Man Vs. Wild/Bear's knife-good or bad?

I'm no expert but I feel confident that the half dozen Kabars I could get for the same price would certainly out perform it. I have no issues with Bear Grylls. I think of him as survival themed entertainment, about half way between Survivor and Survivor Man.

I'm curious as to how they arrived at the handle design. I actually wouldn't mind owning a simillar sheath (the non-Bear Grylls model edition suffice).
 
Why spend so much? When there are so many excellent knives for a better price. For that price you could buy a Randall, with out the wait.
 
rickppoole said:
I'm no expert but I feel confident that the half dozen Kabars I could get for the same price would certainly out perform it. I have no issues with Bear Grylls. I think of him as survival themed entertainment, about half way between Survivor and Survivor Man.
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Sorry for the late entry. I'm a newbie, just catching up on old posts and I LOVED this classification of Grylls. Just perfect IMO.
 
The size and price is a joke. If I'm going out in the wilderness, I'm not going to go with just a small utilitarian knife. If you like the knife, your best bet is to sell a TV show and then have a custom knife maker give you a knife so you can build up a clientele.

For the price, they ought to send you a 10-pack. BTW, my favorite ultimate hotel survival knife is a Ruger Speed-Six .357 with a Cold Steel Gunsite 5-inch, both of which I could get for the price of the Bear Grylls knife. Why do people pay that much for those things? I mean, I appreciate great steel, but this stuff you sharpen on Tuesday and don't have to sharpen until Friday, two years later, has never really appealed to me unless I can get it for a great price.
 
powernoodle said:
Its just a tv show. And Jack Bauer doesn't really disarm nuclear bombs with his teeth either. They're acting. :D

:thumbup:
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But he says he's an expert in real life. His program is on the Discovery Channel, not the WB. He says he will show people how to survive. There's a difference between pure entertainment and entertainment that also claims to be reality.
 
Has anyone out there purchased/used the Rob Bayley knife Bear uses on Man Vs. Wild? If so would appreciate some feed back on its performance.
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Just what have you ever seen Grylls do with a knife that cannot be done with a $9-12 Mora knife or Buck folder?
 
CWL said:
Just what have you ever seen Grylls do with a knife that cannot be done with a $9-12 Mora knife or Buck folder?
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Not a damn thing.

But then again, you have no clue what perils he's had to face in those hotel rooms he's been surviving in. Could be he needed an insanely overpriced knife in one of those.
 
shangchi108 said:
Not a damn thing.

But then again, you have no clue what perils he's had to face in those hotel rooms he's been surviving in. Could be he needed an insanely overpriced knife in one of those.
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I guess he would be embarrassed to whip out a $10 dollar knife in a $300 a night 5 star hotel.

As far as the knife goes, I like it. It has a decent design and looks useful but the price is disgusting.
 
I don't know the maker but I'll assume that the knife is a quality piece. I do have some issues with it:

  • The facets on the handle - Other than for orienting the knife during covert deanimations :), is that just stylizing? I never see Grylls use the knife for more than five seconds at a time so it's not a "bushcraft" knife per se, but it seems like the handle could have been made to be more comfortable. (I have not handled it however)
  • The serrations - There's more serrated blade than fine edge?! IMO the only time when knife serrations trump a sharp edge is when the edge isn't sharp. I would skip them but if serrations are a must I would opt for them the first inch near the tip, as the area near the handle is the best area for carving and such.
  • Length - seems about 0.5" too short for me but that's just me.

I think the sheath rocks though. JRE makes one called the "cricket sheath"

Check out Bayley's "Raven" model :thumbup:
 
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From what I hear, the knife that Mr. Grylls uses most often can easily be swipe from a room service tray at any Marriot or Hilton.:D
 
I paid 130 plus 50 bucks for a sheath for my knife. 180 for a Swamp Rat Howling Rat LM with relatively the same specs as his knife and I'm sure it'll take what the same punishment as that one. Hell you could get a Busse Badger ATAC for about 300-350.
 
Shotgun said:
I paid 130 plus 50 bucks for a sheath for my knife. 180 for a Swamp Rat Howling Rat LM with relatively the same specs as his knife and I'm sure it'll take what the same punishment as that one. Hell you could get a Busse Badger ATAC for about 300-350.
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I think a Cold Steel Bushman would do the same job, and I don't even like Cold Steel.
 
Marcelo Cantu said:
I don't know the maker but I'll assume that the knife is a quality piece. I do have some issues with it:

  • The facets on the handle - Other than for orienting the knife during covert deanimations :), is that just stylizing? I never see Grylls use the knife for more than five seconds at a time so it's not a "bushcraft" knife per se, but it seems like the handle could have been made to be more comfortable. (I have not handled it however)
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  • I think those facets on the handle are where the sheath retention strap indexes into.
 
Don't think I could bring myself to spend that much on something that isn't really special. I'd much rather go with a Bark River for outdoor use.
 
shangchi108 said:
It's expensive because it has the name of a charlatan on it.
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Or a guy who, at the time, was the youngest Brit to climb Everest and who has also passed SAS Selection, one of the toughest SF courses in the world and one used as a model by many other countries.

But I agree the knife is overpriced.
 
Does anyone have some real experience with the knife? The maker seems to have a good reputation.
 
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