survival tv

I watched Bear's program 1 & 1/2 times and laughed my ass off through most of it..:jerkit:

I like Lester Stroud because he appears pretty human through most of his episodes and I have learned some from him from time to time.

My favorite, however is, "I shouldn't be alive", because its pretty damn real.. And sometimes its what you learn what not to do that is important..;)
 
I think the most important thing is to take this show with a grain of salt. Don't forget, no matter what, this is still a T.V. show that needs rating in order to survive. Maybe he already he studied the maps beforehand and already know which way out. Maybe there's a helicopter radioing to his crew to have him go through a certain route. Maybe the crew feed him real food off camera. Maybe he sprained his ankles a few time during each episodes and sit out for a few days in between. Maybe he has stunt double. Who knows what's real and what's not. I have to give him a lot of credit for the things he eat (again, this is more or less for dramatic effects for the audience). I could believe he sucked the juices from the elephant dung.

The most important thing is to remember as much of his advice as you can, and during a real survival situation, assess your own capability and do what you can. I highly doubt someone without his agility will even attempt to climb a tree that's 100 feet high. (This reminds me of the superman halloween costumes I had when I was a kid and on the box it labeled "do not attempt to fly"). I personally find his show very entertaining and somewhat educational, and I combine what I learn from Bear Grylles, Les Stroud from Survivorman and all the other books I've read on wilderness survival.

Getting back to knives, I question his choice of knives, but that's just me. Maybe he's trying to mimic a real world hiker who's stranded in the woods with an average knife (and who happens to be parachuting his way in, and able to use his parachute cords).

* I know he uses a titanium dive knife, which is really good that it doesn't rust, but it's too soft for survival purpose (well, he did beat it up to death ... with a rock).

* The Gerber Gator he uses doesn't even have a thumb stud or hole for one-hand opening. I don't have a Gerber Gator, so I don't know how easy it is to open with one hand

* Some say he used a MOD ATFK on his Moab Desert episode. I re-watched it and it doesn't seem like a MOD ATFK. I have that knife and it has a spear-point blade, while the one he used in the episode is more of a clip-point blade. I heard it might be Buck Iceman, which seems to make more sense since the knives he used in all episodes are not too expensive
 
My son & I like to watch both shows and it is just entertainment and quality time with my son , to which I point out some of the dumb things they both do and some key points they both touch on. Then toss in some of America's funniest video's and we've had a full night of entertainment !!!:D
 
Les Stroud, Ray Mears and the Australian "Bush Tucker Man" shows are about the best survival programs i've seen on tv. I haven't seen any of the Bear Grylles series so i can't venture an opinion.
 
cjpgeyer said:
Man vs Wild, my wife calls it 'Baer gets Bare'. Thank God they (mostly) block out his junk, but I could certainly use less of seeing his arse! :) I really like 'I Shouldn't be Alive'. Good stuff.:thumbup:
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My kids refer to Bear's show as "Drama Queen". That said, the show is more entertainment than education and, from that standpoint, it and Survivorman aren't bad shows. If they weren't eating bugs and diving out of airplanes, if they focused only on technique without all the accompanyingy outlandish hooplah, the only audience would be...well...us.

I wish they would broadcast some of the Ray Mears shows in the U.S.
 
Hmmm... Isn't "Man vs. Wild" the show where that little weasel picks up a fresh hunk of elephant dung the size of a grapefruit and, using both hands, squeezes the liquid out of it into his open mouth? Enough said. :D
 
Bear Grylls is an entertainer, athlete and stuntman. The show is alot about shock value and little about survival. It should be seen as staged entertainment and not information on how to survive. For the average person, the show is more instuctional on how to poison yourself, get dysentery and break your back.

Just a few of Grylls antics:
Climbing through a nearly vertical ice cave in a glacier, guessing where it might lead.
Cutting off the stinger and eating a scorpion. Afterwards he exclaims "tastes like cheese lying around for 2 weeks." He Pauses a moment, unable to speak and says "but worse".
Climbs a sucession of waterfalls, each more impossible than the last.
Drinks putrid water and eats fresh shit for the "nutrients I need".

Real survival means preseving yourself, when possible and not purposely using yourself up. Did I mention I find the show entertaining?
 
From a purely Darwinian point of view, if you're concerned with survival, best thing you can do is blow up your TV.
 
Is the Bear Grylls show even available in Canada? I don't see it on Discovery Canada's website.
 
Many good points, I will ad my .02. I firmly beleive you can learn from anything/anybody. I teach my kids to learn from other peoples mistakes so they do not have to make their own. Some things I like about Gryhlls is he does show the downside of bad judgement/accidents i.e. when he tied paracord around himself and jumped into the ice fissure- stupid... but he did demonstrate how incredibly hard it is to pull yourself out-- be careful enough not to fall in. Ditto jumping into the frozen lake. Drinking from the stream in Costa Rico, woke up sick as a dog.

His show is dramatic for the same reason Steve Irwins was-- to get people to watch. How many people watch documentaries? I don't like but it is a simple fact that if you want to make a statement, you have to get peoples attention first.

2Door
 
tholiver,

Is the Bear Grylls show even available in Canada? I don't see it on Discovery Canada's website.
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You don't need it to be broadcast. I don't even have TV. You can find all the full length episodes online. (YouTube, if I'm remembering correctly.)
 
A side note. There is currently most or all these shows available on torrent. A huge Mears collection as well.

J.
 
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