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I really only watch to see what kind of knife he'll use. I missed a few parts tonight, but I don't think he had a knife in this episode. :(
 
Its just a tv show. The production company plans out every detail - where he'll go, what he'll say, the path he'll take, what he'll encounter, and how he'll magically find a road to safety at 6 minutes before the hour.

I like the guy, and I like the show. Its on my top 20 tv list. But its just goofy entertainment. With half a dozen production guys planning his moves and following him around, it is hardly Man vs. Wild. More like Man vs. Stupid.

regards
 
Isn't it more like Stupid Man vs. Wild?

The real knucklehead though is the overweight couch potato who watches this stuff and comes away thinking that he's ready for anything, and then goes out and gets himself and/or others killed while flaunting his own ignorance.
 
I had a funny moment tonight with my 8 year old daughter. Bear had just struggled to swim across a large lake/pond. As he approaches the shore line, the camera is right there watching him swim. My daughter said, "Dad, if that lake is so big, how did the camera man get to the other side before Bear did?" I just said I don't know. She then said, "Wow, the camera man must be a really good swimmer." I just laughed.
 
The real knucklehead though is the overweight couch potato who watches this stuff and comes away thinking that he's ready for anything, and then goes out and gets himself and/or others killed while flaunting his own ignorance.

I am reminded of a story of Oedipus and the Sphinx at Thebes in Greek Mythology. Hearing that a monster had taken up station just out of the town on a major thoroughfare, and killed every man who approached if he failed to answer the Sphinx's riddle, young Prince Oedipus took on the task of the riddle himself. "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening", went the Sphinx's riddle. Oedipus' correct answer that allowed him to draw his sword and kill the Sphinx was that the creature was man. "For," said he, "in the morning of life, or in babyhood, man creeps on hands and knees; at noon, or in manhood, he walks erect; and at evening, or in old age, he supports his tottering steps with a staff."

The reason I bring this up is that many of the "overweight couch potatos" here are indeed in the evenings of their lives. For some this state of being comes with advanced years, for others with infirmities over which they have no control. Still, the best part of the human spirit strives in even the oldest, most physically challenged of us, that is the drive to learn, and by learning, to continue to survive.

There is a thing I have heard referred to as the "arrogance of youth". It is not a bad thing by any means. On this, nations have risen and fallen. For in the youth lies a sense of immortality, of nothing known but life and steadily increasing physical strength and prowess. That is why youths are chosen to be Marines, Seals, and military men of all ilks by all nations. By and large, this paradox is completed by the fact that they are led by old men who have wisdom gained by living long, though they can no longer wtand up to the rigors of the feats they expect of the young men.

All this, I relate from experience. When I was young, I could go without sleep for days if needed. I could, without thinking, run straight toward a deadly situation without pause, believing myself to be invincible, bulletproof and ten feet tall. I later could still swing a sledge, move tons of dirt with a shovel, carry objects my own weight or more, then on the way home from work stop off at a local park for a timed run to the top of a thousand foot peak and back.

In middle age, I still did the work, albeit now paced. I began to find easier ways to accomplish tasks than by using brute force. My runs became jogs. And I was now cognizent of my own mortality as my peers and family went spinning one by one off this "mortal coil", and I had children of my own.

Now, in the autumn of my life, there are many things I can no longer physically do. I still work hard, but I also work smart. I endure failing body parts, a few removed, some repaired, one or two replaced (such as the twin hearing aids I now wear).

And yet the drive to survive continues. And with it, a strange inner need to share what I've learned to help my children and friends survive by teaching those who will listen what I have learned in my own life about surviving. Maybe it is just the natural progression of the mind of a man who is now a grandfather five times over. At any rate, that is what I am doing here. And whether a man is overweight, homebound quadropolegic ( I have a few friends in that state), young, old, or inbetween, they can be mindful of what they can do to take personal responsibility for themselves when a "root hog or die" situation arises. As I keep repeating, preparation is great, but more than physical preparation, mental preparation that results in a positive attitude is the key, the "prime directive" to survival.

Codger with a full pot of Folgers this morning ;)

Edited to add: OTE, please do not think I am picking on you, I am not. Your opinion is understood and respected. You refer to "armchair survivalists" as we also refer to "armchair quarterbacks and generals."
 
I watch every show, with that said, for the most part it is over dramatized and in places silly, like him catching the "wild horse". There are some nuggets of usefull information but I am afraid I don't believe half of it like when he is building a raft or weaving a rope and there is a cut scene then it is done. What was all that grinding on his rabbit stick, to make it fly better?
 
