March 6, 2024 • 37 mins
EJ Snyder has spent 206 days in very tough, uncompromising environments, having to create his own shelters, forage for food, and keep warm in the elements--all in the nude. EJ--a.k.a. "Skull Crusher"--is an extreme survivalist, and has appeared six times on the reality television show "Naked and Afraid" (as well as other shows). So are reality shows really as challenging as they look? Do the crews ever help out struggling contestants? EJ shares all the dirt (so to speak), and gives lots of practical tips about how we all can survive extreme situations. After all, even those of us who never plan to spend days or weeks in the bush may find ourselves in a hurricane or blizzard--or, as EJ likes to say, a "zombie apocalypse!"
In this episode:
02:09--How EJ got into the Army, and how that led him to "Naked and Afraid"
04:41--Why naked?
06:19--EJ's major "concerns" in the wild, + the four pillars of survival
08:49--Are reality shows rigged? Are they really struggling as much as it appears?
12:28--Dealing with the camera crew
13:14--The beauty of vulnerability, even for "alpha males"
14:01--Story behind the nickname "Skull Crusher"
16:23--Why survival skills are important for everyone, not just adventurers
20:34--What really surprised EJ from doing "Naked and Afraid"
22:37--Losing weight--and what he ate--on the show
25:30--How to keep warm in the wild
28:19--Why we all need to know survival skills
32:18--How EJ's childhood affected who he became
Want to know more about EJ?
- Find him at his website: www.ejsnyder.com
- Follow him on Instagram: @ejsnyder333
- Tweet him on Twitter/X: @ejsnyder333
Want to know more about "What It's Like To..."?
- Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube! Go to https://www.youtube.com/@WhatItsLikeTo2023
- Sign up to be on our Insiders' List to receive our newsletters and insiders' information! Go to whatitsliketo.net (sign-ups are at the bottom of the page)
- Follow us on social media:
0R4QUbhXAo42HAmQAnm7
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
EJ (00:08):
I tell people look, it's survival.
Simple.
Just don't die.
And that's why I'm an extremesurvivalist.
Cause I always take it to thatmeasure of what am I prepared to
do if the chips are so far down?
Will I drink nasty water?
If I can't purify it, sure Iwill.
If that gives me three, four,maybe five days to get to some
help, then I'll worry about thesickness later.
(00:28):
And hopefully it won't besomething that will destroy me
the rest of my life.
Elizabeth (00:36):
Hello, and welcome to "What It's Like To..." The
podcast that lets you walk insomeone else's shoes and live
vicariously through their uniqueexperiences.
I'm your host, formerjournalist.
Elizabeth Pearson Garr.
And each episode, I'll be askinga new interviewee all the what,
why, when, and wheres of howthey do what they do.
(00:56):
If they can do it, so can you.
In case you've never heard ofthe TV show"Naked and Afraid,"
here's the premise.
Two complete strangers, one maleand one female, are put in some
of the most extreme places onearth with no food, no water, no
clothes, and only one survivalitem each as they attempt to
(01:18):
make it on their own.
My guest today, EJ Snyder, wason"Naked and Afraid" six times
for 206 days.
He's what's known as an extremesurvivalist and adventurer.
EJ also is an army combatveteran and was awarded two
bronze stars and has appeared inmany other TV shows and movies
and has earned the nickname"Skull Crusher." EJ, we have a
(01:39):
lot to talk about.
Welcome to my podcast.
EJ (01:42):
Hey, thanks for having me today.
I'm really looking forward toit.
I really appreciate it.
Elizabeth (01:46):
Thank you.
I'm excited to talk to youbecause you are definitely
someone who is so different fromme.
You've had such different lifeexperiences.
So I really want to find outabout you and what makes you
tick?
EJ (01:58):
Well I really believe I was born this way and every test
I've been put through in my lifeprepared me to be where I'm at
exactly right now, you know,God's plan is perfect and he
knows what's up.
So I grew up a poor kid inJersey.
I was very fascinated by the"First Blood" movie with Johnny
Rambo, who was this green beretand he was a survivalist and I
was like this guy isn't real,but there's got to be somebody
(02:20):
like him.
And so that really intrigued me.
And so I joined the army.
My intent was to go into theSpecial Forces.
I was a really good soldier maderank really, really fast.
And I got exposed to formalsurvival training in the army
and actually became aninstructor.
Taught it for three years in thearmy, started teaching people on
the outside.
And I just wanted to be the bestsurvivalist that I could be on
the planet for bad days to takecare of myself and my loved
(02:42):
ones.
And it propelled me down theroad.
I went through the army, did 25years, I went to two different
wars, the'91 Gulf war andOperation Iraqi Freedom.
And I was really good at it andI loved it, but 25 years I was
like, now what?
So I was in Hawaii stationed andI got to dabble in acting as an
outlet for some of my stuff Iwas dealing with from the war.
(03:03):
And, I started actually reallyliking it and I was doing pretty
well at it.
I started applying for somereality shows that I love, like
"Survivor" and some other stuff.
And my name just startedfloating around.
The Next thing I know I wasdoing some consulting work in
the adventure world andDiscovery found me and they had
a TV show,"Dual Survival," theywanted me to come try out for.
But they picked another guy overme.
(03:23):
I finished in second.
Well, they're like, we got thiscrazy new extreme survival show
we think you're perfect for.
You got the best skills we'veseen a long time, really
qualified.
We think you're tough enough.
We think you can handle this andif you can help us build it,
we'll have a series.
So I filmed the pilot episode inJanuary 2013 with a lady named
Kellie and now we have this hitTV series almost 11 years later,
(03:45):
some 16 seasons.
I think 10 or 11 XL series,which is the longer version, and
for those out there that don'tknow, the normal"Naked and
Afraid" you do 21 days man and awoman a couple items each,
they've done some versions wherethey've added a third and
sometimes a fourth.
They call it a tribe episode.
But normally it's 21 days andyou got to make it to the end
with just a few items.
(04:06):
The longer version was moretribal.
It was six men-six women brokeup in little groups and
eventually we joined together.
You do 40 days.
A few more items than you havein the 21 dayer and then they
eventually expanded that to a 60day challenge.
And then they did a coupleversions of where you go out by
yourself, I participated in thatas well.
And they've done some spinoffs,a thing called"Castaways" where
(04:28):
they maroon people on an island,and they can only use what they
find on the island to make itand a couple other different
versions.
But the premise is pretty much: no clothes, few items, your (04:35):
undefined
skills, your wits and you makeit, and a lot of people get
wrapped up around, why naked?
Well clothing is your firstlayer of shelter.
You take away that youphysically take away a layer of
shelter plus a psychologicallayer of shelter to where you're
mentally and emotionally exposednow that you're naked to the
world, what do you got to hide?
(04:56):
Right?
So, very intriguing concept.
I didn't like the title whenthey started, thought it was
kind of dumb, but what do Iknow?
So.
Elizabeth (05:04):
Now you've done it enough that I'm sure you're more
used to it, but initially, didit feel weird to be viewed so
much?
Or did that just get to besecond nature?
EJ (05:13):
We have more problems than to be worried about people
looking at us.
I kind of felt bad for themhaving to look at me all the
time, buck naked.
It just really, really didn'tbother me.
We have a bag that we wear, theygive you a satchel.
And most of the time you cancover up your bits and pieces
for that.
It helps the editors out.
It just becomes very natural tobe out there that way.
That's the way, you know,ancient man and women were tens
(05:35):
of thousands of years ago.
So, when I first took my clothesoff, I was just starting
thinking to myself, they reallyare serious about this.
I got to take my clothes off.
Okay.
And I was like, man, I wonderwhat my military buddies are
going to be thinking.
Oh, I wonder if I'm going tostill have a bar stool at the
VFW.
Wonder what my mom's going tothink.
Oh, geez.
And I'm like, wow, I'm out herein Africa, buck naked.
(05:56):
All right, let's go safari.
What the heck?
It's my first time in Africa.
Feels about right.
Elizabeth (06:01):
So once that becomes a little more natural, so to
speak feeling, what becomes yourbiggest worries, I guess, food
and shelter?
EJ (06:10):
For me, I don't really worry much.
This is what I do in my life.
This is how I'm made, so for me,it's just natural as breathing
being out there.
So I never have worries.
I have concerns.
There's always the wildlifeconcern, somebody getting
injured, my partner, you know,us working good as a team and
making sure we're taking care ofeach other.
I don't really have a lot offears or concerns or worries.
(06:31):
It's old hat for me.
I go to town, what environmentam I in?
What kind of a shelter do Ineed?
We got that wired down, this isour base camp.
Let's get fire going.
Let's get some water.
All right.
Once we get all the tasks done,let's get some hunting tools
together.
Let's go get some food.
There's nine pillars ofsurvival, but those four are
what they call the core four.
And, every day waking up, you'vegot to improve them.
You've got to go to the mundanetasks of gathering firewood for
(06:54):
the night, patching the shelter,making sure you've got the
water.
A lot of the tasks that peopledon't find very glorious, but
have to be done.
And they're no less importantthan the person out there
hunting.
Elizabeth (07:03):
Yeah.
It's, really amazing to thinkhow far we have come from that
in our regular lives now in oursort of suburban and city lives.
Yeah.
How we take so many things forgranted, how we just go turn on
a faucet and we're warm all thetime and we just go to a
refrigerator for food and we getin a car to drive places and we
(07:26):
don't do any of those basicthings anymore.
EJ (07:29):
And the big thing with going out there, you unplug.
No cell phones.
There's no communications.
You're pretty well isolated.
We were on our 60 day challengeduring the 2020 elections and
completely isolated from whatwas going on the world.
We went in towards the back endof October.
So it was the end of fall thenwe finished out in the middle of
December, got completelywinterized out there.
(07:50):
When we went in, there wasHalloween decorations all out.
You could see the houses andthen we came out, it was all
decorated for Christmas.
That was a real mind blowingthing.
