7 vs. Wild is a German reality TV-show invented by YouTuber Fritz Meinecke and his team. The series, which is released on YouTube and Amazon Freevee, follows the experiences of 7 or 14 YouTubers who have to survive in the wilderness for 7 or 14 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.
Season Year Duration Participants Country Temperature(night/day) Spotselection 1 2021 7 days 7 (7 single) 5...10 °C / 10...20 °C Scandtrack 2 2022 7 days 7 (7 single) 20...25 °C / 30...35 °C,high humidity Wandermut 3 2023 14 days 14 (7 pairs)(knew partner before) 0...10 °C / 5...15 °C SK Touristik 4 2024 14 days 7 (group of 7)(didn't know each other before) −7...+5 °C / 0...15 °C,frost and snow OrgaTeamitself 5 2025 14 days 7 (group of 7)(didn't know each other before) Interactive maps with all playgrounds of the four seasons
Season 1 (2021)
+ Season 1 Location Shore of Lake Naren, County Dalarna/Värmland, Sweden Year 2021 Episodes 16 Broadcast YouTube, Wed+Sat 18:00 CET, 6 Nov – 29 Dec 2021 Production Johannes Hovekamp, Maximilian Kovacs Editors Johannes Hovekamp, Maximilian Kovacs Camera Johannes Hovekamp, Maximilian Kovacs, participants itself
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.
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.
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.
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.
Participants and their selected items and Locations in Season 1 The seven participants were released in this relay in central Sweden between Hagfors and Vansbro on the 12 km2 Lake Naren ().
Participant Selectable Items Location ofRelease7 vs. Wild Karte mit allen Teilnehmern! tools sourceof fire storage and accessories outdoorkitchen otherrowspan="2" Fritz Meinecke 7 Martin "Survival Mattin" Rudloff 7 David "Dave" Henrichs 7 Niklas "Niklas on fire" Röder 7 Pascal "Bommel" Bommert 7 Fabio Schäfer 2 Christian "Reloadiak" Nosty 7
Episode overview and the Challenges rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Title Release(2021)(18:00) Challenge Scores 1 The Start 6 Nov no challenge 2 1 The Exposure 10 Nov Swim from the boat to the shoreshortest time [min] 3 pt5:01 4 pt4:55 2 pt5:03 6 pt3:57 5 pt4:17 7 pt3:07 1 pt5:24 3 The Decisions 13 Nov 4 2 Bear Terrain 17 Nov Craft a torchlongest burning time [min] 7 pt59:48 3 pt1:42 5 pt2:45 6 pt7:18 4 pt2:22 5 Fatal Torch Mistakes 20 Nov 6 3 Objects Submitted 24 Nov Submit objects until the end of the seven days 13 pt – – 13 pt 2 pt 7 Consequential Submission 27 Nov 8 4 Night Rescue1 DecDrill a fire – – – – dropped out 💧 9 Mental Decay4 Dec 10 5 Crafting Rafts8 Dec Craft a raft 7 pt – – – 11 Broken Seal 11 Dec 12 6 Mindset against Forces of Nature 15 Dec Alternative sources of food(Insects and worms) 7 pt 1 pt – 13 New Projects 18 Dec 14 7 The Final Challenge 22 Dec Stacking stoneshighest stack [cm] 5 pt154 6 pt155 7 pt190 15 2−7 Niklas' 7 Days 25 Dec no challenge 16 8 The Grand Final 29 Dec Final scores [points] 42 14 14 (25) (11) (7) (1) Final positions 1st 2nd 4th 5th 6th 7th
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. 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. The Stuttgarter Nachrichten announced the start of the series."7 vs Wild" – Das Survival Experiment auf Youtube von den Stuttgarter Nachrichten retrieved 2 December 2021.
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."7 vs. Wild' mit MontanaBlack und Unge? von Dasding retrieved 2 December 2021. The news portal Watson (a Swiss news portal) called the series "brilliant".Diese YouTuber werden in Schwedens Wildnis ausgesetzt – und es ist grandios von Watson retrieved 2 December 2021.
The episodes also received attention due to "live reactions" from popular streamers such as Simon Unge, Jens KnossallaReaktion auf 7 vs. Wild – FOLGE 1 von Jens Knossalla auf YouTube retrieved 27 November 2021. and Rezo.Rezo Reagiert auf 7 vs Wild | Folge 3 von Rezo auf YouTube retrieved 2 December 2021. Additionally, some of the participants responded to the episodes by providing additional background information, such as from Fritz Meinecke.7 Vs Wild Teilnehmer reagiert auf Folge 1 | Fabio Schäfer Live von Fabio Schäfer auf YouTube retrieved 15 December 2021.
Season 2 (2022) + Season 2 Location Coast of Isla San José (Pacific Ocean), Panama Year 2022 Episodes 16 Broadcast YouTube, Wed+Sat 18:00 CET, 5 Nov – 28 Dec 2022 Production Johannes Hovekamp, Maximilian Kovacs Editors Johannes Hovekamp, Maximilian Kovacs,Patrick Gillitzer, Rico Davies Camera Patrick Gillitzer, Johannes Hovekamp,Maximilian Kovacs, David Henrichs, participants itself Graphics Rico Davies
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 with their selected items and Locations in Season 2 The game took place at 7 different locations on Isla San José () in the Pacific Ocean in Panama.
Participant cancel-lation Selectable Items rowspan="2" Location ofReleaseLocation of Release Antonia "Starletnova" Day 2 4 Sabrina Outdoor Day 4 4 Fritz Meinecke rowspan="5" 1 Jens "Knossi" Knossalla 7 Sascha Huber 5 Ottogerd "Otto Bulletproof" Karasch 1 Joris (wildcarder) 3
Episodes rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Title Release(2022)(18:00) Challenge Scores 1 1 The Exposure (Die Aussetzung) 5 Nov Search for souvenirs 2 Deadly paradise (Tödliches Paradies) 9 Nov 3 Naked through the jungle (Nackt durch den Dschungel) 12 Nov 4 2 The first night (Die erste Nacht) 16 Nov Bow and arrowlongest distance [m] 7 pt6.4 6 pt5.0 6 pt5.0 4 pt0.2 5 pt2.5 –– –– 5 Fritz gives up (Fritz am Ende) 19 Nov 6 3 Crocodile at the camp (Krokodil am Lager) 23 Nov Nature photographer 7 pt 7 pt 5 pt 6 pt 5 pt 2 pt 3 pt 7 The Jungle cries (Der Dschungel weint) 26 Nov 8 Flooded shelters (Überflutete Shelter) 30 Nov 9 4 Code Yellow (Code Yellow) 3 Dec 10 Restart (Neustart) 7 Dec 5 11 Broken (Gebrochen) 10 Dec 12 Crocodile area (Krokodilgebiet) 14 Dec 13 6 Rescue on day 6 (Rettung an Tag 6) 17 Dec 14 I'm coming home (Ich komme heim) 21 Dec 7 15 Pirates! (Piraten!) 24 Dec 16 8 King of the Jungle (King of the Jungle) 28 Dec
Season 3 (2023) + Season 3 Location Coast of Nigei/Hope Island, British Columbia, Canada Year 2023 Episodes 16 + 1 Broadcast Amazon: Tue+Fri 00:00 CET, 31 Oct 2023 – 22 Dec 2023YouTube: Wed+Sat 18:00 CET, 29 Nov 2023 – 24 Jan 2024 Production CaliVision Network Editors Max Kovacs, Johannes Hovekamp, Fritz Meinecke Camera Patrick Gillitzer, participants itself
Season 3 took place in August/September 2023 in the Canadian province of British Columbia on Hope and Nigei Island (). This season brought rule changes compared to seasons 1 and 2. The duration of the season was extended from 7 days to 14 days. In this season, participants competed in teams of two, not with a set number of items, but with what they could fit into a predefined bottle. In the preparation and announcement phase of the season, the management nominated presenters Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, among others, who declined to take part.
The season was released between 31 October and 22 December 2023 on Amazon (Amazon Prime Video and ad-financed Amazon Freevee) and four weeks later on YouTube. An additional 17th bonus episode (Joey alone in the forest) was released on 24 January 2024.
Participants and Locations of Season 3
Participant cancel-lation Location of releaseExact locations "Survival Mattin" Rudloff and Fritz Meinecke Day 3 "Naturensöhne": Gerrit Rösel and Andreas "Andy" Schulze Day 5 Joey Kelly and Jan "Jan Schlappen" Lange Day 7 Maximilian "Trymacs" Stemmler and Wieland Emilian "Rumathra" Welte Day 10 Kevin "Papaplatte" Teller and Dominik "Reeze" Reezmann rowspan="3" Jens "Knossi" Knossalla and Sascha Huber Hannah Assil and Ann-Kathrin "Affe auf Bike" Bendixen (wildcarder)
Location of the Orgateam Basecamp: Hotel: Malei Island Resort
Episodes rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Title Release (2023) Amazon(00:00) YouTube(18:00) 1 1 The Exposure (Die Aussetzung) 31 Oct 29 Nov 2 Wolf territory (Wolfsgebiet) 3 Nov 2 Dec 3 2 The First night (Die erste Nacht) 7 Nov 6 Dec 4 Construction work begins (Die Bauarbeiten beginnen) 10 Nov 9 Dec 5 3 Storm tide (Sturmflut) 14 Nov 13 Dec 6 1st Cancellation (Der 1. Abbruch) 17 Nov 16 Dec 7 Mental low (Mentaler Tiefpunkt) 21 Nov 20 Dec 8 4 Mission: Food (Mission: Nahrung) 24 Nov 23 Dec 9 ??? (Maloche im Schacht) 28 Nov 27 Dec 10 5 Banquet (Festmahl) 1 Dec 30 Dec 11 6 Secret Weapon (Geheimwaffe) 5 Dec 3 Jan '24 12 7 Crisis meeting (Krisengespräch) 8 Dec 6 Jan '24 8 13 Abandoned settlement (Verlassene Siedlung) 12 Dec 10 Jan '24 9 14 10 The Move (Der Umzug) 15 Dec 13 Jan '24 15 11−13 Final projects (Die letzten Projekte) 19 Dec 17 Jan '24 16 14−15 Pick-up (Die Abholung) 22 Dec 20 Jan '24 17 7−15 Joey alone in the forest (Joey allein im Wald) 24 Jan '24
Season 4 (2024)