I watch every show, with that said, for the most part it is over dramatized and in places silly, like him catching the "wild horse". There are some nuggets of usefull information but I am afraid I don't believe half of it like when he is building a raft or weaving a rope and there is a cut scene then it is done. What was all that grinding on his rabbit stick, to make it fly better?

Well the horse was brought in by someone and he gets to eat more than grape leaves. Theirs hours of retakes and makeup and warderobe. his clothes are clean and then dirty again a few times. survivor man is pretty real on science channel i recomend that.

Les Stroud seems to be what most of us that have the experience and the smarts to survive really are. Hes no rambo and im sure none of us are eather, hes a real person who has limits, not like bear he can do anything with a stunt man and a safty harness! some say Les is a actor and sometimes i think he dose a few things for the camera but overall its pretty real. If he didnt take a sat phone and a few MREs he would be a dumbass.
 
I have said this before, so please BEAR with me (har har) ;)

I think what we would like to see, as Running Boar mentioned, is a little more "how-to" detail. He used Balsawood to build the raft. Obviously lashed it with vines. I really would have liked to see even a 1 min. explanation of it.

I even know how they can do it without making the show 3 hours long.
In other DIY shows, they will recap a house renovation by putting it on fast motion, and quickly narrate what they did.

They could go with fast motion, and have bear dub in what he was doing.
Cut the trees to length, lined them up, put large ones to the middle, vines, figure-8 wrap, etc etc etc.

I know it's not a show about "how to" ,but they could interject a little more of the technical details, or produce a series of shows that revisit each adventure, and with extra footage delve into the details.

I think Les and Bear get taken hostage by the TV production people.

I think we, in this forum, want the details, we like to learn stuff in order to have more tricks up our sleeve.
 
I enjoyed last night's episode... twice. The wild horse bit made me roll my eyes some, but what the hell. The rabbit... awesome! I bet that *thunk* when he hit it sounded pretty dang satisfying to a guy with a hungry belly.

You're right, more detail would be helpful. Like a close-up of him braiding some cord, etc. One thing that bugs me is, they don't show how clean/skin the bunny. There edited out the "gross" parts, I guess. I can just see some poor hungry dude sittin there with a dead bunny and goin' "ummmm... now what?!?"

The Les Stroud "Urban Survival" was on last night too, I enjoyed that one as well.
 
Codger, no offense taken at all. Actually, I wasn't imagining the folks I was thinking about to be old at all. I was thinking of someone who is probably more lazy than anything--too lazy to walk around the block, too lazy to make a real meal instead of relying on Cheetos and beer, etc. (Of course, there are positives to Cheetos and beer :D .)

And as far as age goes, I am no spring chicken mind you. But I always try to stay in shape and be prepared for the worst. Of course, preparation is much more than being strong or young. Among other things, it's also having the right skill set, knowledge, and experience. Yes, somebody who is a little older may not be as fast or as strong as someone who is younger, but they have other things that make up, or more than make up, for those things that a younger person may not have.
 
that rabbit was probably domesticated, but it did look neat when he popped it with a stick.
and if he can make a fire so easily, why wouldn't he have also made one for the snake that he caught, instead of eating it right after he bit the head off?
entertaining show, but it's not surivior man.
 
Besides the usual nonsense, one thing I noticed made me chuckle. At about the 40 minute mark (when he is constructing his shelter) you can see a couple of trees that have been cut down by a logging company. From long years spent in these mountains I know that Bear was probably no more than a hundred yards from a road.

I don't want to take away from the man knows or does correctly, but the constant overhyping of the "dangers" he is facing gets to me. Unfortunately, this is one of my my 6 year old's favorite shows....
 
The thing my wife gripes the most about is how his face is always dirty, it looks pretty obvious to me that the dirt is placed there for visual affect. I spend a lot of time in the out doors and I do get dirty and I go down to the creek and wash it off. Not many of the these shows stress hygiene, even in a survival situation I would not eat things without preparing and cleaning them, I wash my hands and face several times a day and generally try to keep myself and my gear as clean as possible. A bad case of dysentary can mean the difference in having the strength to walk out, or dying in the woods. Chris
 
That's a good point, runningboar. I've become a beleiver in alcohol-based hand sanitizer, myself.
 
MAGIC RABBIT! Over breakfast we watched the last 10 minutes or so of the Sierra Nevada episode. Bear goes to sleep (after eating the rabbit) in the high Sierra's. The next morning he wakes up and begins his journey in the low foothills!

From the Sonora Pass / Bridgeport area (where it appears he started his journey from) to the foothill lakes is about 90 miles! Now that's my kind of survival food!
 
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