"Survivorman" vs. "Man vs. Wild"
may 20, 2007 : steve kong : 265 comment(s)
OK, after watching my fill of both these shows, I deem Survivorman the winner in the "I am a crazy foreigner trying to survive in the wilderness" contest. Sure, Bear from "Man vs. Wild" is a former British SAS operative and has climbed Everest. Sure, in one episode Bear drinks moisture squuezed from elephant poop. But, there is always this sense of Man vs. Wild being completely setup for TV. The biggest problem that detracts from Man vs. Wild? The camera crew.
You see, Les (aka "Survivorman") is a badass Canadian (whoever thought I would use "badass" and "Canadian" in the same sentence. Ever.) Les gets dropped off in remote locations by himself. He carries upwards of 50lbs of camera gear by himself. And he shoots all his own video -- which really means that if you see him walking into the distance, he's walked it at least twice! (Once to get it on video, once to pick up the camera). If you see Les climbing up a steep hill? He's done it twice, once to set up the camera, once more to pick up the camera. You get the idea. Les is crazy.
Both guys have eaten things that make my stomache churn watching (the aforementioned moisture from elephant poop, rats, mice, rabbits, snails, conch, bats, live snakes, etc). Ick. Both know how to survive in the wild. And both go days without food. But, Les. That Les, he is the man. He does it all by himself. Sure, Bear says that the camera crew doesn't help him out. That maybe true, but the crew still detracts from the authenticity of "a crazy foreigner trying to survive in the wilderness".
And that's why Survivorman is the winner in my books.
Comments
Hear hear. I'm also a fan of both shows, but Les wins hands down on the stupendous badass-o-meter. I'm not entirely convinced that Bear doesn't cheat occasionally. Some of the things that happen and some of the shots the crew gets are just a little too convenient.
May 20, 2007 @ 02:08 PM
All Canadians are bad-ass doncha know. Eh!
Canuckian
May 21, 2007 @ 10:12 AM
I think Bear does dangerous/risky things. Like slide down the face of a glass-ier (as he calls it) or scramble up and down sheer rock walls. He does stuff for the camera, notice how he's always out of breath after a particularily daring stunt? Everything looks staged - whoa look at those fancy multiangle shots above and below the 'dangerous' crevass? Also the time he pee'd on his scarf to cool off his head - in the very next shot it's dry again. Very believable.
If you were really stranded alone in the wilderness you would go about survival how Les does it, slow and deliberate. Some of the things Bear does are downright stupid. Hopefully no one gets hurt from his 'advice'.
LesIsMore(Man)
May 21, 2007 @ 10:35 AM
I didn't watch this stuff until one day channel surfing I came across Man vs. Wild. I was hooked instantly. While I will agree that some of the stuff Bear does seems staged and possibly foolish I still think he's a bad ass. After getting hooked and watching all of Bear's episodes I saw Survivorman listed. So I figured I'll check it out. So in the episode I watdched this guy Les is on a boat "deserted". Well he started whining about losing contact with his survival boat I thought he was going to cry or wet himself so said WTF and I turned it off. Maybe this was a weak moment in the series but a "survival boat" what the hell? I'll give survivorman another watch or two but if he starts crying about losing radio contact with anybody I'll just assume he's a pussy and find some other way to waste my free time.
skeptic
June 8, 2007 @ 08:28 PM
Right now I'm watching Man v's Wild and the Rookies episode is on. I can see a life jacket under his gray sweater when he jumped in the water. See what I mean? Then' all of a sudden' the jacket is no longer on when getting out of the water. Countless of erros. I'm just saying dont say you're surviving when, truly, you're not, that's all I'm saying. It's o.k to watch just for entertainment, but not survival. Every single one of his steps are carefully calculated. Survivorman is the only one truly surviving. He is no pussy, Skeptic, he sure aint. Imaging you being in that air raft yourself in the middle of the ocean...Everything is not as easy as it seems, man. He told you himself in that episode...He slept in swamps, jungles and the such, but the ocean was, by far, one of the eeriest places he's been on earth at night. Most is esier said than done, Skeptic.
ExoticPanther
June 17, 2007 @ 09:25 AM
The main difference is Survivorman does things that are practical to his current situation. Bear goes to great (and disgusting) pains to show you extreme measures that you CAN use.
I like both but I have to say that I prefer Bear. His show is more exciting regardless of the camera crew or not. Besides..Les tends to whine about having to film himself most of the time anyway.
Shivors
June 17, 2007 @ 10:19 AM
Well you see Bear Grylls HAS to have a camera crew for one reason. Man Vs. Wild shows extreme forms of survival on purpose. This is why Bear uses a camera crew..how else would he get shots of him climbing a perfectly smooth tree with his shoe laces or down the sheer face of a waterfall. The things Bear does means he needs a camera crew. Discovery has both of these shows because one is normal survival tactics why the other is for the most extreme situations.
Leigh
June 17, 2007 @ 09:18 PM
They are both great shows but I do think Survivorman is the better of the two. I could just be nitpicking, but Man v. Wild has some moments when the camera crew just seems to do magical things, like in the Everglades Episode. He had to climb a tree to get over a deep area with some alligaters, they film him getting across but the camera crew obviously cannot get across that way, so something has to happen that leaves some questions to the overall validity of the show.
Jose
June 18, 2007 @ 02:23 AM
I have to say that having watched both, Bear wins hands down! After watching suvivorman a few times i notice he very rarely seems to catch anything, and usually by the end of the show I end up feeling sorry for him as he comes across quite pathetic really. One example was his attempt at an igloo which was woeful, he then had an "ingenious" idea of catching some food. It involved him sitting behind the wall of his igloo whilst he placed a scrap of food on top of it, the plan was when a bird came to eat the food he would grab it with his hand, suffice to say it didnt work much like most of his other traps!
Martin
June 19, 2007 @ 07:20 AM
These are both TV shows for entertianment. Of course both have to go home eventually, both have families. Maybe Les does remind us of his camera equipment and a radio or something the same. But, Les can get into trouble at any given moment and we would not know about it until his crew finds his body and rewinds the tape. Bear doesnt have that problem. Think about it!
Scott
June 20, 2007 @ 02:46 PM
Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls
--passed UK Special Forces Selection, serving as a sabre soldier, trained in unarmed combat, desert and winter warfare, combat survival, medics, parachuting, signals, evasive driving, climbing and explosives
--Lieutenant Commander in the UK's Royal Naval Reserve
--at the age of 23, the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest and return alive
--owns an island on the Welsh coast, which includes a nature reserve
--lives on a converted barge on the River Thames with his wife Shara and his sons Jesse and Marmaduke.
BAD-ASS.
