I think a lot of people miss the point with Bear. He makes no bones about the risk, and he also makes it very plain that all too often devolves down to Possible Death against Certain Death.
To me he has one virtue that stands out:
He never gives up. It goes wrong its "time for another plan."
If we could convince half the idiot's out there to carry, and learn to use, the same gear Bear has then this site would have achieved it's purpose.
The problem with Bear is that he makes choices with an extremely high risk when there are far safer and better options - i.e. climbing down a waterfall instead of hiking around; drinking his own urine and liquid extracted from animal dung; and frantically running everywhere instead of walking(which uses less energy and water for the same distance travelled).
All of those choices reduce chances of survival with no benefit, except better TV ratings. Perhaps his show would be less ludacrous if the goal was to elude capture in enemy territory, and if it were advertised as pure entertainment instead of an educational show that "will teach you how to survive".
As far as gear, basic outdoor knowledge about how to dress and keep warm, build a fire, and stay hydrated would help people far more than carrying whatever fancy knife that Bear Grylls does. Preparation and planning for the unexpected, gear included, is definitely important, but telling someone "buy this and always carry it and you can survive" does little more than give someone a false sense of security.
When I was a wilderness instructor and Bear Grylls' name came up, I would tell my students to do the exact opposite of what they had seen him do, and they would have a descent chance of surviving.
Previous Topic
Index
