My apologies if we've gone before. I know talking about Bear can risky around here.

My kids bought me Bear's book "Living Wild: the Ultimate Guide to Scouting and Fieldcraft" for Christmas. We call him "the dumb guy" around here, mostly because i don't want my seven year old taking the kind of risks he does.

I have to confess, it's a pretty good book. i'd recommend my older Scouts read it. there's lots of solid info contained in the ten chapters including pics, diagrams, tips and illuminating stories to help drive the information home. in a many places he advocates for not taking the risks he does on his show, and he's careful to tell his readers to take care when they're out in the wild. i can take or leave the chapter on faith, i'm still a little leary of his military claims, and i didn't learn anything new, but all-in-all, it's not a bad read.

Bear must be quite the author. I thumbed through another of his works at the public library -"Bear's Guide to Wilderness Survival" or something like that. I would have to say it was acceptable - not the best, but it contained nothing that was dreadfully wrong - decent, elementary survival advice. It was copiously illustrated with BG wearing a succession of high end parkas, gnawing on maggots and such.

As for skeptics like Bacpacjac, doubters of his mil cred, there were also pics of Our Hero in full SAS regalia. I rest my case.

There I did it! A post that is halfway nice to Bear Grylls. Surely I have earned my place in Heaven.

hikermor, i'm not not a fan. i'm not a harsh critic, just exercising prudent caution as a mom. we watch his show. he has a lot to teach, and he does it well. in fact, i'm a fan of all the good stuff he teaches. the risks he takes sometimes though, or at least the way they are protrayed, IMO, send the wrong message sometimes.

i take things with a grain of salt. frankly, i don't care about the debate surrounding his background. again, just exercising caution. we've been a little critical in the forums lately, and i don't want this discussion about the contents of the book side-tracked by an argument about his credentials.

BG has aptly been described as an entertainer, not a survival expert. My objections to his show stem from his demonstration of techniques that regularly result in fatalities - fatalities that I have had to deal with.

Just one example - descending a canyon, BG is stopped by a waterfall. He throws his pack down, and then jumps, about a thirty to forty foot drop into the pool below the waterfall.

The far safer, but more prosaic, technique is to backtrack, find a walking route around the waterfall, and continue on. If you can't do that (and it is rare that you can't), it is time to consider a rappel. It is a very bad idea to separate yourself from your pack, much less jump into unknown water.

Many of the more effective survival techniques make for very boring TV, so I guess you can't blame an entertainer for juicing it up a bit.

Seriously, I am glad his books are better than his TV garbage.

EXACTLY! My impulsive and risk-taking seven year and immortal thrill-seeking twenty year old don't need the guy teaching them to stay alive showing them how to kill themselves in the process. they've learned that BG's shows are "fiction", and just like the movies, have some useful real life stuff thrown in.

Though not ground-breaking, the book is pretty good. Since he dedicated it to all Scouts worldwide, and penned it as the UK Chief Scout, I imagine he had to stick to the program A LOT more strictly.

Yes, but you will have to slide down a glacier, eat a frozen lemming, and pole vault over a crevass to get there