Jordan
June 20, 2007 @ 05:49 PM
i think that bear wins hands down because the pansy les always uses manufactured goods to help him and thats not the point off the show like in the episode he is stranded out in the ocean he had a raft food fresh water a pump to keep the raft full and had a rumber dingy be hind him which he sleeps in because his large manufactured raft with a tent on top is "wet" but see Bear made his own raft that he had to be wet to get on and bear doesnt cook most of his food hince the snake he ate raw while it was stile squirming Bear has also never been rescued from any of his trips Les thats not the case he has been recued from neumerus trips i guess thats all
BEAR ALL THE WAY
Sam
June 21, 2007 @ 08:07 AM
I agree that Bear is more hard-corps. Its ok not to be as cautious when a crew is with you. Bear even stated in an interview that his crew can get involved in a life or death situation. Has Bear ever been out for 7 days? I would like to see Bear do a lost at sea show. Remember when Les ate the "squirming" scorpion? Didnt Les do a show with a pretended arm injury for at least 2 days? Les doesnt have a flint........
Scott
June 21, 2007 @ 12:10 PM
hope Les will have new episodes soon, I have watched the reruns until my wife thinks I'm crazy.I recently had quadruple heart bypass surgery. watching survivorman helped me make it through some hard times, the show helps me to relax and forget my problems for a while. Bear is ok but les is my favorite.
Chet
June 21, 2007 @ 09:47 PM
These guys ought to do a crossover show in which they are both onscreen at the same time with no camera crew. Just the two of them. Les does his own thing and tries to steal the show from Bear because after all, he controls the camera. He can film Bear in all the wrong spots, like Bear taking a dump or picking his nose.
Then, we can see these guys mock each other and get into a fight. Bear would probably win because he has the military training. Anyways, I admit I find the Bear show more entertaining, but I respect Les Stroud for doing it all himself. Les will be hosting Shark Week this year so at least he will get to be on one of my favorite series this summer.
~C
Carcarius
June 29, 2007 @ 04:54 PM
I think that of the two, Les is the better at surviving. Man vs. Wild is more of an instruction show. Bear shows you what to do in certain situations in different places. Like if you got caught in quicksand, how to get out of it. If you are really hot, how to cool down, etc, etc. He is just showing YOU what to do if you are in those situations. Les is just out there trying to survive. Period. So the shows are really very differant. Man vs. Wild, instruction show. Survivorman, Les surviving for you entertainment.
Josh
July 3, 2007 @ 11:48 PM
Well, i like both shows, but only when i watch Survivorman, do i think 'Les, you're the man!'
Maybe it's true that Bear doesn't get help from the camera-crew, but i'm convinced the crew is shooting him energy bars and bottled water when the camera isn't rolling.
Survivorman is more authentic too because of all the mistakes he makes. It only goes to show that even an expert does them, and not only does he learn from his mistakes, but so do we. And some of the things Bear does is just outrageous. Not only are some of the stunts things you should NEVER do while trying to survive, but that many of the things he does require expert training to begin with... and if you've been trained in no harness mountain climbing, i'm sure you would already know when to use it and how.
Also, as much of a fan of Les as i am... i really hope he doesn't do more than another season or two. I really don't want him to get too extreme and putting himself in serious danger. And if anybody thinks when Les does is easy, try going backpacking for a week with all the gear you can travel, and it's hard enough. Now try doing it with nothing but a multi-tool, no food or water, no shelter, no fire starter, and 50lbs of camera gear that you need to film yourself. Anybody who's ever backpacked for more than a couple of days can appreciate how difficult it is.
Ming
July 4, 2007 @ 07:47 PM
Les for me.
Robert
July 6, 2007 @ 04:35 PM
Les and Bear are both awesome!!! I saw someone who listed all the things the make Bear 'bad-ass'. How about for Les:
-Lived a paleolithic existence for a year with his wife.
-Led survival courses in northern Ontario.
-Award-winning documentary film-maker.
-Renowned Blues harmonica player and professional musician.
Why does everyone have to compare them? They both do crazy stuff a lot of people can not do.
Danko
July 6, 2007 @ 04:54 PM
Bear is better because Les just stays in one place while Bear tries to find his way out. If you are lost in a dangerious area, you should always try to find a way home, instead of just waiting for help that may never come.
John
July 6, 2007 @ 08:16 PM
In the one episode i saw of survivorman, Les had to put up a beacon thing on his raft and get picked up. Also, 90% of the time he is just sitting or walking whilst complaining about sitting and walking. MvW is much more exciting and entertaining which is what usually look for in a TV show. Maybe if i was going to go on a solo hike in a place I'd never been and no one lives, I'd watch a few episodes of survivorman, but since i dont see that happening any time soon, I think ill just stick with Bear.
chris
July 9, 2007 @ 01:00 PM
Bear carries a flint in some episodes because nobody wants to watch him rub sticks together for 15 minutes every episode. I am confident that Bear knows how to make a fire without a flint, as I have seen him do it several different ways in several different episodes. I prefer that he brings a flint going forward so we don’t have to watch him wine about making a fire for 15 minutes every episode like you do in survivor man.
dp
July 10, 2007 @ 12:27 PM
Survivorman has been known to bring a flint too. Les reminds me too much of that annoying hippy Grizzly Man. And I really get tired of his whining. Yeah, I know its hard. Thats why you, the expert, are getting paid ridiculous amounts of money to do it.
So he sets up his own camera. I don't really care. It would be a lot harder for him if he wore 15 pound weights on his show too. That doesn't make it more interesting for me. This is television. Interesting camera angles are part of the medium.
And for those of you who accuse Bear's camera crew of slipping him energy bars and stuff, what is to stop Les or Bear from bringing their own? When it comes down to it, the camera crew doesn't make any difference, as its just as easy to cheat without them.
Adam
July 10, 2007 @ 04:11 PM
Man vs. Wild is definetly the better show. He tries to get out of and area and travels far and wide with nothing but a pocket knife, canteen and flint. He has a two man camera crew because when you're traveling miles through the mountains and rainforest it's hard to film yourself. The guy was British Special Forces he could survive by himself for a life time anywhere.
Survivorman is boring and the guy just sits around whining for a week before he is saved. He is also more equipted and never in as dangerous situations as Bear. Yea he does it himself but thats cus he just sits around. Another thing, how can a guy who almost starves to death for a week at a time be so chunky and out of shape looking? He must pig out while not filming or he's getting fed.
I learn much more from Bear than I do Les. Everyone needs to stop whining that Les does it himself and is more realistic. I believe that Bear isnt getting help cus if the man was in the Special Forces than he can do it by himself. I'd like to see Les climb across 100 foot ravines by hanging from a tree with only his arm strength. Yea there's usually an easier way cus the film crew gets across but he's showing you how you gotta do it if there isnt any easy way across.
Justin
July 13, 2007 @ 07:17 PM
I agree with justin. Survivorman is a sissy. I've backpacked for many years and survivorman has taught me nothing. Even My wife "who is canadian" says Les is a sissy. I believe the shows are ment to teach us how to survive and Bear does that. I also recall someone saying that Bear would get you killed with some of his stunts. Well... if your that pathetic and out of shape then go around the obstacle. As for me I like learning new ways to get out of difficult situations.
Moutain Man Outdoors
July 15, 2007 @ 10:26 PM
yeah well i know teh right anser to eberyting and eberyon is an idoit hwo htinks im rong... Almost everybody posting stuff on this page sucks at using simple grammar and punctuation. Les Stroud is a much more down to Earth and likeable guy than Bear Grylls, but obviously Discovery Channel realized the very real fact that Man vs. Wild is a much more exciting and TV friendly show.
