Les Stroud - Off The Grid

hollowdweller said:
Well most of my friends don't have refrigerators and and air conditioner is pretty much out.
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I have always been fascinated with this subject. I was reading Mother Earth News and New Shelter rags 25+ years ago. Living partially off grid here in the South might be do-able by today's comfort standards but no a/c in Texas is not realistic and neither is no fridge. Alternate hot water, lights, etc: might be ok but we gotta have a/c here to feel civilized. Propane may be off grid but it is not cheap nowadays (free natural gas is another subject : ) Seems like the cost of the solar system and batteries along with the wind generator would take MANY years to pay for itself with my monthly electric bill. I suppose it isn't going to get any cheaper though.

Cool subject. :thumbup:
 
Everyone says this was pre-survivorman, but i SWEAR in one of those clips (and this vid is pretty blurry on my computer)...but i SWEAR i see him wearing a "Survivorman" sweater...????
 
smotta said:
Everyone says this was pre-survivorman, but i SWEAR in one of those clips (and this vid is pretty blurry on my computer)...but i SWEAR i see him wearing a "Survivorman" sweater...????
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I dont think this was pre Survivorman. He is definitely wearing a Survivorman sweatshirt.

Heres some more info...

"In 2001 Stroud produced two one-hour specials for the science news show @discovery.ca. These segments follow the same format as Survivorman with Stroud filming his own survival in the wilderness. They were originally broadcast as daily segments over the course of one week but were repackaged as two one-hour specials titled Stranded.[2]

The popularity of these pilots spawned the show Survivorman. Stroud teamed up with producer Dave Brady to produce 9 episodes of the show which began airing in 2004.[2] Stroud has completed filming the second season of Survivorman, which had its debut August 10th, 2007 on the Discovery Channel in the US.[11]

In 2006, Stroud produced a 90-minute special documenting his family's journey to building an off-the-grid home. The show, Off the Grid with Les Stroud, chronicled the process of buying property and refitting an old farm house with solar and wind power, a raincatcher and well, as well as the adjustments the Stroud family had to make to adapt to this style of living.[1]"
 
I've always found the idea of living off the grid appealing. What I find difficult to reconcile is my taste in women, who are mostly pretty civilized (and that's the way I like them.)

I have often tried to picture an OTG lifestyle with my gf...who steps out of her heels to go to sleep, and that's it. I am not saying it couldn't be done, but there would have to be an internet connection to shoe stores somehow.
 
hollowdweller said:
Well most of my friends don't have refrigerators and and air conditioner is pretty much out.
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Refrigeration is pretty much a requirement unless you want to eat an entire country ham in one setting every day...lol.
 
Thomas Linton said:
But in a carpeted hotel room. :cool:
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But the real question is..... with or without room service? Did the Eddie Bear Girl dare to eat in the hotel restaurant? Fast food across the street? Did his crew just bring him the food? How did Bear the Fraud survive?
 
You can save a lot of energy by insulation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passivhaus

That would probably help the process.

Of course the passive house thing is expensive, and hardly a DIY project. The huge insulation means you have to careful manage moisture and ventilation. Usually require active ventilation too.
 
It's not pre survivorman. Not to mention, I'd say he needed a ton of that survivorman $$ to complete this project. I'd like to know the figures for that project.
 
I believe Les Stroud got his start producing music videos in the eighties, thus his video connection. I do enjoy his work - he is real. I enjoy Bear Grylls 'work', too... he really did powered parasail over Everest last year. I am somehow always thinking of little 'Mikey' from the cereal commercial, "Give it to Mikey, he'll eat (drink) anything!". Roaches/beetles in his hotel/motel rooms are considered to be 'Room Service' to him.

Stainz
 
Would that be as honest as his videos of wilderness survival? You know, the ones that were massively faked.
 
Maybe, but I doubt he'd get someone to do that for him without taking the credit themselves. Either that, or he paid them a hell of a lot of money to keep their name out of the history books. Or. . .he did it.

I know I have an unpopular view of him, but I don't hold his show against him. I see it as an entertainment show, whereas Survivorman is more of an edutainment show. There's probably a lot of urbanites that much prefer Bear's show because it looks more "edgy" and "adventurous", whereas Les Stroud's is more reality -- lot's of aches and pains and hard work.

But just because Bear Grulls does an entertainment show doesn't mean he can't do something for real.
 
Grylls' Everest trips were staged - by the same folks that staged & filmed the lunar landings. Hmmm, he does travel in black 'copters....

Yeah, the guy does like to stay in lodges, motels, & hotels... but he has some real accomplishments to his credit I doubt any of us will ever equal. He did break his back while parachuting in the British SAS - and had to spend months in rehabilitation. He later climbed Everest - at the then youngest age ever - 25. Sure, his family has money - Lord Grylls was a member of Parliament. He has also done may feats to raise money for charities - circumnavigating the British Isles in a sea kayak, for example.

As for topping Everest in his powered parasail last year, he doesn't hold the record - his altimeter, etc, froze. It was estimated that he topped it by some distance... still, he had the frostbitten face and video, as well as witnesses, even if the companion parasail did have to turn back early. Whatever you say about the hokey nature of some of his shows, he is an accomplished climber... as are his camera folk.

Now, Les Stroud is more real... no $750 Bayley knife bearing his name - maybe a multi-tool - or Buck 119 - or axe. I appreciate them both for what they do. I doubt I'd want to have a drink - or dinner - with either... I've seen them drink & eat stuff I'd probably pass on. Ohhh, a play on words?



Stainz
 
I prefer Les Stroud for the "real" factor. Les is more of an rational common-sense "everyman".
To me Bears is that guy you knew in elementary school who would eat worms,bugs and boogers to gross out the girls. You know that hyperactive guy who jumped off the the roof of the gymnasium and blew up the chem lab. So take that guy make him an adult add some "Jackass" style proclivities then give him some military training as well.
To me Bear approaches survival from a pseudo-military SERE perspective or mindset. Hes like some guy behind enemy lines who trying to get out the area as fast as he can because if he gets caught by "the enemy" he will be in deep doo-doo.
Or maybe he really really misses room service, lol!
And as Mr. Grylls says in pretty much every episode he is not a patient guy. If given a choice between the fast/dangerous way and the safe/slow way he will always choose the former. His impatience, his desire to do daredevil, high-tv-ratings-inducing stunts drives him to do some really stupid stuff.
Its sad really because there are SOME good ideas/knowledge presented in his show, you just have to be able to separate the good from the bad. Unfortunately a lot of the bad stuff can get you killed. I guess from a heartless tv producer P.O.V they don't worry about the bad because if someone emulates Bear and gets killed in the wilderness well a dead man can't sue or testify in court can he? And chances are the bodies may never be found.

As the saying goes Caveat Emptor.

For me Man Vs Wild is strictly entertainment.
 
The Artists Rifles (originally Artists' Rifles until the apostrophe was officially dropped from the full title in 1937 as it was so often misused[1]) is a volunteer regiment of the British Army. The title is now carried by the 21st Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve).
. . .

21 SAS was formed from the two disbanded regular regiments 1 SAS and 2 SAS, with the 1 and the 2 being reversed into 21 to provide some means of continuity. 21 SAS was active during the Malayan Emergency and in many subsequent conflicts. In 1952, members of the Artists' Rifles who had been involved in special operations in Malaya formed 22 SAS, the modern special forces regiment - the only time a Territorial Army unit has been used to form a unit in the Regular Army and remain a parent of a regular unit.

The Artists Rifles became a reserve regiment in the Territorial Army in 1967.
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