Couple of points about this:

1) Anyone with half a brain watches these programs and gets real thoughtful about their kitlist.

2) Cody seems to have had an effect on David C because David's mantra now is " Conservation of Resources." That is to say don't use your lighter if a bowdrill will do or a knife if you can knap a flint. Have them, but conserve them because they are difficult to replace.

3) In my view no-one on this forum or the producers of any of these programs owe the "lemming" any duty of care. Fair warning is given. At the beginning of each program and at various times during it. If they choose to ignore those warning then so be it.


Only thing that I personally want to give "lemming" is a tall unscalable cliff. Very deep water, a diving board, and a sign half way down that say's " Darwin Was Right."


Now if I could just figure out a way of charging them admission...

Izzy, one of the reasons I liked Man,Woman, Wild was that Myke was very honest about how hard it was to do survival tasks and would mention it in the show.

I recall when his wife got really sick in the desert and he had to start a fire. He was very frustrated it took him 90 minutes to do it in an emergency situation and said so on camera

...I'd change out of business wear into boots, jeans and flannel before teaching outdoors/ prep skills...Its authority, believability and meeting people's expectations.

Jeans? In my mind, that translates to "Looks" good and authentic and not knowledgable once someone understands what they're doing." It would lose credibility with me but probably play well with the unitiated. Dress, shoes and a cotton dress shirt, maybe not, but wool or synthetic dress pants and matching suit jacket would find higher esteem in my eyes.

WAY betterthan shorts though, no matter the climate

What were the other reasons?

[u][/u]I have to admit that i do wear cotton too, usually partnered with wool and fleece. It's comfortable and can be pretty tough. I carry wool or fleece as back-up. I'm no techy. I meant no disrespect. I have noticed though, that I do measure my teachers by such things. (see the cruise thread)

There's a pbs video about a guy named Dick Prenoke, called Alone in the Wilderness. He made a good go of it in Alaska and he wore blue jeans that's a good recommendation in my book.

Forgive me. It's winter here in Canada so my lens is frozen. :-)

haha. Okay, I got fished in with that turn of phrase. No, really, I liked M,W,W. Another reason is that Ruth provided a good foil to Myke. She was a 'straight man', which provided the show the means to actually explain survival technique rather than just watch a guy or two guys divide labor and go about it with practiced care.

FWIW it was released by the Hawkes that they stopped filming the show, the final couple episodes are coming out right now. It was too hard for them to do it together and raise their son. The filming was long, injurious and exhausting. Which IIRC is pretty much the reason Les stopped doing Survivor Man.

Cotton isn't cotton... T-shirts, jeans and the like have absolutely no purpose outdoors. They're the real target for the "cotton kills" slogan.

An outer shell layer of thightly woven cotton is wind proof and can actually be somewhat water resistant (for a while). In cold climates (dry snow) it breathes much better than goretex and the like.


When I was a kid, skiing above the three line required heavy-duty COTTON anoracks. There was no alternative, and how to impregnate the cotton to make it more water resistant was a hotly debated topic.

Of course, Goretex and other membranes really shines when things get wet... when snow turns to sleet and rain, a cotton shell won't kill you if it is a heavy-duty old school anorack we're talking about - but a modern material shell layer will work much better.

I was just poking fun, and actually, I agree with you. I watched every episode and found the methods that Myke demonstrated to be useful and well presented. Ruth was a great choice as his survival partner, as she is herself intellegent and resourceful, albeit in a different environment.

I was able to relate, as my wife and I go to some very remote places every summer and fall, and anything can happen. Although my wife and I have never been in a true survival situation, we have had minor equipment or prep failures, weather situations, animal encounters, differing opinions, and mini-health issues while afield. The interactions presented in MWW were realistic IMO.

It didn't hurt that Ruth is a beautiful and articulate woman though....just think if his partner was say, Rosie O'Donnell. We could then watch Myke practice his best SERE skills on the second episode, and never be seen again.

One of the things I find interesting and enjoyable about DS, MWW, as well as the espisodes of MVW when Bear took out Wil and Jake, when Les went out with his hunting buddy, and when Ray took Obiwan to the jungle ... is the interplay between the two survivors. Ego IS an important factor in survival situation. Differing philosophies and risk tolerences WILL come into play. Different levels of experience and skill competency and confidence IS going to shape things.

Someone said earlier in the thread that watching these shows should make us think about our kit list. They also make me think about the personalities and relationships that are going to be involved. I often joked that I stopped building fires when I started camping with boys. (Meaning my husband and our best friend and camping partner.) When those two guys get together the camping is great but I can just sit back and watch because they do it all. I can often relate to Ruth dealing with Mike.