Mitchell Fitzronaldson
July 18, 2007 @ 01:21 PM
Mitchell, you are smart. Soo smart. Whats it like?
dp
July 19, 2007 @ 01:29 PM
I like both shows.
Bear is much more positive, which isn't surprising because he's a motivational speaker. He's always stressing the importance of not giving up. I also like his bits of trivia obviously culled by his research staff.
Les is more human. He's what you would hope to be like if you ended up in a situation that he puts himself in. His is a much more realistic journey, and one that feels more authentic - not a National Geographic documentary.
As for Canadians being badasses, I don't know how anyone could doubt that given the fact that Hockey is their national "sport". Hockey isn't even a real sport - it's a fistfight on ice. Brutally entertaining but sport? Come on...
July 20, 2007 @ 04:28 PM
I am indeed very smart dp... it feels just like that feeling when you yawn too hard and you end up passing out. And then when you wake up you're in a magical land filled with mushrooms and caterpillars with giant appendages who ask you to marry them. Do NOT marry the caterpillars however, as they are succubi who will drain you of your manhood. Instead, run the opposite direction and you will find the legendary Robocop Pizza where you can "cook it up your damn self". Once the Robocop pizza has been consumed it is once again safe to take a nap.
That, dp, is what it feels like to be so smart.
On a side note, Les Stroud is coming back to the Discovery Channel to do another season of Survivorman.
Mitchell Fitzronaldson
July 21, 2007 @ 10:55 AM
Wow,, I find it hard to believe there is even a discussion as to which is "better". Ok, I guess if you define "better" as a guy who bitches and moans about his prediciment(that he put himself if) CONSTANTLY, rarely makes a decent shelter(if he does it looks like a three year olds "fort"), is content to eat a few berries and wait for his producer to come find him, then,, yeah,, I guess Les is "better". The fact is these shows claim to show you how to survive in the wild,,the focus of MVW is to educate about food options/actual shelter making/navigation using nature/etc. Les takes a rifle,seal meat, and a gasoline soaked rag into the wild one episode,,I dont even take a rifle camping,,this guy is a joke and whines like a b*tch,,,
thomas
July 22, 2007 @ 11:19 AM
No doubt. Les actually shows you what you SHOULD do to survive, Bear puts himself in predicaments that would risk injury - how many times do we need to see him take on rapids while grasping onto a "raft"?? seriously...he jumps in rivers that are 50 degrees (?), exposing himself to broken bones (as he says things like "my knees are taking a beating!"), and exposing himself to hypothermia (as he says things like "it's getting dark, I'd better get out of this freezing water and get dry!"). plus, I get the sense bear is out for like 2 nights tops.
Beeker
July 23, 2007 @ 12:13 PM
Les wins, if only because he doesn't jump into rivers. Seriously, any little barb wire, small sapling or rock could paralyze him. I am a 4 year infantryman, worked seven night shifts in an adjudicated youth program where we made fires with sticks, and have experience from northern Great Lakes in winter for a week to my present Sonoran Desert (albeit Tucson) home. Bear is in shape, but Les shows more caution while alone. If I had to show a series of back-back clips to a novice, I's show Les hands down. However, both certainly show the need to learn all you can.
mark pavlik
July 23, 2007 @ 04:36 PM
of course Bear puts himself in dangerous situations. he does it so that when tourists are being stupid on end up in situations like him they can get out. (if they watched the show). do you think all those times he talks about people getting caught in the same situation he's getting into he's making it up? and unlike Les, Bear isnt afraid of a little danger. the man was freakin SAS it takes alot to scare him. and he's not gona bitch for the whole hour of show about how cold and hungry he is. i love how Les lives off crappy berries and can't even catch a squirrell and Bear is making spears, and bows and fishing poles. thanks to him i know how to do all that if i get lost in the woods and get hungry. im not eating crappy berries im getting a rabbit and some fish. it's funny how people always say that Bear's show is fake cus he has cameraman. well just cus Les films it himself doesn't mean he's alone people. Is he filming straight through 7 days? do you watch an hour straight of uncut film? NO. will somebody tell me why Les is chubby for a guy that starves for a week at a time? anybody?
Justin
July 23, 2007 @ 10:57 PM
From the the London Times, July 24/2007
"TO LIVE up to his public image of a rugged, ex-SAS adventurer, it must have seemed essential for Bear Grylls to appear at ease sleeping rough and catching his own food in his television survival series.
But it has emerged that Grylls, 33, was enjoying a far more conventional form of comfort, retreating some nights from filming in mountains and on desert islands to nearby lodges and hotels.
Now Channel 4 has launched an investigation into whether Grylls, who has conquered Everest and the Arctic, deceived the public in his series Born Survivor.
The series, screened in March and April and watched by 1.4m viewers, built up Grylls’s credentials as a tough outdoorsman. In a question and answer session on Channel 4’s website, he recalls how station bosses pitched the venture to him stating: “We just drop you into a lot of different hellholes equipped with nothing, and you do what you have to do to survive.”
But an adviser to Born Survivor has disclosed that at one location where the adventurer claimed to be a “real life Robinson Crusoe” trapped on “a desert island”, he was actually on an outlying part of the Hawaiian archipelago and spent nights at a motel.
On another occasion in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains where he was filmed biting off the head of a snake for breakfast and struggling for survival “with just a water bottle, a cup and a flint for making fire”, he actually slept some nights with the crew in a lodge fitted with television and internet access. The Pines Resort at Bass Lake is advertised as “a cosy getaway for families” with blueberry pancakes for breakfast.
In one episode Grylls, son of the late Tory MP Sir Michael Grylls, was shown apparently building a Polynesian-style raft using only materials around him, including bamboo, hibiscus twine and palm leaves for a sail.
But according to Mark Weinert, an Oregon-based survival consultant brought in for the job, it was he who led the team that built the raft. It was then dismantled so that Grylls could be shown building it on camera.
In another episode viewers watched as Grylls tried to coax an apparently wild mustang into a lasso in the Sierra Nevada. “I’m in luck,” he told viewers, apparently coming across four wild horses grazing in a meadow. “A chance to use an old native American mode of transport comes my way. This is one of the few places in the whole of the US where horses still roam wild.”
In fact, Weinert said, the horses were not wild but were brought in by trailer from a nearby trekking station for the “choreographed” feature.
“If you really believe everything happens the way it is shown on TV, you are being a little bit naive,” he said.
Channel 4 confirmed that Grylls had used hotels during expeditions and has now asked Diverse, the Bristol-based production company that made the programme, to look into the other claims.
“We take any allegations of misleading our audiences seriously,” said a spokeswoman for the channel.
The latest suggestion that Channel 4 may have breached viewer trust comes as the broad-caster’s supervisory board prepares to issue new editorial guidelines to suppliers in order to stamp out alleged sharp practices that mislead viewers.
“Born Survivor is not an observational documentary series but a ‘how to’ guide to basic survival techniques in extreme environments,” the spokeswoman said.
“The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls’s experience is one of unaided solo survival.”
