting lodge he owns, see his airplane, his boat, etc. With luxuries like that, living below zero is much less interesting when watching from a subtropical climate.

I like life below zero and I watch another one....the last Alaskans? They will lose their land in the next generation? That’s a pretty good show.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i love these shows. i also like the swamp people. over loading the heck out of a jon boat like its nothing.

.Mike said:

We watch Life Below Zero.

In the beginning, the Hailstones had a beat up boat with a borrowed motor. They made it work, though. Now they have the same rickety ol' boat, but with a nice, newer motor. It's a 60hp Yamaha, I think.

On last week's episode, Jessie made a ridiculous raft by bolting logs together. He tied it to the front of his boat, loaded it up with logs for firewood, and pushed it home on what appeared to be a very dangerous river. No thank you.

Click to expand...

they did the same thing on last nights episode, running in the shallows while trying to set nets

Scott F said:

I'd hate to have to pull start a 60hp motor several times a day.

Click to expand...

I've pull started my old 2 stroke 55 horse Johnson from the 70's. I imagine these newer engines with electronic ignition and 4 cycles may be easier to start?

lovedr79 said:

i love these shows. i also like the swamp people. over loading the heck out of a jon boat like its nothing.

Click to expand...

I always wonder why they put such nig motors on their boats, until you see them trying to move with 20-25 big gators on board. :lol: