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that meat could have had tons of bacteria in it and the blood running down his arm looked cool so he had to let it show. then it looked like a medic fixed it up before he put aloe on it.
Bear Grylls Posts go here!
- Thread starter SkunkWerX
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that meat could have had tons of bacteria in it and the blood running down his arm looked cool so he had to let it show. then it looked like a medic fixed it up before he put aloe on it.
Not likely. A) The zebra was a pretty fresh kill B) He cut it from a section of the zebra that hadn't been disturbed and bacteria tends to grow on an exposed surface. You don't get bacteria "in" meat, you get it "on" meat. That's why you can eat steak rare with little to no risk.
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Knowledge is good. As it happens, the most common form of cholera does not produce immunity -- or even resistance -- by actual infection with the disease. (Sources: USCDC; UNWHO)
I take it that Bear is merely a performer and what he knows is that he always has the resources of civilization, including powerful antibioltics, available. So his behavor is entertaining, rather than real.
We live in an age where "reality" entertainment is especially characterized by its disconnection from reality. But it sells soap. which is all that is meaningful to the media.
Sorry, I didn’t realize diarrhea was the primary symptom of cholera.
I did read about it enough to know that it’s usually fatal, “the death rate is generally high” (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera ) and so I put it under the category of needing medical attention.
I guess I should have differentiated between “regular, only lasts a few days, diarrhea and “deathly, you should seek medical attention” diarrhea.
I did read about it enough to know that it’s usually fatal, “the death rate is generally high” (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera ) and so I put it under the category of needing medical attention.
I guess I should have differentiated between “regular, only lasts a few days, diarrhea and “deathly, you should seek medical attention” diarrhea.
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The Disco Channel is not interested in showing anyone how to survive. They only want to generate ratings and attendant advertising revenue.
It is a very small and hardcore audience that is going to watch someone build a lean-to in great detail. Most people could care less, and that "most people" is who the Disco Channel is aiming for, not us.
It is a very small and hardcore audience that is going to watch someone build a lean-to in great detail. Most people could care less, and that "most people" is who the Disco Channel is aiming for, not us.
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I love both shows, personally. I am an 'urbanite', but grew up mostly in Colorado, so I do have some very basic outdoors skills (make that, extrememly basic), and would be entertained by a more step-by-step type of show geared towards the newbie. Also, I'm wondering how entertaining an urban survival show would be? How about Bear taking on a week in the streets of NYC in the winter, or LA in the summer?
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Personally, I think that's WAY scarier than anything he's done so far.
But then, I'm a small-town boy.I can just see it now, he's standing across the street from some thugs saying to the camera "OK, now they're very territorial, and you can see they're arming themselves and cursing at me because I've threatened them. Now, the only way to show you how to deal with this type of situation is for me to go right into it..."
Later in the episode he shows how to retrieve bullets from your own flesh and the whole thing ends with him finding a homeless shelter.
Later in the episode he shows how to retrieve bullets from your own flesh and the whole thing ends with him finding a homeless shelter.
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I anxiously await the moment when he comes across some crack head drug dealer and decides to lasso him and ride him to safety. Now THAT"S good television!
Folks, After being on a couple of other continents where things like cholera still exist, I can only offer a little bit of "Street sense" about these water-born diseases.
Cholera oubreaks hit the news back in the middle ages when men settled into towns and cities. They learned the absolute most direct transmission of Cholera, back then. It was by drinking from the same source as your own waste found it's way too.
Basically, drinking out of your own toilet.
Cholera is a Sanitation problem.
In 1992, the U.S. had 96 recorded Cases of cholera. Highest number ever recorded in the US. 95 were obtianed from abroad.
So, during the year with the most recorded cases, only 1 case was from within our borders. Cause: bad sanitation.
Fast forward to the 3rd world or today. Very similar. Cholera comes from stanky festering water sources that get filled with human and animal waste.
Not wild animals near as much, as livestock kept by humans. Anywhere there are humans in clusters and domesticated animals in clusters, and the waste runs off directly into the water source, you have prime breeding ground for Cholera and other bad stuff, like worms and parasites.
Cholera, just springing forth in a remote jungle or mountain water source is pretty far-fetched, not that there aren't bad things there, things that can certainly give you mild distress up to very serious problems.