Nevertheless, the disclosure is likely to disappoint fans of the Eton-educated adventurer, who at the age of 23 became the youngest Briton to scale Everest. Just two years before that he had broken his back in three places after his parachute ripped during a military exercise.
On screen he has emerged as a natural performer, with stunts such as squeezing water from animal dung and sucking the fluid from fish eyeballs.
Grylls could not be contacted for comment this weekend as he was trekking in the Brecon Beacons with his four-year-old son."
No wonder Bear doesn't whine like Les! Anytime he wants a beer or a glass of champagne, he just gets one of the cameramen to open the bottle for him. Tough work, you British cock-up of an ex SAS chest beater! Now, what make of helicopter dropped you off on the top of Mt. Everest, you utter and complete fake?
And as for those TV viewers who thought Bear was really tough, I have an ex SAS fold-up version of London Bridge going cheap, you suckers.
wmba
July 24, 2007 @ 08:47 AM
Mitchell Fitzronaldson, you sound cleverly hunky. I would like to meet you and divulge in your intelligence. Tell me more about these magical lands and robocop pizzas you speak of.Oh, how I wish to go there. I personally like both shows, however, the guy who pronounces glacier "Glass-ie-er" annoys me.
Fish Bones
July 24, 2007 @ 09:20 PM
A fake? Bear is a fake? man he must have fooled the whole British government to become SAS. you know know that i think of it i dont really care who's whos is more real. all i know is that Bear teaches me a lot more than Les. I doubt is Bear is sleeping in lodges but if he is i dont really care beause he is still better than Les and would out last him in the wild.
wmba is full of crap. Bear earned his way into the hardest military training the British military has to offer. (im not saying it's better than the U.S.) Wow! Bear wasn't able to comment because he was with his son! what a bastard! wmba you're an idiot. Bear a fake? dude common really? is he using a stunt double? i dont think so. Bear is better than Les on any level. Special Air Service! top Bitish special ops! yea he's a fake.
Justin
July 24, 2007 @ 10:05 PM
Justin asked...
"do you think all those times he talks about people getting caught in the same situation he’s getting into he’s making it up? "
maybe not...however there seems to be quite a bit he has made up.
Justin stated...
" i love how Les lives off crappy berries and can’t even catch a squirrell and Bear is making spears, and bows and fishing poles"
it was also reported bear doesn't actually make some of the tools, huts, rafts, etc. he watched a crew of consultants make/build then disassemble the raft. on film he only had to lash together a few pre-cut logs with his pre-made twine.
Beeker
July 25, 2007 @ 11:33 AM
Yeah, I don't think anyone is saying Bear is a complete fake as a person- you don't like trip and fall and accidentally climb Mt Everest and become an SAS officer, but there is no doubt his show is a sham. And while he gives some good information about survival, when it comes to actually being alone in a real survival situation I'm with Les by not jumping off 60' cliffs into raging 40 degree rivers. It's just a little too over the top to be real no matter how cool he is.
RUKIDDING?
July 25, 2007 @ 06:59 PM
Ha, good stuff Mitchell.
check this out:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=3412744&page=1
dp
July 26, 2007 @ 09:32 AM
i dont care if MvW is fake...its good entertainment....id rather watch a guy eat a turtle and jump into ice water than watch a guy complain about camera gear all day
thats just my 5 cents
bearrox
July 26, 2007 @ 02:18 PM
I think both shows are bad. Bear always says the same thing in every episode, I always know when he's going to make a comment about someone that died in each place, it's getting old and boring already.
H2
July 27, 2007 @ 12:04 PM
In the episode where Les is lost in the snowy place. He has an ax in his plane, just answer one question how many planes do you know of carry ax's
karl
July 30, 2007 @ 11:36 PM
Man vs wild is still my favorite but i found it funny when he found the metal boat in alaska. The boat was in a GREEN grassy field. When he lifted up the boat the grass was green underneath the boat. If the boat had been there for any decent period of time the grass under the boat should have been yellow and dead. So clearly, the boat had been recently placed their for bear to "find". It is still a good show though.
dp
August 2, 2007 @ 08:05 AM
man vs wild wins hands down. Les sucks!!! all he ever does is sits there with his thumb up his ass bitching and moaning
karl
August 2, 2007 @ 10:10 PM
ok i read some of these comments and im sick and tired of all of you people thinking bear is any better. look we all know bear is getting help off set and none of you have the right to deny what is true. sure bear accomplished all of that on his own but les is a common musician! part of what les shows in many of his episodes is that an close to average person can do all that he does. and yah les complains sometimes but that is only because he is real! bear is most likely complaining 10 times more than les, its just off screen. and yah les gets picked up sometimes, and that is the aim of the show: to be REAL! REAL people get missing peoples reports filed by their friends and family. then, search parties are sent out. LES IS REAL. for all you people know bear could be filming what he says is an hour in multiple months. its simply in increments.
nick strick
August 4, 2007 @ 11:11 AM
Both guys are good outdoorsman. The comments from some of you people don't make any sense. Did you actually watch the shows? Survivorman has more integrity and less fluff than MvW. Baer takes chances that a normal hiker shouln't. Also, Baer cheats on almost every episode. He admits it. When he floated down the river, he had a life jacket on. He doesn't carry his own camera equipment. The wild horses were flown in. He's been spotted staying in hotels when he's supposed to have been out in the wild. There's more....but you get the point. MvW is totally staged, but if it entertains you, so be it.
P-diddy
August 5, 2007 @ 08:18 PM
Bear would kick les's ass im afraid. Discovery channel made him wear a lifejacket when going down the rapids. It doesnt take away from the legitamacy of his ideas one bit. Man Vs. Wild is hands down a better survival show. And i am willing to bet Les has a way of contacting help if he runs into trouble. Guaronteed.
d train
August 6, 2007 @ 05:30 PM
ps. he climbed everest. and crossed the pacific ON HIS OWN. if his contract said no camera crew im sure he would care less.
d train
August 6, 2007 @ 05:33 PM
I cant stand Survivorman. If it isn't boring the hell out of me it's making me laugh watching Les pathetically trying to survive. I forced myself to watch a couple episodes to see why people think he is so great and the ultimate outdoorsman. But after watching him for a couple hours (it was a marathon) i came to the conclusion that this man isn't anymore capable of surviving in the wilderness than i am.
Every episode i watched consisted of him almost starving to death by the end of a week. most of the time all he eats are scraps that he is given or bite size berries and other little plants. one episode he was actually trying to catch a seal and then later after he failed he put a seal bone with meat on it (which he was given) on top of his makeshift igloo hoping to catch a bird in his bare hands to eat. I laughed out loud at that one! he was later saved that episode by a native with a dogsled team and food. (he was 2 days away from town by dogsled and faint with hunger).
Les is not a "survivorman" and and anyone who wants to argue can go watch an episode where he barely beats starvation after a week. I laughed again after two back to back shows he says almost the same exact line. he kept saying that this place and that place was my hardest time yet. (he was in the woods full of plants and animals when he said it one time). HE DISPLAYS A PATHETIC ATTEMPT AT SURVIVAL FOR A MAN WHO HAS IS OWN TV SHOW ON THE SUBJECT.
