sigh....oh les, say it ain't so....w/gps map

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red96ta

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Jun 15, 2008
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Watched the season premiere of Survivorman where Les is in the Sierra Nevada for a week. He mentions some landmarks that I know I've seen recently: Devil's Slide, Angel Falls, Willow Creek.

Hey wait a minute......

I gold prospect up that way and 1) almost all of those areas are within a mile of parking distance 2) nowhere near 'the edge of nowhere' 3)usually inhabited with tourists sliding down the slippery rocks into the swim hole below.

Heck, I prospected in pretty much the exact location that he shot the episode and it was only about 200 yards away from where I parked my car! I didn't walk in with any camera gear, or rations....all I had was a gold pan :p

GPS Coordinates of the Devil's Slide/Angel Falls area: 37.338116, -119.570582‎

Ok...now I HOPE that he just wanted an 'easy' trip this time to warm up for the rest of the season and yes, he does show valid survival techniques...but if worse came to worse, he could crawl on his belly back to the road for help....sigh.
 
Well, to be honest, that's not really that bad. If you watch the South Pacific episode, he says clearly at the first of the show that the island he is on is really close to an island where people go to vacation. In fact, he says that if he wanted, he could walk across the lagoon to get to the resorts. The thing is, he doesnt. He's still out there showing you how to do it. I mean, he always has safety measures in place, in case things go wrong. He's a TV star, and Discovery probably isnt going to risk a big money-maker like him. Plus, I doubt he wants to die for a TV show. He's not sleeping in hotels or anything, so I dont really get upset about it.
 
I read this was going to be his last season, as the 20+ episodes of weekly starving are catching up to his old bones.
Good for him, he's made a great show explaining techniques and skills that will stay with most of us for the rest of our lives.
 
I have only watched a few episodes from CATV and on the curiousity and entertainment angles from them, I now have the double-DVD set where he is in a wide range of areas...a fairly cool overview.

I would like to own all of the episodes to be honest, I like the show and there is no cult surrounding him so that is very cool.

If he actually did the things I have watched him do, without having a small cache of food off-camera, etc., I wouldn't want to be doing too many more seasons of that stuff either!
 
I have read tht most people who are lost and succomb to the elements are found within a mile or so from a road or trail. I still think it was a great episode, and even though he was close to civilization and help, he didn't use it; unlike some others I know of;)
 
I agree with Tony, as long as he doesn't start hiking back to his car because he wants something or stays in a hotel, its real surival even if its close to civilization. In reality, it is almost more realistic as most people get lost just a few miles from a road or town.

I like how he did the search and rescue thing. I think it is useful to know how to act in a situation like that. This may be another reason he stayed close. It was probably expensive to get the SAR crew and it took time away from when they could really be saving someone. By staying close to civilization, the search would take less time.
 
If someone were to break their leg on a day hike a mile away from where they parked, a little less or a little more, and the temps dropped at night after a warm, sunny day...that could deteriorate into a very serious, life threatening situation quickly.

Now, if he is still, or Discovery is still promoting him as being out in the middle of nowhere during an episode like this, I think their wrong for doing so. Further, they are missing one hell of an opportunity by not portraying the situation just as I outlined up above.
 
I think Les is doing a great job. His show teaches people how to survive and what to do in a survival situation. He purposely camps out for 7 days and shows you how you could make do with what you would most likely have on you at the time of your situation.

He's also on the science channel for crying out loud. That has to say something about what he's doing (in addition to discovery of course). I really like how he shows realistic ways of getting food and water too. The figure fours were a nice touch to the show. This was probably one of my favorites so far out of all of his shows. It had a lot of information and even an "action packed" 10 minutes and just 15 seconds of harmonica playing :D.
 
tonym said:
I have read tht most people who are lost and succomb to the elements are found within a mile or so from a road or trail.
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Spot on. I've seen cases of people having been injured or lost and then found dead just a few hundred metres from a road or track. I did an overnighter a week and a half ago. I was only 10km from a town, probably only a few km from a house or similar. Managed to roll my ankle. I was lucky in that it wasn't bad and I was able to continue but if it'd been a break? No mobile coverage so couldn't call anyone. Popular trail but it was mid week so unlikely anyone was going to come by for a few days at least. Had all my gear but only food for that night. I wasn't in any danger IMO but you can see how easily things can happen.

Given this was an organised scenario with a SAR group he may not have got to pick the location at all.

I heard this is the last season as well. I hope it's not but I understand if it is. Overall I think it was a good episode. Fairly different scenario for him but something that probably happens all the time.
 
Almost everything I've seen him do has applications that normal people could apply, (especially his Science of Survival shows). I thought this one was good in that, while not as exciting as his regular survival stuff, it showed how to use the signal mirror and (roughly) how an SAR group might search for someone.

Not once did he scale a cliff or waterfall.... :rolleyes:
 
At one point, he listed several things you should never do if avoidable. I forget the list but I remember one was jumping on rocks. The funny part was that most of the things he listed are regular occurances on Man Vs. Wild.
 
When out on SAR missions the folks whose bodies we recovered were often within 200 to 300 yards of a road or even their own vehicle. What killed them in nearly every case was a comboination of panic followed by exposure. In nearly every case if they had calmed down and made use of some basic survival supplies and tools they could have saved themselves.

One of the worst cases was 100 yards from his truck which he couldn't see because he had hidden it in some brush. He was found lying beside a pitch stump dead from hypothermia. He had a rifle 20 rounds of amunition, matches axe knife etc. And was 50 feet from an old tar paper shack. He had panicked, run in a wide 250 to 300 yard circle several times laid down, fell asleep and died. Panic killed him .

Just because there are roads or trails nearby doesn't keep it from becoming a survival situation.
 
andrew7978 said:
At one point, he listed several things you should never do if avoidable. I forget the list but I remember one was jumping on rocks. The funny part was that most of the things he listed are regular occurances on Man Vs. Wild.
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Actually, Ive heard Bear say several times before he does, what we may call foolish, "Only do this as a last resort, or unavoidable. But if you have to do it, this is how." The one I can remember right now is the Black Hills episode where he jumps into the waterfall.

Personally, that's how I view Bear's show. If I had to do those things, that's a way to do them. Les' show is more of a how-to-survive for a week.(Basically, get used to starving and bring a guitar or harmonica along at all times, but leave the matches at home.):D

It's unfortunate that Les is stepping down. I own his first two season on DVD and watch them several times a month (much to the chagrin of my wife):D

He will be missed at my household. Hopefully, someone will step into his shoes.

Anyone here want to volunteer?:D
 
wildmike said:
When out on SAR missions the folks whose bodies we recovered were often within 200 to 300 yards of a road or even their own vehicle. What killed them in nearly every case was a comboination of panic followed by exposure. In nearly every case if they had calmed down and made use of some basic survival supplies and tools they could have saved themselves.

One of the worst cases was 100 yards from his truck which he couldn't see because he had hidden it in some brush. He was found lying beside a pitch stump dead from hypothermia. He had a rifle 20 rounds of amunition, matches axe knife etc. And was 50 feet from an old tar paper shack. He had panicked, run in a wide 250 to 300 yard circle several times laid down, fell asleep and died. Panic killed him .

Just because there are roads or trails nearby doesn't keep it from becoming a survival situation.
Click to expand...

Ain't that the sad truth. Sometimes overconfidence can be a killer too. I can't imagine one of us ever wanting to admit that we're lost 'cause we are the pro's and have all of the right gear.
 
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