The point seems to be lost on some of us. If you are in a really tough spot, and you are dehydrating rapidly, you may only have 2 choices, drink questionable water, or die. It's very simple.
Having been in that similar sitaution, thankfully only a couple of times, I know that each and every one of you WILL, in fact, drink. You will pick the cleanest looking, you will pick water that is running, if possible, you will use a shirt or bandana as a coarse filter, but you WILL drink it! It is very very difficult to be in the throws of dehydration, and NOT drink available water.
Because if you don't you will die.
It's rock and a hard place.
Drinking may buy you another 48 hours on this planet to seek help, Not drinking may see you DEAD in 6 hours or less.
lLes Stroud and Bear Grylls have both told the audience, on numerous occasions, that it is preferable to boil, treat, and do whatever possible to find a clean water source, but, they are also showing, that, in a TRUE survival situation, you DO what you have to DO, to survive.
That may mean risking some parasites or disease, but you are racing the DEATH Clock, and hoping you can reach safety in time to get medicine to help you should you contract a bug, vs. dying that same night of dehydration, slowly losing your mental faculties, and collapsing, unconcious, then dead.
If Bear and Les were showing Hiking, Camping, BackPacking and they drank untreated water on the show, I would be right there with you, admonishing them. But, the entire POINT of the show is that you are NOT equipped, due to some major malfunction, and that you may have to do some things that you would not normally do in order to survive.
On a normal day,
Most of us would not risk crossing a swiftly running river,
Most of us would not risk climbing up or down a steep embankment,
most of us would not drink from a questionable source,
BUT, in a true Survival Situation, I think each and everyone of us, would risk more (than we would normally if we were on an equipped camping trip) , in order to LIVE.
I also have not heard the correct ALTERNATIVES?
-Don't drink keep marching on?
-Dehydration is NOT that serious, don't worry about it?
I want to hear from the critics now.
You are in a survival sitaution, you have no way to boil water or treat it.
You are in the recognizeable stages of dehydration, your last pee was dark yellow/orange, you aren't sweating anymore.
Assume that you have found yourself unequipped due to an accident or misfortune, you found some running water, and that you are very lost.
WHAT DO YOU DO??
Tell the viewing audience how they can survive this predicament.
Cholera oubreaks hit the news back in the middle ages when men settled into towns and cities. They learned the absolute most direct transmission of Cholera, back then. It was by drinking from the same source as your own waste found it's way too.
Basically, drinking out of your own toilet.
Cholera is a Sanitation problem.
In 1992, the U.S. had 96 recorded Cases of cholera. Highest number ever recorded in the US. 95 were obtianed from abroad.
So, during the year with the most recorded cases, only 1 case was from within our borders. Cause: bad sanitation.
Fast forward to the 3rd world or today. Very similar. Cholera comes from stanky festering water sources that get filled with human and animal waste.
Not wild animals near as much, as livestock kept by humans. Anywhere there are humans in clusters and domesticated animals in clusters, and the waste runs off directly into the water source, you have prime breeding ground for Cholera and other bad stuff, like worms and parasites.
Cholera, just springing forth in a remote jungle or mountain water source is pretty far-fetched, not that there aren't bad things there, things that can certainly give you mild distress up to very serious problems.
The point seems to be lost on some of us. If you are in a really tough spot, and you are dehydrating rapidly, you may only have 2 choices, drink questionable water, or die. It's very simple.
Having been in that similar sitaution, thankfully only a couple of times, I know that each and every one of you WILL, in fact, drink. You will pick the cleanest looking, you will pick water that is running, if possible, you will use a shirt or bandana as a coarse filter, but you WILL drink it! It is very very difficult to be in the throws of dehydration, and NOT drink available water.
Because if you don't you will die.
It's rock and a hard place.
Drinking may buy you another 48 hours on this planet to seek help, Not drinking may see you DEAD in 6 hours or less.
lLes Stroud and Bear Grylls have both told the audience, on numerous occasions, that it is preferable to boil, treat, and do whatever possible to find a clean water source, but, they are also showing, that, in a TRUE survival situation, you DO what you have to DO, to survive.
That may mean risking some parasites or disease, but you are racing the DEATH Clock, and hoping you can reach safety in time to get medicine to help you should you contract a bug, vs. dying that same night of dehydration, slowly losing your mental faculties, and collapsing, unconcious, then dead.
