Season 10 is the season people search for when they want a gear list that actually worked. Ten items, Northern Saskatchewan, and a winner who stayed 66 days. Here is the honest breakdown of what the ten-item list looked like in practice, why the picks repeated across contestants, and what the same logic means for your own kit.
The ten-item rule, in plain terms
Contestants choose 10 items from an approved list. Clothing, a first aid kit, and safety/emergency gear are issued separately and do not count. That means every one of the ten slots has to earn its place against cold, calories, and time — the three things that actually end seasons.
The Season 10 consensus list
Nearly every serious Season 10 kit contained some version of this:
| Slot | Typical pick | What it actually did |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saw (bow or folding) | Firewood volume. The single biggest heat-per-hour lever. |
| 2 | Axe | Shelter frame, splitting, dry inner wood in wet weather. |
| 3 | Sleeping bag | Non-negotiable in a boreal fall. |
| 4 | Ferro rod | Ignition that survives being soaked. |
| 5 | Pot | Boiling water, rendering fat, cooking fish. |
| 6 | Gillnet | The highest-calorie item on the list, full stop. |
| 7 | Fishing line and hooks | Backup protein when the net comes up empty. |
| 8 | Paracord | Shelter, snares, net repairs, everything. |
| 9 | Multitool or knife | Fine work: hooks, triggers, fish processing. |
| 10 | Bow and arrows / trapping wire | The big-game or small-game gamble. |
Why the gillnet keeps winning
The gillnet is passive. It works while you sleep, while you build, while you rest. Every other food item on the list costs calories to use. In a season measured in weeks, passive calories beat active ones every time — that is why long-stay finishes almost always feature a net set in a productive back bay.
Where contestants lost the season
- Under-gunned cutting tools. A small hatchet in boreal spruce means a permanent firewood deficit.
- Choosing a bow without practice. A bow costs a slot and pays nothing unless you already shoot well under stress.
- No fat strategy. Protein without fat is a slow starvation curve. Fish skins, organs, and rendered fat matter more than volume.
Translating the list to a real trip
You are not on the show, but the logic holds for a self-supported week in cold country: cutting capacity, dry ignition, a real sleeping system, and a passive food source. Our Top 10 lists cover the modern versions of each slot, and the Pack Weight Budget Planner shows you what those choices cost in pounds.
FAQ
What are the 10 items on Alone Season 10? Contestants each chose their own ten from the approved list. The most common Season 10 set was saw, axe, sleeping bag, ferro rod, pot, gillnet, fishing line and hooks, paracord, multitool, and either a bow or trapping wire.
Does clothing count toward the 10 items? No. Clothing, the issued first aid kit, and emergency/safety equipment are provided separately.
What is the most valuable Alone item? Historically the gillnet, because it produces calories passively while the contestant does other work.
Build the kit you just watched
Every item below is ranked from field use — no filler, no budget picks.
- The 10 items, rankedWhat actually survives 100 days — our tested picks for every slot on the list.
- Best bushcraft axesThe axe is the highest-leverage pick in the game. Here are the ones worth the weight.
- Best bushcraft knivesEvery winner carried one. These are the fixed blades that hold up to a full season.
- What the winners carriedSeason-by-season loadout analysis of every Alone champion.