I happened across a short video that shows some of the production crew involved in filming a Man vs. Wild episode. Reinforces the fact that this is a tv show filmed on location.

http://bit.ly/ZJDX9

For me the MvW scenes that are most noteworthy are the various cold water sequences -- too heart-stoppingly freezing for me.

P.S. Kudos to the OP for a funny thread title.

Other Pete, I agree with most of what you have said. And for the purposes of the show mapping out a route ahead of time to keep the show moving is probably a good idea. My concern is that others with less common sense may take away from the show that they can just wing it in a survival situation. I can imagine someone saying to themselves "I'm stranded on an island with no idea how far it is to any other land mass but, hey, Bear built a raft and did ok so I'll do it even though I have no idea where I'll end up." That's a scary thought and I am sure that is not what he is intending for people to take away from the show but it is a possibility. There was a story about someone who survived using techniques they saw on his show. I am afraid it is only a matter of time before those same techniques get somebody killed.


From what I have heard that is exactly what Bear does in between takes. Throwing on an extra coat, changing into dry cloths, standing by heaters, quaffing down water or other fluids, even going back to the motel to wait for more favorable weather conditions. Other times I would guess they edit out some of the more tedious parts like water collection, although it does leave you wondering how much was actually collected and how much was just poured from a bottle.
Like you, I still watch the show even though I know these things. He is entertaining and the techniques he uses are less drama than Les Stroud's sometimes (the enema thing seems to have upped the ante some though). He does do a good job of showing how to keep an upbeat attitude in a survival situation (as does Les Stroud). Again my only concern is for the viewers with less common sense that think a survival situation is winging it. Especially impressionable younger viewers.


And he should do research, as anyone should, before entering an unfamiliar area. I am sure Bear does as well. I wouldn't dare hike in an Arizona desert or enter a Peruvian jungle without first doing extensive research on the area. I don't have a problem with that. And Les does know the way out; like you said his show is more to demonstrate survival skills. However he seems more genuine because he doesn't accept immediate support from his crew while filming (although I did watch one show where he had to call for rescue on day 6 due to lack of water). They are always there for support in an emergency but he can't quaff a bottle of water or put on an extra coat between takes.
That being said I still like both shows for the techniques they present. But like Max said , take it with a liberal dose of salt.

For the squeamish, don't forget that our colons and digestive tracts are normally teeming with billions and billions of bacteria anyway so it's not like we're fouling some sterile environment in our bodies. And the lining of the colon is essentially the same thing as the semi-permeable membrane from a reverse osmosis filter. So, whatever nasty water you introduce using an enema, in all likelihood, whatever shouldn't get into your body will just get left behind in the colon and then expelled in short order.

Those who suffer from constipation see similar effects--moist digested matter moves slowly through the colon, the colon continues to extract more and more moisture, until the final form is rather dry and hard.

Of course, introducing the wrong little bugs into our digestive tracts, could lead to a sort of "food poisoning" or infection but then again, maybe not.

I'd say that it's a physiologically logical method at extracting desperately needed water from certain sources, although not necessarily the most appealing idea. And there some risks, too, like from a contaminant in the water and the risk of injury from performing an enema out in the field.

It seems that each Bear episode features something beyond the pale to stir up viewer interest. The fact we are discussing this stunt here is evidence that it works!

The colon is already colonized (no pun intended lol), with billions of bacteria that compete for space and resources. I would not worry too much (if at all) about how contaminated the water might be, unless you had a perforation - in which case you would be in deep doo-doo anyhow. However, I would be extremely concerned about the osmolality of sea-water, as some one else pointed out, water follows salt, so if the salt-water enema had a higher concentration of salt than the blood (quite possible), you would end up becoming even more dehydrated.

Not to mention the damage that could be done without lube. Torn tissue AND bacteria laden water. That could turn deadly real quick.

Hmmmm, another use for cotton balls and petroleum jelly??????


This enema stuff all goes back to that family adrift for weeks in a liferaft. Mom was a nurse, some of the water was contaminated, and Jr was too sick/nauseated/seasick to drink. She rigged up an enema for him.

Now, everybody thinks KY and a rubber hose should be in every overwater kit.

Ok, I saw the episode finally. Re-ran last nite. I saw the water we are talking about. I think when Bear hurt his shoulder the drugs they gave him affected his cognitive reasoning centers.

Of course, we are taking it on faith that he used the vile, nasty, evil looking, bird poopy ridden, water we saw him scooping out of the hollow in the rock - the same water he contamnated a canteen cup and canteen with. Why, Bear would not lie to us would he?

Let's take what we saw with a grain of salt (pun intended) and file it away as a just another virtually useless survival fact.

What really got me was when he was recovering the ship's rope. He wondered if it would float. Well freaking duh... if it didn't float how did it come to be at the island and not on the sea bottom. I swear, sometimes common sense totally escapes that man.

Exactly. The screen was censored anyway, who knows if he really performed the deed. I handed the clicker to DW when this came on again.