TV show Man vs Wild

I asked before the question but nobody answered. Does anybody knows what kind of knife Bear Grylls uses?. I am not a knife expert but I am sure that somebody in this forum can recognize the knife.
I will also would like any comentaries about the show.
Did anybody learned anything from it?
Thanks.

Being out in the boonies, TV wise, right now, we can't see the neato stuff like that, so I can not reply re the knife, never seen it. I did see him on Jay Leno last night, and they showed a couple of clips from his show, both supposedly in the "desert." In thefirst clip he urinated on a cloth to wrap around hit head for cooling. Seems to me if he was that hard up he would probably have very little urine to produce. In the second clip he squeezed moisture out of elephant dung into his mouth (yuk). Jay commented that maybe he should just follow the elephants to their watering hole, that seemed to make a certain amount of sense to me...

I could not stand to watch the entire show, I did not want to see any more of Bear's misinformation. The one I watched was the jungle show. He seems to take totally unecessary risks, storms through the bush like a wildman and has no clue how to maintain a knife edge.
As for the knife, it was a knife. Some sort of AF survival knife clone. I did not like the design, that based on using various knives over the decades.
While there is entertainment value to the well informed, we can say "look at that idiot!", I see some serious implications with some people learning really dangerous stuff from the show, if they don't know better.
I believe a half hour of my time is all it will ever get.

my turn

1- who really give a crap what kind of knife he carries (no offense to your asking), i agree with most postings, the show is very poor, i too tried to watch it, he has no idea what he is doing, too many risks, and i personally never seen him "survive" much of anything..hahahaha, i had trouble surviving watching it without going to sleep

2-thank god survivorman season 2 is comming soon. Les is respectable, reasonable and makes a great host for such a show

3-let see if this man vs wild even last a few more episodes.......i have my doubts, and as popular as survivorman is, well enough said.

-just my few thoughts...

one more thing

-"bear" also referred in the jungle episode to the "milk tree" or what ever it was to it secreting a substance that was like "milk of magnesia" and mentioned it would help stomach cramps.

well MOM is a antacid but its also a laxative/gi stimulant, if your already lost, lost in the freakin jungle, and vomiting , the last thing you'd probably want to do is make your self have diarrhea on top of things-i forsee dehydration and hypokalemia in his future

I wonder if he has ever heard of using charcoal to help with stomach issues? His vomiting was probably as a result of some exotic item that he ate such as fruit off the ground which is usually not safe to eat. I once ate a bunch of tasty mangos because they had fallen off the trees, good thing there was a porcelain god nearby.
If you must eat the local vegatation, know what and when it is edible!

No mention of the biggest problem in the jungle? What's he thinking!
Trenchfoot/Junglerott/[insert other name here].

He never SURVIVES he simply 'walks out' like he's on a hike.

While I did not watch the show, I did notice that there is an ongoing discussion about this on BladeForums:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=435403

Last I saw, no one there is certain what kind of knife it was, but if anyone can figure it out -- the people there can.

When I saw the pilot episode of "Man vs. Wild" a few months back (at least I believe it was the pilot) I was totally against most of the "techniques" Bear was choosing to show. Last week I made it part of the way through the Desert episode, and I stopped watching because I couldn't believe the situations Bear was putting himself into.

I thought about it for a while, and I was conflicted on a few levels.

Here's my dilemma:

I loved the "Crocodile Hunter", but have to admit that Steve Irwin's way of dealing with animals was pretty nutz, and shouldn't be imitated.

So I don't know why "Man vs. Wild" gets my hackles up for nearly the same thing.

It would be my guess that your average person is a lot more likely to come across a wild animal than they are to be in a survival situation. And yet of all the people that come across wild animals, whether they've watched "The Crocodile Hunter" or not, it would be my guess that most would take a wide berth rather than pester an animal to get a closer look.

When you're in a survival situation, you've got to do do what it takes to survive. Granted, what it takes should include sound risk assessment, and in a similar manner as above I would think that most people would go around an obstacle rather than through it. However, what if the only way to survive is to take the dangerous path, or by no intentional way a person ends up in a bad position?

