Man Vs. Wild - Bear's knife, Survivorman's?

[islandphish]

Like so many others I've become a huge fan of Man vs. Wild and Survivorman on the Discovery Channel. Bear and Les do some amazing things and who is to say which is more hardcore. Bear with his nearly superhuman physicality or Les traveling totally alone for a week.

Both of these guys use tools. Les has a SAK and a multi-tool if I remember correctly. Bear uses a largish folding knife with serrations.

The question is what knives are these guys using? I'd be willing to bet they are using excellent examples of what's out there.

For the record, I hope both of these shows go many more seasons. Also a friend suggested that they should team up. Now that would be awesome!

[coelacanth]

Bear is using but if he could trade it for an ounce or two of brains I think he should go for it. If you're really interested in the mindset, skillset and equipment necessary to survive in the Alaskan wilderness turn off the tube and find someone in your area to learn from and train with. Neither of those two nitwits on the Discovery channel has enough sense to be let out of the house alone and some of the stuff Bear does is downright stupid. Somebody is going to get killed trying some of the stuff he advocates and I sincerely hope it isn't you, my friend. As for the hardware necessary for wilderness trekking a lot depends on your circumstances: 1) Are you a hunter who's gotten lost or separated from his base camp by injury or bad weather but is otherwise well equipped? 2) Are you the sole survivor of a commercial airliner crashed in rugged terrain without so much as a nail clipper in your pocket? In any event, the knowledge and the skills you possess along with your attitude regarding your own survival will make a lot more difference than any knife that's ever been made. There are dozens of websites and blogs out there that can help you find what works well for you in your situation but the "survival" shows on the Discovery channel are about on par with Mythbusters as far as any serious discussion of the topic.

[Cosmoline]

Bear's idea of wilderness survival seems to involve running down scree slopes, jumping over waterfalls and climbing up steep cliffs--all for no apparent reason other than looking good on TV. "Survivorman" has actually included some useful tidbits, and Les Stroud's approach is far more sound. He seems to use a Leatherman of some sort, but I don't remember seeing it in detail.

[TimboKhan]

Oh, I guess we can sit here and judge both of these guys, but the fact is that both these shows are for entertainment. How else are they supposed to show survival on TV? Look, you can't learn how to build a chopper from watching American Chopper, you can't learn how to fly from watching "Top Gun", and you can't become a mall ninja simply by watching "Diehard"... Well, maybe that last one will help, but the other examples are pretty accurate! Anyway, I would tend to agree that Bear takes a lot of chances, but I have learned some interesting things from watching him, and more to the point, it is about 2 orders of magnitude better than watching "Survivor". Besides, Bear is just playing to his strengths, which happen to include an extensive backround in rock climbing and mountaineering. So for him, he isn't taking any chances that he isn't prepared for or unfamiliar with.

Jeez, I sound like a Bear Gryls groupie......

[Geno]

I take the programs for their intended purpose: entertainment, plan and simple.

[TimboKhan]

Also, in an effort to keep this thread on topic, here is the knife that Bear Grylls endorses on his website...

http://www.bayleyknife.com/

Again, I sound like a Bear Grylls groupie...

[Daniel Flory]

I believe that Bear usually uses a half-serrated Gerber Gator.

[Regolith]

Serrated knives have little usefulness in the woods, and half serrated even less. I don't know why Bear carries one; the only reason i can think of would be habit from his SF days.

The Leatherman that Les Schroude carries is far more useful, but still not as useful as a good 4-6" fixed blade with no serrations.

[Pepper46]

Glad that's over with!

[kellyj00]

I thoroughly enjoy all the interesting tidbits of information that these guys bring to tv. It is a tv program after all....

The information is useful in real life, however. Dehydration causes deminsia, feelings of hunger can be lessened by eating non-nutritous grass (or a rice cake). The longest a person can hold their breath is 4 minutes, but in cold water it's not near as long.

I disagree that with a few posts on this thread. Has anyone seen the Iceland episode in Man v. Wild? Saw it yesterday. He dropped 30 feet in a freezing river (just off a glacier even) and swam across. The only reason he did this was because he could see hot springs across the river and knew that if he could get there quickly he could heat back up. When he got there, the water was too hot (boiling) so he had to improvise by damming up a small stream coming off the hot spring and it took a bit longer. He stayed calm the entire time, which I think is a lesson that we all should learn.... sometimes things aren't what they seem, if you stay calm you'll make it work out.

