Survivorman/Man vs. Wild.

[troutndeer]

Those two shows are my favorites, But les wins hands down on wich is beter.
Dont get me wrong, Bear has his moments but I do think some of his "ordeals" are staged, Diving into the serria river and going for miles! I have lived along those rivers my whole life and have fell in more than once. The water is too cold when the rivers are at those flows, 10 min. MAYBE, houres NO!! Les "keeps it real" and shows useful info.

just my 2 Cents

[cowboytexan]

I don't like Man vs. Wild, because like you said, it's mostly staged, and because since he's only out there for two days and he, isn't really in a real survival situation, he needlessly kills animals all for the the ratings. Because as we all know Ratings=Money. That is a bad reason to kill animals, I watched him kill three creatures in a single episode.

[FVR]

Krash,

Missed that part in the movie.

In real life it was the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers, pretty tough unit. Here is a link if you want to know a bit more.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/coast...cueswimmer.htm

[marberry]

i just watched the arctic episode of survivorman and found it to be extremely true , i lived in Cambridge bay , Nunavut for a few months last year and once was stuck out by the ice drifts for two days. hes very very lucky he didnt find a polar bear because there are literally thousands out there and there bigger then grizzlies. he showed how hard it was to catch any food atall out there much less spear seals with no experience. ice fishing would have been his best bet for catching any food atall but he didnt have the tools for it. the one thing that made me choke was when he went to sleep under an ice drift close to a freefall icecave. that is the single most stupid thing i have ever seen him do, hes very lucky he woke up. his attempt at building an igloo showed just how hard it is without a snow saw/knife. he should have dug himself a snow cave it would have been far easier and warmer. the natives up there are some of the friendliest people iv ever met and hes lucky the trapper with the dog sled found him or he could have been a week in walking back. bringing some seal blubber was a great idea that stuff gives you alot of energy. man vs wild gives you alot of laughs if it isnt so ridiculous that it disgusts you.

[SOE digital]

I love both shows. Man vs Wild is just awsome for it's shock value and it's entertaining as hell. Obviously it's staged. In fact I've spoken to the producers of Man vs Wild when they called up asking us for permission to use a freshly road killed Kangaroo (or was it a snake? Can't remember) in the show to make it look like Bear had actually killed it himself.
Obviously staged, but awfuly entertaining.

Survivorman is more for the people like us with a genuine interest in the topic. The only thing that bugs me is that the guy is a bit soft when it comes to killing animals for food.
"Believe it or not, we do want to see you gut and prepare your turtle and snake!!!"

[FVR]

Ahh, it's a tv show. What do you expect, it's entertainment.

Beats watching sitcoms.

[Chris]

The most hilarious thing about Man vs. Wild is the credits.... there is a survival expert listed and it isn't Bear Grylls.

[blewgrass]

His comic timing (Bear Grylls) is pretty good. The Copper Canyon bit when he eats the scorpion and describes the taste like cheese is the key to his ratings. I got a couple of belly laughs from that one... It's all about the food.. Also the routines where he makes jumps into cold water and other daredevil stuff adds to the hype. The soundtrack is like a tamed down version of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys... too funny.

My dish network package is too cheap to give me the science channel but his (survivorman) blogs are great.

Bear is pretty good though.

It's obvious that he doesn't come up with all the good info.. especially the stories about lost individuals. The sequences where he stands on the helicopter rails are very cool though..

[ATough]

survivorman all the way! thats what I took my name from.
man vs wild is a good show and you can learn tons of stuff from it I just like survivorman more.

