Survival Show Guide
Big River, Nunatsiavut region, northern Labrador, Canada (approx. 35 km / 21 mi south of Makkovik)

Terry Burns

Homer, Alaska, USA · Alone Season 9: Labrador (marketed on some platforms as "Alone: Polar Bear Island")

Age on show
31
Gear sourced
10/10
How far did Terry get? (tap to reveal)
Finished 7th of 10
Days lasted
42
Placement
7th
Terry Burns
Photo: Photo via Juneau Empire (juneauempire.com), "Homer man goes it Alone"

What Terry's pack had to handle

The crosscut saw is the personality in Terry Burns's kit. Most of his Labrador castmates carried folding saws; Burns, a commercial fisherman out of Homer, Alaska with a decade of construction behind him, packed a crosscut, the choice of someone whose hands are calibrated to heavy commercial equipment and who valued durability on big timber over packability. The other nine items follow the regional standard: axe, bow, fishing line and hooks, trapping wire, ferro rod, paracord, 2 quart pot, multitool, sleeping bag, none with recorded brands.

On paper his professional edge aligned perfectly with the location. Big River is fishing water, and a man who catches fish for a living carrying line and hooks into it is the closest thing this cast had to a home-field matchup. The list is balanced enough that nothing else needs flagging: three food methods, two cutting tools, full fundamentals.

What ended Terry's run (reveals the result)

Commercial fisherman who left a decade-long construction career to pursue a wilderness lifestyle in Alaska.

Why the run ended: Medically evacuated for low BMI (excessive weight loss) and a parasitic infection

Our take

His run ended at 42 days in seventh place through the show's medical protocol: excessive weight loss driving his BMI too low, compounded by a parasitic infection. The parasite is the detail we keep thinking about, because it undermines the fairest assumption in the game, that food caught equals calories kept. Contaminated water or an undercooked catch can quietly convert a working food strategy into a losing one, and no item among the ten guards against it beyond diligence with the pot and the fire. Burns had the skills and the right water. Biology intervened at a layer beneath gear entirely.

Everything Terry packed

Fully sourced selection. Photos marked “category example” show a typical product for that slot, not the exact unit carried. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Compare with the rest of the Season 9 cast or see what every winner carried.