# Man Vs. Wild



## Hawke (Jul 13, 2007)

My ASL study partner told me about a show on the Discovery Channel called Man Vs. Wild.

Here are some YouTube clips:

Alaskan Wilderness Part 1


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## Bob Hubbard (Jul 13, 2007)

I get a kick out of it.  Much better than Survivorman...that guy's a bit, ah, clueless.


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## Blindside (Jul 13, 2007)

This guy obviously has good survival skills, but he also does overly dramatic things for the camera.  He describes climbing down a ice cave as a "last resort" but then he does it.  He has a choice between hiking in devil's club and free climbing a wet face, so he chooses the more dramatic option, climbing the waterfall.  Risky solutions in that kind of survival situation are often a stupid solution.  

Lamont


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## Yeti (Jul 13, 2007)

Blindside said:


> This guy obviously has good survival skills, but he also does overly dramatic things for the camera.  He describes climbing down a ice cave as a "last resort" but then he does it.  He has a choice between hiking in devil's club and free climbing a wet face, so he chooses the more dramatic option, climbing the waterfall.  Risky solutions in that kind of survival situation are often a stupid solution.
> 
> Lamont



Yup. I saw him decide to climb down a shallow waterfall rather than take the woods right next door. It's fun to watch though. I particularly like watching what he catches for dinner.


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## ArmorOfGod (Jul 13, 2007)

My little boy and I are hooked on the show.
Last week, we saw him drop to all fours and eat a dead zebra raw (the remains of the lion's dinner).
Then he squeezed a big ball of elephant dung like an orange to get liquid out of it to drink.
My favorite one was where he was "lost" in the Florida swamps.  We have some smaller versions of those swamps around here, so it was interesting.

AoG


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## Hawke (Jul 13, 2007)

I wonder how much of the decion is his and how much the producers decide for him.

I think I can do everything he does.  I just need a stunt double.  hehehe.

Bear Grylls appears very skilled.  His DVD of season one comes out in September.  He sort of talks like Orlando Bloom in real life (likes to use the word "SO" a lot).  He also does charity events.


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## MA-Caver (Jul 13, 2007)

I watched this guy a couple of times. Yeah he usually takes the extreme route in survival. But sometimes you never know. He's just showing you what you CAN do if you're down to it and there's no other option. Still, I think he needs to show EVERYTHING because not everyone is going to bite a snake's head off to have dinner, or drink the squeezings out of elephant dung. There are just somethings that some people will NOT do. I'm one of them, I'm sure you are too. 

My caving friends and I are waiting for this guy to end up getting rescued out of a cave (along with the camera crew). It's still one of THE last inhospitable places on the planet (or should I say IN the planet). If you don't bring in what you need to survive then the cave usually isn't going to provide it. The MAIN thing you're going to need just to even move around to get out of the cave is light. Something that every cave I've been in has been sorely lacking. 
We wait with baited breath so we can :lfao:


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## Brian King (Jul 13, 2007)

I like both the Survivorman and Man Vs Wild shows myself. Survivorman goes out with no camera crew and has to do all his own filming, setting up the shots and carrying all that gear with him. Lots of work, especially the long shots where you see him walking and crossing say a river in the distance, then he has to come all the way back to retrieve his equipment, that would have to suck LOL. Man Vs Wild I do enjoy how he shows how to do the dangerous stuff and some of the little tricks to make it thru. His quicksand and falling thru ice into water was some great TV but my favorite was falling into an ice crevice and climbing out, that trick of dragging you pack with line that had knots tied into it so they would bite and hold on the edge of the snow/ice was pretty cool and the climb out ouch can you say very tough. I take my hat off to both men and their passion.

Brian King


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## Brian R. VanCise (Jul 14, 2007)

This is a great show and Bear is definately a good survivalist.  I agree that he shows risky things and does risky things like the time he was in the alps and jumped into a frozen lake to show how to get out of it.  I think his perception and the shows perception is sometimes to show worse case situations.  As a survivalist though he is very good at what he does and I say that as someone who is kind've a survivalist nut!


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## jks9199 (Jul 14, 2007)

I've got to disagree with most of you.

Bear does a lot of stupid, risky things solely to make good TV.  I don't have a clue how good a survivalist he'd really be because of that.  And, some idiot who gets lost in the Shenandoah National Park ('cause it's close to me) or somewhere else is going to try one of the things he saw Bear do on TV, find out it doesn't work as well when you're REALLY in a survival situation -- and get hurt or dead.  They also only minimally credit the extent that real, local experts provide advice and prep for him.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Jul 14, 2007)

jks9199 said:


> I've got to disagree with most of you.
> 
> Bear does a lot of stupid, risky things solely to make good TV. I don't have a clue how good a survivalist he'd really be because of that. And, some idiot who gets lost in the Shenandoah National Park ('cause it's close to me) or somewhere else is going to try one of the things he saw Bear do on TV, find out it doesn't work as well when you're REALLY in a survival situation -- and get hurt or dead. They also only minimally credit the extent that real, local experts provide advice and prep for him.


 
Well I have to agree with you that it does make for great TV.  However, I hope that someone who does not have the skills does not do anything dangerous that Bear does as well for simply their own sake.  A really good survivalist might get away once or twice with doing something risky but your everyday person will get hurt.  Even then I am not going to do anything too risky unless I absolutely have too.  Personally I prefer low risk and good odds in a survival situation every time.


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## terryl965 (Jul 14, 2007)

My middle son and I watched the show, it is really good and we enjoy it.


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## crushing (Jul 14, 2007)

Bear is right up front says that you want to avoid such situations as falling through the ice by spreading your weight out, but should you fall through the ice he will show how to get out.