[paul vs wild]

Anyone who chose survivorman is a complete idiot! man vs. wild trumps all by far. First, survivorman takes a year to complete his shelters and doesn't try to find his way back (basically he can set snares everywhere and catch food and just wait to be rescued by his producer) plus all he does is complain. Bear Grylls, however, has quick shelters that anyone can make and takes his suffering like a man (vs. wild). Also, to anyone who said Bear takes too many risks (one person couldn't type too with two o's which shows how dumb and incompitant he is) wilderness survival is about taking risks to save your you-know-what. Also Bears episodes are full of info. I'm not saying that survivorman is not a good show, i love it, but who ever gets stuck in the Georgian swampland! Another thing, Bear goes into his situations with AT MOST a knife, flint, and water bottle, while Les Stroud went into one episode with a broken-down snowmobile, a hunk of uncooked seal liver, oil-rich blubber for heat, a seal hook, three matches, a knife, a multi-tool, a rifle, and a harmonica , what is this, it's wilderness survival, who goes into the wilderness with all that stuff? Bottom Line: Man vs Wild by a land slide even ask the discovery channel, they seem to prefer Man vs Wild more, as evident by their giving Bear a second season and much more viewing time.

[nell67]

There is no reason to put anyone down for their opnion of which show is better,that said yes survivorman can sit and wait for his producer to come by and pick him up,but he still has to survive wherever he is until said producer reaches him,the other guy has more than just his knife LOL he has his camera crew with him with who knows what with them,and I am sure that if he fails on one of his expeditions,that show is not going to air anyway,because afterall how long is their ratings going to stay up there if they show him failing????

We all get along on this forum and there is no call for someone to come in on their first day and start junk.

[Sarge47]

As a survivor teacher just let me say that both shows are definately entertaining and have some important stuff on them. However I just watched Bear's new M. vs. W. episode set in Kimberly Austraila where he drinks his own urine. Most experts warn against that! I read one post where someone asked why would Les Stroud have whale blubber and a rifle. The rifle was for insurance reasons I'm sure. Bottom line here folks, never stray far from home without some form of survival kit on your person. I have built about seven of them, from a small, pocket-sized one all the way up to a large one complete with an AR-7 .22cal. survival rifle. I would like to see both shows stressing the importance of carrying survival items on your person at all times.

[FVR]

Drinking pee, yeh really bright.

Pee contains alot of salt which I would think would only make you dehydrate faster.

I would think that if you are already dehydrated, the drinking of pee would really make you throw up, adding to your dehydration. Not to mention that you are consuming waste, possibly getting diahrrea thus also adding to dehydration.

[Sarge47]

Anyone who chose survivorman is a complete idiot! man vs. wild trumps all by far. First, survivorman takes a year to complete his shelters and doesn't try to find his way back (basically he can set snares everywhere and catch food and just wait to be rescued by his producer) plus all he does is complain. Bear Grylls, however, has quick shelters that anyone can make and takes his suffering like a man (vs. wild). Also, to anyone who said Bear takes too many risks (one person couldn't type too with two o's which shows how dumb and incompitant he is) wilderness survival is about taking risks to save your you-know-what. Also Bears episodes are full of info. I'm not saying that survivorman is not a good show, i love it, but who ever gets stuck in the Georgian swampland! Another thing, Bear goes into his situations with AT MOST a knife, flint, and water bottle, while Les Stroud went into one episode with a broken-down snowmobile, a hunk of uncooked seal liver, oil-rich blubber for heat, a seal hook, three matches, a knife, a multi-tool, a rifle, and a harmonica , what is this, it's wilderness survival, who goes into the wilderness with all that stuff? Bottom Line: Man vs Wild by a land slide even ask the discovery channel, they seem to prefer Man vs Wild more, as evident by their giving Bear a second season and much more viewing time.

Okay, let's not point fingers at mis-spelled words, look how you mis-spelled "incompetent". As to your question about "who goes into the wilderness with all that stuff?" the answer is: "any experienced outdoors-man". Even an experienced back-packer carries a "10 essentials kit". (For more info on that go to "www.rei.com") As far as Bear getting a 2nd season & Les not, a visit to Les Stroud's web-site gives you the explanation for that, Les is busy on a new project. And finally, Les does find his way out of the situations he's in & builds his shelters rather quickly as he's only got a self-imposed time-limit of 7 days. Just remember the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared".