Now for Bear. So many say that Bear cheats and stays in hotels and has help and does this and that. A couple of you guys whined that Bear had a life jacket on when he jumped into rapids. (Les wouldnt wade across a waist deep river in one episode.) Does anyone know what the SAS is? It is Britains premiere special forces outfit. Equivilant to many of the U.S. special forces. You all must know by known that bear is a SAS veteran and still in the reserves. (He is only doing tv because he broke his back in a parachuting accident.) Does anyone want to tell me that he had a camera crew and a life jacket during the hardest training the British military has to offer? You idiots think he was staying in luxurious hotels while the rest were rolling in the mud and jumping out of airplanes? Maybe he made a quick stop at a Holiday Inn while on his way up Everest.
I dont give a flying freak if the man gets a life jacket or is given a candy bar by the camera crew, he is tougher and smarter and has more balls than anyone in this room who has the nerve to insult him. The shows are a walk in the park compared to the training he did and the operations he could had done that we will never know about. He doesnt even need the money!!! His father was a knight and they own their own island. He is doing this because he wants to. Stop with your girly tabloid gossip and think logically. He is given is trusty knife, a canteen and a flint and he survives on that and his training to get him over miles and miles of wild terrain. (Les usually stays in the same area most of the week.)
I have learned more of what to do from Bear and what not to waste calories on from Les. Anyone who thinks Les could survive longer in the wild than Bear is a fool. Bear has years of survival training from one of the worlds elite special forces and Les is a "musician" with a harmonica. One show is exciting and dangerous to teach you and the other shows a man struggling in the wild for a week on a couple berries. I dont care if the commando gets s camera crew while he scales cliffs and dives into raging rivers. The point of the show is to educate while entertaining and the one does that while the other bores you and shows you how you can't make a fire.
Justin
August 8, 2007 @ 11:27 PM
Justin, you are a joke. Why are you talking about the SAS and Everest? The discussion is on which show better shows you how to survive. It doesn't matter what Edward "Bear" Grylls did in the past. Stay in the present man.
Now, let's talk about what these guys are doing in the present. Les is SURVIVING, on his own, for seven days. He does what he says. Each show is packed full of survival trips and tricks. Les shows you how to minimize your caloric output while finding food, building fires, and making shelters. If you have a limited amount of food, you have to conserve energy like Les does, not expend it wildly like Ed.
Ed, on the other hand, goes into the wild with a camera crew constantly assisting him - and lies about it. When the going gets too tough, he stays in a comfy hotel. Sure, he does some pretty badass stuff - but its not the kind of stuff you'll learn from any real life survival expert. His show depicts a false reality of a badass conquering the wilderness. Yeah, it's entertaining, I enjoy it, but it doesn't teach you how to survive in the wilderness. Everything about his show is changed to make it more entertaining to people with small attention spans. Even his name, Edward, is changed to "Bear" to make him seem cooler.
If you want to spend time talking about your man-crush on Ed, go somewhere else. That's not the discussion at hand.
ac patriot
August 9, 2007 @ 05:12 PM
i believe i did talk about the topic ac patriot. if you were paying attention you would know that. Les is not succesfully surviving he is struggling in the wild for a week and barely making it out alive. Are you watching the same show i am. he burns more calories failing at stupid attempts to find food and make shelter. i dont think he ever gets more than 500 calories in him after a week and he is burning thousands in his failed attempts. this man cannot survive in the same place for anymore than a week. I really dont understand where your getting these thoughts that he is a born survivor. Why is he always starving and barely able to stand after half the episodes. thats not what i call a survivorman. I actually LEARN from Bear, something i dont get from Les. Im sick and tired of you people saying he is cheating. You bring me actual proof that he is staying in hotels and getting help. anything a picture a documnet something. give me proof! and ill back off. Bear succesfuly shows you how to make shelters and where you can find them. he shows you how you can make equiptment to actually catch REAL food. (as in meat not little berries). and he shows you what plants are good to eat and what they can be used for. Hes not telling you to jump into raging rivers and wade through quick sand. He does it to explain to you how you can do it and SURVIVE through it if it is absolutely neccessary. oh and the name "Bear" probably came from his old SAS buddies. try him in hand to hand combat and you might find out why they call him Bear.
Justin
August 9, 2007 @ 09:06 PM
Les, by far is the winner, and although im not going to be putting a huge paragraph here, I just think Bear gets off with some things, a little easily, like finding a shovel and a rowboat, or finding a rope leading to no where, that magically brought him to a village....
I've only watched a few mins of MvW, but the parts that I saw, Bear was doing some needless stuff, just to do it. If you are stranded, somewhere you do not know, I'm guessing your not going to climb a tree, just to do it. Also, I've seen the guy, take parts of a zebra, and put it in his pocket, then walk past some hungry lions. Now, not saying that lions are going to molest him in his sleep, having dead, rotting flesh in your pocket, and not getting out of the wild that day, Im guessing your goign to wake up with something in your pocket that you did not put there, usally, the mouth of something.
Les, does all of his camera stuff, all of it. Sure he complains about it, but who wouldnt? I mean, he makes a valid point reminding everyone that he has to go pick up all the cameras he left because of the cool shot he wanted. Les, to some of you might be a sissy, but he carries his gear, is left with the bare essentials, and teaches how to stay in one spot if your lost, so you can get your bearing and the strength to get to where you are going..
Lets see bear in alaska, or you know, a boat in the middle of the ocean, although I'm sure the Camera Cruise would be right of the Stern of the ship.
Zach DeNardi
August 10, 2007 @ 08:49 PM
The title 'Survivorman' is a little misleading. I expected to see a bushcraft expert. Someone who could be dropped in the middle of nowhere and not just survive but thrive off the land. To be able to live there comfortably and indefinitely, demonstrating all the techniques needed to survive. Concentrating on the smaller finer points of bushcraft survival, the stuff Man vs wild doesn't have time to focus on.
What I actually viewed was what appeared to be your typical everyday lost american tourist (I know he's Canadian but american sounds more insulting) who was struggling with the simplest of tasks showing complete and total incompetence in the field of survival or bushcraft. The guy cant even make a decent shelter, I mean come on, its one of the first topics you study in order to learn survival/ bush techniques. And for someone who basically goes camping for seven days in the same spot, you would think he would be good at making a shelter at least.
I think the guy will have a far more successful career behind the camera rather than in front.
Maybe if he asks Bear Grylls nicely he might let him be one of his camera men... Think Les might need to get in shape a bit before they'll actually consider him though.
Andy
August 11, 2007 @ 11:38 AM
zach the rowboat leaked, and he had to swim to an iceberg and climb out. he almost died because of this convenience. you are a moron.
d train
August 11, 2007 @ 11:50 AM
He almost died? Wow, im sure the Camera crew didnt have some sort of long cable like substance that they could have thrown in at him, some sort of black cable, that might go into cameras....
Yep "D Train" I'm an idiot, I mean, it must be fate, him 'stranded' in the wilderness to happen to stumble over a rowboat and wouldn't you know it, it leaked...
Thank God Bear is like Chuck Norris, and he could walk on the water.....
....idiot.
Zach DeNardi
August 11, 2007 @ 01:06 PM
Zach..... What a F**king idiot!!!!!!
