#853: Jordan Jonas, Champion of Alone — The Art of Survival, Lessons from Nomadic Tribes, Hardship as the Path to Peace, How to Handle Rogue Wolverines, and Why Not to Photograph Attacking Bears

**Tim Ferriss** (0:00)
Hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs. This is Tim Ferris. Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferris Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers, people who are incredibly good, possibly the best in the world at what they do. My guest today is Jordan Jonas. I spent a week in the woods with Jordan, with a few of my closest friends doing survival training. And all of my friends said, you have to have Jordan on the podcast. So here we are. Who is Jordan? Jordan grew up on a farm in Idaho, rode freight trains across the US, hence his Instagram at HoboJordo, spent time in remote Russian villages, fur-trapped and traveled for years with nomads in Siberia, and won Alone Season 6, one of the few reality TV shows that I actually watch because you learn so much. And he won that after being the first contestant to truly thrive in the wilderness, in this case in the Arctic, for 77 days, and harvest big game. It's a crazy story. We get into it. He now leads people from all over the world, including yours truly, and all walks of life on extraordinary outdoor adventures, facilitating once-in-a-lifetime wilderness expeditions, hunts, family adventures, and team building events. He has a wife and three children, and focuses on living life to its fullest with them. And that's the truth. I have spent time with them. And Jordan is a model for living the good life, not over-complicating, focusing on the things that truly matter, the critical few over the trivial many. And I've learned a lot from Jordan, and I think you can too. We get...
Perfect timing for the dogs to have a spaz attack. With that, please enjoy this conversation with Jordan Jonas, and be sure to check him out at jordanjonas.com and on Instagram and YouTube. Hobo, that's H-O-B-O, Jordan, J-O-R-D-O. Thanks for listening.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:57)
At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking.

**Tim Ferriss** (2:01)
Can I answer your personal question? Jordan, great to see you, man.

**Jordan Jonas** (2:20)
Good to see you, Tim. Good to see you.

**Tim Ferriss** (2:22)
And we've upgraded our interaction to in-person because for those who are listening, we had some audio glitches, some technological woes, and we just decided to do it in person.

**Jordan Jonas** (2:33)
So here we are.

**Tim Ferriss** (2:34)
And I have twice the number of pooches, meaning two versus one since you last saw me. Got a stray adopted a few days ago. We're also drinking what people might think are ridiculously heavy pours of whiskey, but this is not whiskey. This is Lake Missoula Tea Company, Lake Missoula Breakfast. It is delicious. Just a bit of caffeine, a little bit of a topper. Let's call it that.

**Jordan Jonas** (2:59)
Yeah, we just both arrived at some city we're not from.

**Tim Ferriss** (3:02)
So at high altitude. And we're just getting back into the groove of the conversation. So we are going to get to Russia. But first, I wanted you to, and they tie together, I suppose, explain what we have here on the table besides the tea. Because you made the joke, even if the interview is not going very well, might as well have this. You see I pointed the handle this way. Yeah, the handle is pointed towards you. What are we looking at?

**Jordan Jonas** (3:30)
What we're looking at is an ax. It's one I've kind of designed specifically using the knowledge and experience I have had in Siberia in particular with the native folks and such. So it's got some unique features, some that I've really grown to love. So in the forest, first off, just to set the foundation, the one tool you need is an ax to give yourself a chance at survival.

**Tim Ferriss** (3:57)
More than a knife.

**Jordan Jonas** (3:58)
More than a knife because you can do all the things you can do with a knife. You can get through, you could get a fire, you can build some traps, you can get through the ice. It just gives you the ability to do everything, maybe not as well as you want. But as the natives would say, the one tool you need is an ax and I concur. So the problem though is that a lot of people in the states don't know what a good ax is. So you'll go buy one at Lowe's and go home. It just doesn't do the job you need. So I had designed one that has all the features I like. It's kind of a Siberian ax head shape with some of the Evenki modifications.