In the end, if someone were to ask me to recommend a show on survival, I'd suggest "Survivorman" or one of Ray Mears' shows.

If someone were to ask me to recommend a show in which a man pushed his limits in outrageous situations and in which there were sprinkled a few tidbits of survival information I might suggest "Man vs. Wild".

I have to really ponder what it was that bothered me about what I was watching in "Man vs. Wild", whether it was the setup to each situation, or lack of such.

I just don't know. I might watch the show again to be fair.

OK... I love cable TV. Our "On Demand" service is listing a "Man vs. Wild" episode. I'll watch it now, and post my thoughts afterward. (Like anyone cares. LOL)

All I can say is it just makes me angry.

"Cameron Ownbey"

Hi guys,
I'm not an expert in jungle survival, but have expert my time in the southern Venezuelan Amazon, and can tell you with out a doubt that I would never drink any milky substance coming out of a tree. It is not that I'm picky, just that I have never seen such a thing neither form people that have tons of experience in the terrain or the Yanomami or Pemon tribes.
Just my 2 cents.
Saludos
PS: I have eaten the mangos that fall from the trees with out any problems, but may be I?m used to the parasites and bacteria from this side of the globe <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

IMO the show is a ridiculous joke. After watching his stupidity during the Moab episode, I popped in a Survivorman DVD to help cleanse my mind of "Bear's" junk. What a moron.

Figtree:
No need to be rude. I just asked a questions. If you don't give a crap about it don't answer.

Go to http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations and let the viewer relations folks know what you really think about the show.

Guys,
Lighten Up! The shows’ intended audience is armchair worriers and their families. Evan with adequate training and preparation, you would be seriously challenged if you found yourself in any of those exotic scenarios. I myself focus on the scenarios I am most likely to encounter. 1) A major earthquake in Southern California 2) Some unforeseen situation while traveling (domestic and international) for work. For scenario 1 I am stocking up on beans and bullets and for scenario 2 I carry a Ritter Pocket Survival Pack with the recommended supplements. As for the survival shows, I will continue to enjoy them.

Thanks for the link, RAS. I went ahead and sent in a few comments.

If we could only team up Doug, Les Stroud, Cody Lundin, and John Wiseman to make a show!!

<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Link is courtesy of Ron Hood, he doesn't like it much either.

Ok, I admit that I hated the half hour I had already invested enough to go back and watch both the Moab and Costa Rico shows, just to see how many crazy stunts went on.
I did get a good look at the fixed blade knife and seems to be a scuba diver knife with a point, I have seen then somewhere. Not expensive IIRC.
As for the shows, not very informative, very high risks taken and not too impressive. I will give Bear credit for his stamina and apparently huge spheres, yeah you know that pair I speak of. It does not appear that there is an end in site to the show, oh well, I do have some blood pressure meds I can rely on, just in case I see another installment of Wildman.
As for the mangos that made me ill, I just know I ate way too many of them, they were tasty:) CHeers!

Last night I saw about 10 minutes of the Alps show. Enough to watch Bear run, stumble and fall down a hard snow chute that easily could have tumbled him head first into the rock walls or broken bones. he then "found" a pre-rigged tyrolean traverse across a deep canyon and proceded to slide across on the "old ropes" Come on!!!
Bear wins the ID-10-T award for 2006, hands down!! Oh, and I guess he parachuted onto the mountain as well. The show is all done for effect and not one bit for any practical survival technique. I am gonna have to comment to Discovery Channel about this ridiculous show!!! It is actually starting to P*** me off!

I loved the jumping in to the freezing water, and as for the ID-10-T of 2006 award I’m thinking that he could easily be the life time holder……That or the next Darwin winner.

I wonder if someone/surviving family will sue him and the Discovery channel when they get hurt/killed doing this stuff

From most of your post i can tell you all really hate Bear and the show. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> haha

ive only seen the show once ,so i cant really comment. Some of the stuff was alittle crazy, like jumping into a river with a bear on your trail. I wouldnt jump(being im afraid of heights,lol),but i suppose that be better than being chomped on by a bear.

