It took me a while to figure it out, but Man vs Wild is a comedy.  As such it's pretty good.  He's always getting into ridiculous predicaments that no decent outdoorsman/woman would, and he eats some pretty wild stuff, but it wasn't until the other day, watching his "Best of" show that it occurred to me that this was comedy.  He got my interest when he ate the six inch grub and the scorpion/spider thing in the cave.  It started to actually get really good when he picked up a huge pile of elephant dung and squeezed the water out of it into his mouth.  The act that convinced me was when he cut open the stomach of an old dead camel and drank the liquid there.  I was rolling on the floor.  Nasty!  

It's supposed to be a a guide to inexperienced people getting lost, but there's so much staged stuff it's not very usefull. I watched a few episodes, but after a while I found the too disgusting. A man drinking elephant crap is not something I want to watch.    

I think that is the same show where he skins a rattlesnake, ties it off at the end and pisses in the tube of it's raw skin. Then drinks it later on in the episode. It's basically like fear factor for armchair  survivalists but with only one contestant. I really hope he gets paid well for doing some of the stuff he does.  :-?

If people actually followed his advice they would find themselves in worse situations than they started. He takes to many risks and acts as though its always the only option. He always seems to want to cross rivers at the most dangerous point, or eating things alive. What is the benifit to teaching an audience to use your teeth to remove the head of a live snake when you have a knife on your hip. He himself might do well in the wild but his tactics are blown way out of proportion.

He's a poser, I think, just riding the wave.  I know very little about survival and I have no experience, but I'm pretty sure I could do it better than him, in temperate climates if nothing else... which is sad.

I saw one episode where he was in a canyon somewhere and wanted to catch fish in a stream... only there weren't and fish in the stream.  So his crew "placed" the fish in the stream and then put nets across the stream upstream and down so the fish couldn't get away...  I guess he caught them but I don't know, I turned the t.v off...

It was funny one time he was up in Alaska and, after getting help from a cameraman because he couldn't catch one, took a fresh salmon and took a bite out of the side skin and all.  I know people eat raw fish and some people don't mind salmon skin, because they have fine scales, it wasn't that so much as the fact that he looked exactly like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings movies (eating his fish rrrraaawww and rrrriggggggling!)!   ;D  The mental image was so absurd that I kept bursting into spontaneous laughter for the rest on the day.

hehe, there are so many youtube videos of the dangerous and wild places where he was, and other's are following his footsteps. of course when they're bored they go to the neatly photoshopped out taco bell, or find some nice stream in the hottest and most dangerous part of death valley for a swim.

apparently when he was supposed to be in the Sahara he was actually on a Hawaiian beach.

the advice on Man v. wild is nothing but bad juju for anyone lost .  if you want to live, just do the opposit of that fool..... :P

 I got a season of it from the library and could not even finish watching it.  Survivor man is interesting as he does some neat things sometimes, but he is a total sap and basically relies on his metabolism to starve nearly to death for one week and then get rescued.  Like the time mr. strewd made a slingshot out of an elastic from a coat or something he had...man that was so sad, he actually thought he could kill a grouse or a squirrel with it...no...no that would not work, I could throw a pebble faster.  The worst part was that he was right beside a nice river, he could have spearfished, net fished, line fished, etc. or at least he could have made some deadfall traps, snares, etc. and if he had to hunt he should have mad an atlatl, amentum or used the rabbit stick that he had made...but that's getting fancy.
 I found man v.s. wild to be more of a survival guide but it is mostly the guy prancing around in the wild showing athletic prowess rather than survival prowess.  The last episode I managed to watch was when he made a rabbit stick intending to hunt with it and then gave up when he couldn't hit a stump with it that was only about 20ft or so away after about 10 throws.  I thought this guy was ex-S.A.S or something, he sure isn't any rambo.

