Bear & Les: Pros & Cons.

[Sarge47]

Bear & Les: Pros & Cons!

While we’ve debated the quality of both “Man vs. Wild” & “Survivorman” elsewhere, This thread is to identify both the bad & the good of both men as there are those who like both of them, though usually not together. So the following is a list of both negatives & positives that I find in each show & star.

Bear Grylls: We all know about Bear’s dishonesty, so I won’t repeat that here, unless I need to in making a point.

NEGATIVES:
1.)Starting right off the bat we see B.G. running “willy-nilly” through whatever situation he’s placed himself in. This violates the 1st rule of Survival: “S.T.O.P.!” (Sit. Think. Observe. Plan.) While one may argue that Bear is so well trained that he already knows what he doing, the average person finding themselves lost in the wilds do NOT!
2.)Bear always likes to state that he is only equipped with a canteen & a knife. He never states how much gear the camera crew, grips, etc. are carrying. It’s a safe bet they’re not going to drink their own urine & drink water out of an elephant turd!
3.)Throwing himself into a frigid lake, then doing push-ups naked in the snow is not wise.

THE POSITIVES:
1.)Bear does teach some useful info, but I feel that there is a lot more “bad stuff” than good; starting with the running. I’ll let some of the others on here list more positives if they want.

Les is more of an expert to me because of what he showed on the Discovery series: “I Shouldn’t be Alive: The Science of Survival.”

THE NEGATIVES.
1.)The 7-day time limit. By imposing this restriction on himself he inadvertantly implies to an inexperienced audience that it’s okay to take off through unknown terrain if you felt that you waited long enough. While, in some instances that might be true, it’s NOT carved in granite.

THE POSITIVES:
1.)Les always takes along more equipment that his nemesis, demonstrating how they work & so on.
2.)He starts out staying in one spot, usually, demonstrating the “S.T.O.P. principle.

Okay folks, there’s some to whet your appetite. Remember, the goal here is NOT to personally attack either person, but to show what you feel are both the bad and/or the good of their programs. No flaming allowed, I will edit any inflammatory posts by one member towards another. This is NOT that type of thread. Thank you!

[klkak]

Les has many times demonstrated the need to keep your spirits up. One example is his playing of his Harmonica.

Les also avoids getting wet where Bear rarely passes up an opportunity to jump in the water regardless of the weather.

[Nativedude]

Well, to begin with I've only seen a couple of Man -v- Wild online. I have no use for a person like Bear Grylls promoting his style of survival. Too Hollywood, too scripted, and, certainly, WAY TOO DANGEROUS!

Les, on the other hand, doesn't take un-necessary chances (i.e. swinging from a vine, jumping off a 100' cliff into a pond, etc.).

I've known Les for a number of years; he and his ex-wife Sue, lived for a year in the deep remote wilderness with NO modern gear. Stone tools, foraging for food, etc. So he had a much better handle on presenting survival as it really is.

He has only what a person whom is in his (Les') predicament might have with them. So it is not an un-believable, or far-fetched situation that he is portraying. And, he's all by himself. No support people. . . .Bear does!

He shows you what can happen and how a person might handle it. After all, everyone is different and will do things differently in the same circumstances.

Realistically what he's doing is what you will find in most survival books. Les is just showing it in real-time, instead of having to decipher it on paper!

[ibosserman]

I am currently reading Les's book Survive!. It has been very helpful in a lot of areas. I feel that his is a better survivor than bear, in the fact that he is all alone out there doing what he does best.

[chiggersngrits]

I noticed on Bears shows closing credits that some other guy, can't remember his name, is the "Survival Expert".

[crashdive123]

Can't say as I've ever lasted until the credits.

[Born2Late]

Some of the stuff that B.G. eats would make a vulture gag.Eating raw rotting zebra meat or drinking stagnant water is not a good idea.In a survival situation you need all your strengh and cant afford to loose water through a runny stomach.Les on the other hand cooks most of his food and handles himself in a more responsible way.Les tries to teach you something and is not only there for the show and thrills.

[your_comforting_company]

Bear does point out "this is dangerous" just before he does something really stupid, like climbing into the bowels of a "glassier" whatever that is..
He speaks some foreign language and I can barely understand a word he says.

Les points out "that would be dangerous" and explains why he's not going to do something stupid, like sliding down the face of a mountain with a dead mountain goat head for a sled.
Les also speaks a little redneck so I can understand most of what he's saying.

every once in a while bear will "luckily" stumble on some junk pile that allows him to make something useful. less often he will use natural materials to make something
Les will take whatever is in his environment and make use of his time to show some primitive skills.

I don't think it's accurate to portray Bear as a "survivalist", but more of an "adventurer".
Les is more a survivalist, not taking any unnecessary risks.

Bear eats poo. Dogs eat poo. I don't eat poo
Les eats meat. I eat meat.


I personally think Bear should be banned from tv because he teaches kids VERY BAD practices, and gives a false sense of security in adventure. Luckily most kids are smart enough to know not to eat poo.

[Old GI]

At least BG now knows not to walk into a mangrove swamp.

[preachtheWORD]

We've gotta remember that both of these shows are for entertainment, and both men are, to some degree, entertainers.