[MCgunner]

Wow, we seem to have a lot of 'tude on the survivor thing. Both of these shows are GREAT entertainment and have something to offer in the way of edible plants of an area, medicinal plants and such. Yeah, it's mostly BS. When Les gives a dissertation on how a Javelina will attack you on sight and pronounces it "JAV ah lean", I wonder what reference book he skimmed over before taping. ROFLMAO He should have spent more time on that one. And, yeah, right, he doesn't have a film crew, gimme a break! But, it's good entertainment and I'm kinda hooked. Bear is my favorite, but no, I ain't climbin' no bare cliffs, never would, never will. I'll find another way down or up that's safer for an old man. And, I like partial serrated blades for cutting through sternum, small limbs, and such.

All that survival stuff is fun to watch, but you ain't catchin' me on my dirt bike in the middle of the aridzona desert without an accurate handgun, some survival gear (including a canteen), and a GPS. There's really no reason to be that lost in the modern age. I ain't McGiver, I need more'n a knife. And, my survival gunbelt has disposable lighters on it and a metal match. Making fire with a bow and drill is just so unnecessary, like shooting fish with a home made bow or rabbit hunting with a throwing stick, ROFLMAO!

I think what I like about Bear is he actually catches or kills something to eat once in a while other than bugs. I do draw the line at eating scorpions. ICH! I might could stomach a maggot if I was desperate, but I HATE SCORPIONS! But, even if you don't like the story line, the scenery in these shows is AWESOME!

[Cosmoline]

He dropped 30 feet in a freezing river (just off a glacier even) and swam across

Yeah... not exactly the brightest thing to do. In the real world, the LAST thing you should be doing in a survival situation is jumping into freezing rivers. Bear's a tough guy, and has a crew ready to help him off screen. But it's incredibly easy to die in that kind of water. Even if you don't break something going in, the shock of the cold can actually kill you and the current can drown you. I remember when I first came up here I thought it would be refreshing to take a dip in a little pool in the chugach coming out of the glaciers. Mistake! It hurts like scalding water. And keep in mind I like to swim in the ocean around Juneau so my tolerance for cold water is higher than most.

Bear's habit of eating insects and raw meat is also pretty foolish. Food is far less important than water, and if you don't go diving off cliffs or climbing rockfaces like a tough guy you won't burn so much energy. Go gently, slowly and carefully. Never, ever charge around. And never eat anything unless you're 100% sure it's safe. To look extra tough he likes to bite into raw fish, too. Unless your system is used to it a big wad of bone and raw fish meat is going to make you upchuck, losing vital fluids. It's easy enough to rig a simple smoker to cure the meat, which also lets you keep some for a day or two as a snack.

By the same token, Bear is weirdly afraid of drinking any water. I remember one episode where he decided to climb down into a desert canyon and swim in a pool at the bottom. There was a dead squirrel in the water, which made him decide not to drink any of it. Yet of course he was swimming in it and drank plenty of water in the process without knowing it. You may get a nasty bug from water like that, though frankly you're in far greater danger from certain flowing waters with beaver dung and sewage discharge in them. Either way, you'll be dead in two days without water in that kind of heat anyway so who cares if you pick up some ailment? Water, particularly in the hot parts of the globe, is absolutely vital and the need for it overrules all other considerations.

Both of them camp up the fear of local wildlife. Les in particular seems paranoid about it. He was worried about a moose getting him in one episode while he camped out in northern Canada. I kept wondering why he thought a moose would attack his camp. To eat him? Bear goes the other direction, and doesn't seem worried enough. I remember one episode where Bear dives off his Robinson Crusoe style raft and nearly lands on a very real, very large tiger shark. He didn't seem to realize they had come to what seemed to be a pile of storm debris in the hope that some drowned meat would be wrapped up in it. Tigers are no fools. He's lucky he didn't get munched.

[supraneurotoxin]

they do make for good TV, and in a real survivor situation one wouldn't need to climb a tree while balancing a camera in one hand and narrating the whole experiance to boot.
picking apart a TV show for realism is an exercise in futility, as our good friends the trekkies have showed us on numorious occassions.

[JohnRov]

I don't know about Survivorman, but MvW has a survivor consultant on each episode. I don't think Bear is much more than a stuntman, although I'm sure his previous training provided him with a foundation of survival skills. I gather the specifics to surviving in each locale are provided by the specialist.

[wooderson]

Anyone seen Bear Grylls' UK series on joining the French Foreign Legion? It was on Channel 4 originally and the Military or History Channel here, but doesn't seem to have ever made it to DVD.

[hso]

It's entertainment and not a NOVA series so I wouldn't take any of it as gospel and that includes the knives.

Now here's a survival expert we can all appreciate!

