Hello to all at Equipped,
Great to find this site. My name is Les Stroud and I am a long time survival instructor from Canada. I also have been in film and television since 1983. I have just signed with the Outdoor Life Network in Canada to produce a nine part series about survival. All will be one hour shows. I have already completed two similar series for the Discovery Channel which can be found (and viewed) at http://www.exn.ca/oneWeek/
and the winter one at:
http://www.exn.ca//oneWeekWild/

My new series will be seven day survival ventures taking place in: Costa Rica, California (desert), the Everglades, Utah, the Arctic, the NW Pacific Coast, the Rockies, the Boreal forest and possibly Labrador. I would welcome anyone who is interested in connecting with me and helping me out with advice, tips, guidance, location advice, equipment advice etc. I will also be featuring various survival equipment in each episode so if you have something you want featured please contact me privately.. Thats the short of it all for now. As I get deeper into the series production I will try to stay in touch with this forum and let you know how things are going and try to acquire more info from anyone out there who is genuinely interested. In two weeks I do my boreal forest episode.......this morning there is snow on my back deck!!!!!!!
Les

Les

It sounds like a great series! Any chance of it being put on the discovery network internationally (I.E. South Africa)? We don't get much of this type of show in S.A.

Good luck with the series!

Yes we are trying to shop the series internationally and of course the tapes can always be purchased through me directly in PAL format.

Les

Hi Stroud,

Welcome aboard! Glad to see you mastered the infamous ETS login course. LOL

When do you think you'll be getting to the Everglades? Give me a PM when the time gets close.

Regards,
Commanche7

Hello Comanche7,
Thanks for your offer of help. Rough schedule:
Boreal Forest - in two weeks
Utah - November
Desert (California) - December
Costa Rica/Belize - Jan
Everglades - March
Arctic - April/May
Mountain - June

anyone following this forum who would be so generous as to offer me advice and info - if you are near the various areas - I will be coming down for traning for a week or so before each location - so perhaps i can meet up and head out for a day or two of explorations - I can't always pay someone but sometimes I can, depending on the circumstances

thanks

Les

Stroud,

No problem, as your schedule gets firmed up, let me know in advance, there is a good possibility that I could schedule some vacation time around then..

Comanche7

Was watching Discovery Channel last night and saw Les in a cameo appearance in a show "The True Tale of Robinson Crusoe" or something along those lines.

Apparently the book was based on the true life experience of a mariner left on a island 14 x 7 miles. A number of researchers then explored how the real fella lived the Robinson Crusoe adventure without a man Friday.

Les appeared as a Wilderness Survival Expert and demonstrated how to start a fire using a flintlock. He also made comments about making edged tools from barrel stayes left behind on the island. Heat the metal in fire, bang on the heated metal with hatchet and a rock.

Les even got a fire started. Finally someone who actually does instead of just telling.

Excellent, video clips. Looking forward to seeing the series in the United States. Anything available on Tape?

Didn't watch the program (live in England) but I do know the basis of the story. Wasn't it someone called Andrew Selkirk? And he was marroned on an island because he fell out with his captain. i think he was left on there with just a flintlock pistol and some water (i'm probably wrong here). However this is a far cry from the story of robinson Crusoe who had everything and the kitchen sink <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

Yes, that was his name.

In the show they indicated he was left with enough food for 2 meals, a flinklock rifle, a pound of powder, a hatchet, and a traveling box. The one they used in the recreation was about 2 feet square.

On the island were remenents of shelters built by others, wild goats, and trash because he was able to find and use barrel stays. According to the show his powder lasted for 1 year while he hunted goats. There were ferrel cats he tamed to combat rats.

Thanks for the kind comments


yep all of my work is available on tape...check out my web site at - www.wildernessfilms.ca

the two survival series are not listed but are available on tape

Les

will post the results when i get back

Les

don't know wheather all member agrea, but i like pictures.... *wink* *wink* *hint* *hint* <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Hi Les,
Any updates?

Thanks for the heads-up Les, I look forward to the series! If there is anything I can help with, please let me know. CHeers!

Widget,
are you from Arizona???? I am about to head down there and I am looking for a good spot in the Sonora to do some survival practising and filming?

anyone else have good suggestions??

Les

Anza-Borrego, Joshua Tree, Death Valley areas in California all could be good for your desert segment. I've spent a bit of time in the in the Sonora near Tucson (my grandpa grew up there, spent a great deal of time there and in the nearby mountains when he was younger, and shared them with me when I was a kid); I agree that could be an interesting area for filming. Joshua and Saguaro both offer some nice eye candy, though there are harsher conditions elsewhere.

- Steve

Or you could try Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - the rules for survival there (according to Backpacker, April 2003) are very simple:

1. Walk due East or West until you find a well-trodden path heading North. Follow the trail of discarded plastic water containers, empty tuna cans, Pedia-lite bottles and used clothing until you come to a highway;

2. If you're lucky enough to trip one of the motion detectors that the Border Patrol have planted every ten feet, when the Border Patrol come to get you, put your hands in the air and refrain from making any sudden moves;

3. Be careful to avoid the young teenage backpackers with the L-shaped bulges in their pockets. Above all, refrain from asking about the contents of their backpacks. <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Les, I recommend the Eagletail Wilderness area or the areas around there. Seldom traveled and there is plenty of area to work with. It is about 80 miles west of Phoenix, S of !-10. Email me for more info if you need it. Best wishes for the series!

Les,

Enjoyed the clips. I am from Utah and would love to help in any way I can. PM me and let me know if I can help. A few items I can think of that may help you and the readers of this forum with there skills are. If you use two different types of trees to make your bow and drill maybe you can improve on the 8 hours it took you to light a fire. I use juniper and pine. It usually only takes about two minutes. I have also had success with Burch and pine it took about 10 minutes. A good rule of thumb is a hard wood drill and a soft wood board. Also use a stone or metal for the press block it reduces the friction and speeds up the whole process.

Also to help you with your insect bite problem if you take fresh leaves from the yarrow plant and rub them on your skin it is a very effective insect repellent. Not as effective but still better then nothing are the flower of the Oxeye Daisy, and although toxic the leave of the tansy plant spread around camp may also help with the insect infestation

Your skill are more advanced than mine I just thougt I might help
Again thanks for the clips

A really handy thing to have in your pocket for the occasional Bow-Drill Fire Start is a metal top to a soda bottle. (You remember those real glass bottles with the pop tops.) Easier to find might be the metal tops to a beer bottle. This little item can be used as the top pivot for the drill if you back it with a block of wood. The rim of the bottle cap will bite into the block of wood you are pressing on and the drill will quickly dimple the cap enough to stay centered. Provides a nice "friction-free" bearing for the top of the drill that keeps the drill nicely centered.

About the best set of directions for using a bow drill I have ever found!

Thanks Steve,
Looks like I will be landing in Tuscon and heading out from there....being from Northern Ontario any drive short of 6 hours is an easy one so I don't mind travelling. A friend of mine (survival instructor) is going to meet up with me and show me some of these places you all have reccommended. Thanks so much for all the info it is coming in very handy.
Les