I wish John Wiseman had a show! His book I have had, all these years, and STILL browse through it occasionally.
Me, I still think Bear is an idiot. Although, as others have mentioned; if it gets people outdoors, doing research, etc, then I am all for it. His new commercials, though, suck. although, he does poke fun at himself with them, and, for that I give him kudos.
I have nothing personal against the guy at all. Even his accomplishments, whether true, exagerrated, or downright wrong, dont really mean much to me. The recklessness of him does though; we here can distinguish what is valid and what is not; your average watcher cannot, BUT, may be intrigued enough to research further, and may even end up here .
If someone were to come to me & say "I did such-and-such, like Bear did on TV..." I would likely give them a medal for beating the odds....