I've got to agree with BigDaddyTX, because if Les had the gear there would not be a show.

I think if you look at both Bear and Les they do things that make their shows entertaining. Les is travelling through the snow-covered Canadian North with a team of dogs, when he decides to let the dogs go, hhhmmmmm, seems like he just said, I want to make my week this much harder SO MY SHOW IS ENTERTAINING. Since Les is out tehre all by his lonesome, he cannot really blame anyone else for his decisions. However, I could see that whoever provides him financing exerting pressue on him before or after he ventures out.

Bear clearly does thigns for some of the same purposes.

If you watch these shows, and I like to watch both, you can learn things, both what to do and what not to do. Climbing down into a glacier like Bear did in Patagonia was something not to do. Good entertainment, but he had a tough time getting out. Les letting the dogs go, also a decision I would not make.