[1] For the first two seasons, the show featured the differing outdoor survival philosophies and skills of Cody Lundin, a naturalist and primitive-skills expert who runs the Aboriginal Living Skills School in Prescott, Arizona, and Dave Canterbury, a military-trained survival instructor who runs the Pathfinder Training School in Ohio.

Season 9 aired its first episode on August 24, 2016, featuring new hosts Edwin John Snyder and Jeffrey Zausch.

[8] Along the way, Lundin and Canterbury demonstrated various survival skills such as using primitive methods to make fire, obtaining potable water, and hunting, foraging, or gathering food.

For example, Canterbury often remarked on Lundin's choice to not wear shoes or long pants, regardless of the scenario's environment, such as glaciers.

[14][15] The survival experts on this show are Edmilson Leite, a colonel in the Brazilian Air Force, and Leonardo Rocha, who has lived with indigenous tribes and is a primitive skills specialist.