If Bear and Les were showing Hiking, Camping, BackPacking and they drank untreated water on the show, I would be right there with you, admonishing them. But, the entire POINT of the show is that you are NOT equipped, due to some major malfunction, and that you may have to do some things that you would not normally do in order to survive.
On a normal day,
Most of us would not risk crossing a swiftly running river,
Most of us would not risk climbing up or down a steep embankment,
most of us would not drink from a questionable source,
BUT, in a true Survival Situation, I think each and everyone of us, would risk more (than we would normally if we were on an equipped camping trip) , in order to LIVE.
I also have not heard the correct ALTERNATIVES?
-Don't drink keep marching on?
-Dehydration is NOT that serious, don't worry about it?
I want to hear from the critics now.
You are in a survival sitaution, you have no way to boil water or treat it.
You are in the recognizeable stages of dehydration, your last pee was dark yellow/orange, you aren't sweating anymore.
Assume that you have found yourself unequipped due to an accident or misfortune, you found some running water, and that you are very lost.
WHAT DO YOU DO??
Tell the viewing audience how they can survive this predicament.
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- 32
I read an article years ago by a SAR instructor who said that they would rather rescue you and transport you to a hospital to be treated for a water-born illness, then to do a body retrieval of someone that died of dehydration within sight of questionable water. That concept has always stuck with me.
Codger_64
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I don't play in jungles anymore, so unless the zombies or black helecopters kidnap me and take me there, my scenario has to be in hilly or mountainous terrain here stateside. I find a running water source, and follow it upstream looking for feeder creeks and large seeps. I vere off and follow them to their source as high as I can, til the ground is merely damp. There I dig a shallow well depression if there is not a natural spring on the surface. Here near my farm, I have natural springs. They are not out in the open and most don't look like a boiling fountain, but do produce cool, clear, clean water year round. The water source is in underground rock and sand layers with no openings for bats. Most critters drink from lower elevations in the creeks, rivers and ponds. This critter drinks upstream of the herd.
Codger
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While I obviously agree with Boats on what drives these "reality" programs, I made no comment on the particular conduct of actors on programs I have seen only briefly and incompletely.
The point I actually addressed was the notion suggested by friend Joshua that one may rely on naturally-developed resistance to eliminate the issue of purifying water in a survival situation. I respectfully submit that acting on such a belief would add to the risks already inherent in a "survival" situation. Many water-borne pathogens, as you doubtless know, are primarily spread by wild animals and are present in "sparkling clear" water.
The rest of your comments -- to the effect that one does what one must -- may be lost on someone, but I am not sure who.
Or would that be "WHO"?
Obviously, under those facts, it being literally impossible to treat the water, you drink it. However, it might be more useful to discuss field-expedient methods of making water safer, if not "safe." If one is merely clothed, one does not totally lack means to treat water. Reduction of organic particulates most often reduces pathogentic load. Make a bag of your shirt with as many layers as possible, fill it with sand, grass or leaves, and drink the water that drips through. Indian authorities have discovered that filtering water through as few as seven layers of cotton "T-shirt" material is sufficient to eliminate most risk of cholera.
(If one has any means to make fire, the possibilities of course expand. I have boiled water in a hole in the ground and in a hole in a log with heated rocks.)
(On the topic of "RISK" generally, one might wish to consider risk avoidance if the object is to survive, rather than to entertain.)
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If the use of such "wells" to filter water -- with a stick if necessary -- discussed on these programs?
Thomas Linton, I wasn't directing my comments to you, your post, or anyone else specifically. Please forgive me if you took it that way.
I honestly believe, in all sincerity, that the answers lie on the "cutting room floor".
I believe that Stroud and Grylls have a lot of knowledge they could convey.
Neither is a dummy.
They could and would probably be glad to go on, at length, during each situation.
But as someone said, "they gotta sell the soap" and I really think that TV producers feel they need to Talk Down to the audience, and that we have the attention spans of a 4 year old.
I would like to see a similarly based show, but, take one single episode, and make it a series of 5 or 6, 1-hour shows, and allow these guys to really explain the details and nitty gritty.
I had read that Stroud was quite unhappy with what the production team's portrayed, and how they portrayed him. I'd imagine Grylls has similar feelings when he sees what they keep, and what ends up on the cutting room floor.
I have the same issues with the news media, Sensationalism, Spin, thought control, repititious brainwashing. ahh, anyway, don't get me started.
