Another "Man vs. Wild" question

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Wunderbar

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May 2, 2003
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I've been watching Bear Grylls on the discovery channel. I just caught the Alaskan Survival episode. Does anyone know what knife he was using in this episode? I thought it was a Cold Steel Recon 1 but I didn't get a real good look at it.
 
I was wondering that myself, but even more, I was wondering why a "survival expert" would beat his knife with a rock instead of batoning it with a piece of wood? God forbid your only knife be broken by stupidity in that situation...
 
jim n said:
I was wondering that myself, but even more, I was wondering why a "survival expert" would beat his knife with a rock instead of batoning it with a piece of wood? God forbid your only knife be broken by stupidity in that situation...
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I also wondered why he would use a rock. My only thought was maybe since he's usually batoning with a small blade (usually a Gerber gator or similar sized pocket knife) he needs more impact than a piece of wood would provide. The rock may drive the knife through the wood faster and Bear seems to be all about doing things quickly. He even admitted he's very impatient in that Alaskan episode I beleive.

After watching noss smash a big hammer into the spine of a Kabar knife as he drove it through bricks maybe a knife can take being hit with a rock on the spine. Also the knives Bear usually has (cheap consumer knives like a Gerber Gator) are probably made from steels that aren't super hard (easy for the average Joe to sharpen, less chance of chipping, high corrosion resistance, etc) and they may take the abuse better. They may dent before they would chip and crack.

Hitting a knife with a more brittle steel that has better edge holding ability may not take to being hit with a rock as well, but I'm not expert. Cliff would know. :)
 
I like the show. Cozy little shelter he built. But, I think he pulled the plug on that metal boat just to sink it out in the berg filled water to make the show interesting. The African show is actually pretty cool and shows him getting liquid by squeezing elephant dung and munching on a lion killed zebra. Yum Yum Makes you just want to go out and eat on road kill.

I am not so sure about his comment about vultures only eating fresh meat. The locate their food by smell. The smell usually occurs with decay.

I wish he'd show his knives more or simply mention what they are. The knife is always an important facet of his ability to demonstrate survival skills. He does seem to use pretty common inexpensive knives though.
 
Seen him beat on his knife with a rock in another episode also.:(

Why would a person do that with his only knife while lost in the wilderness:confused:

They are not precision hits ether, just kinda bash away at it:thumbdn:
 
maybe its because there's really a bunch of other people there filming him and ol bear knows hes not gonna be in too much deep dodo no matter what happens so he does stuff for effect?
 
I have mixed feelings about that show. He does show some good survival tips but he also is constantly doing unnecessary stunts like jumping off rocks or climbing down waterfalls. If you were really in most of those situations the last thing you would want to do is risk a broken ankle or a leg or back injury and then you are really screwed.
 
I like watching the show too...... for its comedic effect. I say face it: his show is a sitcom. If Bear is a survival "expert", I'd like to find out what show he displays those skills on so I can watch it also.

He seems like a decent sort and surely he must know quite abit about surviving in the wild, but all the dumb, risky, unecessary crap he does just nullifies his bushcraft..... and it makes him appear like a novice (which he most certainly is not).

Now..... IF he were to produce a show like Les Stroud's "Survivorman", where there isn't the safety net of a camera crew to make sure you don;t starve, carry your ice boots, toss another knife to you because you broke the last one with a rock, etc, then I might watch his show with more attention, and less skepticism.
 
I think, if the true premise of the show is to show real life survival teqhniques, he has some shortcomings. Beating your knife with a rock, climbing down a waterfall, eating salmon raw when he obviously has flint and tender, all unnecessary risks for the situation he was in. I never heard him say "Hey, I SHOULD do this another way, but if there were no other alternative, here is how to proceed in that situation". He goes for the most dramatic method, which leads me to believe the premise of the show is pure entertainment. Which is dangerous, because if someone were to try his unnecessary stunts in a real life situation, they might not have the happy hollywood ending he has. I did not know how to built the emergency shelters I have seen him make, so I got THAT much out of it, but if I were to beat my Bark River or God forbid my Mini Grip with a rock only to have it break on me, I would be in a world of hurt. Oh, I'll still watch the show, but with a critical eye...
 
That show is so funny, I can't stop watching it. On those distant shots of him jumping around I wonder if he have to wait for the crew to set up first then tell him to jump. I also wonder how slow he has to go in order for the crew to catch up with him and how his crew follow him when he climb up those walls. It is so staged. Anyway, that is what TV is for, entertainment, I like the show.
 