It wouldn't make for very good television if he ended up in best case scenarios.  "Wow, what good fortune, I happened to parachute right into a suburb of Sydney.  Well folks, I was going to show you how to eat a crucifix spider and drink your own urine, but sometimes good things happen.  I hope you enjoyed this show and learned a lot in the last three minutes."


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## jks9199 (Jul 14, 2007)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> Well I have to agree with you that it does make for great TV.  However, I hope that someone who does not have the skills does not do anything dangerous that Bear does as well for simply their own sake.  A really good survivalist might get away once or twice with doing something risky but your everyday person will get hurt.  Even then I am not going to do anything too risky unless I absolutely have too.  Personally I prefer low risk and good odds in a survival situation every time.


Exactly.

The principles I was taught for wilderness survival were about being conservative.  If your planning fell apart, and you ended up in a survival situation, the basic idea was to stay safe, stay put (as long as possible), and wait for rescue.  If you had to rescue yourself, it was about being conservative.  Do what you have to, no more.  Use snares rather than trying to hunt, and so on.  And always, always take the most conservative route.  Not, like Bear did in one episode, climb/slide down a cascade/waterfall...  He's lucky he didn't experience hypothermia from that one, just going down the fall...


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## Boomer (Jul 14, 2007)

I  dunno.  Any guy that voluntarily squeezes elephant poop in order to drink the water inside it is more than a lil off. :barf:
But entertaining, nonetheless.


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## ArmorOfGod (Jul 14, 2007)

crushing said:


> It wouldn't make for very good television if he ended up in best case scenarios. "Wow, what good fortune, I happened to parachute right into a suburb of Sydney. Well folks, I was going to show you how to eat a crucifix spider and drink your own urine, but sometimes good things happen. I hope you enjoyed this show and learned a lot in the last three minutes."


 
lol
Well put.

AoG


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## Blindside (Jul 31, 2007)

If you haven't been paying attention to the roasting that Grylls is getting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ews.html?in_article_id=471510&in_page_id=1773

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007350072,00.html


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## Bob Hubbard (Jul 31, 2007)

wow


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## bydand (Aug 1, 2007)

I think the guy is a first rate flake.  Yes he does have some good skills, but some of the things he does isn't explained very well.  I have this fear that some avid fan will get lost and think plunging headlong down a steep ravine and pinballing off objects is the best method for getting to the bottom.  I can see the headlines now "Person falls to death from 200' cliff while trying to self rescue".  Either that of I'll stumble across somebody sitting in the woods up here sucking on a Moose turd because he hasn't been able to find his truck for the last 4 hours.  After blowing-chunks I think I would just disappear into the trees and leave them to their "lunch."


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## Blindside (Aug 17, 2007)

nicely understated.


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## ArmorOfGod (Aug 18, 2007)

Oh.
That's not good.


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## BlackCatBonz (Aug 19, 2007)

I heard this guy was a fake shortly after he was interviewed on a radio show I listen to.
Survivorman is the real deal.


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## The_Fish (Mar 27, 2008)

He&#8217;s not a &#8216;fake&#8217;. Man VS Wild (Or Born Survivor as it is known as in the UK) aside, Bear Grylls is a very well respected and reputed survivalist and adventurer, and many of his feats prove and demonstrate that fact. Many of the survival skills demonstrated on the show are actually legit, regardless of whether the situation is dramatised or not &#8211; and whilst some people may disagree with the way Bear does things, remember:

1. Bear is ultimately at the mercy of the producers. If they want something dramatised for the sake of entertainment, so be it. That shouldn&#8217;t suggest Bear is a fake and the skills are not legitimate survival skills &#8211; it suggests some of the scenarios in which the survival skills are demonstrated are faked. 

2. Different &#8216;groups&#8217; teach different survival skills and methodologies. Some survival methodologies preach that in extreme circumstances, take extreme measures. Others preach to never endanger yourself more, and to take the conservative approach to survival. Different approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages.

3. Man VS Wild/Born Survivor is NOT meant to be a show about Bear surviving. It is meant to be a show that shows Bear demonstrating survival skills. Whether he stays in a motel, or stages scenarios doesn&#8217;t really matter &#8211; he is showing you his interpretation of what to do in certain situations. That doesn&#8217;t mean Bear has to do them himself (sleeping in a motel for example, even though sleeping in the motel wasn&#8217;t a regular happening in his episodes and he did sleep rough for a lot of them). Take into account Bear has a wife and children to think about, his military career over. Does he really want to fully endanger himself and the security of his family for the sake of ultra-realistic survival demonstrations? 

4. The TV show is for entertainment purposes, not to teach people how to survive. If an inexperienced person tries to use something that saw on television and it works, then great &#8211; if it doesn&#8217;t, that&#8217;s not the fault of the show. 

I was disappointed when I found out that some of the scenes were scripted (as shown in those links posted above), that Bear has at times slept in a motel, and even that he has received outside help for some situations - but that shouldn&#8217;t make you think any less of him or the show. Man VS Wild exists as an entertaining show displaying Bear&#8217;s interpretation of surviving in hostile environments &#8211; and like I said, Bear is by no means a &#8216;fake&#8217; &#8211; what he shows are very real survival skills, some of which may appear dramatised/overkill but are actually very reasonable in a life-or-death situation, which is what he often tries to portray a scenario as being. 

The fault is with Discovery channel for not putting an accurate disclaimer in the first place that explains the above.


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## HebrewCossack (Apr 1, 2008)

I dont really like Bear. He over does it alot. The only episode of Man vs Wild that I liked was the one in Alaska. I like survivor man more.


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