It’s not that people hate Bear, it the dangerous approach he takes. In a survival situation some of the stuff he dose could get you hurt making the problems you have a lot worse. Why run down the steep hills or jump off ledges or any of the other stuff that could twist and ankle or break a limb if you don’t have to.

To me the show is more about flash then survival skills.

I really do not hate Bear at all. I admire his physical condition and his fortitude. What I do hate is the way he handles a "survival situation". He goes out of his way to take extreme risks and sensationalizes almost everything on the show.
He surely has a crew along, thus has a safety net of sorts. That does not give him license to do dangerous stunts to demonstrate how one should go about surviving in the wild. Some of the scenes are almost certainly staged carefully to impress the viewer, while demonstrating little good survival sense.
The show is a direct opposite of Survivorman, where Les Stroud improvises wisely, takes minimal risks for the sake of drama and shows viable technique in each segment. Maybe Survivorman is not watched by the same audience as the X-Games, perhaps that is the viewer type that Man vs. Wild is aiming for.
I have run down a few mountains, when I knew what was over the next rise, I have parachuted into the dark in unknown territory in service of my country and I have risked my life a few times, perhaps too many. But, I would never recommend those techniques to someone in a survival situation and preach that as the "manly way to survive".

I would like to know Why he uses exotic places to stage his shows. It seems to me we have plenty of spots in the U.S. to make the show intresting to those of us that do watch it. The chances of most of us being lot in the rain forest are slim, also the Swiss Alps are off my travel list

Yeah, Bear is an idiot, (on the show anyway) Someone should call Discovery on this show, and hold them accountable. Is this stuff what they want to represent?
I loved him drinking the untreated jungle water, and then being up all night with diareha, and vomitting. All the while he had a metal bowel on his canteen, and a flint striker! Idiot. That was priceless.
Then the next morning he hikes a 1/2 mile to find some tree, and does not even mention the ash from his fire that he could eat and use to calm his stomach. Did anyone else notice that he didn't look any worse for the wear, after that "Horrible night" <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
To me the whole show is hard to buy. This guy is not like Les Stroud, he has a camera man/crew with him. I loved it when he said he had gotten lonley in the French Alps episode. I started thinking, "talk to the camera guy" if you are lonely. (Or arrange to have a camera girl <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)
As others have said, all of the unnessessary risks he takes, have me assured the whole show is "staged".
I guess at best his show does raise survival-preparedness awareness. At worst, it is somewhat irresponsible.

Does anybody knows what kind of knife Bear Grylls uses?. I am not a knife expert but I am sure that somebody in this forum ________
On the last show when he was building the snow shoes he was using a lock blade Swiss Army knife. but that is not true for the previous shows, where he had a fixed blade knife that I have no idea what it was.

Saw the latest "show' last night he was in Alaska ( saw last ten min) he was walking along and found an old boat (newly painted) and proceded to paddle (in the boat of course) toward the shipping lanes, the boat started to sink (BTW his paddle became a square nosed shovel) so he swam the last 200 yards to shore (cameraman already in the water) started hyperventilating as he swam, got to shore collapsed, got up took off shirt to wring it out then started doing pushups to get blood flowing again heard a motor in the distance, started waving his arms, backpack anything to attract attention (what? no signal mirror in backpack so much for SAS training)
what a joke, Lets all watch Les Stroud on Suvivorman.

It sounds like a comedy..... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My 2 cents worth: I only watched the French Alps episode, but I think widget's assessment is the most reasonable opinion posted on this whole thread. Les Stroud's show is much more educational. Man vs. Wild is not something someone truly wanting to learn survival skills needs to watch and learn by, Bear is too wreckless.

