Bear has finally gone away

Seems he wore out his welcome at Discovery. Keep in mind that Discovery has almost no informative programming on anymore, just WWE type "reality" nonsense. At least Bear was entertaining, even though his show was a pile of dung. It was better dung.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/13/man-vs-wild-bear-grylls-fired-discovery-channel/#.T1-t9hx69ZY

Now, there's a recommendation!

HJ

Isn't he the Head Scout for England?

Moderator: Be aware that the present tone of this thread is getting close to libel.

We do not know the reasons why they have parted ways. One surmised that the "mystery project" may have been something unreasonable.

Maybe NatGeo will pick him up. They seem to be closely following in Discovery's footsteps. Or Travel for that matter.

Is it any wonder I watch less than 3 hours of TV a week, and all of that via the DVR to skip the long and repetitive commercial breaks.

While we certainly don't know why they parted, I hardly think this is anywhere close to libel. Is it insulting? Sure, but that's hardly something that the defendant could prove "false" in a court of law. It's really just some folks' opinions.

Besides, you're in the UK. You see what passes for news in some of those periodicals!

I think the next step for ol' Bear is "Dancing With The Stars." I wonder if there's a dance that culminates in drinking your own urine?

Oh, snap! There is now!

Yep, and notice how many of them get sued for libel?

Bear gets Fired!

Oh Well, I hope his next venture is of more value and less entertainment fluff. I think "Dual Survival" kinda made him irrelevant anyway.

I lost interest in his shows when I watched a couple and saw some of the dangerous stunts he engaged in.

Every TV show comes to an end some time. It may just be that this show has run its course.

He is a proven personality and will pop up on another show maybe on another network, maybe the same network.

I, for one enjoyed his shows, even if he did MANY things that go against conventional "survival" wisdom. Even a passing understanding of how "reality" television shows are edited, most would see him for what he is: an excellent showman. Survival guru? No way, but his shows always made me laugh at the ridiculous stunts he'd pull. And the bugs! My word, the crap that man would ingest was unbelievable. Fortunately for me in my limited outdoor experiences, I've never had to drink my own urine or eat any nasty creepy-crawly, and I hope I never have to. Anyway, I wish him luck and hope that he gets some work soon as I'd love to see him in something a bit less over-the-top as MvW...

-Jason

I find this amusing ;]

I very very rarely ever watch tv. But I'm a youtube fantatic. I can and have enjoyed his show online. As I do just about any outdoor channel or video. But not loss in the real world of survival teachings that for sure. I doubt this will hurt his bank account. With so many endorsement deals.

One observes that, according to that report, a lot of people seem to be having difficulty's with the Discovery Channel. I wonder if some bright spark is trying to push people into doing things that go beyond what is prudent, or might be injurious to someone's reputation?

Dual survival is even worst in the fluffy entertainment area IMO. One show was really no better than the other. On one hand you got Bear doing a double backflip down a waterfall and on the other you got Dave cutting himself open to show everyone how to seal a wound with blackpowder.

I bet both these guys can hold their own in real life, but lets face it, Action sells. They are told what to do if they want to earn a paycheck. Nobody wants to watch some dude sit around lighting a fire and building the same shelter over and over again.

If they paid me(or most of you) that kind of money to put your survival principals aside for entertainment I am betting we would do the same thing.

I'm no Bear Grylls fan. But one thing he had over Dave Canterbury is that Bear didn't lie about his military background. Canterbury served but was outed a while back for fabricating wildly about his record. Most of his high speed, low drag history turned out to be low speed, high drag.

I couldn't believe Discovery kept him on after those revelations, but these days the media has shown that it's perfectly happy with men who steal valor from others.

What I've seen in this thread has included some opinions being expressed in a manner that's not entirely up to our standards, and I will caution posters to maintain decorum.


chaosmagnet

Thanks! Remember that all bribes must be paid in unmarked tens and twenties.



Disagreement without nastiness or personal attacks violates no rules.

chaosmagnet

Thank goodness I stuck with my 'original' survivors!

Oh no, not the potential recurrence of the "Ginger or Mary Ann" debate!

(We all know the correct answer is Mary Ann!)

Izzy hit it on the head. What you see on any of these shows is for entertainment value only. They are controlled by the producers and directors. Yes they made decisions and took the money, but TV is for entertainment and amusement. Bear has done things in real life that very few people have done, and he did it for real. If someone offered you a load of money to do a show like that and told you to make it more exciting, would you quit in protest and give up the money?

]Back to the topic. I've read through a lot of Bear threads. Then I saw this one and the other one. I stopped and thought about it for a bit. I think we're all giving him a bit more flak than he deserves. He's a television presenter on a television show. Let's get down to brass tacks and see what he has accomplished. He's gotten a lot of kids interested in the outdoors in a time where kids aren't too interested in anything outside of a video game. That alone is good enough for me.[



All very good points stated above. And the fact that television is greedy. And I'm sure a very large portion of the things many of us disagree with. Was all done for the ratings game. Yes some if not many things were dangerous. Or would get you killed or hurt, poisoned,or harmed in other ways. But we still watched. Which in turn made him money. The channel money, the advertisers money. And got more kids interested in something besides video games. So yeah I'm not a fan of tv bear. But maybe in real life he's ok. And for his paycheck. I'd probably do a backflip off a cliff and drink urine out of a snakeskin too. ;p

Let's not forget his line of Gerber gear (insert eye-rolling here). He definitely knew how to capitalize on his 20 minutes of fame.

