"Bear Grylls has a new TV show? Better drink my own urine."

Denis, No. You were doing so well. Lol jk. I prefer Cody, he's more interesting and laid back.

I don't. Only thing Cody has ever convinced me of is going equipment heavy. This Just-A-Knife -And-Mother-Nature-Will-Provide nonsense is a great way to get you self prominently mentioned in the next Darwin Awards. If I'm dropped in it I'd rather be in Bear's company than Codys.
Hopefully this new series might save a few lives by demonstrating what not to do, and the merits of a spot of prior preparation.

Hopefully it will be better than the last farce of his that I watched. Get Out Alive was a combination Fear Factor (eating gross things) and Survivor (Throwing people who weren't bright enough to read a survival manual before going on the show, then whining about how hard it was and how hungry and cold they were). JMHO of course.But to each his own,I still prefer Cody. I certainly respect your preference for Bear.

I don't remember the stick shelter, I guess that was to keep the angry bunnies out lol.

I still don't know much about Les Stroud but his name keeps coming up so I'll have to check him out.

Using a deer antler for a rappel anchor...PLEASE!!!

Using a deer antler for a rappel anchor...PLEASE!!!

If Bear was a decent guy he'd either tell his people to stand down

Given the "insurance" and "safety" excuses when he was caught rebuilding a Lego raft and secretly wearing a PFD, I suspect there was a real anchor hidden just beyond camera view.

Given the facts as known, it isn't clear that Mr. Grylls' lawyers are NOT in the right.

...We have a saying at Bear® Archery: It's not about the hype or high cost — it's about the hunt. This defines the essence of our company, which grew out of the life and work of legendary sportsman Fred Bear.

Fred started Bear Archery during the Great Depression. ...

From the reviews I've read, Bear Grylls is a name you've heard that you find stamped on somewhat marginal products. If I made a decent product I don't think I'd want mine being confused with Bears stuff. I see the "Bear" name and I think "Walmart quality"

Bear Grylls products are not "marginal" as you put. The quality is as good as, and in many respects superior to other products on the market.

You also find BG items at REI, an enterprise which does not sell junk. My understanding is that much of BGs line is made by Gerber, who mostly makes decent, although not super high end, gear. Will we see, or are we seeing, divergent BG products?

Must be because everything is 'Extreme'

If that is true, they made a fairly poor business decision to market his stuff through Walmart, and have Walmart as a main sponsor of his current TV show. You may not have Walmart stores in the UK, but here in the US they do not have a reputation for selling quality stuff. Yes, you can occasionally find a decent product there, and if you do, it will sell for a price lower than probably anywhere else.

But there is a lot of complete junk in Walmarts. They are well known for striking deals with manufacturers, getting the manufacturers highly dependent on Walmart sales (they are a very big distributer), then turning around and telling those manufactures to make things cheaper and cheaper to hit a Walmart price-point. They've kind of got the manufacturers in their grasp, because those manufacturers have gotten so dependent on sales through Walmart that they don't want to, or can't, give up that revenue stream. You find some manufacturers that have two lines of seemingly identical merchandise, the regular stuff, and the Walmart stuff. The Walmart stuff is much worse quality.

Google "Walmart vs. Vlassic", or "Walmart vs. Snapper" if you want to read up on it. The two links below are samples of the kind of stuff you will find:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bac_1342681195

http://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart

Selling through Walmart, let alone having them be your primary sponser, may be the death knell for your company, or the cause behind your products going from a quality reputation to a trash reputation. Walmart is huge, and very popular for two main demographics: Lower income shoppers, and shoppers in search of a "bargain". That is not necessarily bad, but that is their targeted audience. You don't find folks looking for higher end stuff in a Walmart. No offense intended towards Walmart - I go there occasionally. For example, I like their "bargains" on the K-cups for my Keurig coffee maker. Those things are so horrendously overpriced at normal retail that I'm not overly concerned about Walmart putting those manufacturers in their place, price-wise.

I've watched a few episodes of Bear's latest show. The one where he takes celebrities out on a weekend adventure. While the show is fairly stupid and contrived (that pretty much goes for ALL shows on TV nowadays), Bear does appear to be a very friendly and likable guy. The show is entertaining. But it's not a vehicle for learning survival skills, much of what goes on there is more likely to get you killed than rescued. But it's still entertaining to a degree, and Bear does appear to be a nice guy.

I would like to see a "the making of..." episode of one of his shows, an episode that shows the cameramen and other support that is around when he is filming. They did a show like that with Dual Survival, and while I knew there were other people around during the episodes, I guess I never realized just how many folks were right there with them during filming. The chances of getting yourself into a bad situation with no hope for assistance were about zero, despite the shows attempts to portray exactly that.