Bear is not really doing anything except reading and preforming to a script. I only watched one episode, one of the first last season Ultimate Survivor I think. From what I have seen and heard from other this latest season is the same, not worth the effort to watch. <<>>

I've watched the show and though I think surviorman is a better show because of what Les does and how he does it; man vs wild is good in that by his doing these stunts(jumping in the freezing water, swimming under an obstacle) he is showing what can happen to people (worst case scenarion) and that you can make it. on this very forum we see all kinds of discussion about different scenarios and what to do if this item is lost or malfunctions. Well those things happen to people, and some times it is not gear, or knowledge, it is simply determination that makes the difference. See Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. Whether he has a camera crew or not does not matter it is that he is showing that you can walk away.
just my 02

You are correct; that those who survive any particular survival situation are those who have the mind set to do so. However, there is a huge difference between portraying/reenacting how a survivor (trained or untrained) survived a particular situation and portraying how (skills and action wise) one should encounter/tackle a survival situation. Since the show portrays Bear as a Survival Expert, he therefore should be held to a higher standard of conduct and instructive value.

I, like many have had issues with how he deals with certain survival issues. It makes no “survival sense” to risk significant injury for minimal benefit. All survival action before taken should include a risk/benefit analysis (if possible-remember the S.T.O.P. acronym). Does climbing a 100ft+ plus tree/mesa/waterfall to get the lay of the land or travel improve one’s chances of survival vs. serious injury make sense? Not to me, if I am alone and trying to survive, taking any additional risk where significant injury is increased, unless it is immediately life-threatening for me not to do so, is simply not intelligent.

If one is in such a situation and one decides to take such a risk, obliviously you are the one to suffer the consequences of such action. The issue with Bear is he is acting as an instructor and to instruct your students (the show’s viewers) to take such risks is extremely irresponsible.


Just my 2 cents-
Pete

I pretty much agree with deepdiverbob. Bear is trying to show by example (like jumping through the ice in that small pond). It's true he's got a camera crew (unlike Stroud, whose show is very good ); I think it's true he cheats (like one reader pointed out about the ice fishing stunt); but, it's TV.

To people not interested in survival, they're not going to go out and try this stuff. If they find themselves stuck and they do try it, well the stuff he's teaching is, theoretically, basically correct (I think). So they're better off trying and dying than not trying..... and still dying.

To people interested in survival (like members of this forum), his antics are instantly recognized as being "made for TV".

I was watching him run, literally RUN, down this walled canyon and I'm asking my wife "What's this clown think he's doing?", and she says, quite calmly "Proving to millions he's an idiot". (She doesn't misuse her words)

Now that I realize there are so many others out there that see this guy like I do, I'm going to keep watching him...if nothing more than for the humor. Certainly there's a woman or two in his camera crew:: What does he think he's doing taking off all his clothes after spending several minutes in ice-cold water?? Has this guy lost his pride as a man?? <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Forgive me

I think the main problem is that regardless of how it is labeled/marketed, it is not a "survival" show, rather it is an extreme "adventure" show.

And I have to wonder, does his first name of "Bear" help at all with the ratings?

I saw a quick preview of an episode last night on The Discovery Channel. I could hardly keep myself from yelling out obscenities. Apparently they are marketing a "Survival Friday" theme. I hope "Survivorman" is included in that!

Nope. Sorry. It's "Man vs. Wild" followed by "I Shouldn;t Be Alive".

I haven't seen Survivor Man mentioned in about 3 weeks, since his last Saturday afternoon show-fest (the Canadian Plane Wreck show; The Utah Desert/Canyon Bicycling show; and one other good one I can't think of right now).

While I agree that it is more of an “adventure show” rather then a traditional “how to survive” survival show, I do believe it is very important as to how the show is labeled and marketed.

I am sure that the other EMS/Fire/Rescue/LEO folks (I know I can) on the forum can give very real examples of someone who has injured themselves or placed themselves and others in harms way by doing something they saw on TV or in the movies generally portrayed by some expert.

I believe that many of Bear’s actions/techniques are very dangerous and do not belong in a show on how to survive, especially one marketed to the general public. I predict the show will some day get one seriously injured or killed.

