the discovery channel has a whole bunch of survival shows, but no guns.

Justin Holder said:

Survivor man did have a 22 rifle in one of his shows. He even showed how to drill a hole under the butt pad to store spare ammo.

In another episode they made him carry a rifle because of the danger from polar bears. But was not allowed to use it otherwise.

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I think he successfully pulled a couple of bullets and started a fire with it. Or that may have been a different episode. He also carried (and shot) a browning A5 in the canadian wilderness one, where he had a hunting buddy with him.

Yeah, but he made a whole big hoopla about local hunting regs and how he only had x many rounds and had to keep x many so he could fire 3 times (distress signal) and have some in case of a bear.

And now the Discovery Channel has a new show called 'The Colony' . Where they take 7 people to an abandoned town with the premise of a Bio-bomb having gone off and they are some of the few survivors. They have to scavenge all their supplies and food. During this they will come under attack by hostile others. And not one of the colony members has any form of firearm and none are to be found in the town

The disease is fatal to all firearms. It thrives on Hoppe's No. 9.

Umm, I kinda avoid watching those types of shows, guess it comes from reading way to many post apocalyptic SciFi books as a kid, funny in those they always had guns, but many times in survival, flight and hiding are better choices to fighting.

There are a lot of interesting survival tips that I learn from these shows. Catching an eel using a sock and string, water in a palm heart, tips on fire starting, inductive heat for a shelter, determining a good vine for ties, etc.

I wouldn't be in a lot of the places they chose without a gun if I had the choice. I wish they would be more open about the camera men having them.

David E said:

I disagree.

I think it would be a very cool show to have Cody and Dave assemble their own survival kit and each show what's in them and how to use the gear.

Would it make for an exciting show each week? No, but they keep concluding every show with "You better know what you're doing out here or you're gonna die."

How about showing us some basic gear and how to use it for ONE show?

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My guess is that at some point either Dual Survival or Man vs Wild will have an episode or two focusing on their perfered minimal gear. For what it's worth, there is an article every month in SWAT magazine that focuses on survival grear. Over a year or two of reading, it covers quite a bit of useful information. Also, Cody Lundine has a book out (which I had bought prior to the show without any knowledge he was making a show or was a big name) that has a list of what to put in a kit.

The professionally filmed survival shows have "protection" behind the scenes. I would be willing to guess that when it is necessary, the crew camps too, but in relative comfort. Not many motels in the middle of the Sahara Desert or in Siberia.

I personally haven't watched any of these survival shows, but we know enough of the viewing public must like guns with shows such as "Top Shot" currently on. I believe they are now looking for a new collection of shooters for their next season.

Then there is "Mythbusters" where myths involving firearms are a regular event, when they not too busy having even more fun with high explosives!

Then there is also "Lock N' Load."

The Brady Bunch wants me to think nobody likes guns, yet there seems no shortage of shows about guns. Every time I go to any new store store that has a magazine rack I always take a look to see if they have any publications on firearms. I've yet to find any that don't and this is in the "wilderness" of Milwaukee County and surrounding suburbs. I can only guess what a magazine rack must look like in rural places where I hear all them "gun nuts" live.

they gotta bring back Future weapons with Mack.. that show was the best show they ever made

I really miss Survivorman, I did enjoy the episode where Les carried a rifle with him for bear protection if I'm not mistaken.

Dual Survival is growing on me, but it still ain't no Survivorman

IMO these shows really don't need firearms thrown into the mix, they are shows about being able to survive on almost nothing. I think firearms might make it too easy, I'd rather see these hosts come up with contraptions to catch food or make weapons.

Dave Canterbury has a few videos on youtube about building a kit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-i3pFPhs9o

He has like a 7 or 8 video series on building a discount kit that includes a single shot 12 gauge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTFfnT5g0ls

When you were completely dependent on nature for everything and there was almost always plenty of anything you ever needed.

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Start your research with the word "famine."

I wish they would be more open about the camera men having them.

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I'm a little confused about this. I've only seen Survivorman, Man vs. Wild, and this new Dual Survival one after seeing this thread. Survivorman doesn't have a camera crew with him after he is dropped off, so there's no reason for him to mention it. Apparently Man vs. Wild has some misleading bits the first season, but since then they have changed the format and feature a disclaimer mentioning the crew at the beginning of each show. Dual Survival also has a disclaimer mentioning the crew and that some of the situations have been created to demonstrate survival techniques. It seems readily apparent to me.

And now the Discovery Channel has a new show called 'The Colony' . Where they take 7 people to an abandoned town with the premise of a Bio-bomb having gone off and they are some of the few survivors. They have to scavenge all their supplies and food. During this they will come under attack by hostile others. And not one of the colony members has any form of firearm and none are to be found in the town

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Are you forgetting who brought them to the town?

Jorg - I'm a little confused about this. I've only seen Survivorman, Man vs. Wild, and this new Dual Survival one after seeing this thread. Survivorman doesn't have a camera crew with him after he is dropped off, so there's no reason for him to mention it. Apparently Man vs. Wild has some misleading bits the first season, but since then they have changed the format and feature a disclaimer mentioning the crew at the beginning of each show. Dual Survival also has a disclaimer mentioning the crew and that some of the situations have been created to demonstrate survival techniques. It seems readily apparent to me.

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I'm just aluding to the fact that I would like the non-shooting public to be shown how critical being armed is to survival in many of these places. Another positive representation of guns. If you take a bus tour/guided fishing trip in Alaska for example, there is always guard with a gun from what I understand.

Regarding Man vs. Wild, I understood that he was sleeping in a hotel during some of the shoots...

I can say that my immediate actions in a survival situation involving a sudden massive population reduction (such as a nuke or natural disaster) probably could not be acted out because they would be:
1.) Acquire working transportation (probably the biggest thing around, I have a sedan with no ground clearance), which may be someone else's.
2.) Use said transportation to get to collect & verify condition of geographically close friends and after that go to nearest supply hub.
3.) Acquire supplies necessary for survival for forseeable future.
4.) Work on long-term plans.

The reason they couldn't probably televise this is because no one has died and left behind cars, no one has died and left behind empty department stores, and lastly my life isn't really at stake so I am not gonna trade away my possessions for a game.

SHEEPDOG 1968 - "... ([a book] which I had bought prior to the show without any knowledge he was making a show or was a big name) that has a list of what to put in a kit. "

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For those who wonder what to put in various types of "survival kits," etc., here are some good sites.

http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Survival.htm


http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BushcraftOnFire#g/u (Dave Wendle's site.)

And Ron & Karen Hood's site: http://www.hoodswoods.net/IVB/index.php?

You'll find out all you ever wanted to know about various "survival kits," and "survival techniques" from these. Of course, the most important thing is to get out and practice your skills with your equipment. Just reading a book or watching a few videos won't do you much good in a bad situation unless you have practiced beforehand.

Enjoy.

L.W.

The Discovery Channel Has a nice program about a special effects company who survives between movie gigs by setting up enactments of various urban legends and they do not hesitate to use firearms of all types in the effort when the situation merits. They also do this without the expected lambasting of those who own and use firearms privately. That's not too bad.