And the sensory overload wasright out the box.
As soon as we got out of theswamp.
We're driving, we see theChristmas decorations, next
thing I know we're on thehighway, that's just a lot to
take in, when you've unpluggedand you've really reset your
(08:12):
body clock.
Elizabeth (08:14):
It's a good note that we all should do that
occasionally, do thatunplugging.
I mean, maybe not go for 21 daysbeing naked and afraid, but we
could at least go for a weekendand unplug and just be in
nature.
EJ (08:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Elizabeth (08:27):
To just be a little more quiet and back to the
basics is good for our minds.
So I feel like what people oftenthink about reality shows is
there has to be something riggedabout it.
It can't be that hard.
Do they really leave you outthere on your own?
If you're really struggling, isthere a lifeline?
EJ (08:48):
No.
Well, it is the most realsurvival show out there.
In my opinion, I think it'sharder than the TV show"Alone."
Although"Alone" is also veryreal.
They have about 30 items thatthey're out there with.
And yes, they're in solitude,but I've spent a total of 39
days, not all consecutively, outin"Naked and Afraid," by myself.
(09:08):
I go out often by myself insolitude, for long periods of
time.
I go out for a couple of monthswith no issue, nobody else, and
bit of gear.
Sometimes I'm training withoutvery much gear because my thing
was, I always wanted to be ableto go out with just a knife.
As far as it being scripted ororchestrated.
There's a little directing,getting people to their start
points to get them into thechallenge.
(09:30):
Towards the end, if there's somelike high end extraction stuff,
let's say a helicopter or, avessel.
There are some insurance thingsthere.
And we don't want them gettinghurt.
So those kinds of things reallywere never an issue when they
were filming me, but for someothers I imagine there might
have been.
There's no help.
There is a medical safety net incase something drastic gets
(09:51):
hurt.
One of the challenges that wason my fifth one I actually fell
off a tree and speared my righttesticle and had to get it
treated in the field.
So there are those measures inthere.
It is highly dangerous whatwe're doing.
But there's no scripting,there's no helping.
Some people may say, you know,it is edited.
So with an edit, let's say forinstance, 21 days is about 504
(10:11):
hours out there in thechallenge.
So you got that much filminggoing on, with the camera crew,
us filming ourselves, the campcameras.
So there's a lot of footage.
And there has to be some kind ofa story, entertainment wise that
captures the journey for what itwas and don't always get it
right.
But for the people that go outthere it is a very real
(10:31):
experience, very real challengeand when I do the interviews,
with casting for futurecandidates that are going out.
I've been the senior survivalconsultant for the series since
season three and that's part ofmy duties.
I tell them you're going to gettwo experiences: You're going to
get your experience with yourpartner.
Nobody can take that away fromyou.
You'll always have that the restof your life.
Then you'll have the TVexperience, which is an edited
version.
(10:52):
No matter how much you try tosay,"Hey, that didn't go like
that." All the fans out therearen't going to believe you
because they saw it on TV, itmust've happened.
But it is very much a realexperience.
And, the camera crew pretty muchtries to stay hands off.
But, you know, after beingaround those folks for 10 years,
you develop some friendships andthere are some conversations
about, what are you going to dotoday?
(11:12):
What's your plan?
You know, you gotta get ready tofilm and stuff.
So there's gotta be a littlecoordination.
And then occasionally, you know,they'll be like, Hey, Rob, how's
your wife doing, how'd she makeout with that illness or
whatever.
But it's not like we sit downand have coffee and biscuits,
you know, if you don't get thefood or you don't get the water,
you're not eating, you're notdrinking, if your shelter's
crummy, you're going to freeze,that's all there is to it.
(11:33):
They're not going
Elizabeth (11:33):
to help you out.
So they're sitting in a campsitepretty nearby and they're
getting food and better shelter?
EJ (11:39):
Where we have our camp set up, there'll be anywhere from
800 meters to a thousand metersaway.
It'll be a support.
A little support tent or a popup.
Where the medic, and maybe ifthere's a local boat guy, that's
got to get people back andforth.
He might be there in casethere's an emergency.
The crew will go back in thereand they'll take their break
there.
If they take a break orwhatever, eat their lunch there.
(12:00):
And then they'll come back towhere we're at.
So they don't stay out there.
They stay in the country,nearby.
Some of them got to do an hourlong movement to get in and out
sometimes longer.
If they're staying at some lodgeor a river camp or something
like that.
In Africa the first episode theystayed in a bush camp and they
had a bunch of tents and stufflike that but it was camping it
(12:20):
wasn't like they were at a fivestar hotel.
Elizabeth (12:23):
And is there a cameraman with you pretty much
24 hours a day in case somethinghappens?
EJ (12:28):
Yeah for the most part the camera crew's with us for the
majority of the day from thetime they come in to the time
they leave which is usuallysometime after sun up till just
before sun goes down unlesssomething big's going on that
night.
They may bring a night crew into film some night things for a
little bit.
Not normally unless it's areally big event.
They'll stay out longer but onthe ones where there's 12 people
(12:51):
out there the longer 40 day,they've got more camera crews
around to help do that.
At night you're primarilyresponsible for filming yourself
and anything that happens.
So you get really good at beingyour own camera person.
Elizabeth (13:02):
I'm wondering, do you ever feel vulnerable?
Like, do you start secondguessing yourself?
Like, maybe I don't want to dothis or expose this because it's
going to be seen by millions ofpeople.
EJ (13:14):
I think there's a lot of greatness and lessons to be
learned not just for myself butby others about being
vulnerable.
I think this world's come toopassive about being vulnerable
and showing yourvulnerabilities.
I like to show that I'm prettymuch a rugged man's man.
I'm an alpha male.
But I have no problem crying.
And I wear my emotions on mysleeve and I will tear if the
moment is appropriate fortearing and it's not that I'm a
(13:37):
big cry baby.
It's just certain things affectme and touch my heart, I'm gonna
let it out.
I'm like a pressure cooker.
that's why I do a lot ofyelling.
You got to release that stuffinto the atmosphere.
Otherwise if it's inside youit's just gonna stew and get
worse.
Elizabeth (13:50):
Yeah.
I like that.
I'm all for more vulnerabilitytoo.
That's part of the reason I liketo do this podcast is to have
these long conversations withpeople where people can really
talk about things.
Absolutely.
Can you tell me a little aboutyour nickname,"Skull Crusher?"
It sounds really extreme.
EJ (14:05):
Yeah, it is kind of extreme.
It kind of came about, anickname that was given to me in
the military, from being in abarracks fight.
Outside the ring or combat, I'venot thrown many first punches.
I've thrown a lot of lastpunches.
And my mother always said, youhave the right to defend
yourself.
We were in a barracks party andthere was a particular character
that was known to get a littleintoxicated and he would sucker
(14:28):
punch guys all the time.
And so I was talking to one ofmy friends and I seen this fist
come flying right by my head.
Hit my friend, my friend wentdown I was like what the heck?
I turned around and I shovedthis guy that hit him to the
ground.
I turned around and take care ofmy friend.
We gotta get you some stitchesand next thing I know I felt
some glass smash on the back ofmy head I still don't know if it
was a beer bottle or a beer mug.
(14:49):
I turned around was the samecharacter.
Ooh, I jumped on him and I pappap pap and he went down I got
on top of him I was hitting himand the guys pulled me off of
him and I'm like, Dude, youknow, that's not cool, man.
Then the next morning I waswalking to the formation and I
can hear these guys in the backof formation.
They're looking at me and theykeep going, Hey, Skull Crusher.
Hey, what's up Skull Crusher.
Hey, I'm like, what the heck'sgoing on?
(15:10):
So I went down to the formation.
I got in there with my platoonand I'm like, what in the heck
is going on?
I looked down there and it's theindividual I got in this
altercation with, he had allthis white bandages across his
nose.
His eyes were kind of blackenedand I guess fractured some of
his cheekbones and when I wouldget in the ring for boxing,
people would say it felt likecinder blocks were hitting them.
So felt like their heads werecrushing in and so that Skull
(15:33):
Crusher nickname kind of stuck.
Elizabeth (15:35):
All these years.
EJ (15:36):
Yeah, and then it got more to the character of not
physically crushing skulls, butmetaphorically crushing some
skulls as a leader and just howI handle problems and
situations-- you're the crusher.
Elizabeth (15:46):
Yeah.
That's something we all cantake.
Any problem in our way.
We can just crush it.
EJ (15:51):
You can't give up.
There's always one more thingyou can do.
I say that in survivalsituations.
You just have to stay positivemindset.
Stay focused.
Don't think with emotion.
Stay calm.
Any situation in your life, youcan get through it.
It's amazing how a positivemindset will get you through
most things.
Elizabeth (16:07):
What do you think these survivalist skills are
mostly good for?
Is it people who are likebackpackers and out in the
wilderness a lot or can--
EJ (16:18):
Survival skill.
Elizabeth (16:19):
Just everyday people?
EJ (16:21):
Yeah.
I beat you to the punch.
Survival skills are good for theeveryday Joe or Joan is what I
like to say.
Because you never know when asurvival situation is going to
happen, who you're with, whenit'll happen, where it'll
happen, and what you'll havewith you.
So, I like to teach a lot ofclasses the basics of survival
for the everyday Joe or Joan.
I don't want you to be the nextBear Grylls or Cody Lundin or EJ
(16:41):
Snyder.
I want you to be the best youyou can be.
And so those skills will developyour confidence.
And so that way, if you're a momwith your kids in say upstate
New York and you drive off theroad in a blizzard, you'll have
some mental fortitude on how tohandle that situation if
nobody's coming for you.
And I tell people all the time,survival's on you.
No one's coming to save you.
You better take your situationinto your own hands.
(17:04):
And, rely on yourself.
And if somebody else comes,great.
And I teach people how to workout a basic survival kits, how
to prep their cars for winter orfor hurricanes and just have a
good mindset.