Pete

speaking of getting survival tips from TV shows. One of my colleagues operated a propane-fueled generator for an hour inside the warehouse, having ignored my advice that the trailer was an outdoor toy. When asked what she was thinking, she indicated that she remembers the protagonist on "king of the hill" saying that "propane is a clean-burning fuel". I suggested that getting life advice from animated features was unwise. It is clearly unwise to get tips on law enforcement from CSI, trauma medicine from ER, or politics from rush limbaugh-they are entertainment, not instruction, whatever they say.

I agree Pete, it is irresponsible to present it as an informative show about survival.

The lesson to be learned is: Don't believe everything you see on TV. Especially if it involves pissing on your own head.

I've only watched the clips on the Discovery site, but I already have two mental scars just from that. It seems like many of the "survival" skills involve doing something "gross". A few children may consider that to have entertainment value, but that's about it.

All TV programs should be required to display a disclaimer: "WARNING - The following show may insult your intelligence."

Thanks to those of you who said that one can eat charcoal/ashes from the fire to assist w/ stomach problems in a survival situation.

So now I'm wondering, how much should one ingest? Is there a rule of thumb with that or something? Any general precautions one should know? I'm just wondering...

Don't expect too much from any television show and you won't be disappointed.

For example, watching "24" will not turn anyone into a counter-terrorism expert. Nor will watching "House" make one a brilliant MD. And the list goes on and on.

None the less, Man Vs Wild does provide entertainment value with some pertinent survival content thrown in. The risk taking is clearly overdone for the cameras, but in reality everything must be well scripted, staged, and tested. It would be pretty boring each time watching someone with mountains of gear await rescue after simply pressing the button on their PLB versus the ambitious, but under-equipped, self-help methods presented.

If the show in question gets ordinary people who otherwise would not be even remotely interested in the subject of survival to at least give it thought, then it has served a useful purpose.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there is one feature that comes as standard equipment on all televisions and that is the O-F-F switch. Try it one night then get out there and practice your nighttime survival skills. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

As for the amount I don’t know, but I do know that you should not used treated lumber. The chemicals that are used could have worse side effects then the problems that you were having.

Christina:

You will need to take (ingest) 500-1000 mg (0.5-1gm) which is about 1/4 teaspoon with about 1 pint of water for an upset stomach. If you look you can usually find charcoal tabs and liquid in the health food and pharmacy sections of most stores.

Take care,

Stargazer

Good point, deepdivebob, he is showing you can walk away from dangerous dilemmas. I just don't see any good example set to a novice watching the show by taking unnecessary risks pulling those idiotic unnecessary stunts, like running down a mountain and tumbling himself. I guess there has to be entertainment to keep the viewers' interest? He may find himself not walking away from a filming real soon and be laid up a while or else worse.

Awesome. Thanks for the replys Stargazer and Lance!

People are still watching this tripe? Amazing <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I agree. It's entertaining and it's somkething that ny 5 year old like to watch that is OK for kids.
It gets him excited for goofing off outside with me and thazt can't be all bad.

Networks like it when people hate the show, complain about the show, cuz they watch it. Networks do not care why we watch it, just as long as we do so, and give them high viewership ratings that they can use to sell ads. If one wants to get rid of a show, it is more effective to not watch it than it is to watch it regularly, hate it, and send messages to the network telling them that you hate it.

You know I agree with what is already posted here. My skin crawls when I watch this show.

On the other hand, I didnt know you could eat egg shells!

Garrett

This really turned into an interesting thread, lots of opinions, all viable. I think it is good we share our thoughts, good or bad, makes one stop and think.
As for eating egg shells, yeah you can, just be aware if they go in, they must come out and that can get pretty painful with all the little jagged edges. Trust me, I have eated pinion pine nut shells, good thing I was very young and healed quickly. I learned how to crack them open after that Boy Scout outing in NM!
Have a good weekend, all.

Based on this thread, it appears that you still don't have an answer to your question regarding the knives that Bear Grylls uses on Man vs Wild. I say "knives" because he doesn't necessarily use the same knife on all episodes of the show. For now, I can only give you a definitive answer for one of the knives he has used on the show.

