I finally saw the entire episode and found it to be pretty good. But I still think it's idiotic to do what he did.

I met the guy once, so I can't speak for him, but having read his stuff and followed him on his website, and now on Facebook and Discovery, he has been barefoot for years and has built up a very thick pad of callused skin on his feet. I have also seen this with pacific islanders.

In fact I would guess with the additional thickening and toughening of the bottom of his feet that it would be quite uncomfortable to where normal footwear.

My 2 cents.

I’ve only seen the Discovery clip, not the entire show, but it does look crazy.

Every show has something which we can learn, perhaps the lesson here is to add a Favourites links for the Darwin Award Nominations ?

A more serious way of looking at it is to remember that from time to time we do have responsibility to act to save people from themselves, even if they don’t appreciate it (IMO). Stupidity, naivety, intoxication, poor judgement or in this case it would seem to be sensationalism (bravado), whatever the cause I’d hate to have to call the family and explain how Dave ended up in hospital or worse.

… But if they’re going to do it anyway, you may as well video it so you can explain to the next of kin that they really were that silly.

You have to remember that being on this show is their "job" right now.We can then consider that the producers are the bosses.I think and feel the "SLASH AND BURN" was a producers idea.After viewing Dave's videoes on YOUTUBE for a year I think one can get a handle on his character.It appeared that Cody and Dave begrudgingly did this.Their attitude to me was "lets get this stunt over with so we can teach something real".Some of their wording subtley or even subversivly was not in favor of it.
I have noticed that they build a different type of shelter each episode.Dave constructs a different kind of trap and they try to show an other way to start a fire.Looking deeper into the show you start to see a pattern of SHELTER,WATER,FIRE and FOOD(tracking and hunting/trapping) and utilizing resources found or on you.When it comes to navigation it seems to be more towards gross navigation and obtain an idea of your terrain.
I wish that I could see some of what didn't make it on TV and could hear some of Dave and Cody's conversations away from and with the producers...


BOATMAN
John

I'd like to see them presented with intelligently chosen items to use instead of just random crap. Steel wool and a lantern battery? I haven't seen one of those batteries in real life in over ten years, much less used one. Okay, they're thrust into a survival situation with no preparation- I get that. But who ends up in that situation armed with a just the crap they're given? There's a theme to the show but I'd love to hear them describe how to choose survival items and use them. I've seen both of them do this in youtube vids, why not get the message out to a wider audience?

Still, I love the show!

It's interesting that we haven't got that episode yet here in Canada. They played what I presume was the season premire (Valley of the Volcanoes) and then reverted to season one re-runs. Wonder if they got too much negative feedback?

Because the audience doesn’t necessarily want to hear that they need to take personal responsibility for being equipped to survive (with the exception of everyone here who has been watching, of course).

Some of the survival shows also try to show how you can survive a given situation by using the items you would have brought with you and simply keeping a cool head. One I am thinking of in particular is the episode of survivorman where Les Stroud pretended to be an abandoned/lost scuba diver. He showed how a person could survive using the scuba equipment they brought with them.

That said, a whole new show showcasing different gear and how it could be used in a survival situation might not be a bad idea.

W

3 guess's as to whom they won't invite.....


As some one pointed out a while back, we would have pooled our resources, binned the drama, formulated a plan and been out of Dodge by the first commercial break

How different is that from Stroud's multitool, thermal layer and harmonica, plus whatever one gadget the producers gave him and he could salvage from a vehicle if there was one?

Now, I agree with the idea of proper small kits for one of their shows, like the one Lundin describes in 98.6 and the 10 (or 20) piece kits Cantebury has shown on Youtube. I think it would be a very different affair, just like when Stroud had the dog sled and had his kit in the german mess can.