Even if they did have a rope they could throw the guy, whats that going do? stop him from drowning?....
You honestly think the SAS would recruit somebody that couldn't swim?
Have you ever swam in freezing water? have you ever heard of hypothermia?
In those kinda conditions you cant keep you c*ck outer your pants for more than a minute to pee or it'll freeze off!
Do you even know what it takes to join the SAS???
They train around 200 recruits from various military backgrounds, and I don't mean just any recruits, these guys have to be the elite of their chosen field of expertise, and have to of proven their skills in combat on more than one occasion.
From these 200 only 2 - 4 people will actually make it.
They have the toughest training regime in the world... Fact!
One of the tests they do is as follows: -
One man is sent out into the countryside with a half hour head start wearing baggy pants, boots with laces and a waterproof jacket. He is then pursued by an entire army consisting of TA, choppers and dogs. The TA are equipped with night-vision goggles, infra-red and heat detectors as well as the choppers. The goal is for the recruit to try and evade the army for 7 days surviving off the land only using those items of clothing (no knife, flint nor any food or water) once he is caught or after he has evaded them, his reward is.....
7 days of torture!!!!!!
I don't just mean torture, I mean real torture. They need to know that he can handle any form of torture that the Iraqi's or anyone else can deliver. The army are taught to hate the SAS guy they have captured, pure hate, just as though the enemy had captured them.
If you make it into the SAS, you train 7 days a week 364 days a year.
They get Xmas off, how nice.
This training consists of the killing house...... I don't want to go into to much detail, but you can probably research this on the net. (it's live ammo training in a combat house, training to master the art of confusion to distract the enemy)
It was an American-British SAS officer that went back to america who started the american spec-ops.
Since the americans witnessed the Iranian Embassy siege in the 80's they have relied on the SAS to help train their own spec-ops and both country's often hold demonstrations of their technique and skill and share training secrets.
As was once said by the fictional character Colonel Samuel Trautman in 'Rambo; First Blood'
"an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke" - the same can be said for Bear Grylls..... Badass!
Don't be fooled, thugs and 'hard' men can't cut the SAS, it brakes them down into maggots. The people capable of passing SAS training are the soundest and most down to earth level headed people you can meet.
Andy
August 11, 2007 @ 06:35 PM
Lmao, I just saw one of your above comments....
"I'd like to see Bear in Alaska" - Done, Watch it you might learn something.
"I'd like to see Bear in a boat in the ocean" Hahaha, He was dropped into the ocean WITHOUT a boat and showed viewers how to survive, not only this but then how to make it onto a cliff face from the crashing waves and tretious currents, then survived on the island un till he could actually live their indefinitely..... but what if you couldn't? well then he shows how to make a sea worthy raft and how to survive on the raft.....
Then you watch Les string 3 logs together and try to stand on them.... only to fall off. What a joke.
Perhaps you should actually watch the show before you start running your mouth!
Andy
August 11, 2007 @ 06:52 PM
Lmao, I just saw one of your above comments....
"I'd like to see Bear in Alaska" - Done, Watch it you might learn something.
"I'd like to see Bear in a boat in the ocean" Hahaha, He was dropped into the ocean WITHOUT a boat and showed viewers how to survive, not only this but then how to make it onto a cliff face from the crashing waves and currents, then survived on the island until he could actually live their indefinitely..... but what if you couldn't? well then he shows how to make a sea worthy raft and how to survive on the raft.....
Then you watch Les string 3 logs together and try to stand on them.... only to fall off. What a joke.
Perhaps you should actually watch the show before you start running your mouth!
Andy
August 11, 2007 @ 06:54 PM
Wait, wait wait...
Bear was in the ocean, really?
Tell me, how...did...they film it?
I mean, was the Camera Crew...like, just using a really good zoom from the Island,
or, maybe they...were on a boat..
Huh.
Damn Magical Camera Crews and they're magical ways of magic.
Zach DeNardi
August 11, 2007 @ 08:26 PM
And Andy.
Im not saying that the guy couldnt swim, I'm just saying that I really Seriously doubt that the camera crew would go "Shit, this guy is drowning, but wait a min. can't intervene due to the reality of the show.
So calm down, I never knocked the SAS and the way the can kill someone with a spoon and dental floss, just saying out of the shows, Les's is better, without a Camerea Crew, it has to be, (not maybe, not kinda) harder. Bear could be all badass as he wants to, he could even be Chuck Norris, he still has his own, personal, magical camera crew.
Zach DeNardi
August 11, 2007 @ 08:31 PM
You Les lovers are a joke! the only arguement any of you guys use is that Les films by himself so he must be a badass! hey i could film myself hiking through my woods too i must be a badass! oh guys and guess what. Les is not stranded by himself to die if something goes wrong. he has a way to communicate with his crew to get him out if he cant take it. he even said so in one of the desert episodes. i beleive his words were something like "if this gets much worse i might have to call this off" .how can he call it off if he's all by himself? obviously he isnt stranded with no help. oh and why does Les get a bunch of equiptment to use when Bear has almost nothing. just his knife, canteen and flint. how is Les so cool Zach? he is near death after the end of every episode. the man is not even in shape for that show im waiting for him to have a heart attack. again the only arguement you have that Les is better is cus he films it himself and you idiots are all conviced that the SAS vet is getting help because there is a guy filming him. get a better argement or some proof. which nobody had might i add or the show would have been off the air by now. oh and good SAS info Andy. personally i like Navy SEALs better and think they have harder training but its close. they should get a retired SEAL to do a survival show that would be cool. but i bet Zach and everbody else in here would say he was cheating somehow.
Justin
August 11, 2007 @ 11:19 PM
No... it's not magic Zach, are you ready for this? ....
They where swimming with Bear. That's right Zach, Bears camera crew are capable of swimming in the ocean and filming at the same time. I wish the same could be said for Les....
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Les's camera abilities, he is very good with the camera and I'm sure if he got eaten by a bear (no pun intended) or staved to death, he will of caught it all on film, and probably from a good angle to.
Now then, lets forget the whole camera issue, because at the end of the day this is a show on survival rather than a documentary on how to film yourself.
Lets take a look at Les's 'survival'.
Now we all know that Les uses tamer locations, mainly flat ground with an abundance of water and wildlife, but this is probably because he has to film himself. Yet still he struggles and goes day's without food, and tries to survive from eating a couple of berries here and there.
How long could Les survive like this... I mean sure it worked in the sense that he's sill alive, but what if he was out there for more than a week, what if he was marooned for a month.
Trap making.
Yes we've all seen Les try to set a trap for animals, but how many times have these trap's worked? Do you ever get the impression that he just watched one of these being made on TV and tried to copy it? He never seems to be confident in what he's doing, it's like its the first time he's actually tried it before. Now the only successful trap I've seen him make is when he caught that turtle from making an 'm' shape out of sticks in the water, which wasn't actually a trap for a turtle as it could of just turned round from the way it came in, from the beach. Now whats to stop Les from just picking the turtle up from somewhere else and putting it in his trap! oh wait, silly me, Les films himself, he can't possibly be cheating...