I hate the term prepper becauseall people should be prepared
for any situation and not be avictim.
And if you get crippled by thesituation.
And you let fear cripple youfrom action, that's a bad thing.
(17:26):
A lot of people get wrappedaround survival protocols and
what's in the book, what's notin the book.
And I tell people, look, it'ssurvival.
If you didn't die, it worked.
Simple.
Just don't die.
If it worked.
It's a survival skill.
It worked for you.
And that's why I'm an extremesurvivalist.
Cause I always take it to thatmeasure of what am I prepared to
do if the chips are so far down?
(17:47):
Will I drink nasty water?
If I can't purify it, sure Iwill.
If that gives me three, four,maybe five days to get to some
help, then I'll worry about thesickness later.
And hopefully it won't besomething that will destroy me
the rest of my life.
Elizabeth (18:00):
Yeah, I was looking on your Instagram, you have a
lot of good tips, just littlesnippets.
Things you can do, one thinghere, another thing there.
EJ (18:08):
King of the one minute survival tips, hacks, and
tricks.
Elizabeth (18:11):
And like, one of the things was to have a trash bag
with you at all times.
Oh yeah.
Why that?
EJ (18:16):
A trash bag is a very good tool.
And I always recommend peopleget those big 42 gallon heavy
duty construction or leaf bags.
And the reason I say that is I'msix foot three.
It's not going to make a greatsleeping bag for me, but if
you're out in the wild and youhave a situation where you don't
have a blanket or something, youcan take that trash bag, fill it
with leaves or pine needles.
(18:36):
You've got a ready made sleepingbag right there to keep you
warm.
You can take that same trash bagand make a roofing that will
protect you from the rain.
Or you can turn it into a ponchoand wear it over your head and
cut a hole in it and stay drywhen there's a storm.
You can make cordage with itwith strips of plastic and you
braid them together.
It can capture water so you canhave fresh rainwater to drink.
(18:58):
You can make a solar still bycovering a hole in the ground,
with that bag and seal it up andhave a little cup on the bottom,
throw some vegetation in thereand it'll make fresh water from
you by the condensation.
Trash bag will keep all yourclothes in your pack nice and
dry.
It can also be used as aflotation device if you're in
the water.
So it is a multi use item.
(19:20):
I always carry two in my pack toprotect my clothes from getting
wet and then I have them as aresource if I need them later.
Elizabeth (19:26):
Wow.
Amazing.
Just one thing like that, canchange someone's experience out
there.
I saw another one where you wereusing charcoal to brush your
teeth.
EJ (19:34):
Oh yeah, gotta keep your pearly whites ready.
Health and hygiene is veryimportant to keep you from
getting sick, especially in asurvival situation where you're
in the field.
And if you don't havetoothpaste, charcoal is a very
good resource item.
You can brush your teeth withit.
You rinse your teeth out.
They'll get very white.
It's kind of abrasive.
I used to take little sticks andfeather'em up at the end so it's
a brush, but I also have used myfinger.
(19:56):
If you have an upset stomach,you can drink some of that
charcoal and ingest it and itwill nullify some of the bad,
nasty things going on in yourstomach.
You can add it to a primitivewater filter to help purify some
of the water, get some of thebitterness taste out of the
water.
And if you like I have blueeyes, very sensitive to the
light, I make a paste and I putthe black under my eyes, like
(20:17):
you see athletes do and itattracts the heat into that
area, as opposed right into youreyes.
A lot of people think itreflects it.
The grease paste that thefootball players use, I believe
does, but charcoal.
It doesn't really reflect it.
It attracts the heat right tothat spot.
Elizabeth (20:32):
Oh, how interesting.
What were some things thatyou've experienced either on the
show"Naked and Afraid" or othershows you've been on that really
surprised you?
Were there any incidents thatyou got in that you thought,
wow, I haven't been in thisexperience before.
This was really testing me.
EJ (20:49):
I've had some of those come up and I embrace them because,
through testing and fire comesgrowth.
But nothing I was not preparedto handle based on my
experience, my skills and mytraining.
But what did surprise me isputting my naked butt on TV and
how many millions of peopleacross the globe I would inspire
in some way to change theirlives, to save lives, literally,
(21:10):
to get off of addiction or a badrelationship situation or tackle
a job problem.
The messages I received I wasnot anticipating, not expecting
at all.
That did surprise me completely.
Elizabeth (21:24):
And how did that translate for them?
Watching you out there being asurvivalist.
How did they take that and say,Hey, I'm going to go to AA or
something.
EJ (21:33):
There's something they saw on the show that resonated with
them.
You never know.
When you meet somebody, astranger on the street,
whatever, the words you speak tothem or the actions you take
with them may change their lifeor even save it.
It's a fact.
And I've had so many messageswhere people are contemplating
suicide.
And they saw me in the show andI'm going through a hard moment
and I just handled it with graceand a smile and they were like,
(21:55):
If he can handle that I can getthrough this thing or he went
through that or one of the othersurvivalists may motivate
somebody the same way.
And they see my compassion evenin the heat of moments to other
people.
They see me as a role model insome ways or just a good leader,
a very skilled survivalist, butthey see something in me that
they see in themselves.
I'm 58 years old and a lot ofthe older viewers, see me as
(22:17):
representing our generation.
And someone out there that says,Wow, age is just a number.
I'm gonna go hiking now.
I'm gonna go do this.
I'm getting off the couch.
I'm gonna go get in shape! He'sout there doing this and he's
hadn't had a meal to eat andhe's out there doing all this
physical activity.
Oh, man.
I got no excuse I got to get outthere and get after it and it's
just been really amazing.
Elizabeth (22:37):
How long would you go sometimes without eating?
EJ (22:40):
It's varies.
I mean I've gone several days.
I don't think I've ever gonelonger than a week at least eat
something.
But I have lost a considerableamount of weight out there on
these challenges.
I used to be a bodybuilder.
So my body thinks oh you'regoing back in competition.
It's time to lean out and we areon a super keto diet out there.
And we do eat fairly cleanfairly well.
But what happens is you get toyour primitive survival weight
(23:03):
is what I believe.
I always pack on extra weightbefore I go out on the long
challenge just so I can lessenthe blow a little bit so I'm not
so detrimented when I come back.
But even still the most I loston the 60 day challenge, I lost
90 pounds.
Elizabeth (23:16):
Oh my goodness.
EJ (23:17):
I regularly lose about a pound and a half to two pounds a
day, on some of thesechallenges.
I've basically lost, I think intotal, I added up somewhere
around 455 pounds in total.
So basically like six fifthgraders.
Elizabeth (23:32):
Crazy.
What are some of the weirdestthings you've eaten to survive?
EJ (23:36):
The worst thing I've ever ate was tadpole soup.
We ate that in the firstepisode, Tanzania, Africa.
Kellie made it.
She thought it was the greatestthing since sliced bread.
I about threw up.
I thought it was awful.
Some of the best things I'veate, armadillo was surprisingly
very good.
I've had it before I went out,but the thing I noticed out
there was we cooked it in thispot.
It was kind of like a pressurecooker.
(23:57):
And it had its own seasonings,fats and oils inside of it.
And it made the most amazingstew.
Gator is always a favorite andhog.
But I would say the strangestand worst thing was the tadpole
soup.
And I've become very fond ofmushrooms since I've been
challenging.
And now it's actually somethingI'm trying to get way better at
because I wasn't very good atfinding wild edibles.
(24:18):
I've gotten that skill a lotbetter, but I became fascinated
with mushrooms and, it was ashame because I figured it out
in the swamps of Louisiana and Ihad already been on four of the
challenges and there aremushrooms everywhere.
And, Sarah kind of showed me howto identify these oyster
mushrooms.
And they're fairly easy toidentify.
Just seemed like I was a reallygood forager for oyster
(24:39):
mushrooms.
And I bring it back to the guys.
They liked them.
And I have these massive pileson there.
You want any?
I'm like, nah, I don't eatmushrooms, but you guys enjoy.
It makes me happy.
And I would find them all over.
And eventually I ate sometowards the end of the
challenge.
I was like, Oh my God, what haveI been missing.
And so I always love findingoyster mushrooms.
I just love them.
Elizabeth (24:57):
But you have to be careful with mushrooms.
That you don't get the wrongkind.
EJ (25:01):
You just need to make sure you understand there are several
species out there.
I'm trying to get very good atidentifying different types of
mushrooms because with plants,there's always a similar family
all over the world of thatparticular fauna, and if you can
figure that out and learn it andbe very good at it, you can
actually open up your menu list,expansively.
Elizabeth (25:20):
So one thing that I think about, because I hate
being cold.
And so if you are out there, howdo you deal with that?
Once you're cold and you don'thave any more covering, how do
you combat the freezingtemperatures?
EJ (25:33):
It's always nice when you find a pelt or you get an
animal, you can get the skin offof them.
Cause I like a good blanketmyself.
But what you have to do is youhave to get smart about how you
do your heat with your fire andhow you push the heat into your
shelter.
You have to have your shelterbuttoned down.
You have to make sure that heatis keeping you warm.
There's several methods.
Everyone thinks you got to dothe campfire thing and what
(25:54):
happens with the campfire isyeah, it gets you warm to a bit.
It radiates out, but the heatrises and it goes up and so
you're not really using thatvery effectively.
Some people will make afirewall.
We put a wall of logs betweenyou and the fire so that that
wall reflects the heat back intothe shelter or onto you.
And you can do that against arock wall or whatever.
(26:16):
But one of my favorites is toget a nice big hardwood log, and
drag it in over the day fire,cause we're always boiling
water.
So you got your regular campfiregoing.
drag that log in there and putthe main part of it over the
fire and let the coals burn likeone of the sides.
And then your partner's on theother side and it makes kind of
a clam half shell and that thingpushes the heat under your torso
(26:38):
so well, you actually sometimeshave to put a log in front of it
and act it as a little door toturn the heat down so to speak
and that I found is one of themost effective ways to try to
stay warm.
