Survivorman/Man vs. Wild.

[finallyME]

I'm still not a Bear fan, but you have to give the guy at least partial credit on this one:

TV Show Helps Utah Boy Survive Night Solo In Woods


I think that last line says it all. Just knowing you can endure great hardship makes a big difference in your likelihood of survival. That's why I love the book The Long Walk.

That kid is another reason why you don't listen to Bear for advice on survival. The kid did almost everything wrong, and luckily was saved. He would have been saved much sooner had he followed the advice of Les. Sure, I like Bear for entertainment. In almost every episode he does something stupid. But, the problem is that other people think he is actually showing good technique. Of course, when they die, they can't tell the news that they learned it on Man vs Wild.

[finallyME]

I put this link on the pee thread. But it belongs here as well.

Bear Wiki

Bad form with fire bow

Fake rabbit kill

[hunter63]

I like them both, and if you see it on the TV it must be true, right?

Any way they both are making good coin doing something that most of us haven't gotten of the couch to do.

[HanoverDan]

What they teach is mostly the mind part of the survival world.

There are many good things that are in each of the programs but they really need to focus on a life situation.

I mean finding your way out. and teaching the kids to stay put and not move. Like we teach sit down and cry and yell and bang rocks together and hit sticks together. make noise.

they dont concentrate on the needs of temporary lost kids in the woods.

Long term survival is great its the ones that lose themselves in the woods just off a trail that need to be taugh.

Survival trainer for the Military for 2 years
SERE
Respect
Daniel

[HanoverDan]

I think and it is solely my opinion that bear is geared more to the military and for long term survival. Yeah most of the stuff is crazy. Made strickly for entertainment. In a long term survival, time is not the problem, it is your enemy, you will have plenty. Its the time that drives you nuts.
Survivor guy could be more to the point when it comes to surviving. These are set for longer times in the field and not geared to lifes instantaneous emergencies.

I think they should actually start helping the kids that get lost by showing what not to do.
Survival is learned, not overnight.
Respect
Daniel

[TangoFoxtrot]

Without a doubt Les. I think Bear has folded to the Hollywood mentality.

[Survival Guy 10]

i think Bear Grylls is an ok show but he is a big risk taker who down a mountain in a piece of crapp sled made of caribo hide then he dosent even take the hide with and he is in Siberia one of the coldest places in the world

[Rick]

Siberia? That must be next door to Teluride. I understand they have some nice hotels there.

[Larec]

I have seen both shows and i would say that for purely entertainment value then Bear's show wins. For edutainment value then Les's show wins.

I only watch these shows for entertainment, if i wanted to learn skills then i would join a survival course or study various books.

[red lake]

I am watching the show and he is traveling down a mountain river. Firstly it is stupid of him to jump into a river that is fed by melting snow..COLD.

He claims he is using his pack as a PFD, but as you see him in the river you can clearly see there is a PFD under his sweater.

[lucznik]

Hey did you guys know that ol' Bear is now writing/publishing a series of survival novels?

Here's some of the info about them:

Mission: Survival - Way of the Wolf
Stranded in Alaska! Beck Granger and his anthropologist uncle are on their way to visit Anakat Village, home to one of the native peoples of Alaska, when their tiny plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. With his uncle badly injured and the plane way off its original flight path, Beck realises he can't wait around for rescue. He needs to get help - and fast! Together with his new friend, Tikaani, Beck sets off through bear country and up towards the mountains that block his way to civilisation. Can Beck keep himself and Tikaani alive as they ford a dangerous river, find food to keep their strength up and dig a snow cave in which to weather an ice storm? A tense and exciting struggle for survival with real survival details and gruesome tips!

Mission Survival: Sands of the Scorpion
Lost amid the desert sands! When Beck Granger and his friend, Peter, join Beck's Uncle Al for a holiday in Africa, they aren't expecting to find themselves stranded in the Sahara Desert. But when they stumble upon a smuggling ring and have to bail out of a plane over the desert, Beck knows their chances of survival are slim. Somehow they must find their way back to civilisation, but there are snakes, scorpions and the merciless rays of the sun to overcome first! This is a gripping African adventure packed with real survival details and dangers at every turn!

