7 vs. Wild

7 vs. Wild
Genre	Reality Survival
Developed by	Fritz Meinecke
Country of origin	Germany
Original language	German
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	32
Production
Executive producers	Fritz Meinecke, Johannes Hovekamp, Maximilian Kovacs
Running time	45 minutes
Original release
Network	YouTube
Release	November 16, 2021 (2021-11-16) – present

7 vs. Wild is a German reality TV-show invented by YouTuber Fritz Meinecke and his team. The series, which is published on YouTube, follows the experiences of seven YouTubers who have to survive on their own in the wild for seven days. They are only allowed to take seven preselected items with them and the clothing they wear. The participants have to persevere isolation and the moods of nature. ^[1]

Season 1 (2021)

The first season took place at the end of August 2021. The 16 episodes were published from the beginning of November to the end of December 2021 on the Meinecke's YouTube channel. ^[2]

Concept

The seven participants with varying degrees of experience in bush crafting, camping and outdoor activities were dropped off into an unspecified lake in Sweden. After swimming to the shore each participant was allowed to move 500 meters in each direction along the lake and as far as they wanted into the mainland. According to the rules they were allowed to take seven items with them, clothing not counted. The clothes, were predetermined by their use (e.g. T-shirt, gloves, headgear, buff, warming layer, socks, shoes).

The aim of the series is to survive in the wild and in complete human isolation. This includes activities such as: searching for food, building or finding a shelter and a place to sleep, passing of prepared tasks (for points) and filming them. Thanks to the location on a lakeshore the water supply and the possibility to fish are guaranteed. All the participants have access to a sealed first aid kit, a sealed mobile phone, a GPS transmitter and the technical equipment for filming. ^[3]

In the first episode the competition rules, participants and the items chosen in each case were presented. Subsequent episodes showed the participants' recordings, which lasted approximately half a day per episode, with the length of the segments per participant depending on the quantity and quality of the material provided. From the time of elimination the participants are no longer shown at least in the main part of the show, even if they decide to remain on the filming site.

The participants are obliged to daily confirm their well-being by pressing the dead man's switch. Should they fail to do it, they are eliminated and picked up. In addition, the participants have to open a sealed envelope containing a daily challenge. Participation in these tasks is voluntary, but points can be earned by participating, which plays a role in determining the overall winner.

The use of the cell phone carried for emergencies only, will result in direct elimination of the participant, and the use of materials from the first aid kit will be sanctioned with point deductions. ^[4]

The winner is the participant who stays in the game the longest. If more than one participant remains in the game until the end, the winner is the one who achieves the highest score in the challenges. They will be awarded a 10,000 euro prize, which is donated to a charity organization of their choice. ^[4]

Participants and selected items

Participant	Item
	Tools	Source of fire	Storage and accessories	Outdoor kitchen	Other	Amount
Fritz Meinecke	Kukri	Fire striker	Sleeping bag, tarp tent, parachute cord	Pot	Fishing kit	7
Martin "Survival Mattin" Rudloff [5]	Knife	Lighter	Sleeping bag, hammock, plastic tarpaulin	Water filter with a bottle	Fishing kit	7
David "Dave" Henrichs [6]	Knife, saw	Lighter	Sleeping bag, tarp tent	Pot	Hygiene kit	7
Niklas "Niklas on fire" Röder [5]	Knife saw	Fire striker	Sleeping bag, tarp tent, parachute cord	Pot	–	7
Pascal "Bommel" Bommert [5]	Hatchet	Fire striker	Sleeping bag, hammock, tarp tent, parachute cord	Pot	–	7
Fabio Schäfer [5]	Knife	Fire striker	–	–	–	2
Christian "Reloadiak" Nosty [7]	Knife, saw	Fire striker	Sleeping bag	Pot	Fishing kit, hygiene kit	7

Episode overview

Day	Episode	Title	Published	Challenge	Scores
					Fritz	Mattin	Chri	Fabio	Bommel	Dave	Niklas
	01	The Start	06 November 2021	–	–
01	02	The Exposure	10 November 2021	Swim from the boat to the shore [points] shortest time [min]	3 5:01	4 4:55	2 5:03	6 3:57	5 4:17	7 3:07	1 5:24
	03	The Decisions	13 November 2021
02	04	Bear Terrain	17 November 2021	Craft a torch [points] longest burning time [min]	7 59:48	3 1:42	5 2:45	6 7:18	4 2:22	dropped out	dropped out
	05	Fatal Torch Mistakes	20 November 2021
03	06	Objects Submitted	24 November 2021	Submit objects until the end of the seven days [points]	13	0	0	13	2
	07	Consequential Submission	27 November 2021
04	08	Night Rescue	01 December 2021	Drill a fire [points]	0	0	0	0	dropped out
	09	Mental Decay	04 December 2021
05	10	Crafting Rafts	08 December 2021	Craft a raft [points]	7	0	0	0
	11	Broken Seal	11 December 2021
06	12	Mindset against Forces of Nature	15 December 2021	Alternative sources of food (Insects and worms) [points]	7	1	0	dropped out
	13	New Projects	18 December 2021
07	14	The Final Challenge	22 December 2021	Stacking stones [points] highest stack [cm]	5 154	6 155	7 190
2-7	15	Niklas' 7 Days	25 December 2021	–	–	–	–
8	16	The Grand Final	29 December 2021	–	–	–	–
				Final scores[points]	42	14	14	(25)	(11)	(7)	(1)
				Final positions	1.	2.	2.	4.	5.	6.	7.