Perhaps I am guilty of "reading between the lines" , but I don't really worry about any of the couch potatoes suddenly finding themselves in a jungle or top of a mountain able to act on anything they have committed to memory.
They, the couch potatoes, will, above all others, "drink the water".
I trust most of us who discuss these topics, would only take risks with a measured amount of concern, understanding we are making a choice that could save us in the short run, but backfire on us in the long run.
They did show Grylls getting sick, but, didn't connect it with the water, nor expand on it, and give it some time to explain just how grave it could be. Again, a cutting room issue, most likely.
I honestly believe, in all sincerity, that the answers lie on the "cutting room floor".
I believe that Stroud and Grylls have a lot of knowledge they could convey.
Neither is a dummy.
They could and would probably be glad to go on, at length, during each situation.
But as someone said, "they gotta sell the soap" and I really think that TV producers feel they need to Talk Down to the audience, and that we have the attention spans of a 4 year old.
I would like to see a similarly based show, but, take one single episode, and make it a series of 5 or 6, 1-hour shows, and allow these guys to really explain the details and nitty gritty.
I had read that Stroud was quite unhappy with what the production team's portrayed, and how they portrayed him. I'd imagine Grylls has similar feelings when he sees what they keep, and what ends up on the cutting room floor.
I have the same issues with the news media, Sensationalism, Spin, thought control, repititious brainwashing. ahh, anyway, don't get me started.
Perhaps I am guilty of "reading between the lines" , but I don't really worry about any of the couch potatoes suddenly finding themselves in a jungle or top of a mountain able to act on anything they have committed to memory.
They, the couch potatoes, will, above all others, "drink the water".
I trust most of us who discuss these topics, would only take risks with a measured amount of concern, understanding we are making a choice that could save us in the short run, but backfire on us in the long run.
They did show Grylls getting sick, but, didn't connect it with the water, nor expand on it, and give it some time to explain just how grave it could be. Again, a cutting room issue, most likely.
Thomas, I'll add, I agree about "building up a resistance" and the fallacy of that notion.
Plenty of people in the 3rd world have internal parasites, they live with them, tolerate them, but have no resistance, only distended bellies and loose stools :barf:
They are also very skinny.
Now, in Mexico, for instance, the local water can give US citizens the trots, but, the locals don't seem to be bothered????
I don't know the answer to that one, might be Ph level, or the difference between what each person's digestive tract is accustomed to?
I don't know. Montezuma's revenge.
I heard an old Indian tale about Posion ivy resistance (Disclaimer: Don't try this at home!)
I read that some Native Americans would chew poison ivy to build up a resistance to it. It was a farily detailed account. They would begin in the spring time, with small developing leaves, and work their way up, as summer progressed. The article claimed it was supposed to keep them from getting rashes, since this particular tribe lived amongst thick poison ivy laden areas.
Just a tangent there. Never heard it corrobrated as medical fact.
Human's can't build up immunity to things like Cholera, or even Giardia.
Different people may have different tolerances. From what I read tonight, the cholera itself doesn't really kill people, it's the massive dehydration from severe diahrea that is the killer. Children and elderly being most at risk.
Oh yeah, I got that WHO reference.
Plenty of people in the 3rd world have internal parasites, they live with them, tolerate them, but have no resistance, only distended bellies and loose stools :barf:
They are also very skinny.
Now, in Mexico, for instance, the local water can give US citizens the trots, but, the locals don't seem to be bothered????
I don't know the answer to that one, might be Ph level, or the difference between what each person's digestive tract is accustomed to?
I don't know. Montezuma's revenge.
I heard an old Indian tale about Posion ivy resistance (Disclaimer: Don't try this at home!)
I read that some Native Americans would chew poison ivy to build up a resistance to it. It was a farily detailed account. They would begin in the spring time, with small developing leaves, and work their way up, as summer progressed. The article claimed it was supposed to keep them from getting rashes, since this particular tribe lived amongst thick poison ivy laden areas.
Just a tangent there. Never heard it corrobrated as medical fact.
Human's can't build up immunity to things like Cholera, or even Giardia.
Different people may have different tolerances. From what I read tonight, the cholera itself doesn't really kill people, it's the massive dehydration from severe diahrea that is the killer. Children and elderly being most at risk.
Oh yeah, I got that WHO reference.