[Sarge47]

Awhile back, Discovery Channel did a 6-episode series of 6 of their previous episodes sub-titled "S.O.S.: The Science of Survival." They would replay parts of the episode, cutting in their survival experts who would then demonstrate things the people could have done to better their situation. Les Stroud was on one of these & it was very well done. Another favorite of mine was the story of the four guys who went into the Amazon, only two came back. The survival expert on this one was a former special Forces guy name of John Hawke I believe. Finally, Backpacker magazine had a small bit of input from Les Stroud in their "Survival" issue. (October 2006). Just some data for all you Les fans.

[gringo]

Our whole family likes both programs, as well as Ray Mears but our preference is Survivorman. He is more of an "everyman" than Bear Grylls and you get more of a feel of the emotions he is going through.

I really like having the option to watch both.

[paul vs wild]

Okay, let's not point fingers at mis-spelled words, look how you mis-spelled "incompetent". As to your question about "who goes into the wilderness with all that stuff?" the answer is: "any experienced outdoors-man". Even an experienced back-packer carries a "10 essentials kit". (For more info on that go to "www.rei.com") As far as Bear getting a 2nd season & Les not, a visit to Les Stroud's web-site gives you the explanation for that, Les is busy on a new project. And finally, Les does find his way out of the situations he's in & builds his shelters rather quickly as he's only got a self-imposed time-limit of 7 days. Just remember the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared".

First off, let me say that Sarge47 is so full of crap he doesn't know if he is coming or going. If you go around and ask 100 3rd graders they all know when to use two, to, and too. Conversely, if you ask 100 RANDOM adults (random pertaining to not all of them being Harvard grads) to spell incompEtant only about 60-70% would spell it correctly. Now, to your next point not every survivor that has ever walked this planet has had the luxury of a survival kit; quite the opposite. Don't let sarge fool you if they told Les to do a second season and payed him a pretty penny to do it, he would have dropped this project. Also, not every single person who goes into the wilderness is an experienced outdoors-man or backpacker so don't use that as an alibi for Les to carry all of the Sh^t that he does. And for all those people who say man vs wild is staged they have the 24 hour film role for sale if you know where to go so don't fool yourself, there is always a camera on Bear; granted, there are parts where he'll have a sip of tea that belongs to his cameraman. And one last thing, Bear can spend 7 days in the wilderness, he's so efficient that he can find a way out in 2.

[paul vs wild]

To Nell67,

If Les gives up in the wild he has a cell and a gps on hand i guarantee it. And if Les gives up, that show won't air either.

[FVR]

It's entertainment. So is this.

I just wonder if Bear, left alone, no camera crew, would he take the same chances that he currently does.

I like them both. I do think that Bear is a bit more of a show-boater. But then, that's tv ratings.

[Sarge47]

First off, let me say that Sarge47 is so full of crap he doesn't know if he is coming or going. If you go around and ask 100 3rd graders they all know when to use two, to, and too. Conversely, if you ask 100 RANDOM adults (random pertaining to not all of them being Harvard grads) to spell incompEtant only about 60-70% would spell it correctly. Now, to your next point not every survivor that has ever walked this planet has had the luxury of a survival kit; quite the opposite. Don't let sarge fool you if they told Les to do a second season and payed him a pretty penny to do it, he would have dropped this project. Also, not every single person who goes into the wilderness is an experienced outdoors-man or backpacker so don't use that as an alibi for Les to carry all of the Sh^t that he does. And for all those people who say man vs wild is staged they have the 24 hour film role for sale if you know where to go so don't fool yourself, there is always a camera on Bear; granted, there are parts where he'll have a sip of tea that belongs to his cameraman. And one last thing, Bear can spend 7 days in the wilderness, he's so efficient that he can find a way out in 2.

Right! You must have had a lousy childhood to use the language the way you do! Don't get so caught up in TV shows dawg, I guarantee you'll only be disapointed. In any group survival situation everyone has to remain positive. Since all you bring to the table is name-calling, negative suppositions, and bad-mouthing, you would be the 1st to be let go of. As a matter of fact, right after posting this I'm going to hit the "ignore" button. Have a nice life.