A lot of people try to use bodyheat to help keep themselves
warm and that will work.
Or you make some kind of amakeshift blanket, either using
palm fronds or reeds and weavinga blanket, either out of grasses
(26:59):
or whatever.
I've had some partners that arevery good at that.
And I was very thankful for it.
But getting something betweenyou and the ground also is very
key.
Cause your body heat will runinto the ground.
So if you can get some kind of agrass mat made or even make a
raised bed.
I particularly don't like raisedbeds all that well because I
feel you're safer off the groundfrom the creepy crawlies.
But there's going to be a spaceunderneath you now that's going
(27:21):
to capture cold air.
Elizabeth (27:22):
Ah, pros and cons.
And if there's rain or dampness,then you're...
EJ (27:29):
My worst fear.
And I said no fears but thatwill make you go into some PTSD
pretty quick.
Wet and cold is no fun to be.
I really want a buttoned downshelter.
I do not want to get wet in thatsituation because you always try
to protect your core bodytemperature and in the cold, you
want to keep yourself warm.
You got to keep that protected.
So that means, you got to fightagainst hyperthermia.
(27:49):
You can't get wet.
You get wet, you're going to getcold.
One of the coldest times I'vebeen was actually in the middle
of the Amazon jungle and we hada torrential rain pour come in
on us about one in the morningand we got soaked and wet no way
to warm up.
No shelter because we wereactually moving on the river and
a raft to extract out, so thatreally made for a bad situation.
(28:09):
That's the closest I've been tohypothermia in my life.
And then vice versa if it's ahot climate you're trying to
cool your core temperature downand stay cool and you got to
figure out ways to battle that.
Elizabeth (28:19):
You said, like 90 percent of the people basically
sit home and wouldn't know howto do any of this.
And I wonder if a lot of thosepeople would maybe look at
someone like you and say, why?
Why would I really need to,because everything's at home for
me.
Why do I need to go outside and,you know, skin a bear?
EJ (28:35):
Once an apocalyptic event happens, the worst of sorts are
going to come out.
Everyone's going to startfeeding on each other.
And I'm not trying to say thisto scare people.
I just want you to think andprepare yourselves because the
trucks are going to stop coming.
The shelves are going to clearoff if they've not already been
looted.
Now, where are you going to getyour meal?
What do you have at home to makesure you can sustain that till
however long it takes till thegovernment gets back up or
(28:57):
whatever?
If that day never comes back,then what are you going to do?
Have you prepared in some waywith skills to go off your
backyard and process a deer?
To be able to eat so that yourfamily can not starve.
So those are the things I try toencourage thought about.
Do you have, six months worth ofshelf food that are, survival
foods or canned goods and, youknow, you got to eat your
(29:19):
perishables-- that stuff that'sgoing to spoil first, then you
work on the other stuff based onlength of shelf life.
It's been proven that survivalTV, whether a person's ever been
outside or not, can save yourlife.
There was a young lady who usedto watch survival shows with her
dad.
She was flying with hergrandparents and two other
adults in a small plane fromMontana to Washington state and
(29:41):
it got bad weather.
They lost visibility and theycrashed into the mountains.
And when she came to, shestarted making an assessment of
herself.
She went and checked oneverybody else and everyone else
was perished.
And she said, what do I do?
So she put out some signalsthinking that somebody might see
her, but it was so socked in.
She knew nobody was going to beable to see her.
And so she gathered whatsupplies she could.
(30:02):
And she headed down river.
Water leads to people, leads tocivilization.
So you always go downstream.
And a little water will lead tobig water, and then you'll
eventually find something, someform of civilization, because
most civilizations build uparound the water area.
And she spent five days.
Drinking the water from themountain stream, which was
probably okay, eating raw snailsand whatever else she could kind
(30:25):
of find in the riverbed.
And, she made it out selfrescued.
She was a little weathered, butafter five days she got to a
road and a vehicle came by andpicked her up.
Never spent one day in thewoods.
Not one day.
Elizabeth (30:38):
What a great story.
I mean, terrible story, but whata good ending for her.
And she credits it to survivalTV.
Wow.
And it is true that so many ofus, even if we're not going to
go, spend weeks in thewilderness, something could
happen.
EJ (30:54):
Earthquake, or hurricanes.
Most survival situations it'sthe same.
Food, water, shelter,protection, communications,
navigation, organization.
And if it's a hurricane, youprepare the same way for a
hurricane as you do a blizzard,but some of the items that go
along with snow or lots of wateror whatever, is what you want to
keep yourself straight with.
(31:15):
And so you prepare for one, youcan prepare for them all.
It's just the environment thatyou're going to be in that
you're trying to operate in iswhat changes.
So when you're preparing for azombie apocalypse, not that
maybe there will be one, but youcheck all the boxes.
Do I have plenty of food?
Do I have protection items?
If you're not into guns, that'sa whole other discussion and
(31:36):
argument.
I am all about that as part ofyour survival package for
security and for food.
Although I always tell people ifyou're going to hunt, try to do
it with a bow or traps.
Do fishing, cause that's quiet.
Normally, if you have a gun andyou fire it, y ou're giving away
your location.
If there's bad actors out there,they're going to try to come
find you, take what's yours,take your food, whatever.
(31:56):
And in a survival situation, youreally don't want to create a
worse problem for yourself.
So you always want to think inthose terms.
And so, I'd rather not waste myammunition hunting.
If I can best bow hunt, or Icould use those bullets, heaven
forbid, I got to protect myselfand my loved ones.
Elizabeth (32:11):
Let's hope there's no zombie apocalypse, but...
...if there is, we will beprepared.
EJ (32:17):
right.
Elizabeth (32:18):
I'm wondering, how did you become this person who
wants to do these things andknows how to do all of these
things?
EJ (32:24):
I ask that often of myself.
When I talk to some of my oldschoolmates that we graduated
with.
I grew up in New Jersey, theyare like hey.
How you doing what you do?
Huh?
We don't know how this.
How you doing this stuff here.
You know when you was a kid,you're running around, you got
the mohawk.
You always in trouble and I hadto trace it back.
My folks divorced.
I was very young.
My mom raised me and my kidbrother, worked three jobs.
(32:46):
And we used to spend time withmy dad who was a carpenter by
trade and he was a cowboy atheart.
He was born in the wrong state,wrong era probably.
Should have been born inColorado in the 1800s.
He loved the outdoors.
He was an avid hunter and atrapper, loved fishing.
So every weekend he'd take us tothe woods and we'd be camping
and fishing and doing all thesethings, hiking and canoeing.
(33:08):
And I just loved it.
It was just so much morepeaceful for me.
It spoke to my spirit.
And then when we would comeback, I'd spend the week looking
for marshes and things in thewoods to go play in because I
felt so at peace out there and Iwas also getting bullied as a
kid so it was kind of an escapefrom that world.
And that was no fun either.
So eventually our stepdad camein our life and as I was getting
(33:31):
bullied he taught me how to box.
I was learning wrestling inschool and I was too poor to
afford karate classes.
I didn't like getting picked on.
I wanted some confidence.
So when my friends would go tokarate or jujitsu or judo when
they came home I'd have themteach me what they learned and
it built the confidence up forme to eventually stand up for
myself and stand up to severalbullies because I had a pack of
(33:51):
bullies picking on me.
And then the other thing was Ialways got picked last for
sports and I didn't like that atall.
I was like man, this juststinks.
But the one thing I was good atwas I could run super fast.
It was faster than most everykid in town that was either my
age or sometimes, five or sixyears older than I was.
So when I have a problem in mylife, I think it started right
(34:13):
back then's where I learned.
You got to find a way EJ, if youcan't go around the wall under
it or over, you got to gothrough it.
And so I learned every sport Icould play, not to be really
excellent at any one of them,but just not to get picked last.
And by doing so, I reallydeveloped myself physically,
from learning how to fight andsports and being outside that
(34:33):
stuff just clicked that Ieventually joined the scouts.
And then, graduated from highschool.
I didn't have a lot of optionsto go to college.
I didn't have any money to payfor it I didn't really have
anyone mentoring me how to doit.
Here I was being a carpenterwith my dad.
My mom asked me what I want tobe when I grew up and I was like
I want to be an actor and astuntman.
That's what I think I want todo.
She said well, you'll starve.
(34:53):
You'll never make it.
I can't let you do that.
I'm like, you're my mom.
You can't tell me this!
Elizabeth (34:58):
So...
Support me yeah.
Are there any places in theworld that you would like to go
and try to test your skills orplaces that you will not go?
EJ (35:09):
I'll go anywhere on this planet that will have me to test
myself and my skills.
I've been most places on theplanet, but I'd like to really
get out there and I've neverbeen to Australia or New Zealand
and I think those two placeswould be really cool to see.
And try to survive it.
Elizabeth (35:24):
Well, EJ, thank you so much.
EJ (35:26):
You're welcome.
Remember you are responsible foryourself and those around you
and prepare yourselves.
And now's the time to preparebecause when it happens, it's
going to be a little too late.
Elizabeth (35:39):
While I personally think we're a long way from a
zombie apocalypse, I do believewe all can benefit from using
EJ's survival tips, whether welive in areas that could get hit
with hurricanes, tornadoes,earthquakes, blizzards, or
something else.
Here are some of my takeawaysfrom our conversation.
Number one (35:56):
the four pillars to survival are shelter, warmth,
water, and food.
Those of us who have these needsmet on a daily basis should be
grateful for these things thatmay seem basic, but aren't
available to everyone.
Two.
There's real value in literallyunplugging for a while.
Better yet, unplugging outdoorsin nature to reset your mind and
(36:18):
your spirit.
Three.
There are great benefits tobeing vulnerable.
You can be a so called alphamale and cry.
They're not mutually exclusive.
Four.
We can all crush problems byhaving a positive mindset and
staying focused and calm.
And finally, number Five.
