Man vs. Wild or Survivorman?

[The Night Owl]

Go!

[XemaSab]

1. Survivor Man

The Man vs. Wild Sierra episode might be the funniest shit I've ever seen.

And not in a good way.

[petronius]

10. Yep! I was excited when I saw that on the schedule, but I was appalled

at some of the nutty-ass stuff he did. Especially the rafting down the river bit - in the time he spent building a raft, I could have walked down to Bishop, had a burger, and walked back up with enough time to set up a safer bivy than he did...

[OnionPatch]

15. Was that the one where he tried to ride a wild horse out of the wilderness?

That one had me in tears. Not sure if it was the one you mean.

[XemaSab]

19. That was the one

NOT ONCE have I seen a wild horse in California. NOT ONCE.

[pokerfan]

25. That's because it wasn't wild

The two "wild" horses were trailered in for the shoot.

[Kingofalldems]

2. Man vs Wild guy allegedly caught

sleeping at a motel when he was supposed to be in the wilderness. I will say Bear seems to be much better at getting food than Survivorman, who is usually starving at the end of his adventure.

[The Night Owl]

5. Mr. Grylls may not take risks when the cameras are off but when they're rolling...

...he takes enormous risks. I almost wish he would play it more safe. I get nervous watching the guy in action. He almost seems to have a death wish.

[XemaSab]

6. It wasn't a motel

It was a swanky resort in the "Sierra" episode.

My great-aunt lives a block away from there.

[flvegan]

3. Survivorman.

[enigmatic]

4. Les Stroud is my homeboy

[aquaman]

7. I watch both....

But I like Survivorman much more. It appears more "real."

[midnight armadillo]

8. Survivorman.

He lacks a camera crew - do you realize how much work he does to do his filming?

[pokerfan]

9. Survivorman, hands down

If you're ever unfortunate enough to find yourself in a survival situation, try to forget everything you ever saw on Man vs. Wild.

Bad Advice and Inaccuracies

[The Night Owl]

12. Watching the most recent episodes of Survivorman, I get the sense that...

...some of the comments Mr. Stroud makes are veiled criticism of Mr. Grylls for the needlessly dangerous or gross things he does.

[pokerfan]

16. I've noticed the same thing

For example, Grylls has advised drinking urine (about as useful as drinking salt water). In response, Stroud has demonstrated a couple of times how to build a solar still which allows you to drink your urine safely.

My favorite Bear moment was when a black bear wandered into his camp in the Rockies. Never mind that he had simply dressed one of his assistants in a silly bear costume! Again, the really funny part was the bad/dangerous advice. To be fair, he's a Brit and I don't believe that there are many bears in the UK.

First off, he cooks and eats in his camp which is a great way to attract a bear. This is something I never do when I'm in bear country. We would simply eat our last meal around six, then cache the food and hike a mile or so down the trail before setting up a food-free camp. Yeah, it's added hassle and it assumes a long summer twilight. I understand that in a survival situation your options may be more limited. Apparently, in Grylls' world, one of those options is becoming bear food.

And his advice for a bear in your camp in the middle of the night: Abandon your camp and run away! Ugh! I think even urbanites have heard that running away from a bear or a large cat or even a little dog can trigger a predatory reflex but apparently Grylls never got that memo. I also think that most people know that you can't outrun a bear anyway.

He then went on to claim that the bear was "stalking him" and playing "mind games" and that the only way to "break his scent trail" was to throw himself off a seventy foot cliff into an unknown river. In the middle of the night.

I suppose it's all highly entertaining but hardly educational and I really don't understand what it's doing on the Discovery Channel when it belongs on Cartoon or Comedy Central. If I was still with the Mountaineers, I might use his show as examples of what not to do.

Can you tell I don't much care for Grylls' "survival" show?

Don't get me started on his food choices. It's all in the link I provided anyway. His "Fear Factor" stunts (and most of them are staged, I suspect) can make you very sick (something to avoid at all times but especially in a survival situation) or at worst, even lead to your demise, i.e. the opposite of survival.

[The Night Owl]

27. Nope, there are no bears in the UK, but...

...there are giant hounds.

[Shell Beau]

11. I don't watch. I refuse to watch someone ring out poo for water.

Unless they are REALLY desperate for water.

[seemunkee]

13. Both

I like Les because of his crankiness and that he does show you can survive without food for longer than most of us would care to experience.

I like Bear too. Despite his having cheated on the premise of his show he is a real adventurer. Youngest Brit to summit Everest(after breaking his back in a parachuting accident. Crossed the north Atlantic in a Zodiac. His books are a filled a bit too much with talk of his faith for my tastes but still interesting reads.

[pokerfan]

17. Food

is pretty far down the priority list. The Rule of Threes is a way of memorizing the order of importance for each basic survival necessity. In an extreme situation you cannot survive more than:

Three hours without shelter (think hypothermia)
Three days without water
Three weeks without food

[OnionPatch]

14. I love Les! My husband and daughter like Bear.

So we insult each other's guy when we watch, but actually we all love both shows. I just wish they'd get some new episodes.

[pokerfan]

18. There was a new Survivorman last night

and there was a new one last week as well. I think they repeat so look for an episode titled Deep Woods. Last week's was Baffin Island.

[OnionPatch]

21. Cool. I haven't checked for awhile cause they were all reruns

for so long. Thanks!

[pinstikfartherin]

20. Survivorman!

The man carries all of that camera equipment and stays by himself for a week in the wilderness. He's pretty resourceful and I feel like I'd do better with remembering his actions if I were lost.

The Man vs. Wild guy was interesting to me before I saw Survivorman.

Survivorman all the way!

[ThePowerofWill]

22. Les ftw!

Simple reason being if it was veiwed in a sports context Les Stroud = Boxing, Kick boxing, Mma. On the other hand Bear = scripted pro wrestling. ones for real, the other a scripted work.

As far as the apperance of danger, Les camping out in the artic with polar bears mere feet away at night, or set alone adrift on a rubber raft.... way more dangerous > than anything Grylls has done on Man vs. Wild.

[pokerfan]

26. In the "lost at sea" episode

they did pull him in and tie him to the boat when a big storm hit. They showed him staying in the raft but the crew was right there just in case. He wants to make it realistic without being suicidal.

[NightWatcher]

23. Les Stroud by far Bear is a poseur

[Blue_In_AK]

24. Survivorman, no question. n/t

[City of Mills]

28. You all jinxed Bear Grylls!

'Shock and agony': Dangerous airlift rescue for injured explorer Bear Grylls after Antarctic fall

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1092537/Shock-a...

Daredevil SAS man-turned-explorer Bear Grylls was being airlifted to South Africa last night after being badly injured filming a TV documentary in Antarctica.

The 34-year-old adventurer broke his shoulder in a life-threatening fall and was said to be in ‘shock and agony’ from a serious fracture which left the bone protruding from his body.

[The Night Owl]

30. Ouch! Like I said in post #5...

Death wish. I wish the guy would play it more safe.

[sohndrsmith]

29. House. n/t

[Scout]

31. Survivorman n/t

[RubyDuby in GA]

32. Survivorman! Les is the BOMB!

My husband makes fun of me for watching it, but one day when we're stranded in the artic tundra, he'll be sorry!