 What I really wish is for a show just to come on with a guy who really knows what he is doing and goes out, (perhaps with a local tribesman or tribesmen?) and lives off the land for a week or less, but actually LIVES.  All these shows are just extreme stuff, like pushing yourself to the limit and eating gross stuff and barely surviving, when it would be much better to just pick less harsh circumstances and show people how they can actually survive.  Head out for a bit with some amazonian, dani or masai tribesmen on a hunting trip for a few nights and live like they live and hunt only with traditional weapons, and forage for wild edibles along the way, it would be GREAT!

les stroud makes good survival stuff, nothing extreme, just trying to survive with only as much reasonable supplies as possible. Ray Mears i think is the father of all bush-craft shows, however, he shows a more modern bush craft where he doesn't survive, but teaches you skills how to do so. all of Ray Mear's video's are on you tube, and i can give you a link to a channel with it. there's one les stroud vid on youtube too, and all of his episodes he hosts on his site (slower buffer time).

I think that Les Stroud sometimes deliberately screws up just to get your attention, like forgetting to bait a dead fall trap until after it's set or partially burning down his shelter.  I don't think that Les always makes the best choices, but he's an expert compared to Bear, who is really just a clown.  His only real asset is that he seems to be in great shape.  If I was ever in a survival situation with Bear I'd tell him "You go your way, I'll go mine.  Bye!"  Though I don't consider myself an expert, I do know some things and I think I'd stand a much better chance on my own.  From what I've seen of Ray Mears it's all good stuff.
  Try watching Man vs Wild with it in mind that it's a comedy.  I think that you find that it makes a lot more sense that way.

i rate Man vs Wild on the same level as Spike's Deadliest warrior, amazingly funny BS.

xxkid123 wrote on Jul 1^st, 2010 at 5:47pm:

i rate Man vs Wild on the same level as Spike's Deadliest warrior, amazingly funny BS.

So true.... both shows have their audience

well put guys, comparing it to deadliest warrior! its all for show, but we knew that already.
honestly, i think he could survive if he had to. its a tv show, he does stuff because he wont really die, his crew will save him

Woonilsra wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2010 at 12:29am:

well put guys, comparing it to deadliest warrior! its all for show, but we knew that already. honestly, i think he could survive if he had to. its a tv show, he does stuff because he wont really die, his crew will save him

the photoshopped out city in the background will save him

LukeWebb wrote on Jun 30^th, 2010 at 11:18pm:

I got a season of it from the library and could not even finish watching it.  Survivor man is interesting as he does some neat things sometimes, but he is a total sap and basically relies on his metabolism to starve nearly to death for one week and then get rescued.  Like the time mr. strewd made a slingshot out of an elastic from a coat or something he had...man that was so sad, he actually thought he could kill a grouse or a squirrel with it...no...no that would not work, I could throw a pebble faster.  !

I saw that one.  It was his Scooby Doo underwear that he used the elastic from.  It was pathetic.  Though Les does have some know how, some of his hunting/fishing/trapping segments are very lame.  I think it's so he doesn't antagonize P.E.T.A..  

Liberty dog wrote on Jun 30^th, 2010 at 10:50pm:

the advice on Man v. wild is nothing but bad juju for anyone lost .  if you want to live, just do the opposit of that fool..... :P

Amen!  Here's Bear drinking elephant dung juice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMtVfpGhzaw

---

i think you'd be better off trusting Russel coyte, then bear grylls...... if you don't know him, look him up on youtube.
hes the alter ego of australian comedian carl barron. hes quite funny.

lol i remember the poop drinking episode  :P I think that the show makes him eat gross things to get more veiws ;D