Everyone needs to know basicsurvival skills.
(36:38):
Not just the most adventurousamong us.
Any of us could get caught inbad weather or an unfortunate
situation.
As the old saying goes, beprepared.
My thanks to EJ Snyder, a.k.a.
Skull Crusher, for sharing hisstories and a few of his many
survival tips with me.
EJ has so many free videos onhis website and Instagram page,
as well as books and trainingson preparedness.
(37:01):
All of this information is inthe show notes for this episode.
If you like listening tointerviews with adventurers, you
might want to check out episode57 with Dave Albin, a master
firewalker.
And episode 11, when JeffGottfurcht talked about
summiting Mount Everest.
Hey, did you know you can alsonow watch this podcast?
We're on YouTube atwhatitsliketo2023.
(37:22):
Please subscribe to the YouTubechannel or Apple podcasts or
both.
And please tell a few friendsabout us too.
I'm Elizabeth Pearson Garr.
Thanks for being curious aboutwhat it's like.
I tell people look, it's survival.
Simple.
Just don't die.
And that's why I'm an extremesurvivalist.
Cause I always take it to thatmeasure of what am I prepared to
do if the chips are so far down?
Will I drink nasty water?
If I can't purify it, sure Iwill.
If that gives me three, four,maybe five days to get to some
help, then I'll worry about thesickness later.
(00:28):
And hopefully it won't besomething that will destroy me
the rest of my life.
Elizabeth (00:36):
Hello, and welcome to "What It's Like To..." The
podcast that lets you walk insomeone else's shoes and live
vicariously through their uniqueexperiences.
I'm your host, formerjournalist.
Elizabeth Pearson Garr.
And each episode, I'll be askinga new interviewee all the what,
why, when, and wheres of howthey do what they do.
(00:56):
If they can do it, so can you.
In case you've never heard ofthe TV show"Naked and Afraid,"
here's the premise.
Two complete strangers, one maleand one female, are put in some
of the most extreme places onearth with no food, no water, no
clothes, and only one survivalitem each as they attempt to
(01:18):
make it on their own.
My guest today, EJ Snyder, wason"Naked and Afraid" six times
for 206 days.
He's what's known as an extremesurvivalist and adventurer.
EJ also is an army combatveteran and was awarded two
bronze stars and has appeared inmany other TV shows and movies
and has earned the nickname"Skull Crusher." EJ, we have a
(01:39):
lot to talk about.
Welcome to my podcast.
EJ (01:42):
Hey, thanks for having me today.
I'm really looking forward toit.
I really appreciate it.
Elizabeth (01:46):
Thank you.
I'm excited to talk to youbecause you are definitely
someone who is so different fromme.
You've had such different lifeexperiences.
So I really want to find outabout you and what makes you
tick?
EJ (01:58):
Well I really believe I was born this way and every test
I've been put through in my lifeprepared me to be where I'm at
exactly right now, you know,God's plan is perfect and he
knows what's up.
So I grew up a poor kid inJersey.
I was very fascinated by the"First Blood" movie with Johnny
Rambo, who was this green beretand he was a survivalist and I
was like this guy isn't real,but there's got to be somebody
(02:20):
like him.
And so that really intrigued me.
And so I joined the army.
My intent was to go into theSpecial Forces.
I was a really good soldier maderank really, really fast.
And I got exposed to formalsurvival training in the army
and actually became aninstructor.
Taught it for three years in thearmy, started teaching people on
the outside.
And I just wanted to be the bestsurvivalist that I could be on
the planet for bad days to takecare of myself and my loved
(02:42):
ones.
And it propelled me down theroad.
I went through the army, did 25years, I went to two different
wars, the'91 Gulf war andOperation Iraqi Freedom.
And I was really good at it andI loved it, but 25 years I was
like, now what?
So I was in Hawaii stationed andI got to dabble in acting as an
outlet for some of my stuff Iwas dealing with from the war.
(03:03):
And, I started actually reallyliking it and I was doing pretty
well at it.
I started applying for somereality shows that I love, like
"Survivor" and some other stuff.
And my name just startedfloating around.
The Next thing I know I wasdoing some consulting work in
the adventure world andDiscovery found me and they had
a TV show,"Dual Survival," theywanted me to come try out for.
But they picked another guy overme.
(03:23):
I finished in second.
Well, they're like, we got thiscrazy new extreme survival show
we think you're perfect for.
You got the best skills we'veseen a long time, really
qualified.
We think you're tough enough.
We think you can handle this andif you can help us build it,
we'll have a series.
So I filmed the pilot episode inJanuary 2013 with a lady named
Kellie and now we have this hitTV series almost 11 years later,
(03:45):
some 16 seasons.
I think 10 or 11 XL series,which is the longer version, and
for those out there that don'tknow, the normal"Naked and
Afraid" you do 21 days man and awoman a couple items each,
they've done some versions wherethey've added a third and
sometimes a fourth.
They call it a tribe episode.
But normally it's 21 days andyou got to make it to the end
with just a few items.
(04:06):
The longer version was moretribal.
It was six men-six women brokeup in little groups and
eventually we joined together.
You do 40 days.
A few more items than you havein the 21 dayer and then they
eventually expanded that to a 60day challenge.
And then they did a coupleversions of where you go out by
yourself, I participated in thatas well.
And they've done some spinoffs,a thing called"Castaways" where
(04:28):
they maroon people on an island,and they can only use what they
find on the island to make itand a couple other different
versions.
But the premise is pretty much: no clothes, few items, your (04:35):
undefined
skills, your wits and you makeit, and a lot of people get
wrapped up around, why naked?
Well clothing is your firstlayer of shelter.
You take away that youphysically take away a layer of
shelter plus a psychologicallayer of shelter to where you're
mentally and emotionally exposednow that you're naked to the
world, what do you got to hide?
(04:56):
Right?
So, very intriguing concept.
I didn't like the title whenthey started, thought it was
kind of dumb, but what do Iknow?
So.
Elizabeth (05:04):
Now you've done it enough that I'm sure you're more
used to it, but initially, didit feel weird to be viewed so
much?
Or did that just get to besecond nature?
EJ (05:13):
We have more problems than to be worried about people
looking at us.
I kind of felt bad for themhaving to look at me all the
time, buck naked.
It just really, really didn'tbother me.
We have a bag that we wear, theygive you a satchel.
And most of the time you cancover up your bits and pieces
for that.
It helps the editors out.
It just becomes very natural tobe out there that way.
That's the way, you know,ancient man and women were tens
(05:35):
of thousands of years ago.
So, when I first took my clothesoff, I was just starting
thinking to myself, they reallyare serious about this.
I got to take my clothes off.
Okay.
And I was like, man, I wonderwhat my military buddies are
going to be thinking.
Oh, I wonder if I'm going tostill have a bar stool at the
VFW.
Wonder what my mom's going tothink.
Oh, geez.
And I'm like, wow, I'm out herein Africa, buck naked.
(05:56):
All right, let's go safari.
What the heck?
It's my first time in Africa.
Feels about right.
Elizabeth (06:01):
So once that becomes a little more natural, so to
speak feeling, what becomes yourbiggest worries, I guess, food
and shelter?
EJ (06:10):
For me, I don't really worry much.
This is what I do in my life.
This is how I'm made, so for me,it's just natural as breathing
being out there.
So I never have worries.
I have concerns.
There's always the wildlifeconcern, somebody getting
injured, my partner, you know,us working good as a team and
making sure we're taking care ofeach other.
I don't really have a lot offears or concerns or worries.
(06:31):
It's old hat for me.
I go to town, what environmentam I in?
What kind of a shelter do Ineed?
We got that wired down, this isour base camp.
Let's get fire going.
Let's get some water.
All right.
Once we get all the tasks done,let's get some hunting tools
together.
Let's go get some food.
There's nine pillars ofsurvival, but those four are
what they call the core four.
And, every day waking up, you'vegot to improve them.
You've got to go to the mundanetasks of gathering firewood for
(06:54):
the night, patching the shelter,making sure you've got the
water.
A lot of the tasks that peopledon't find very glorious, but
have to be done.
And they're no less importantthan the person out there
hunting.
Elizabeth (07:03):
Yeah.
It's, really amazing to thinkhow far we have come from that
in our regular lives now in oursort of suburban and city lives.
Yeah.
How we take so many things forgranted, how we just go turn on
a faucet and we're warm all thetime and we just go to a
refrigerator for food and we getin a car to drive places and we
(07:26):
don't do any of those basicthings anymore.
EJ (07:29):
And the big thing with going out there, you unplug.
No cell phones.
There's no communications.
You're pretty well isolated.
We were on our 60 day challengeduring the 2020 elections and
completely isolated from whatwas going on the world.
We went in towards the back endof October.
So it was the end of fall thenwe finished out in the middle of
December, got completelywinterized out there.
(07:50):
When we went in, there wasHalloween decorations all out.
You could see the houses andthen we came out, it was all
decorated for Christmas.
That was a real mind blowingthing.
And the sensory overload wasright out the box.
As soon as we got out of theswamp.
We're driving, we see theChristmas decorations, next
thing I know we're on thehighway, that's just a lot to
take in, when you've unpluggedand you've really reset your
(08:12):
body clock.
Elizabeth (08:14):
It's a good note that we all should do that
occasionally, do thatunplugging.
I mean, maybe not go for 21 daysbeing naked and afraid, but we
could at least go for a weekendand unplug and just be in
nature.
EJ (08:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Elizabeth (08:27):
To just be a little more quiet and back to the
basics is good for our minds.
So I feel like what people oftenthink about reality shows is
there has to be something riggedabout it.
It can't be that hard.
Do they really leave you outthere on your own?
If you're really struggling, isthere a lifeline?
EJ (08:48):
No.
Well, it is the most realsurvival show out there.
In my opinion, I think it'sharder than the TV show"Alone."
Although"Alone" is also veryreal.
They have about 30 items thatthey're out there with.