Ok so he's 'caught' his turtle. What does he do with it? he chucks it away, yes thats right. He eats its legs and throws the rest away.
Now if he had watched Bear Grylls he would know exactly how to cook a turtle and open the shell.
Who saw Les try to make a deadfall trap? (the one that took 30-40 attempts)
He was like a small child, pathetic.
At the end of it all he forgot to put the food on the stick so it didn't work. Now apart from common sense with it being the main point to the whole exercise, it should of been instinctive to put the food on first.
And why after say the 5th attempt did he not try to make a different deadfall trap, he kept trying the same one over and over. There is more than one way of making similar deadfall traps, maybe if he was a true survival man he would know these.
Now one of the worst thing's that can happen in a survival situation apart from injury/death is loosing your moral, it is vital to maintain this in order to stay alive. How long before Les starts moaning, he's the kind of person you meet who is always too cold, then when you flick the heating on.. yup you guessed it, he's too hot.
5 min's into day one and he's already winging and moaning. Not the kinda guy you want to go camping with. I suppose he would be helpful with survival, in the sense that I could eat him to aid my own survival.
Hi Justin, yeah man Navy SEAL's kick ass. I have the utmost respect for anybody that can pass any form of Spec-ops training as words cannot describe how tough that must be. And the mental discipline required must be immense.
I'd love to see Les try to 'survive' the regular army.
Andy
August 12, 2007 @ 06:00 AM
Face facts, Les would gut Bear like a fish with his Leatherman Wave Multi-Tool, $69.99 at Sports Authority.
Oh, Andy, relax.
Rick
August 13, 2007 @ 07:39 AM
I think that both shows r good, but if they were to fight bear would crush les.
newyorkcityboy
August 13, 2007 @ 01:29 PM
im with ny city boy.
d train
August 13, 2007 @ 03:20 PM
Wasn't it recently discovered that Bear had been staying in hotels during his "wilderness survival"? Like his behavior on the show didn't obliterate his credibility. From what I've seen, he's a showman, not a survivalist. Meh.
Les Stroud is out there by himself and shows safe, rational ways to survive. And he doesn't mind allowing the public to see when it doesn't work out exactly as planned, just like in a real survival situation. HE'S the real deal.
If it came down to who would actually survive in the wild - which, as I understand, is the actual premise of their shows - it would definitely be Les Stroud. Who cares which of them would kick the other's butt? Bear wouldn't live long enough to get the chance.
Jill
August 16, 2007 @ 02:01 PM
Thank you Jill
Zach DeNardi
August 16, 2007 @ 02:13 PM
yea Bear is a fake and he does cheat on his show but he is still better then les. i just saw the eposide of surviorman were he goes to the amazon. he gets foot fungis and keeps on saying that he might have to "call it off" and its not losing a foot over. then 3 cameras break down so he goes to an abandoned shelter that the producers told him about. then a jaguar spots him so he runs to an amazon village that he was told about. the amazon people treat his fungis gave him food and protected him from the animals. i thought he was suposed to do all those things. not one time did he catch any food other then 2small shrimp even though he tried. les is no survior he would die if he was left in the wild for more then a week. he never catches nothin, sometimes he will nibble at some berries, mushrooms or some other dumb shit that has no nutrients or calories.by the end of the show he can hardly stand then gets rescued.
on the other hand bear drinks piss and rotten zebra meat that he finds prolly cause they give him a shit load of anti parasite medicine and anti biotics but they both teach dumb shit. i remeber bear said it was safe to drink piss and les said that piss had toxins and wasnt safe to drink. anyways neither of them show how to survive good.
bear would destroy les in a fight
newyorkcityboy
August 19, 2007 @ 07:41 PM
I looked at a couple pages of this forum and some things people say are as stupid as they come. "Les a sissy" ... You try lugging around 50 pounds of camera equipment while trying to survive. I dont care if you dont like the show, but at least show some intelligence.
Personally, I enjoy watching survivorman more. M versus W is entertaining, but I can watch shows far more entertaining with actual wit and cleverness. All Bear does is Jackass skits like getting water from poo. Survivorman is a perfect show for a wednesday night after work when you want to relax. He gives very helpful tips.
Unfortunately, shows like man versus wild are forcing survivorman to be stuck in even more extreme locations. Like Kalahari desert: where its gets to 140 degrees F.
hunt
August 22, 2007 @ 03:31 PM
I love how people insult each other on the internet rather than just getting their point across in a friendly manner...
I LOVE both shows. Bear is much more of a bad ass, but since I am not, I can relate to Les better. The stuff that Bear does would require a lot of energy. Being stranded for so long using as much energy as he does, one would die. I mean, eventually your body would start eatting away at your fat and then muscle. Les just shows how to conserve energy better than Bear does. However, Bear is more of a risk taker. So he shows you how to get out of the more severe situations that one attempting to survive would come across.
I like that Les is common like me and shows me a simpler, less bad ass version of how to survive (and yes, complain, just like I would). But I also like that Bear is the bad ass that he is and shows me how to be a bad ass if I needed too.
Can't we all just get along and appreciate these shows for what they are? One man who has no camera crew who whines and doesn't really show you how to get out of an intense situation, (like a lot of us would) and the other who has a camera crew and shows you how to get out of the intense situations, and of course is a total bad ass in "real" life.
iwannawookie
August 23, 2007 @ 10:21 PM
Okay; once and for all... Les Stroud couldn't survive in a KOA! He is the biggest crying whimp! In his last two shows he didn't make it. The one in the jungle he gets trench foot. It shows him pouring water from his boots. I'm here to tell you that you don't wear boots in the jungle! You wear self bailing type footwear and no socks. At the begining of the show, his whole idea, it says; "No food, no water, no shelter". He stayed in a pole barn! In the desert he had 5 gal. of water, PB&J and a hugh egg! And a piece of chocolate in his pocket that didn't melt in the desert heat! Yes, Bear Grylls is not 100% real just like Les is not. But Bear does more in an hour then Les does in 5 days. No, he doesn't stay 7. The first day is almost over when he starts, and he's done early on the 7th. I could go on. But the bottom line is ... he's a whining, out of shape, fake, un-professional boring guy who sold his show only because he is a cameraman and it costs less that way. He would have died in almost all his excurtions without help. For survial info. Bear and Les are useless. For entertainment Bear is great. For whinning and stupidity, Les rules!
