I would rather believe that "3000 calories" was a sarcastic term than literal. On a strenuous day of survival and filming for the show, Les could easily expend twice that many calories over say 15 or 16 hours of work, carrying 50 pounds of gear back and forth, going up and down hills, bush whacking, shivering, not sleeping properly, stress, adrenaline and working around a camp area.

There is a big difference also between a loss of calories and the loss of body weight. 3500 calories may equal a pound but if the body loses a pound it may not be 3500 calories. It could be water.

I have done Ironmans where my heart rate monitor showed I burned 12,000 calories or a bit over 3 lbs. during a 14 hour race but on the scale I lost 23 pounds. Yes 23 pounds. Water a significant part of that and almost all the wieght put back on by the the next weekend or so.

A blurb I got from Les:

For the second week in a row Les’ book is on the Globe and Mail bestsellers list in the very competitive Non-Fiction category. Survive! has had exceptional sales in both Canada and the USA. If you haven't picked up your copy yet it is available at local book stores and online.


Canada AM Les will be appearing on Canada AM on Wednesday December 3rd 2008 in the morning. Please check your local listings for information.
Q with Jian Ghomeshi Les will be interviewed on Q with Jian Ghomeshi on CBC radio on Thursday December 4th 2008 at 11:00am (EST).
Good Morning America Les will be appearing on Good Morning America on Monday December 22nd 2008. Check your local listings for information.
Stay tuned more to come on Les' news section.

OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH
Mountain Equipment Co-op
Saturday December 6th 2008
from 3 - 5pm
Toronto, ON, Canada
Indigo Book Signing Event
Wednesday December 3rd
from 7 - 9pm
Yonge & Eglinton, Toronto, ON, Canada
Costco Book Signing Event
Sunday December 7th
from 1 - 3pm
Barrie, ON, Canada
The Bookcase
Tuesday December 16th
from 5 - 7pm
Huntsville, On, Canada

The Sock

Received Les' book Christmas. Just finished it and was impressed. I have always enjoyed his humble down to earth approach and was glad to see it continue. It was especially nice to see him credit the subject / area experts that have aided him throughout his travels.

me like Les

About a quarter through the first read. Me likie, it definantly goes onto the "new school books" list next to Lundin's.

I know someone said they didn't like the orange blocks, but I rather like the color. It isn't hard to my eyes, but I'm also a cave dwelling computer guy. :P

Got the book for Christmas and finished reading it. I like it very much. Les covers the basics and more but you can tell that he dispensed with stuff that only seems to work in dusty survival books. I like his grouping stuff into "solidly reliable method" and "last ditch!". Very real-world and down to earth, with some 110% justifiable (but non-specific) jabs at Bear Grylls' TV antics. Recommended.

Would love to see Doug Ritter's take on the book.

Fixed that for you. *grins* I know it is probably is never going to happen, but I'd love to see Doug write a book.

The one thing that raised an eyebrow when reading this was his apparent love for the Spot device. One would think he is on the payroll for it.

Concur. Actually, I think he is on their payroll. I've seen ads where he promotes the Spot, and that surely wasn't done for free. It's fine if he genuinely likes the device but given Doug's analysis, I'm surprised Les is such a fan. Maybe it's because the Spot is the best thing going in that genre, though not perfect, like any v1.0 product.

Is there ANYTHING else like it that comes close to price and size?