Bear Grylls

[Grandpa]

I'm getting a real kick out of the backpacker interview with Bear.

“It’s not about the gear.” "Give yourself the best chance and get the best gear you can. But ultimately, the best tools are your ingenuity and your spirit. That’s what keeps people alive."

With a picture at the top of Bear, wearing a blindfold and throwing knives stuck in the wall all around him.

I'm just not sure that standing blindfolded trusting someone else's knife throwing is really giving yourself the best chance at survival.

[ppine]

This is one guy I don't have much enthusiasm for. He travels with a bunch of porters, camera people, and rescuers. He takes uneccessary chances constantly and bites the heads off wild animals. I think he is a sensationalist, that couldn't carry Les Stroud's shoes.

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Yes, I read his interview. Why am I not impressed?

[Hazel]

What is his preoccupation with drinking his own urine ?? I also found a video of him on youtube giving himself an enema to rehydrate.

[hikingprincess]

Originally Posted by Grandpa

I'm just not sure that standing blindfolded trusting someone else's knife throwing is really giving yourself the best chance at survival.

I think this is hysterical and greatly symbolic of his style of survival. It is really hard to prove you are a survivalist when you have a team of people following you to make sure you don't get hurt.

[Lamebeaver]

Some people like to fish, some people read books, and some people run around in the woods and pretend the worlds going to end.

[jason]

Originally Posted by Hazel

What is his preoccupation with drinking his own urine ?? I also found a video of him on youtube giving himself an enema to rehydrate.

I had to laugh at this one. There are a bunch of pictures floating around of him with different backgrounds and all basically say something like "in XYZ situation, must drink my own pee".

There are a some youtube video's too showing that places he is at that are supposed to be remote have roads and hotels near them.

Re: Man Vs. Wild, Bear Grylls is a Phony - YouTube

[oldsarge]

That is funny! The only issue I have with this is that I don't think Bear has ever claimed to be out in the middle of nowhere doing this. It's what we assume considering the subject matter. Les Stroud who does make this claim, is alone and films his own stuff. But do we really know this. I don't want to discredit these guy in any way. A technique is a technique no matter where it's taught. I think it's all how it's perceived, if we watched a guy start a fire with a bow drill in his garage, it's any not different then if he did it in the woods behind his garage. I like all these survival shows, there's is something to be learned in all of them. Also, people who are new to all these survival related topics will take these shows far more serious than those of us who have been there and done that.

My issue with Bear Grylls is that he does do dangerous stuff and take things to extremes. Giving somebody an enema to re-hydrate them. Yes this is a viable technique. I have seen people so dehydrated that when given water they throw it back up. This technique will work on them and save their life. But drinking urine and squeezing in out of elephant dung is a little far. Yes it will work, but I hardly doubt that world travelers who go to the far reaches of civilization are turning to these shows for advise. Bear has brought a lot of negativeness to himself and his show despite of his military training.

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Some lighter Gryll's moments can be seen on his "interview" on Outdoor Life's website. I got many chuckles out of that one...!!

[Gunny Webb]

Bear almost came to a wilderness area near my town. His producer talked to a guy in our hiking club about the surroundings. Thank goodness they went somewhere else! The producer even said Bear stays in a hotel every night. When told it's not really that tough here, he said they could make it look as rough as they wanted.
Go away Bear!