Who Is Tom Garstang from Alone Season 9? What Happened

Spoiler note: this covers Tom Garstang's run on Alone season 9.

Tom Garstang was 35 years old and living in Earlysville, Virginia, when he was cast on Alone season 9, filmed near Big River in the Nunatsiavut region of northern Labrador, Canada, for a $500,000 prize. Garstang was born in South Africa, the son of a game ranger, and works as a prescribed-fire practitioner and regenerative agriculturist, background that lined up well with a season built around remote, resource-scarce terrain.

How his run went

Garstang placed sixth, lasting 43 days. He fell and injured his back and knee, and the injury ended his run the following day. Before that, he had built a genuinely strong hunting record for the season, by some counts more than 40 animals taken over his run, which makes the injury-forced exit more frustrating than a typical tap-out driven by hunger or hopelessness. He was performing well by the numbers when his body gave out, and falls like his are a reminder that rough terrain can end a run regardless of how well a contestant is otherwise managing food and shelter. Full details on his run, alongside the rest of the season 9 cast, are on his contestant page and the season 9 hub.

His gear

Season 9 has a fully sourced gear list for Garstang. Here is what he carried:

Category	Item
Cutting	Axe, Folding saw, Multitool
Fire	Ferro rod
Hunting/fishing	Bow and arrows, Trapping wire, Fishing line and hooks
Camp	Sleeping bag, 2-quart pot, Paracord

That bow-and-arrow setup, paired with trapping wire, matches his hunting record on the season: a contestant who leaned on active hunting and trapping rather than waiting out the clock on foraging alone. For a broader look at how bow choice affects a contestant's catch rate across the show, our best axe roundup pulls from verified gear lists like this one.

Life after the show

As of mid-2026, Garstang is reported to continue working as a prescribed-fire practitioner and regenerative agriculturist on his extended family's farm in Earlysville. He is also known in the outdoors community for his hunting content, sharing footage of hunts ranging from deer to rabbit, and by most accounts remains an active voice in regenerative land management and controlled-burn practices well beyond his time on the show. That combination, prescribed fire on one hand and hands-on hunting on the other, is close to the same skill set that made him useful in a resource-scarce location like the Labrador coast, and it is a big part of why his season 9 cast bio reads the way it does.

Garstang's exit is a useful reminder that a strong season on paper doesn't guarantee a long placement. A back and knee injury from a fall is one of the more common ways a physically capable contestant gets forced out, regardless of how well their hunting or trapping is going. It sits in the same category as other forced medical departures rather than the voluntary tap-outs driven by hunger, cold, or homesickness that account for a large share of the show's eliminations.

For more on how injuries and medical evacuations are handled during filming, our Alone rules page covers the safety protocols behind decisions like this one, and the FAQ answers common questions about how placement is determined when someone leaves for medical reasons rather than by choice.