And yes, they're in solitude,but I've spent a total of 39
days, not all consecutively, outin"Naked and Afraid," by myself.
(09:08):
I go out often by myself insolitude, for long periods of
time.
I go out for a couple of monthswith no issue, nobody else, and
bit of gear.
Sometimes I'm training withoutvery much gear because my thing
was, I always wanted to be ableto go out with just a knife.
As far as it being scripted ororchestrated.
There's a little directing,getting people to their start
points to get them into thechallenge.
(09:30):
Towards the end, if there's somelike high end extraction stuff,
let's say a helicopter or, avessel.
There are some insurance thingsthere.
And we don't want them gettinghurt.
So those kinds of things reallywere never an issue when they
were filming me, but for someothers I imagine there might
have been.
There's no help.
There is a medical safety net incase something drastic gets
(09:51):
hurt.
One of the challenges that wason my fifth one I actually fell
off a tree and speared my righttesticle and had to get it
treated in the field.
So there are those measures inthere.
It is highly dangerous whatwe're doing.
But there's no scripting,there's no helping.
Some people may say, you know,it is edited.
So with an edit, let's say forinstance, 21 days is about 504
(10:11):
hours out there in thechallenge.
So you got that much filminggoing on, with the camera crew,
us filming ourselves, the campcameras.
So there's a lot of footage.
And there has to be some kind ofa story, entertainment wise that
captures the journey for what itwas and don't always get it
right.
But for the people that go outthere it is a very real
(10:31):
experience, very real challengeand when I do the interviews,
with casting for futurecandidates that are going out.
I've been the senior survivalconsultant for the series since
season three and that's part ofmy duties.
I tell them you're going to gettwo experiences: You're going to
get your experience with yourpartner.
Nobody can take that away fromyou.
You'll always have that the restof your life.
Then you'll have the TVexperience, which is an edited
version.
(10:52):
No matter how much you try tosay,"Hey, that didn't go like
that." All the fans out therearen't going to believe you
because they saw it on TV, itmust've happened.
But it is very much a realexperience.
And, the camera crew pretty muchtries to stay hands off.
But, you know, after beingaround those folks for 10 years,
you develop some friendships andthere are some conversations
about, what are you going to dotoday?
(11:12):
What's your plan?
You know, you gotta get ready tofilm and stuff.
So there's gotta be a littlecoordination.
And then occasionally, you know,they'll be like, Hey, Rob, how's
your wife doing, how'd she makeout with that illness or
whatever.
But it's not like we sit downand have coffee and biscuits,
you know, if you don't get thefood or you don't get the water,
you're not eating, you're notdrinking, if your shelter's
crummy, you're going to freeze,that's all there is to it.
(11:33):
They're not going
Elizabeth (11:33):
to help you out.
So they're sitting in a campsitepretty nearby and they're
getting food and better shelter?
EJ (11:39):
Where we have our camp set up, there'll be anywhere from
800 meters to a thousand metersaway.
It'll be a support.
A little support tent or a popup.
Where the medic, and maybe ifthere's a local boat guy, that's
got to get people back andforth.
He might be there in casethere's an emergency.
The crew will go back in thereand they'll take their break
there.
If they take a break orwhatever, eat their lunch there.
(12:00):
And then they'll come back towhere we're at.
So they don't stay out there.
They stay in the country,nearby.
Some of them got to do an hourlong movement to get in and out
sometimes longer.
If they're staying at some lodgeor a river camp or something
like that.
In Africa the first episode theystayed in a bush camp and they
had a bunch of tents and stufflike that but it was camping it
(12:20):
wasn't like they were at a fivestar hotel.
Elizabeth (12:23):
And is there a cameraman with you pretty much
24 hours a day in case somethinghappens?
EJ (12:28):
Yeah for the most part the camera crew's with us for the
majority of the day from thetime they come in to the time
they leave which is usuallysometime after sun up till just
before sun goes down unlesssomething big's going on that
night.
They may bring a night crew into film some night things for a
little bit.
Not normally unless it's areally big event.
They'll stay out longer but onthe ones where there's 12 people
(12:51):
out there the longer 40 day,they've got more camera crews
around to help do that.
At night you're primarilyresponsible for filming yourself
and anything that happens.
So you get really good at beingyour own camera person.
Elizabeth (13:02):
I'm wondering, do you ever feel vulnerable?
Like, do you start secondguessing yourself?
Like, maybe I don't want to dothis or expose this because it's
going to be seen by millions ofpeople.
EJ (13:14):
I think there's a lot of greatness and lessons to be
learned not just for myself butby others about being
vulnerable.
I think this world's come toopassive about being vulnerable
and showing yourvulnerabilities.
I like to show that I'm prettymuch a rugged man's man.
I'm an alpha male.
But I have no problem crying.
And I wear my emotions on mysleeve and I will tear if the
moment is appropriate fortearing and it's not that I'm a
(13:37):
big cry baby.
It's just certain things affectme and touch my heart, I'm gonna
let it out.
I'm like a pressure cooker.
that's why I do a lot ofyelling.
You got to release that stuffinto the atmosphere.
Otherwise if it's inside youit's just gonna stew and get
worse.
Elizabeth (13:50):
Yeah.
I like that.
I'm all for more vulnerabilitytoo.
That's part of the reason I liketo do this podcast is to have
these long conversations withpeople where people can really
talk about things.
Absolutely.
Can you tell me a little aboutyour nickname,"Skull Crusher?"
It sounds really extreme.
EJ (14:05):
Yeah, it is kind of extreme.
It kind of came about, anickname that was given to me in
the military, from being in abarracks fight.
Outside the ring or combat, I'venot thrown many first punches.
I've thrown a lot of lastpunches.
And my mother always said, youhave the right to defend
yourself.
We were in a barracks party andthere was a particular character
that was known to get a littleintoxicated and he would sucker
(14:28):
punch guys all the time.
And so I was talking to one ofmy friends and I seen this fist
come flying right by my head.
Hit my friend, my friend wentdown I was like what the heck?
I turned around and I shovedthis guy that hit him to the
ground.
I turned around and take care ofmy friend.
We gotta get you some stitchesand next thing I know I felt
some glass smash on the back ofmy head I still don't know if it
was a beer bottle or a beer mug.
(14:49):
I turned around was the samecharacter.
Ooh, I jumped on him and I pappap pap and he went down I got
on top of him I was hitting himand the guys pulled me off of
him and I'm like, Dude, youknow, that's not cool, man.
Then the next morning I waswalking to the formation and I
can hear these guys in the backof formation.
They're looking at me and theykeep going, Hey, Skull Crusher.
Hey, what's up Skull Crusher.
Hey, I'm like, what the heck'sgoing on?
(15:10):
So I went down to the formation.
I got in there with my platoonand I'm like, what in the heck
is going on?
I looked down there and it's theindividual I got in this
altercation with, he had allthis white bandages across his
nose.
His eyes were kind of blackenedand I guess fractured some of
his cheekbones and when I wouldget in the ring for boxing,
people would say it felt likecinder blocks were hitting them.
So felt like their heads werecrushing in and so that Skull
(15:33):
Crusher nickname kind of stuck.
Elizabeth (15:35):
All these years.
EJ (15:36):
Yeah, and then it got more to the character of not
physically crushing skulls, butmetaphorically crushing some
skulls as a leader and just howI handle problems and
situations-- you're the crusher.
Elizabeth (15:46):
Yeah.
That's something we all cantake.
Any problem in our way.
We can just crush it.
EJ (15:51):
You can't give up.
There's always one more thingyou can do.
I say that in survivalsituations.
You just have to stay positivemindset.
Stay focused.
Don't think with emotion.
Stay calm.
Any situation in your life, youcan get through it.
It's amazing how a positivemindset will get you through
most things.
Elizabeth (16:07):
What do you think these survivalist skills are
mostly good for?
Is it people who are likebackpackers and out in the
wilderness a lot or can--
EJ (16:18):
Survival skill.
Elizabeth (16:19):
Just everyday people?
EJ (16:21):
Yeah.
I beat you to the punch.
Survival skills are good for theeveryday Joe or Joan is what I
like to say.
Because you never know when asurvival situation is going to
happen, who you're with, whenit'll happen, where it'll
happen, and what you'll havewith you.
So, I like to teach a lot ofclasses the basics of survival
for the everyday Joe or Joan.
I don't want you to be the nextBear Grylls or Cody Lundin or EJ
(16:41):
Snyder.
I want you to be the best youyou can be.
And so those skills will developyour confidence.
And so that way, if you're a momwith your kids in say upstate
New York and you drive off theroad in a blizzard, you'll have
some mental fortitude on how tohandle that situation if
nobody's coming for you.
And I tell people all the time,survival's on you.
No one's coming to save you.
You better take your situationinto your own hands.
(17:04):
And, rely on yourself.
And if somebody else comes,great.
And I teach people how to workout a basic survival kits, how
to prep their cars for winter orfor hurricanes and just have a
good mindset.
I hate the term prepper becauseall people should be prepared
for any situation and not be avictim.
And if you get crippled by thesituation.
And you let fear cripple youfrom action, that's a bad thing.
(17:26):
A lot of people get wrappedaround survival protocols and
what's in the book, what's notin the book.
And I tell people, look, it'ssurvival.
If you didn't die, it worked.
Simple.
Just don't die.
If it worked.
It's a survival skill.
It worked for you.
And that's why I'm an extremesurvivalist.
Cause I always take it to thatmeasure of what am I prepared to
do if the chips are so far down?
(17:47):
Will I drink nasty water?
If I can't purify it, sure Iwill.
If that gives me three, four,maybe five days to get to some
help, then I'll worry about thesickness later.
And hopefully it won't besomething that will destroy me
the rest of my life.
Elizabeth (18:00):
Yeah, I was looking on your Instagram, you have a
lot of good tips, just littlesnippets.
Things you can do, one thinghere, another thing there.