Mission Survival: Tracks of the Tiger
Volcano eruption! Beck and his friend are on a relaxing holiday in Borneo, visiting orang-utan sanctuaries and hanging out by the pool. Except that when they spend the afternoon out in the jungle, things take an unexpected turn, and a volcano eruption leaves them stranded and alone. Beck must use all his skills to survive the dangers of the jungles and swamps of Borneo - can he get them to safety alive?

About the Author
Bear Grylls was trained by the British SAS. A world-record-breaking adventurer, successful TV presenter and bestselling author, he is also one of the world's youngest and most sought-after motivational speakers. He was recently awarded an honorary commission as a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy.


Man, I'm gonna have to get me some of them!!!! I'll bet each and every book includes a vivid description of at least one traditional British pee (oops. I mean tea) party!

[rwc1969]

I think i've changed my thinking on Bear. His show is definitely not a true survival show, but it is entertaining.

[Matt86]

I remember watching a man vs wild episode..i think it was the texas one...where he was doing parkour style moves to cross a series 4 foot deep and maybe 3 foot wide drop offs...i dont know abour bear but the last thing i want to do in a survival situation is break my ankle or worse...buy hey i might be crazy

[Magpie]

Since most of you hate bear grylls. I read a lot of the stuff on that bear wiki site that shows a LOT of stuff he's been caught doing, but there was hardly anything for season 3. I hadn't had the chance to watch season 3 on tv so I got it on dvd and I gotta say, I don't see WHY there isn't more stuff about season 3 because it's almost like they aren't even trying to cover their mistakes anymore. The editing is just plain poor and riddled with inconsistencies. The first episode (can't remember where he was) he gets extremely swollen in the face from a bee sting, the show goes on and the swelling seems to subside, he then "finds" a fresh water source later at the end of the episode and his face is miraculously swollen again! He obviously panicked and decided to make a quick ending scene to his show right after that happened, and they used other footage to fill in the gaps.
The next episode (I'm watching right now) he wrestles with this alligator he finds, I couldn't help but notice how lifeless this alligator seemed to be when he was "wrestling" with it and the editing taking place at the time was over the top, very chop choppy so that you can't quite make anything out. I think it's obvious what was done here. He also attempts to build a little raft and it quickly sinks, the weather is getting bad and he tries to fix it but it continues to sink, suddenly it's nice weather and it's much more improved and he says something like "I've managed to wait out the storm and reinforce my raft, 3rd time's a charm." It's utterly ridiculous. I've actually laughed out loud at some of the absurdness I've witnessed and I haven't even finished watching the 2nd episode. I thought before that people might have been exaggerating a bit on the things that he's been accused of, but now I think they just had a better production team back then. This is almost unwatchable now, I don't even think they're trying anymore. Haven't watched any of the new seasons because I don't have cable anymore. I think it's kind of like a magic trick, people KNOW better but they like to watch it anyway, why else is it the top rated show on discovery channel?

[Winnie]

Since most of you hate bear grylls. I read a lot of the stuff on that bear wiki site that shows a LOT of stuff he's been caught doing, but there was hardly anything for season 3. I hadn't had the chance to watch season 3 on tv so I got it on dvd and I gotta say, I don't see WHY there isn't more stuff about season 3 because it's almost like they aren't even trying to cover their mistakes anymore. The editing is just plain poor and riddled with inconsistencies. The first episode (can't remember where he was) he gets extremely swollen in the face from a bee sting, the show goes on and the swelling seems to subside, he then "finds" a fresh water source later at the end of the episode and his face is miraculously swollen again! He obviously panicked and decided to make a quick ending scene to his show right after that happened, and they used other footage to fill in the gaps.
The next episode (I'm watching right now) he wrestles with this alligator he finds, I couldn't help but notice how lifeless this alligator seemed to be when he was "wrestling" with it and the editing taking place at the time was over the top, very chop choppy so that you can't quite make anything out. I think it's obvious what was done here. He also attempts to build a little raft and it quickly sinks, the weather is getting bad and he tries to fix it but it continues to sink, suddenly it's nice weather and it's much more improved and he says something like "I've managed to wait out the storm and reinforce my raft, 3rd time's a charm." It's utterly ridiculous. I've actually laughed out loud at some of the absurdness I've witnessed and I haven't even finished watching the 2nd episode. I thought before that people might have been exaggerating a bit on the things that he's been accused of, but now I think they just had a better production team back then. This is almost unwatchable now, I don't even think they're trying anymore. Haven't watched any of the new seasons because I don't have cable anymore. I think it's kind of like a magic trick, people KNOW better but they like to watch it anyway, why else is it the top rated show on discovery channel?

