Man vs. Wild TV Show

[JCook5003]

Does anyone know what the knife Bear Grylls totes on the show Man vs. Wild, it's look nice and unless he replaces it for every show it take a beating....

Looks to be about a 6" fixed blade knife with a black handle.......

Any Ideas on that knife? Thanks

Josh

 

[hso]

I think it's been discussed here, but you'll have to search. I know that he uses a Gerber Gator folder in some and what looks like Gerber's LMF II and that he's associated his name with a sheath knife made by a custom maker (bumping the price).

 

[CWL]

You mean this knife?

FYI, Bear has been loudly trashed in the "survival" community because his show is staged. He travels with a large film crew, reads from a script and stays & eats in hotels at night during his "survival adventures".

He's selling a survival knife for over $700 nowadays. You can do much better with a Gerber or a Fallkniven.

 

[Camjr]

I read that when demonstrating how to build a raft, he actually reassembled one that had been built for him by an expert. Now, his shows have a pretty lengthy disclaimer. Not taking anything away from the guy and his abilities (former SAS and has summitted Everest), but the show was misrepresented initially. Much of the stuff he does on the show will get many people killed.

Survivorman with Les Stroud for the win!

 

[22-rimfire]

I like the show regardless if it is staged somewhat. As said, he seems to like Gerber knives a lot. I have never heard him mention Gerber and I don't think they are a sponser. Bear gets discussed a lot on the survival forums.

 

[bruss01]

When I first got satellite tv (first time ever) earlier this year, I was fascinated by the show.

Then it was revealed (not by Bear himself, it was leaked somehow) that the stunts are staged and the accomplishments are faked. He spends the night in hotels some nights that the viewer is led to believe he spent sleeping fitfully in a hand-dug ice cave. It's kind of like watching a magic show on TV. In real life, you can't believe the magician just pulled a rabbit out of a hat, seeminly from nowhere. On TV, yeah, I've watched all sorts of staged, faked stuff on TV and that just doesn't impress me. I've completely lost interest in (and respect for) mr Grylls and his TV show.

Now, Les Stroud - he's the real deal. If he has to fall back and punt, he tells you so right on the show. Such as "It's getting too dangerous now, we have to call in the safety team" and they are totally up front with the viewer. They make a serious effort to keep such abberations to an absolute minimum. Everything he does is a real accomplishment and his deprivations on his excursions are real, and he does suffer from exposure and real hunger while out in the wilds "surviving". That man has my respect and admiration.

 

[22-rimfire]

That is why some call Les the "starving man". I like his show too.

 

[BigBlock]

I remember when the show first came out, at the beginning of every episode he said something like "the rules are very clear, there is to be no interaction between me and the camera crew" or something like that. Later when they came on as repeats they seem to be edited to not say that and include things like "the crew helped me......".

I agree, I like Survivorman better. I've actually met Les, he's a very nice guy.

 

[hso]

Ok, folks. Let's not get side tracked into who's survival show is most real or how staged the Man Vs Wild material is. It's TV. Edutainment. If you want to get into those issues drop by one of the wilderness survival sites and watch the fur fly.

 

[Soap]

http://www.bayleyknife.com/ Bear uses a knife made by Rob Bayley in the UK. It is a very practical design and I really like the sheath but for £350, there are a lot of better choices out there.

 

[mike6161]

http://www.lifesongadventures.com/newsletter/?p=44
they have been talking about this for 1 or 2 years

 

[Stainz]

The Bayley knife has a 4" long by .157" thick blade of a powdered RWL steel with a black Micarta handle and a total length of 8.5". It comes with a horizontal leather sheath - both it and the knife have Gryll's signature on them. At the current exchange, $694 for the knife - and air shipment plus any duties would kill $750. In the 'Glades, it looked like a gut-hook Buck Vanguard he was using - earlier episodes, it was a Victorinox folder. Les Stroud has used a Buck 119, available from Wally World for $34, on a number of his episodes. He also carries an axe - particularly in Northern Canada.

I like them both - for different reasons - Stroud for education, Grylls for entertainment. I have learned a lot from Stroud - and Grylls drank water from elephant poo squeezings.

I already had a 119 - and wanted a knife like Grylls... until I found the price. I bought a Bark River Huntsman - and a Benchmade 201 Activator+ - trying to find a similar knife to Gryll's. I have a B R Fox River and and Gameskeeper on order - bought both a Buck fixed and folding Kalinga Pro last this past fall. Add in my last custom Buck 110 - sum them up, and I have still spent less than that Gryll's knife - and I have/will have a nice drawerfull!

The Benchmade I mentioned cost me $83 delivered - and is a great approximation, even if the build quality is not up to Bark River standards. Another 'good one', at least to me, is the Buck Vanguard -a great buy ~ $65. You can get it as the 'Alaskan Guide' 192 from Cabelas for $95 and it"ll be Al-Ti-N coated S30V steel super bargain (I have one too!).

Stainz

 

[nwilliams]

+100 for Survivorman! Great show and far more convincing and genuine in feel than Man vs. Wild or Man vs. room service as I've heard it called

I do watch Man vs. Wild if I have nothing else to watch, I like the locations he goes to and sometimes his survival tips are pretty creative and interesting.

Personally I'd want to carry a multi-tool and a Swamp Rat fixed blade if I were any of the locations and situations these guys put themselves in.

 

[inherentical]

Man vs. room service

Hehe, now that made me spit water all over the keyboard.

 

[hopkin]

Does anyone know what the knife Bear Grylls totes on the show Man vs. Wild, it's look nice and unless he replaces it for every show it take a beating....

The Bayley knife looks good and Rob Bailey seems well-regarded by the British knife community. However, there's nothing that special about the durability. Any good bushcraft knife should stand up to that abuse. I'd expect a $100 - £200 knife to cope and even cheaper ones like the Buck Vanguard should manage it.

 

[Limeyfellow]

In the 'Glades, it looked like a gut-hook Buck Vanguard he was using

Thats correct.

He also used...

SAK
Gerber Gator
Cold Steel Voyager
a couple of Swiss Army Knives

And now this new one he adopted for the new season.

The guy changes knives alot.