22-rimfire said:
I am not so sure about his comment about vultures only eating fresh meat. The locate their food by smell. The smell usually occurs with decay.
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A bit off-topic, but it got me wondering. I always thought they would use their eyesight to spot dead animals, and I also believed that they didn't mind rotten meat. So I checked at the VultureSociety website and found this:

All vultures find food with their incredible eyesight, but new world (American) vultures have a keenly developed sense of smell, on which they rely for most of their foraging. Turkey vultures use an even combination of smell and sight--whichever reaches them first. The rest of the new world vultures rely partially on smell and more on eyesight, or the activities of turkey vultures. Old world vultures have no sense of smell, and rely solely on eyesight.

... vultures WILL turn their nose up at carcasses in advanced stages of putrefaction. They much prefer their meat fresh, but often must wait a few days for the hide to soften enough for their weak beaks to penetrate it. African vultures have much stronger beaks, and henceforth the ability to be much more picky about their diets.
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So maybe old Bear should have mentioned that YMMV and if you're in the Americas the vultures are probably eating meat that's been tenderizing in the sun for a few days... :D
 
22-rimfire said:
I like the show. Cozy little shelter he built. But, I think he pulled the plug on that metal boat just to sink it out in the berg filled water to make the show interesting. The African show is actually pretty cool and shows him getting liquid by squeezing elephant dung and munching on a lion killed zebra. Yum Yum Makes you just want to go out and eat on road kill.

I am not so sure about his comment about vultures only eating fresh meat. The locate their food by smell. The smell usually occurs with decay.

I wish he'd show his knives more or simply mention what they are. The knife is always an important facet of his ability to demonstrate survival skills. He does seem to use pretty common inexpensive knives though.
Click to expand...

Ummm, no they don't ... "Vultures fall into two groups. The Old World vultures found in Africa, Asia and Europe belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. They find carcasses exclusively by sight."
 
I've heard the vultures do indeed locate by smell. In fact if a dead animal is not in view at all they still manage to find it. I've seen this myself but I do remember reading about tests that showed the birds to be able to locate any dead animal in sight or not.
 
Native Justice said:
Ummm, no they don't ... "Vultures fall into two groups. The Old World vultures found in Africa, Asia and Europe belong to the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. They find carcasses exclusively by sight."
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That was refering to vultures in the old world not North America. >>>
Vultures are best known for their practice of feeding on dead animal carcasses, but will occasionally attack young and helpless animals as well. They obtain much of their water from the moisture in carrion, and their powerful kidneys enable them to excrete less water when expelling waste products.

Turkey vultures, like other carrion birds, are protected from disease associated with decaying animals by a very sophisticated immune system. Their unfeathered "bald" head is easy to keep clean and is characteristic of vultures and condors throughout the world.

Mating occurs in all deserts except the Mojave. One to three blotched eggs are laid in cliff hollows, logs or among rocks on the ground; no nest is built. Both parents participate in incubation of the eggs for up to a month. Newly hatched young are fed with regurgitated food for the first few days and fly from the nest within 10 weeks.

Unlike most birds, vultures have a keen sense of smell. The Turkey Vulture's olfactory sense is estimated to be 3 times that of the smaller Black Vulture, which is also found in the North American Deserts. The California Condor, now almost extinct, is the third member of the Cathartidae Family, referred to as the American Vultures. Vultures are sometimes mistakenly called buzzards, the British name for buteos -- hawks of the Buteo genus.

and those in the show where in Africa so that was right for them.
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the "buzzards" we have eat week old dead deer under thick trees in the middle of july! so no they hardly only eat fresh meat.
 
The one show he did in Canada (I believe) had him moving in the direction of a road which he knew to exist. This is much the same kind of decision as would be necessary if you are really trying to get yourself out of a tough decision where survivial skills are needed. Anyway, he crosses a river, finds an electric power line, and decides to push on toward the road. It was much further than he thought.

First show I'ver ever seen someone build a shelter. I liked that. He seems very practiced with his flint. Wish I could do as well. Lots of sparks, no catch fire... I know the magnesium is used to ignite from the sparks.

No way would I crawl through an ice cave in a glacier unless I was desperate. Same goes with climbing up or down some of those cliffs. He also never cuts a walking stick or staff which is extremely useful.
 
As far as I can tell the folding clip point knife he has used on a couple episodes is a Cold Steel Voyager. I had read this on another web forum and then compared stills from the series and the Cold Steel web catalog. It looks like a match to me.

Some of his stunts are scary stupid. If I were really in a survival situation, I would be taking things slow and careful-- not the time for a sprained ankle, dislocated shoulder, wanked knee, branch in the eye, etc, etc. I really hate it when that happens :)
 
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