Winner

With 42 points, Fritz Meinecke was the winner of the first season. The prize of 10,000 euros was donated to Robert Marc Lehmann's project Mission Erde. ^[8] Chris and Mattin shared the second place due to the same score. The following places were determined by the date of elimination.

Reception

The aired episodes have an average of over four million views. ^[9] The Stuttgarter Nachrichten announced the start of the series. ^[10]

After the series' launch, the youth radio program of the SWR (the Southwest Broadcasting is a regional public broadcasting cooperation serving the southwest of Germany) DASDING wrote: "The survival format '7 vs. Wild' is going through the roof on YouTube right now." Web video producer MontanaBlack stated that, "it's one of the most hyped formats ever on YouTube." ^[11] The news portal Watson (a Swiss news portal) called the series "brilliant." ^[4]

The episodes also received attention due to "live reactions" from popular streamers such as Simon Unge, ^[12] Jens Knossalla ^[13] and Rezo. ^[14] Additionally, some of the participants responded to the episodes by providing additional background information, such as from Fritz Meinecke. ^[15]

Season 2 (2022)

The second season of 7 vs. Wild was published each Wednesday and Saturday on YouTube. It is accompanied by the behind-the-scenes videos on Dave's channel.

Participants

• Antonia "Starletnova"
• Fritz Meinecke
• Jens "Knossi" Knossalla
• Joris (wildcarder)
• Ottogerd "Otto Bulletproof" Karasch
• Sabrina Outdoor
• Sascha Huber

Season 3 (2023)

The third season is planned for August/September 2023 in the Canadian province of British Columbia. This season brings rule changes in comparison to the first and second seasons. The duration of the season was extended from 7 days to 14 days. In this season the contestants compete in teams of two and not with a set amount of items but with whatever they can fit into a predefined bottle. In the preparation and announcement phase of the season the management nominated, among others, moderators Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf who declined to participate. Its shown on Amazon Freevee.

Participants

• "Naturensöhne" Gerrit and Andy
• "Knossi" and Sascha Huber
• Survival Mattin and Fritz Meinecke
• Joey Kelly and Jan Schlappen
• "Papaplatte" and "Reeze"
• "Trymacs" and "Rumathra"
• Hannah Assil and "Affe auf Bike" (wildcarder)

References

1. "7 vs. Wild – Der Beginn – Folge 1". YouTube (in German). Fritz Meinecke. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
2. "7 vs. Wild – Alle ungeklärten Fragen zum Projekt" (in German). Fritz Meinecke. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
3. "Diese YouTuber werden in Schwedens Wildnis ausgesetzt – und es ist grandios". Watson.ch (in German). 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
4. Diese YouTuber werden in Schwedens Wildnis ausgesetzt – und es ist grandios von Watson retrieved 2 December 2021.
5. "Influencer in der Wildnis: Youtube-Serie "7 vs. Wild" enttarnt Schwächen des Fernsehens". Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (in German). 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
6. "David Henrichs – Crushing Media Solutions – Contact". Archived from the original on 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
7. "Reloadiak | Über mich" (in German). Retrieved 2021-11-30.
8. "Folge 16" . Retrieved 2021-12-29.
9. "Fritz Meinecke's Mostviewed YouTube Videos – Socialblade.com" . Retrieved 2021-11-30.
10. "7 vs Wild" – Das Survival Experiment auf Youtube von den Stuttgarter Nachrichten retrieved 2 December 2021.
11. '7 vs. Wild' mit MontanaBlack und Unge? Archived 2021-11-22 at the Wayback Machine von Dasding retrieved 2 December 2021.
12. "Youtube-Show "7 vs. Wild": Kandidat aus dem Südwesten verblüfft Konkurrenten" (in German). 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
13. Reaktion auf 7 vs. Wild – FOLGE 1 von Jens Knossalla auf YouTube retrieved 27 November 2021.
14. Rezo Reagiert auf 7 vs Wild | Folge 3 von Rezo auf YouTube retrieved 2 December 2021.
15. 7 Vs Wild Teilnehmer reagiert auf Folge 1 | Fabio Schäfer Live von Fabio Schäfer auf YouTube retrieved 15 December 2021.