It took me a while to figure this out, but I finally found the knife. On the "Moab Desert" episode, approximately 6 minutes into the show when he's cutting his white t-shirt, it's clear that Bear's using a 3.5 inch Buck Iceman Tactical Folder, model 873X.

I don't necessarily think he's using the knife because he likes it. I suspect that he's using that knife because the folks at Buck paid for the product placement. If it was product placement, however, it wasn't done very well.

Ahhh Hem......
Forget Ray Mears did we? <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

One other point: Sandhurst is the premier officer training establishment on the planet. Any one who graduates from there has proven that he (or she) worthy of holding the Queens Commission. Those "support" Officers are very smart cookies. The SAS could not do their job with out them.

Sandhurst may be a very fine officer training school, but that doesn't make a graduate a survival "expert". Support troops are not necessarily SAS qualified.

"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."

What!! They forgot Ray Mears! <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I like the show and watch every episode. But I watch it as entertainment.

It does get a little silly every time he says, "Don't do X or Z, it's almost certain death. Hey, watch me do X *AND* Z at the same time!"

People who don't understand that this entertainment will be led far astray.

I would have to agree. I was under the impression that he had completed selection. My hat's off to anyone who can complete the SAS selection course.

There is also a post on MvW site with an interview with Bear. He admits that the show involves "stunts" and mistakes were made. web page

As it happens: The British Army does take S.E.R.E very seriously. The basic E&E course taught to all ranks is quite extensive. I would point out to any new readers that Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion does differ in it's aims from the Survival Techniques discussed on this forum. S.E.R.E is intended to enable an individual to either escape capture, resist if captured, escape if possible and return home to continue the fight.
In our case we are looking to Survive Untill REscued. WE want to be found as quickly as possible. Some ideas apply to both, but others don't.

Oh, and the members are quite right. Copying Bear will get you killed - or worse. Using anything other than proven survival techniques on a program is (in my view) criminal stupidity. Unless your trying to Darwin a few Lemmings of course.

Watched this for the 1st time last night, Lava Fields on Hawaii.
Where do I start?
I was hoping for more, although the chances of me being stranded there is really very slim.
Don't understand why he didn't fill his pack with avacados!. He must have said at least 3 times how much he loves them and only took 1. Even if I didn't like them I'd have taken more than that. Some food is better than NO food.
His shelter was pretty good given the circumstances. Fire making ablilites were good, nice to see that.
Next chance I get I'll watch more.

Yes, he never seems take more than 5 seconds to get a fire going. That flint seems to be mighty useful.

I rolled my eyes when he took only 1 avocado, but I understood perfectly: he wanted to keep his options open for more showboating later on when he got hungry again. If he had plenty of food, there'd be no need for further drama.

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As far as the knife goes I have seen him use at least two different blades. One was a folder and the other was a fixed blade. Neither of them were very well suited to survival related tasks however. I will not get into my personal views about the show except to say "NEVER DO ANYTHING HE DOES!".

I dislike (perhaps hate) this "Bear" guy, I think that in time, he is going to cost lives, in attempt to emmulate his antics.
At the same time, I must also damn Les Stroud,for the "walking out" format, he does it well,....but that doesen't bring momma's "average" children home..does it?
Most on this fourm seem to Bow to Stroud, Ok but why ?
I remember when some were tossing him under the buss, for just cause , but he countered with one post and you all became Stroud "prophets". <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
I understand tossing Bear under the buss, and I'll go right aloung with you , but dammit he should have a bit of company--if not to the uliimate destination <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

My son loves both of these shows, so I turn the silly antics of both into learning experiences. "OK son, when Bear jumped off that 20 foot cliff instead of going around, what would happen to him if he had broken his leg?"

Even my 6 year old (who would rather jump off a cliff then go around!) now yells at the TV when one of the "survival experts" does something that defies common sense.

I remember when I was 9 the first time I saw Ray Mears. I loved those programs.
The next week I got into a 'survival'-situation (see my bio)

Since then I've been hooked... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I've said it before.... Bear does some idiotic things but, c'mon, it;s a comedy show for crying out loud! There isn't any reason for anybody, anywhere, to worry about whether his show will cause "someone", "somewhere" to hurt themselves. Boneheads are going to hurt themselves, with or without Bear Grylls.

