Actually saw that episode. The putrid (green) water he used was from a small island covered with bird droppings. Can you not get sick from bird dropping filled water?

I am now convinced that in reality Man Vs Wild is actually a TV comedy of some kind just presented as a real survival show. I think we have all been fooled into thinking it is all serious which it obviously is not.

Bingo ... I thought the water that Bear was using looked pretty putrid. I can't imagine putting yellow or green water into my intestines. He's really pushing his luck with that stunt.

Maybe the only people who are laughing - are the ER doctors who treat people who try to copy these survival antics :-)

other Pete

Read the disclaimers. He gets support from the crew as required by OSHA regulations (or something to that effect). He is presented with survival challenges so he can demonstrate survival techniques. In fact one episode on this marathon showed a crew member reaching out a hand to keep Bear from falling off a cliff he came upon suddenly. Personally, based on the way the show progresses, I think he maps a route ahead of time and knows beforehand if a route is safe or not and where it will take him. That is he knows he can make a raft and travel, say, north for five miles to reach an inhabited island, travel inland through this or that terrain to reach a stream, that will in turn lead him to a river that leads to the village where his pickup awaits. Not 100% certain Les Stroud doesn't do this on Survivorman but his show seems to be a bit more genuine although some of his techniques are more drama and less practical, such as making a fire from your incandescent - I'm sure I mispelled that word - flashlight. Great at destroying flashlights, not so good for firestarting.
As far as the enema goes, I will quote Glockaroo - "icky." Also hard to administer with the size tube he was using and no mention of any lube. Definitely last resort stuff here, and not for the squeamish or untrained. Yuck. i'm glad someone answered my question about using salt water before I asked. Good to know.

I must have missed the chapters on enemas in all my survival books...

Ha! I guess you better add one - especially with your family medical background!

Imagine what would happen if SAR showed up right in the middle of that procedure. They'd probably leave you there!

You know ... I don't really have a problem if they map out the route that Bear takes ahead of time. If you stop to think about it, it's really the only practical way to do a TV series like that. Otherwise, you would waste tons of video footage while Bear walks round and round trying to find a route that actually works. They've got to keep things moving along so that the viewers will stay interested.

Here are the things I wonder about in Man vs. Wild. First, there are quite a few times when Bear winds up needing to spend the night in an improvised shelter under less-than-ideal conditions. For example, his clothes are soaking wet, it's getting dark, and it's getting cold. OK ... so he lights a small fire. That helps a bit. But with wet, cold clothes it's still a miserable night - 12 hours of freezing darkness lasts a long time! Does he actually DO the whole night out? Or do they just cut the film making, and then everyone goes back to the hotel to drink a lot of beers?

Also, he will occasionally demonstrate how to get liquids for drinking, such as by squeezing bits of cactus or chopping the ends of a jungle creeper. But either way, if you see how much water he gets from this operation - it's really minimal. Just a small trickle of water at best. It's not even close to what he would need to survive while trekking energetically across rough country or paddling a raft across a stretch of ocean. So again - what do they do? Just cut film making for 20 minutes so Bear can quaff down a quart of gatorade??

Those are the parts of the show where I have some serious doubts about what's going on.

Having voiced these complaints ... I still think that Bear is an excellent individual, and a great example of how to keep a positive mental attitude under harsh conditions.

other Pete

Les Stroud does extensive research. I'm sure there is a link, but he's mentioned a few times in Survivorman that he uses local guides to get a lay of the land, especially for plant life. Every place is unique, and he needs someone to tell him what is good and what is lethal. If I recall, in his shows, you'll hear stuff like "XYZ plant is plentiful in this region, it provides...can be cooked/eaten raw...". I believe he also has a pretty good idea of which way is out. The point is to show surviving for 7 days, not necessarily what to do if you get lost!

But, since Les is his own boss, he doesn't need to follow OSHA regulations ( well, maybe he does, but he'll be the only one dying. Can you imagine the backlash if OSHA goes after him for something he does during his show? The EPA on the other hand.... )

I saw some parts of the show with Bear Grylls in the German version. At the start they clearly state that it is a show and especially the more dangerous scenes are staged. So it would not be a real problem as long as people keep that in mind.
When watching carefully there are some points that are suspicious. For example he finds a rotting carcass of a goat in bear country. He states that he wouldn´t want be there when whatever ate there is back but still takes parts of the skin and fat in his backpack. On several occassions he jumps into pools from considerable height (about 20 feet) after claiming that he cannot judge whether the water is deep enough and just hopes he will not get injured.
In conclusion I would think that most of that show should be taken with a liberal dose of salt. No matter how well trained and competent Bear Grylls may be it is just a show.