EJ (18:08):
King of the one minute survival tips, hacks, and
tricks.
Elizabeth (18:11):
And like, one of the things was to have a trash bag
with you at all times.
Oh yeah.
Why that?
EJ (18:16):
A trash bag is a very good tool.
And I always recommend peopleget those big 42 gallon heavy
duty construction or leaf bags.
And the reason I say that is I'msix foot three.
It's not going to make a greatsleeping bag for me, but if
you're out in the wild and youhave a situation where you don't
have a blanket or something, youcan take that trash bag, fill it
with leaves or pine needles.
(18:36):
You've got a ready made sleepingbag right there to keep you
warm.
You can take that same trash bagand make a roofing that will
protect you from the rain.
Or you can turn it into a ponchoand wear it over your head and
cut a hole in it and stay drywhen there's a storm.
You can make cordage with itwith strips of plastic and you
braid them together.
It can capture water so you canhave fresh rainwater to drink.
(18:58):
You can make a solar still bycovering a hole in the ground,
with that bag and seal it up andhave a little cup on the bottom,
throw some vegetation in thereand it'll make fresh water from
you by the condensation.
Trash bag will keep all yourclothes in your pack nice and
dry.
It can also be used as aflotation device if you're in
the water.
So it is a multi use item.
(19:20):
I always carry two in my pack toprotect my clothes from getting
wet and then I have them as aresource if I need them later.
Elizabeth (19:26):
Wow.
Amazing.
Just one thing like that, canchange someone's experience out
there.
I saw another one where you wereusing charcoal to brush your
teeth.
EJ (19:34):
Oh yeah, gotta keep your pearly whites ready.
Health and hygiene is veryimportant to keep you from
getting sick, especially in asurvival situation where you're
in the field.
And if you don't havetoothpaste, charcoal is a very
good resource item.
You can brush your teeth withit.
You rinse your teeth out.
They'll get very white.
It's kind of abrasive.
I used to take little sticks andfeather'em up at the end so it's
a brush, but I also have used myfinger.
(19:56):
If you have an upset stomach,you can drink some of that
charcoal and ingest it and itwill nullify some of the bad,
nasty things going on in yourstomach.
You can add it to a primitivewater filter to help purify some
of the water, get some of thebitterness taste out of the
water.
And if you like I have blueeyes, very sensitive to the
light, I make a paste and I putthe black under my eyes, like
(20:17):
you see athletes do and itattracts the heat into that
area, as opposed right into youreyes.
A lot of people think itreflects it.
The grease paste that thefootball players use, I believe
does, but charcoal.
It doesn't really reflect it.
It attracts the heat right tothat spot.
Elizabeth (20:32):
Oh, how interesting.
What were some things thatyou've experienced either on the
show"Naked and Afraid" or othershows you've been on that really
surprised you?
Were there any incidents thatyou got in that you thought,
wow, I haven't been in thisexperience before.
This was really testing me.
EJ (20:49):
I've had some of those come up and I embrace them because,
through testing and fire comesgrowth.
But nothing I was not preparedto handle based on my
experience, my skills and mytraining.
But what did surprise me isputting my naked butt on TV and
how many millions of peopleacross the globe I would inspire
in some way to change theirlives, to save lives, literally,
(21:10):
to get off of addiction or a badrelationship situation or tackle
a job problem.
The messages I received I wasnot anticipating, not expecting
at all.
That did surprise me completely.
Elizabeth (21:24):
And how did that translate for them?
Watching you out there being asurvivalist.
How did they take that and say,Hey, I'm going to go to AA or
something.
EJ (21:33):
There's something they saw on the show that resonated with
them.
You never know.
When you meet somebody, astranger on the street,
whatever, the words you speak tothem or the actions you take
with them may change their lifeor even save it.
It's a fact.
And I've had so many messageswhere people are contemplating
suicide.
And they saw me in the show andI'm going through a hard moment
and I just handled it with graceand a smile and they were like,
(21:55):
If he can handle that I can getthrough this thing or he went
through that or one of the othersurvivalists may motivate
somebody the same way.
And they see my compassion evenin the heat of moments to other
people.
They see me as a role model insome ways or just a good leader,
a very skilled survivalist, butthey see something in me that
they see in themselves.
I'm 58 years old and a lot ofthe older viewers, see me as
(22:17):
representing our generation.
And someone out there that says,Wow, age is just a number.
I'm gonna go hiking now.
I'm gonna go do this.
I'm getting off the couch.
I'm gonna go get in shape! He'sout there doing this and he's
hadn't had a meal to eat andhe's out there doing all this
physical activity.
Oh, man.
I got no excuse I got to get outthere and get after it and it's
just been really amazing.
Elizabeth (22:37):
How long would you go sometimes without eating?
EJ (22:40):
It's varies.
I mean I've gone several days.
I don't think I've ever gonelonger than a week at least eat
something.
But I have lost a considerableamount of weight out there on
these challenges.
I used to be a bodybuilder.
So my body thinks oh you'regoing back in competition.
It's time to lean out and we areon a super keto diet out there.
And we do eat fairly cleanfairly well.
But what happens is you get toyour primitive survival weight
(23:03):
is what I believe.
I always pack on extra weightbefore I go out on the long
challenge just so I can lessenthe blow a little bit so I'm not
so detrimented when I come back.
But even still the most I loston the 60 day challenge, I lost
90 pounds.
Elizabeth (23:16):
Oh my goodness.
EJ (23:17):
I regularly lose about a pound and a half to two pounds a
day, on some of thesechallenges.
I've basically lost, I think intotal, I added up somewhere
around 455 pounds in total.
So basically like six fifthgraders.
Elizabeth (23:32):
Crazy.
What are some of the weirdestthings you've eaten to survive?
EJ (23:36):
The worst thing I've ever ate was tadpole soup.
We ate that in the firstepisode, Tanzania, Africa.
Kellie made it.
She thought it was the greatestthing since sliced bread.
I about threw up.
I thought it was awful.
Some of the best things I'veate, armadillo was surprisingly
very good.
I've had it before I went out,but the thing I noticed out
there was we cooked it in thispot.
It was kind of like a pressurecooker.
(23:57):
And it had its own seasonings,fats and oils inside of it.
And it made the most amazingstew.
Gator is always a favorite andhog.
But I would say the strangestand worst thing was the tadpole
soup.
And I've become very fond ofmushrooms since I've been
challenging.
And now it's actually somethingI'm trying to get way better at
because I wasn't very good atfinding wild edibles.
(24:18):
I've gotten that skill a lotbetter, but I became fascinated
with mushrooms and, it was ashame because I figured it out
in the swamps of Louisiana and Ihad already been on four of the
challenges and there aremushrooms everywhere.
And, Sarah kind of showed me howto identify these oyster
mushrooms.
And they're fairly easy toidentify.
Just seemed like I was a reallygood forager for oyster
(24:39):
mushrooms.
And I bring it back to the guys.
They liked them.
And I have these massive pileson there.
You want any?
I'm like, nah, I don't eatmushrooms, but you guys enjoy.
It makes me happy.
And I would find them all over.
And eventually I ate sometowards the end of the
challenge.
I was like, Oh my God, what haveI been missing.
And so I always love findingoyster mushrooms.
I just love them.
Elizabeth (24:57):
But you have to be careful with mushrooms.
That you don't get the wrongkind.
EJ (25:01):
You just need to make sure you understand there are several
species out there.
I'm trying to get very good atidentifying different types of
mushrooms because with plants,there's always a similar family
all over the world of thatparticular fauna, and if you can
figure that out and learn it andbe very good at it, you can
actually open up your menu list,expansively.
Elizabeth (25:20):
So one thing that I think about, because I hate
being cold.
And so if you are out there, howdo you deal with that?
Once you're cold and you don'thave any more covering, how do
you combat the freezingtemperatures?
EJ (25:33):
It's always nice when you find a pelt or you get an
animal, you can get the skin offof them.
Cause I like a good blanketmyself.
But what you have to do is youhave to get smart about how you
do your heat with your fire andhow you push the heat into your
shelter.
You have to have your shelterbuttoned down.
You have to make sure that heatis keeping you warm.
There's several methods.
Everyone thinks you got to dothe campfire thing and what
(25:54):
happens with the campfire isyeah, it gets you warm to a bit.
It radiates out, but the heatrises and it goes up and so
you're not really using thatvery effectively.
Some people will make afirewall.
We put a wall of logs betweenyou and the fire so that that
wall reflects the heat back intothe shelter or onto you.
And you can do that against arock wall or whatever.
(26:16):
But one of my favorites is toget a nice big hardwood log, and
drag it in over the day fire,cause we're always boiling
water.
So you got your regular campfiregoing.
drag that log in there and putthe main part of it over the
fire and let the coals burn likeone of the sides.
And then your partner's on theother side and it makes kind of
a clam half shell and that thingpushes the heat under your torso
(26:38):
so well, you actually sometimeshave to put a log in front of it
and act it as a little door toturn the heat down so to speak
and that I found is one of themost effective ways to try to
stay warm.
A lot of people try to use bodyheat to help keep themselves
warm and that will work.
Or you make some kind of amakeshift blanket, either using
palm fronds or reeds and weavinga blanket, either out of grasses
(26:59):
or whatever.
I've had some partners that arevery good at that.
And I was very thankful for it.
But getting something betweenyou and the ground also is very
key.
Cause your body heat will runinto the ground.
So if you can get some kind of agrass mat made or even make a
raised bed.
I particularly don't like raisedbeds all that well because I
feel you're safer off the groundfrom the creepy crawlies.
But there's going to be a spaceunderneath you now that's going
(27:21):
to capture cold air.
Elizabeth (27:22):
Ah, pros and cons.
And if there's rain or dampness,then you're...
EJ (27:29):
My worst fear.
And I said no fears but thatwill make you go into some PTSD
pretty quick.
Wet and cold is no fun to be.
I really want a buttoned downshelter.