This is far more pronounced in Bear. Anyone with any survival sense knows that most what Bear does is not advisable in a survival situation - the running around, the needless climing of cliffs, the eating of uncooked and/or rotten things, the needless crossing of rivers, drinking water from dung, etc. Most of these will get you hurt, sick, or killed in a real survival situation. I often wonder how many antibiotics he must be taking on a regular basis. Otherwise, he's gonna spend a lot of time in the bathroom when he gets back to the hotel! The worst part is that the young or impressionable may be led to think that this kind of behavior is how a person should really act in the wilderness. That being said, Bear Grylls is one tough character (at least when the cameras are on), and would probably be quite capable in a real survival situation. But the show is mostly for eterntainment purposes only.

Les is also a showman, but in a different sense. He is a filmmaker. He still does some things just for the sake of making the show entertaining. Remember when he tried to float out of the swamp on that log? Anybody could see that was going to fail. But all in all, Les does a lot more things right. He doesn't take all the unnecessary risks. He doesn't have a camera crew to pull him out of a mess. He has to film himself on top of simply surviving. As one who has done some "adventure filmmaking" myself, I can tell you that this is hard work. It gets very tedious when you have to climb back up and get the camera, or worse, climb down, place the camera, climb back up, and then climb down again, just to get one shot. And all I am using is one little camera, not the 60 pounds of gear he has to lug around. You've gotta respect a guy who willingly goes out for a week and lives bedraggled and half starved in the wilderness for the sake of his art.

I am sure that every object WSF member would agree that Les has the edge. Most of us have been too annoyed by Bear's antics. If I had to pick one person to get stuck in the wilderness with, I would definitely pick Les. Bear would be way too annoying, and I would probably have to pull him out of some hole he jumped in on purpose.

All these things being said, who among us wouldn't jump at the chace to do what both of these guys do? If I wasn't in the ministry full-time, I would probably be making a lot more films myself.

[Bibow]

THE NEGATIVES.
1.)The 7-day time limit. By imposing this restriction on himself he inadvertantly implies to an inexperienced audience that it’s okay to take off through unknown terrain if you felt that you waited long enough. While, in some instances that might be true, it’s NOT carved in granite

I think that the escape is more for entertainment in most cases. As preach the word said, they are both entertainers to some degree. Ratings would not be as good if they were to sit around for seven days, Since as we all know it becomes more routine and mundane after 2 or 3 days. Also by showing how to escape he is also demonstrating survival techniques that wouldn't be used around his camp to much degree, like fire bundles and navigation techniques.

Les can only explain so many things in a one hour show. His book was one of the best survival books IMO. He cuts to the point and realizes that snaring caribou and ''finding'' wild horses is not reality to any normal survivor who will most likely be found within 7-10 days. but if not found he also tells how to properly navigate to safety and what to do or not to do on your way out.

As for Bear grylls, I watch the show for the scenery.

[finallyME]

Well, to eco Sarge, Bear is dangerous. I read a news article this summer about a kid who got lost. The article praised the fact that the kid watches Bear on TV with his dad, and learned it all from him. The article also said that the kid survived because he used what the show taught him. However, the kid almost died because he followed the show. He was lucky that they found him. Guess what the searchers found first ( a long time before they found him)? They found his backpack that he left because he was too busy moving around. I will stop now, my blood pressure is rising.

Les shows things how they really are. He shows how hard it is to light a fire. He shows how hard it is to snare game. This encourages people that they need to learn the skills first, and to practice.

[Stargazer]

In one episode Less destroyed one of his cameras so he could get the lense from it.He then went on to demonstrate and talked about how one could start a fire with it.Well it did not work for him because of clouds.But I like that he showed another way to do something.Even if it didnt work that time it may at another time.

I like that he is not afraid to show the viewers his failures.How many time have we watched him get skunked at fishing,setting up dead falls etc.I think thats a great part of his show.Not everything is going to work the first time or be as easy you would think it is.

B.G is fun to watch I'll give him that.

[SARKY]

I won't even bother with BG as he has shown that he has NO credability. That being said the one thing that truly disturbs me about Les is he penchant for drinking unfiltered or unpurified water. In a life or death situation i can understand that but most of the time he has the time and ability to purify the water and still does not.

[trax]

Uh, Sarge said in the OP that I'm not supposed to make personal attacks on either of them, so I guess I'll stay quiet on this one. Or....I like Les! there we go

[Ken]

Les has many times demonstrated the need to keep your spirits up. One example is his playing of his Harmonica.

Hey Kev, I play the harmonica, too!

Next time you need to lift your spirits, just give me a call. I'll be happy to play the long version of Whammer Jammer for ya'!

And if you really feel depressed, I'll set up my old Ludwigs and Zildjians and bang out "Motorboat to Mars" for ya.

[trax]

Very generous of you Ken, I just can't imagine anyone feeling that depressed to make the call.

[hunter63]

Uh, Sarge said in the OP that I'm not supposed to make personal attacks on either of them, so I guess I'll stay quiet on this one. Or....I like Les! there we go

I'm out as well.
Old news.
Have fun boys.

[Ken]

Very generous of you Ken, I just can't imagine anyone feeling that depressed to make the call.

.

[doug1980]

Well actually there is no need to debate now. Les is off the air and Bear is still on. So people will not get that balance now. I always looked at these two shows as balancers. Suvivorman is what you SHOULD do and Man vs Wild is what you SHOULDN'T do. I have seen every episode of both thus far and am entertained by both.