Man vs. Wild

M

magneto

Joined
Mar 21, 2006
Messages
502
I just saw bear parachute into the Rockies and say that only in a life or death or emergency would he and his crew have any reaction with him. :eek: And I said finally he seems to be getting this surviving thing right. Well he seemed to do alright until he got in the river. Two things wrong here. First the old piece of plastic he found with holes never lost one bit of air as he floated down river. OK, cut him some slack and say maybe he found some good stuff and it worked flawlessly, great for him.
So on another shot as he is still braving the river, I noticed he has a PFD under his grey sweat! Then I clearly see another shot of it again! But low and behold, as he "crawls" out of the river it is gone! :confused: Does this dude think we are a bunch of blind idiots? Come on bear get a life, quit trying to imitate survivorman and either do it right or move on. Apparently his survival instincts are very strong, so strong in fact that he will lie and deceive us to survive.
 
Well I would hope that an actor wouldn't risk his life for lousy television entertainment. And I hope that someone in a real survival situation would know better than to jump into a rapidly flowing river...

-Bob
 
I noticed the pfd too. One of his most disingenuous statements to me was when he looked into the camera held by the cameraman standing next to the soundman and probable others and started talking about how alone he was and how much he missed his "mates".

Don't even get me started on the noise (bear?) outside his shelter. I would guess it was a drunk intern stumbling around the camp.
 
If you want to read a complete destruction of this silly program, drop over to www.bushcraftUK.com and do a search for "bear." He also "bought it" at the bushcraft subforum at BritishBlades.

The general "thing": in a survival situation (already risky by defintiton) one wants to minimize additional risks. He takes large and unnecessary risks -- or tries to appear to do so.

Entertainment.
 
The primary goal of the show is entertainment. Most of the folks who watch it aren't obnoxious outdoorsman or survivalists. Bear says over and over that he is not taking the safest route. He is effectively an adventurer. No doubt he overdramatizes it for the camera.

IIRC, he mentioned after the fact that he was required to wear the PFD in that episode, and that he had no desire to.
 
Ha! I noticed the same thing. I made my girlfriend come and check it out I was getting such a kick out of it. I don't mind that he has one on, just that he bothers to hide it. Things like that, and discussing his 'extreme loneliness' on something like the third day. Anyway, it's all just television. But still funny.
 
Bob W said:
Well I would hope that an actor wouldn't risk his life for lousy television entertainment. And I hope that someone in a real survival situation would know better than to jump into a rapidly flowing river...

-Bob
Click to expand...

I thought he was nuts trying to cross a rapids filled river clutching a backpack, I didn't notice the pfd, but even with a pfd, that is incredibly unsafe. It seemed so ridiculous to even try that I changed the channel and caught the rest of the show later.

And he found that old camp with used coffee cans etc. he should have looked for the trail that led into that camp because it's a safe bet that they didn't try and cross raging rivers to set up a small trappers camp....but that would make sense...this is TV....oops, I forgot...

My first problem with the show was getting hung up in the tree and even though he could have scaled down the tree by wrapping his arms and legs around the trunk, he cut loose and lost his parachute and extra paracord by cutting loose and dropping 20 feet or so.

And eating that trout raw was just unneccessary and wasteful of the food. Cat Tails for firestarters and making a disk knife were about the only things that he did that I found useful.
 
Hollywood entertainment and some spectacular scenery pretty much sums up the program content. Some of the survival information such as the cat tail stuff for food and firestarting made sence, but the jump into the river from that height looked stupid too me.
 
JimMLa said:
I noticed the pfd too. Don't even get me started on the noise (bear?) outside his shelter. I would guess it was a drunk intern stumbling around the camp.
Click to expand...

He sure ran like a former SAS with a blackbelt didn't he! :D
 
Bear produced the show and its entertainment for the ignorant masses.

If he tried to teach me to survive like that I would laugh, use my own experience and training and survive.

My highlights of ignorance.

1. Upset stomach after not boiling water, so while seriously ill, climb up a waterfall, risking death to get some sap to help the situation. Or what I would do... charcoal from the fire...:jerkit:

2. Using a rock to hammer the back of your single knife rather than a wooden stick...:jerkit:

3. Use your knife as a spear when a fire hardened branch is just as good and won't damage your knife...:jerkit:

4... the list is endless, the guy is a tool.:barf:
 
It is a show, it has to have primarily entertainment value to stay online. Bear doesnt actually do these things, rather he and his camera crew (Judging from things said on the discovery channel forum setup for the show) set up scenarios, again, both for informational and entertainment purposes, and bear runs through them like he has actually been in a survival situation for 5 some-odd days.
 
I like the show and I like Bear. He has set lofty goals for himself regarding charity and has followed through. He is an outstanding communicator though his use of the King's English sometimes throws me off. MvW is family friendly wholesome entertainment. I look forward to new shows.
 
While I accept its an entertaining show, it can be an entertaining and dramatic programme and still be ACCURATE and give out sound and GOOD advice.

Its just a drama with some good and some really dangerous advice.

Not a responsable thing to do really.
 
Bear= clown at least and probably a liar. I don't believe for a second that he is "former SAS". And if he is, he slept through the survival training.
 
nemoaz said:
Bear= clown at least and probably a liar. I don't believe for a second that he is "former SAS". And if he is, he slept through the survival training.
Click to expand...

or was sick in bed after eating all those snakes that he just bit the head off. :rolleyes:
 
Here's some info on Bear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Grylls

I dunno about you but notwithstanding the show he seems to
have some rather solid credentials.

The show should stand on its own merits or lack thereof.
It's entertainment. It is what it is. Just like I don't
plan on driving my car at 140mph after watching TopGear or start flipping houses based on 'Flip This House.'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top