I probably shouldn't divulge this, but here goes.  When I was in the army and a few years beyond I was president of The Fish Head Outdoorsmens' Club.  To be a member  you'd have to go fishing with the group and at some time during the outing promise to bite the head off of the next fish caught.  You'd pray it wasn't an eel or a big old catfish.  To move up in rank you'd have to bite the head off of something more challenging.  We were very young and not always very sober.  There was some serious competition and several really (I lack a word here) animals were beheaded.  My buddy Al was president for a while after he bit the head off of a newt.  I tried to blow him out of the water by doing an eel but it's skin was too though.  I got almost all the way through, but couldn't quite do it.  The slime was the worst part.  I eventually beat everyone and today remain president, if an inactive one, by biting the head off of a very large Blue Claw crab.  He was fresh out of the water and his claws weren't taped or anything.  I was just fast... snap.. done.  Somewhere there's a picture of me sitting there with the crab, a big bite mark out of him, his innards all over my face, and my poor buddy Gus, who knew nothing of the club, getting sick.  Today I'm very different... all life is precious and I'd never kill anything that I didn't have to.  I regret killing those animals.  
  I look at Man vs Wild not as a viable survival show.   You just won't pick up very many useful tips watching it.  But as ridiculous entertainment, it's sort of like The Fish Head Outdoorsmens' Club.  His camera man has to "share" everything that  Bear samples.  The show is weird, somewhat funny if you have that sort of sense of humor, and totally useless.

you won't find a lot from Bear, however, he does have a few tips that are handy, not a lot but some.

You're right, kid.. totally useless was a poor choice of words.  Mostly useless fits better I think.

Survivorman is 10x better, but I suppose you don't take stupid risks if you don't have a camera crew following you everywhere with twinkies and bandaids. Plus survivorman is Canadian. ;)

anyone see Dual Survival?
I like the hippie... Cody something or other...

Cthulhu wrote on Jul 9^th, 2010 at 7:26pm:

anyone see Dual Survival? I like the hippie... Cody something or other...

hIf you searc wildernessoutfitters in youtube they have over 230 videos. Great stuff there.

I'll have to look for it.  I very much enjoy good survival shows, even if they don't entertain us by drinking elephant poop water.  Did anyone see the episode where Bear climbs up the waterfall?  There he is, saying to the camera man how tough it is to make this climb and how he's fighting for his life, etc..  What the ((&^% are you doing climbing a waterfall in the first place?  I can think of no survival scenario where I'd climb a waterfall. None.  More nonsense.

Was flipping the channels on the tube the other night and saw Bare Grills getting excited about a skunk track, so I decided to watch. Saw him trap, kill and eat a skunk ::); rob a bees nest for a little honey comb (he got stung and one eye swelled shut); kill a rattler, skin it, eat it, and then urinate into the skin; and drink said urine (or was it maybe something else?). All this on just one rather short walkabout ::)

I've got to admit, the snare he made to catch the skunk (someone's ex pet?) was really  8-) and he did make a water filter that seems like it would work fairly well. All in all, a very entertaining show!

walter

Yea the rattler flavored urine sports drink was a bit much for me. I had to stop watching after that. All I could think when I watched that was..."Man I hope this guy gets paid a lot..."

I think the funniest episode I saw was when he was in the south east somewherre and he was walking through the woods and stumbled upon a pile of deer scat and proceded as followed "These little deer poops are great, infact the native americans used to eat them like little multi-vitamins (as he said while he was eating the poop! :o )."

I am definitely a big survivorman fan (own all 3 seasons) but I also like dual survival for Dave Canterbury I have been a Pathfinder student for awhile now and it is pretty cool to see him on tv.

I find Man vs. Wild pretty entertaining, but Survivorman less so. Neither of them teach practical survival skills. Here is a review of them both (which I think is a little harsh on Bear Grylls) from another site I frequent for bladesmithing inspiration: http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Survivorman.htm

Cthulhu wrote on Jul 9^th, 2010 at 7:26pm:

anyone see Dual Survival? I like the hippie... Cody something or other...

Cody Lundin. http://www.codylundin.com

Next to Ray Mears, he is one of the best instructors in my personal ranking. Harsh comments on survival shows, btw: http://www.codylundin.com/survive_tv.html