I do not want to get wet in thatsituation because you always try
to protect your core bodytemperature and in the cold, you
want to keep yourself warm.
You got to keep that protected.
So that means, you got to fightagainst hyperthermia.
(27:49):
You can't get wet.
You get wet, you're going to getcold.
One of the coldest times I'vebeen was actually in the middle
of the Amazon jungle and we hada torrential rain pour come in
on us about one in the morningand we got soaked and wet no way
to warm up.
No shelter because we wereactually moving on the river and
a raft to extract out, so thatreally made for a bad situation.
(28:09):
That's the closest I've been tohypothermia in my life.
And then vice versa if it's ahot climate you're trying to
cool your core temperature downand stay cool and you got to
figure out ways to battle that.
Elizabeth (28:19):
You said, like 90 percent of the people basically
sit home and wouldn't know howto do any of this.
And I wonder if a lot of thosepeople would maybe look at
someone like you and say, why?
Why would I really need to,because everything's at home for
me.
Why do I need to go outside and,you know, skin a bear?
EJ (28:35):
Once an apocalyptic event happens, the worst of sorts are
going to come out.
Everyone's going to startfeeding on each other.
And I'm not trying to say thisto scare people.
I just want you to think andprepare yourselves because the
trucks are going to stop coming.
The shelves are going to clearoff if they've not already been
looted.
Now, where are you going to getyour meal?
What do you have at home to makesure you can sustain that till
however long it takes till thegovernment gets back up or
(28:57):
whatever?
If that day never comes back,then what are you going to do?
Have you prepared in some waywith skills to go off your
backyard and process a deer?
To be able to eat so that yourfamily can not starve.
So those are the things I try toencourage thought about.
Do you have, six months worth ofshelf food that are, survival
foods or canned goods and, youknow, you got to eat your
(29:19):
perishables-- that stuff that'sgoing to spoil first, then you
work on the other stuff based onlength of shelf life.
It's been proven that survivalTV, whether a person's ever been
outside or not, can save yourlife.
There was a young lady who usedto watch survival shows with her
dad.
She was flying with hergrandparents and two other
adults in a small plane fromMontana to Washington state and
(29:41):
it got bad weather.
They lost visibility and theycrashed into the mountains.
And when she came to, shestarted making an assessment of
herself.
She went and checked oneverybody else and everyone else
was perished.
And she said, what do I do?
So she put out some signalsthinking that somebody might see
her, but it was so socked in.
She knew nobody was going to beable to see her.
And so she gathered whatsupplies she could.
(30:02):
And she headed down river.
Water leads to people, leads tocivilization.
So you always go downstream.
And a little water will lead tobig water, and then you'll
eventually find something, someform of civilization, because
most civilizations build uparound the water area.
And she spent five days.
Drinking the water from themountain stream, which was
probably okay, eating raw snailsand whatever else she could kind
(30:25):
of find in the riverbed.
And, she made it out selfrescued.
She was a little weathered, butafter five days she got to a
road and a vehicle came by andpicked her up.
Never spent one day in thewoods.
Not one day.
Elizabeth (30:38):
What a great story.
I mean, terrible story, but whata good ending for her.
And she credits it to survivalTV.
Wow.
And it is true that so many ofus, even if we're not going to
go, spend weeks in thewilderness, something could
happen.
EJ (30:54):
Earthquake, or hurricanes.
Most survival situations it'sthe same.
Food, water, shelter,protection, communications,
navigation, organization.
And if it's a hurricane, youprepare the same way for a
hurricane as you do a blizzard,but some of the items that go
along with snow or lots of wateror whatever, is what you want to
keep yourself straight with.
(31:15):
And so you prepare for one, youcan prepare for them all.
It's just the environment thatyou're going to be in that
you're trying to operate in iswhat changes.
So when you're preparing for azombie apocalypse, not that
maybe there will be one, but youcheck all the boxes.
Do I have plenty of food?
Do I have protection items?
If you're not into guns, that'sa whole other discussion and
(31:36):
argument.
I am all about that as part ofyour survival package for
security and for food.
Although I always tell people ifyou're going to hunt, try to do
it with a bow or traps.
Do fishing, cause that's quiet.
Normally, if you have a gun andyou fire it, y ou're giving away
your location.
If there's bad actors out there,they're going to try to come
find you, take what's yours,take your food, whatever.
(31:56):
And in a survival situation, youreally don't want to create a
worse problem for yourself.
So you always want to think inthose terms.
And so, I'd rather not waste myammunition hunting.
If I can best bow hunt, or Icould use those bullets, heaven
forbid, I got to protect myselfand my loved ones.
Elizabeth (32:11):
Let's hope there's no zombie apocalypse, but...
...if there is, we will beprepared.
EJ (32:17):
right.
Elizabeth (32:18):
I'm wondering, how did you become this person who
wants to do these things andknows how to do all of these
things?
EJ (32:24):
I ask that often of myself.
When I talk to some of my oldschoolmates that we graduated
with.
I grew up in New Jersey, theyare like hey.
How you doing what you do?
Huh?
We don't know how this.
How you doing this stuff here.
You know when you was a kid,you're running around, you got
the mohawk.
You always in trouble and I hadto trace it back.
My folks divorced.
I was very young.
My mom raised me and my kidbrother, worked three jobs.
(32:46):
And we used to spend time withmy dad who was a carpenter by
trade and he was a cowboy atheart.
He was born in the wrong state,wrong era probably.
Should have been born inColorado in the 1800s.
He loved the outdoors.
He was an avid hunter and atrapper, loved fishing.
So every weekend he'd take us tothe woods and we'd be camping
and fishing and doing all thesethings, hiking and canoeing.
(33:08):
And I just loved it.
It was just so much morepeaceful for me.
It spoke to my spirit.
And then when we would comeback, I'd spend the week looking
for marshes and things in thewoods to go play in because I
felt so at peace out there and Iwas also getting bullied as a
kid so it was kind of an escapefrom that world.
And that was no fun either.
So eventually our stepdad camein our life and as I was getting
(33:31):
bullied he taught me how to box.
I was learning wrestling inschool and I was too poor to
afford karate classes.
I didn't like getting picked on.
I wanted some confidence.
So when my friends would go tokarate or jujitsu or judo when
they came home I'd have themteach me what they learned and
it built the confidence up forme to eventually stand up for
myself and stand up to severalbullies because I had a pack of
(33:51):
bullies picking on me.
And then the other thing was Ialways got picked last for
sports and I didn't like that atall.
I was like man, this juststinks.
But the one thing I was good atwas I could run super fast.
It was faster than most everykid in town that was either my
age or sometimes, five or sixyears older than I was.
So when I have a problem in mylife, I think it started right
(34:13):
back then's where I learned.
You got to find a way EJ, if youcan't go around the wall under
it or over, you got to gothrough it.
And so I learned every sport Icould play, not to be really
excellent at any one of them,but just not to get picked last.
And by doing so, I reallydeveloped myself physically,
from learning how to fight andsports and being outside that
(34:33):
stuff just clicked that Ieventually joined the scouts.
And then, graduated from highschool.
I didn't have a lot of optionsto go to college.
I didn't have any money to payfor it I didn't really have
anyone mentoring me how to doit.
Here I was being a carpenterwith my dad.
My mom asked me what I want tobe when I grew up and I was like
I want to be an actor and astuntman.
That's what I think I want todo.
She said well, you'll starve.
(34:53):
You'll never make it.
I can't let you do that.
I'm like, you're my mom.
You can't tell me this!
Elizabeth (34:58):
So...
Support me yeah.
Are there any places in theworld that you would like to go
and try to test your skills orplaces that you will not go?
EJ (35:09):
I'll go anywhere on this planet that will have me to test
myself and my skills.
I've been most places on theplanet, but I'd like to really
get out there and I've neverbeen to Australia or New Zealand
and I think those two placeswould be really cool to see.
And try to survive it.
Elizabeth (35:24):
Well, EJ, thank you so much.
EJ (35:26):
You're welcome.
Remember you are responsible foryourself and those around you
and prepare yourselves.
And now's the time to preparebecause when it happens, it's
going to be a little too late.
Elizabeth (35:39):
While I personally think we're a long way from a
zombie apocalypse, I do believewe all can benefit from using
EJ's survival tips, whether welive in areas that could get hit
with hurricanes, tornadoes,earthquakes, blizzards, or
something else.
Here are some of my takeawaysfrom our conversation.
Number one (35:56):
the four pillars to survival are shelter, warmth,
water, and food.
Those of us who have these needsmet on a daily basis should be
grateful for these things thatmay seem basic, but aren't
available to everyone.
Two.
There's real value in literallyunplugging for a while.
Better yet, unplugging outdoorsin nature to reset your mind and
(36:18):
your spirit.
Three.
There are great benefits tobeing vulnerable.
You can be a so called alphamale and cry.
They're not mutually exclusive.
Four.
We can all crush problems byhaving a positive mindset and
staying focused and calm.
And finally, number Five.
Everyone needs to know basicsurvival skills.
(36:38):
Not just the most adventurousamong us.
Any of us could get caught inbad weather or an unfortunate
situation.
As the old saying goes, beprepared.
My thanks to EJ Snyder, a.k.a.
Skull Crusher, for sharing hisstories and a few of his many
survival tips with me.
EJ has so many free videos onhis website and Instagram page,
as well as books and trainingson preparedness.
(37:01):
All of this information is inthe show notes for this episode.
If you like listening tointerviews with adventurers, you
might want to check out episode57 with Dave Albin, a master
firewalker.
And episode 11, when JeffGottfurcht talked about
summiting Mount Everest.
Hey, did you know you can alsonow watch this podcast?
We're on YouTube atwhatitsliketo2023.
(37:22):
Please subscribe to the YouTubechannel or Apple podcasts or
both.
And please tell a few friendsabout us too.
I'm Elizabeth Pearson Garr.
Thanks for being curious aboutwhat it's like.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.