It's what?? Good lord, I managed to watch about 10 minutes of the first ever episode and came to the conclusion my Girl Guide handbook was a much better learning tool. I haven't watched anymore, I find it far too embarrasing!

[Rick]

Go out to his website and look at how many write in and thank him for the information he shares. They are going out into the wild and use it. Scary stuff. I'm truly surprised someone has been seriously injured doing his goofy stunts and sued him and the production company.

[rwc1969]

Now that is scary, Rick. I think bear is showing worst case scenarios. I hope!

[Bushmeat]

Im kind of suprised that people that believe they are survivors, Although i do admit that most that want to comment are probably armchair survivors, want to argue who is better out of the 2.

Well for me i can gain knowledge from both, straight up end of deal.

But one, Bear is showing how to get to civilization as quick as possible, Taking the tact it is up to you to get out.

The Other Les, is showing how to survive in an environment till you get found by outside help.

To take an episode of each that i can relate to and am knowledgeable about, is still hard because they put themselves in totally different environments in Oz.

Les put himself in the Gawler ranges in South Australia (which is not that remote and more than likely he was on a sheep station/Farm) and the made the biggest rookie mistake in the first instance, and made no mention of it on the show. And if his show is informational he failed.
He left the plane. Simple. Doing what he did he did made survival almost impossible but his own responsibility.
In Australia if you get done in the outback, don't matter if its a plane or 4 Wheel Drive, don't leave the vehicle, so much easier to see from the sky.
Thats the first lesson they teach and the number one reason for people perishing in the outback.

On the Other Hand Bear put himself into an actual really remote location that you will probably travel 500 miles in any direction and still not see another human.
But he traverses the environment to get going in the way he thinks he will meet civilization.

At the end of the day they both made mistakes for the environment they were in.

Point im trying to make is its only the human condition that requries one to be better than the other,t i can take from both lessons to be learnt and mistake to avoid.

Im a survivor, i will take any knowledge i can, from any where i can.
I would rather conserve my energy to learning from both that ridiculing either.

And the number one factor to peoples survival in any environment is their mental condition.

All i can say is that there are a lot of people that like to comment with nothing but their own egotistical ideal that they know best and want to hate one or defend another, this to me is not a survivalist attitude, learn what you can, adapt what you can.

One Final Question? How many people have spent more than 3 night in the bush (what ever your bush maybe) with only a knife to survive with.
What im asking is can you make these accusations and state YOUR ideas without actually testing yourself.

At the end of the day Knowledge is power and even if i can learn from a tv shows mistakes, Im Learning.

[Bushmeat]

I remember watching a man vs wild episode..i think it was the texas one...where he was doing parkour style moves to cross a series 4 foot deep and maybe 3 foot wide drop offs...i dont know abour bear but the last thing i want to do in a survival situation is break my ankle or worse...buy hey i might be crazy

Did you watch this episode with the mute on?

He said it is a practiced move used by different military for moving quickly across broken ground.

You are not practiced at it and as such is not advised. I have used this as a way of moving across rocks and cliffs when fishing, but then again i practice bouldering and other agility movements for crossing ground quickly.

it is a useful skill, if practiced, and you have the fitness to maintain.

unlike the exercise you get from punching youre nubs aimlessly at a keyboard.

[Ted]

To be blunt imo Bears a joke, only saw his show twice and that was two times too many.Les on the other hand I've only seen maybe 5 times and loved it. Only caught him once bs"n.

He was making a fire, using a bow and drill , everthing was cool till I noticed his fireboard was a perfect piece of 1x3 about 6 inches long. He didn't say he found it , or he brought it along. Sorry but I'm very serious about survival and wouldn't have thought twice about it i he had claimed he found it or took it with him. It was just there.