I, for one, am tired of people worrying about my personal safety... worrying so much that inane laws and ordinances are passed making sure that "I" don't hurt "myself". Hey, if I want to drive away from McDonalds with a cup of hot coffee between my legs, that's my business. The fact that McDonald's now has to do everything short of putting a frappin NEON SIGN on their coffee cups to hopefully avoid a lawsuit is a direct result of people "worrying" about whether Bear Grylls will "cause" somebody to do something stupid.

To me, his show is entertaining. I'd love to have a thread where, every week, I could post things along with the rest of you like "Did you see him run down that canyon? What a slopehead!"..... but what would be the point? He's having fun. It's Hollywood.

...And, I'm surely not going to trash Stroud. He works too hard at trying to show what it would be like to be stranded in his situations. I'm going to continue to watch both of those shows..... and by God, I'm going to love it! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

One problem with the show is that "Bear" (ex-British special forces) does things that would kill a 50 yr old who is not in as good shape as he is. This guy did one show in the snow without gloves. In another, he floats down a river submerged in 40 degree water. I don't think that the average person could do that without getting hypothermic.

It may be a comedy for you, me, and the rest of this forum, because we know better, but many if not most people who watch this show do not. Remember people are being told that he is an experienced survival expert, and they specifically say in the intro that he will teach you how to survive. And if you don't realize that the show is staged and probably scripted, then what he accomplishes actually seems very impressive(i.e. catching animals almost instantly, always finding gourmet meals with little effort, and always finding exactly what he needs within a few feet from him, etc.)

While most of the viewers watch the show for entertainment and will never use any survival skills, they do beleive they are being shown good survival skills, which is part of the reason it is entertaining. Eventually someone who has seen this show will probably be in a survival situation, and if they remember something on the show, they would probably try to use it.
The fact is, there are some good survival techniques in the show, but often he doesn't explain them enough for a lay person to replicate, and by making it all look ridiculously easy, I think many people would give up after realizing that using them in real life is nothing like how it is depicted on the show.

Of course worst of all are his reckless antics, pointlessly risking his life numerous times per episode. What I'm trying to say with this long winded rant, is that plently of people take him seriously because of the way the show is presented, and that is very irresponsible of both him and the producers.

I really hate this guy, and as mean as it may be, I really hope he hurts himself making a show. Maybe then more viewers will realize what a reckless moron he is and disregard his advice.

I watch it and Survivorman for entertainment. Plus if I am not outside and someone else is, it entertains me that way too.

Even my five year old asks me if that is the guy that does dumb and dangerous stuff. Then we talk about what we shouldn't do in that situation and also about what was good.

Believe it or not, there are some good parts. I noticed in one episode, don't remember which, I got a glance at his watch and noticed he had a Breitling with PLB. Good for him.

My daughter and I cracked up when he peed on his shirt to wrap it around his head and face. Especially after he came out of some water. My daughter laughed so hard, she even drew a picture of it, then it was my turn to LMAO. Um, I don't think I can post the picture though. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Barnelli-Jones,
Thank you very much. You helped me.

Jim,
I was born in Cuba and don't know who is Ray Mears. Can you give a little info about him?. Thank you

Ray Mears is one of my favorite Bushcraft/Survival experts.

I particularly like his series "Ray Mears' Extreme Survival" where he not only covers survival in different climates all over the world, but also does so from the perspective of a historical survival event that took place in the area. Also within these shows, as he did in "Ray Mears' Bushcraft Survival", he lets the area's people, the local experts, perform and tell a lot about the skills shown.

"Ray Mears' Bushcraft Survival" series is about the same but focuses more on the peoples of the area he visits, and the survival/bushcraft skills that the still use today. There are a few episodes with a historical bent.

I like both series.

When I finish all of Tom Brown Jr's books, I'm going to go on to read Ray Mear's books.

Sorry for going off topic folks! <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />