Jeff Zausch and Laura Zerra will spend two months braving the elements without wearing a stitch of clothing. By now, everyone knows the premise of Naked and Afraid. Two survivalists are marooned in a harsh location without a stitch of clothes on. For 21 days, they brave the elements while in the most vulnerable state imaginable. Past survivalists have dealt with horrible weather and flesh-eating bacteria , while one contestant was even stung by a yellow jacket in the most unfortunate of areas. The show even stranded two naked survivalists in the frozen tundra of Alaska. For more than a month, they try to survive the location — and each other. But now, two seasoned survivalists are kicking it up a notch. Jeff Zausch and Laura Zerra will do a typical day challenge — and then immediately go into the day challenge of Naked and Afraid XL. If they succeed, it will be the longest continuous stretch that any participants have survived.

You have Successfully Subscribed!
New Hampshire Magazine
Join the list to receive special offers, updates, and everything Free Range American. L aura Zerra is focused. The year-old reality television star and social media influencer sits in an ice shack on a frozen river in South Dakota, her gloved hand tapping an 8-foot steel spear. A rectangle the size of a inch flat-screen has been cut through the inch-thick ice. Laura Zerra is a survivalist — a doer of outdoor things. Faster, faster. Send it. The water clears, and a neck-shot fish writhes on the tines. Laura Zerra takes up the paracord line and the spear, then walks backward out of the dark house, spear on shoulder, fish on spear.
JOIN EMAIL LIST
In A Modern Guide to Knifemaking, survivalist Laura Zerra, one of the stars of Naked and Afraid on the Discovery Channel, shares her essential knifemaking tips and tricks, including step-by-step instructions for both forging and stock removal. We all use a knife pretty much every day, but for Zerra, her daily life often depends on the blade she takes with her into the wild. From design to sharpening, A Modern Guide to Knifemaking covers every step in the knifemaking process. To begin, you will consider what you want your knife to accomplish, develop a design, and make a prototype. Zerra takes you through choosing and buying steel for your knife and then teaches you to build your own forge. You will learn forging basics and then move on to forge the shape of your knife and make the blade tip. From there, you will cut the blade profile, grind in bevels to make the edge of the knife, heat treat and temper your blade, grind and polish it, and make a handle and sheath for it. You will also learn sharpening techniques to maintain the edge of your new knife.
Zerra travels the world but her current post is in Belmont, NH, where she offers adventure travel and primitive survival training to anyone wanting to appreciate the wild world we all live in. She teaches hunting, tracking, taxidermy, tanning, plant identification and fire starting. When they were casting, my name came up. They Facebook-stalked me, saw my photos and learned a bit about me and then sent a message asking if I wanted to be on the show. You must have made a good impression. I like to think so. I was unbelievably excited when I got the call. I jumped out of my seat. I had about five days to prepare but I try to live healthy anyway. I cut out all sugar and caffeine.