As to the knives, well, there are plenty of good knives to choose from and I wouldn't put a lot of stock in what a TV performer carries. I've seen a Gerber Gator, SAK, Leatherman and Buck carried on the two shows. I've also seen some horrible knife handling as well.

Look at Falkniven and Bark River Knive and Tool for knives you'd be well advised to purchase. Also look at a simple Frosts Mora.

[kellyj00]

nothing like posting about how I believe some of the stuff on tv is useful for everyone to jump in as survival experts.

Start a tv show, I'll watch.

[MCgunner]

By the same token, Bear is weirdly afraid of drinking any water. I remember one episode where he decided to climb down into a desert canyon and swim in a pool at the bottom. There was a dead squirrel in the water, which made him decide not to drink any of it. Yet of course he was swimming in it and drank plenty of water in the process without knowing it. You may get a nasty bug from water like that

Yeah, I saw that one and thought the same thing. LOL Hey, one more thing I have on my belt is water purification tablets in a pouch on the canteen pouch. I've used 'em often, too, while hunting in hot weather At least I know treated river water in the eastern part of Texas won't hurt you, LOL. In one of the episodes, to Bear's credit, he mentions you should never hike without purification tablets in wild country. They go sans about any gear just to simulate something like an airplane crash in the wilderness. Me, I won't be out there unless I intend to be. I used to do a lot of hiking and some hunting out west. That's when I made up my belt with little goodies in it I might need like compass, fire making stuff, multi-tool, etc, etc. Heck, I never got in a fix like that because I'd always hiked in from a highway and knew if I went the opposite compass direction I'd find that road eventually. I have gotten quite lost for a while, but figured it out in short order.

I know it ain't real and any info offered and techniques might be questionable, but hey, what else is on TV now days? Sitcoms? Please, I'm so tired of laugh tracks! Between history, science, discovery, outdoor, speedTV (motorcycle races), and military channel, that's about all there is anymore. MTV anymore, I call it the "teen sex channel". Sickening. If I ain't watchin' one of discovery's channels, I'm watching a news network, usually Fox. And, you know there's nothin' on if you find me mesmerized by the weather channel, but some of those weather babes are hot!

Now, what was the question? Oh, Bear's knife. I don't know, looks like a regular ol' pocket knife to me. LOL! He had a good sized knife in the one where he was in the Amazon. Beat it up pretty good choppin' down a balsa tree with it.

[Valkman]

Here's one:

http://www.bayleyknife.com/bear.htm

I can't find the other link I saw last night about how Bear spends nights in hotels when he's "in the wild".

Here's the link: http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle2116195.ece

[MCgunner]

Wow, 350 lbs sterling. OUCH. That looks like the one he was beating senselessly with a rock chopping down that balsa tree. Either it's tough or, of course, it costs him nothing.

Sleepin' in a hotel? ROFL! Heck, neither one of 'em has pulled any wool over me! Ever notice how when he's shimmying up one of those cracks in the rock, the camera is right there in his face with him? How do you reckon they do that? I figure they have to be pretty close to some kind of road to get all that elevated camera platform equipment into places like that, LOL! That don't keep me from watchin', though, skeptical old goat that I might be. LOL

[MCgunner]

Tell ya what, I'll sell you this knife for half the price of that wimpy thing Bear carries, and I'll even sign "MCGunner" on the blade for you!

[Regolith]

McGunner....you couldn't give that knife to me

[MCgunner]

Bwaaaa, ha, ha! Yeah, I bought it from a guy at work who'd gotten a bunch of blades on ebay and was hawkin' 'em. Sorta reminds me of something you'd win at the county fair for popping 3 ballons with darts or something. Gave him 10 bucks just to shut him up. LOL! It's an okay camping ulitility knife I guess. Hate to have to haul that thing around on my belt!

But, mine's bigger'n Bears! And, I mean, if you're going to beat a knife through a tree with a rock, I'd rather do it with a 10 dollar knife. LOL!

[CWL]

I just saw the episode where Bear jumps into the glacier-fed river in Iceland. Simply stupid. Don't care if he sees hot springs activity on the other side. The shock of the cold water can shut down your system to the point where you won't be able to swim or pull yourself out of the riverbank.

This is the reason why we hear/read about well-seasoned outdoorspeople who die in their natural elements. People sometimes think that they can beat nature and are proven wrong time and time again.

[Cosmoline]

I saw last night about how Bear spends nights in hotels when he's "in the wild".

LOL I always suspected it! I still trust Les, though. The quality of his filming is poor enough I can't believe a crew is involved. Plus he constantly complains about having to haul the camera equipment back and forth. There are long segments of the show with him just walking back to get the camera. Anyway I know which one I'd rather be stuck in the woods with.