"According to his Discovery Channel biography, Grylls lives on a converted barge on the River Thames in London with his wife Shara and their sons Jesse, Marmaduke and Huckleberry."



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/201.../#ixzz1pBbQPkBg

At least he does't have to mow the lawn.

My 2cents - Bear had established himself as a bona fide adventurer long before the tv series and has overcome serious injury to get there.

The tv series itself was entertainment - 10 seconds thought and you should realise he is accompanied by a tv crew (like a lot of 'reality' shows), and the stunts would need to be arranged otherwise they would be too dangerous.

Don't like the products - don't buy them. Do a decent review and let others decide (FWIW I have seen good and bad reviews, and a lot of the bad reviews are related to Gerber not Bear)

Don't like the programmes - turn over and watch Les, or football or Desperate Housewives or whatever floats your boat.

It's a democracy and a free market, and we are all grown ups so we get to make choices

Who names their kids Marmaduke and Huckleberry?

I think that bright spark is an adherent to the "Fear Sells" marketing philosophy.



In the last week they've aired "Preppers", which is about a bunch of (mainly) urban survivalists preparing for the TEOTWAWKI/WROL with underground shelters, and "Apocalypse 2012", which needs no explanation.

[RANT]
Both of which are nausea invoking and not helping those of us who simply don’t want to have to rely on others help when things aren’t peachy.
[/RANT]

We now returned you to your regularly scheduled thread.

Talking of which: Notice how Discovery Channel's statement is phrased? Classic example of how to damn someone and destroy their reputation without actually stepping over the line. It's right up there with "insufficient evidence for a prosecution".
i.e. Not a shred of evidence, absolutely innocent but we will just imply.

I don't know about the rest of the line, but from what I've heard about the Ultimate Survival knife it appears to be a solid, reliable knife in a useful (and affordable) package.

While it's not necessarily my cup of tea aesthetically speakinig, the addition of a non-serrated model this year removes my only real technical concern about the knife. Frankly, I don't think it would be a bad choice as a primary knife for someone heading outdoors. There were some reported issues with the pommel in the first generation, but I understand that has been resolved and all the currently available knives are okay.

Here is one fairly indepth review from the British blades forum, and (from what I remember) a test video with some reasonably good results by Adam at Equip 2 Endure.

All that to say, I think maybe Bear's taken a bit more heat over the whole Gerber thing than is really warranted.

Yes, my understanding the pommel was breaking off of those first generation models under reasonable real-world use (it isn't supposed to be removable). Here's an example.

That said, Bear was taking heat for the knife before anyone was able to test it out (similar to how some, now, are giving Les Stroud a hard time for his new knife line).

I got one as a gift. I gotta say it feels good and solid and reminds me of the LMF II I had overseas. If it's even a fraction as good as the LMF then it's not bad for the cost. I put that LMF through hell and back and had it last while other more expensive knives did not. I don't really like the "BG" logo all over the knife but that's just a minor detail. Some of his PSK line dosen't look all that bad either. I have seen worst for sure.

Why does everyone rag on Gerber so much ? From personal experience I can say some of their knifes are dammed good. Beside the LMF II I was fortunate enough to get an 06 Auto in Afghanistan. That was hands down the toughest dammed folding knife I have ever used. Sadly it's illegal here so I had to give it away before returning to Canada...... I really miss that knife.

I don't like Gerber b/c most of their stuff is 410 or 420 level steel, ie, too freaking soft and doesn't hold an edge well.

I've had their "locks" fail in use.

I've heard, and seen, their USGI-issue multitool break. I actually kept mine in a duffel and just used my LM Kick on deployment.

I think the statement "coming out of a 5 year slump" accurately sums it up.

Are they horrible? No, but they're pretty bottom-dollar. For $20 more I'll buy the CRKT or Kershaw. For $50 more, a Benchmade.

Phaedrus- That was rough! Ouch & LOL!

I'm not a fan of Mr. Grylls, but he did serve as a Reservist SAS trooper. That counts for alot in my book. He is an adventurer for sure and is an egaging personality (I have even enjoyed a few episodes of MvW). I'll give the man some credit that MAYBE he had a real issue with one of the projects. Of course, its possible that he was in Hollywood with his celebrity admirers. We just don't know.

About the Gerber gear... My store sells it. The larger knives sold, but none of the rest did. A friend has the sheath knife and is very happy with it. The $20 PSK is a waste though.

Finn

Yes I would decline. I have money. And morals and self pride. Rare I know.

I actually liked his line of winter of clothing. Mainly because it was black and not designer colors. Hides face in shame.

I saw a pic of him in a good looking parka and snow pants or bibs. That was what I was referring too. Saw the pants and shirt and wasn't too impressed. I wear a lot of black so it caught my eye.

I do know that "Discovery Channel" was looking for a female survival instructor a few weeks ago to be part of a yet unnamed project. This casting call is a sure sign they are not giving up on "Survival TV"