Tom "Grizzly" Adam
August 24, 2007 @ 07:39 PM
I think you should look at it from both ways. Let's take into account that Les has NO food. For a week. Bear does one "bad ass" thing and then drinks a beer. Les films himself and carries his gear everywhere he goes. Bear has a film crew, and probably does many takes and and has many chances to do the "bad ass" things that he does. I think Les could do what Bear does, but could Bear do what Les does? Take the Amazon show. I think Bear, being more fit, would be better for the first few days. Les, having more fat, would survive longer. Lets not forget that Les does endurance racing and knows how to conserve energy. He also probably eats 6,000 calories a day before he films. They would both have to research the location or would most certainly die in 2 days or less. If Bear did some of the "bad ass" stupid shit on most of his shows in real time in real life in the Amazon he would die. Plain and simple. He doesn't have the chance to set up the "bad ass" thing he's about to do. He doesn't have a someone to film him doing it. Sure, Bear could do some crazy shit where he hunts down a monkey in a tree, but would probably get bit or stung by all kinds of shit along the way and most likely die or become painfully incapacitated. But would that be a practical thing to do to survive a week in the Amazon? Now comes the energy part. Les takes him hands down. Even if Bear slept the whole week Les would still be alive and moving with more energy because of his metabolism. I'd like to see what happens when Bear goes without water for 2 days or food for 4. Les could do the same thing Bear does, but it would be much less entertaining because of his personality. And he hasn't climbed Everest (or maybe he has) or been in the SAS, so he definitely wouldn't be more "bad ass." So it comes down to practicality and entertainment. If your plane goes down in the arctic forest (or wherever that one is), it probably would have an ax in it because people who fly there and live there use shit like that. You could use the things you have to get by. If your plane goes down and you decide to take a swim and slide down a rock face that would be cool as hell. But then what? Oh, lets do another fun thing after that and eat a fish out of the stream. I wonder how he found it or even how long or how many takes it took him to get it. But when Les can't find a fish it's because there aren't any. I'm almost pissed off about how you people go on about how he complains and this and that and then get trench foot or has to end the show early because of a jaguar. In Bear's world, he can do a take and sit on his ass (and probably complain off camera) and then sit on his ass while his feet dry and then edit out the part where he has to run from the jaguar. Bear DOES give you little tips and shows you cool shit that you could do. Once. And then starve to death or get your ass killed. Or maybe dig out a hole in the snow to sleep in. You really think he sleeps in that? Watch Les do it for real and see how it is. His show is fun to watch, but it's just plain stupidity if you actually consider using what he does to survive for a week or longer. But he never says that's the aim of his show. On another note, I just watched the Survivorman with the sled dogs and they have to take him and his safety crew out by helicopter because of the slush. But what happened to the dogs after he let them go? If they couldn't make it out on snowmobiles then those dogs are screwed. And they probably would have killed each other anyway. So I'm hoping someone was ahead of him on the trail to pick them up. But he never said anything about them, so I'm curious to know what happened.
Reality
August 24, 2007 @ 11:20 PM
i think you all are looking at it wrong.
sure Les is a baby and whines,
and sure Bear stays in hotels, and what not.
but the point in actual survival is don't follow what either of them is doing,
Les does dangerous things too all the time, like when he ate mushrooms/berries, many mushrooms/berries are highly toxic, some killing by touch(secretions produced), and most have no nutritional value, at most very hardly any value. Unless you know what you're doing it is unwise to eat mushrooms at all. Many Les's traps/shelters suck nuts, and are very dangerous to your health in the long run( i.e storm comes shelter breaks, you're screwed). But then the argument comes up, "he does it himself", how do we know that, just because there's no camera crew? He probably does have a safety team right behind him, with just very careful editing poof they're gone.
But Bear is no exception, sure he shows the extremes but i would never ever jump off a waterfall, climb sheer faces of rock, even for fun with emts standing by. that is probably the quickest way to kill yourself. This has nothing to do with hotels after wards or anything, its what he shows on screen. "but he is shown how to assemble breforehand". Well yes he is, but everyone kinda has to before they can do it, its just called training to some people. But still squeezing water out of dung is also highly dangerous, all sorts of bacteria run amuck in the water.
i am not biased towards Bear, its just that everyone defends for Les so hard (even close friends) when they have no understanding of survival, and wont listen to reason, just for the fact that running your own cameras makes you "tough".
Han Y.
August 25, 2007 @ 11:10 PM
im going to try and stay neutral for this guys and look at each guy.
Les:
where does Les get his survival training from? did he get it from books? was he taught by instructors? or did he make it up by himself?
forget about Bear for a minute. only Les and his show for right now. listen for a minute Les supporters.
how long do you think the average man could survive on the type of food and the amount of food the Les normally finds on his shows? usually meaning berries, mushrooms small plants etc. meat is rarely available in his diet which he desperately needs in his kinds of situations. vegetarians might not need that energy source but then they arent burning the energy and starving like him. a man is not going to survive for over a week on the foods he eats during that week. not enough nutrients or energy in any of that food that he normally gets is going to keep him alive longer than 2 weeks or indefinetly. i hope the people he is teaching dont get lost longer than a week because they will quickly wither and die trying to survive on that food. most of the time at the end of the week he is exhuasted and suffering from malnutrition. this is something that Les supporters cannot debate because it is widely seen by all viewers. that is more fact that opinion. now i said most shows not all he is like that but most. if he is like that after 7 days what about 14 days? think about that.
once again. how long do you all think a man could survive on the type and amount of food Les usually eats in his usually week?
Bear:
Bear is in peak physical condition. (something that Les is not. again that is more fact than opinion. just look at him shirtless. im sorry Les guys but its true and you have seen it.) Bear was trained in survival techniques by the SAS. (Britains best special forces). this means he has been taught literally by the best in the world and most of his teachings probably come from that. i think following Bears teachings would keep you alive if you are the physically fit hiker, cyclist, camper, explorer etc. his show is for the people that are trying to find a way out and not for those who are going to try to wait for help. (which might not come in time). so if you have the drive and the conditioning like Bear does you could cross the rivers, climb the cliffs and hike your way out.
now i dont know if Bear is really cheating or not. (getting help, getting food or staying in hotels) but the teaching could work either way. he does manage to catch more nutritious food also. fish, small animals etc.
in the end if your hoping to be saved by the end of a week you could go with Les. but nobody at all knows where you are and you know you wont be found until its too late and u wana get the hell out of there and your in good shape to do than i would go with Bears style.
Justin
August 26, 2007 @ 08:41 PM
Overall, Bear is physically fit, adventurous and capable. He knows his stuff and I do not doubt that he can handle any of the survival situations we have seen him in... But his show is 1) Not a show about survival... 2) Is actually filled with poor survival advice 3) Filled with contrived set-up shots for dramatic effect.
If you are looking for pure entertainment, and don't mind being lied to for its sake... this show is probably for you. If you really want to learn how to survive while lost in a situation that you, a regular joe, might encounter (camping/hiking/skiing/etc) Bear's show is not for you.
The bad advice: Bear has told you to drink our own urine (full of toxins)... he advised drinking moisture from elephant dung (saturated with disease causing bacteria)... he advised drifting down river in cold high altitude climates (the fast track to hypothermia)... he heads out at a brisk pace to "get out" and does not advise about the time that it takes to prepare food and shelter (he runs and jumps and clmbs then just settles in for a cozy night next to the fire, which could take hours to light and gather enough wood for in order to get through the night, not to mention preparing a shelter/bedding at all... plus, you can further you dilema by heading farther from rescue and/or civilization by just "going" as he does).
Bottomline, surviving for 7 days (even if you are in a weakened and malnurished state) is generally more than enough to be found by search parties (if you were indeed merely camping/hiking/skiing), or even to move at a more diliberate, safer pace through environments... This is not castaway with Tom Hanks, where you need years of survival... and survival experts will tell you, you can die from exposure and dehydration in just days (even a single night). Bear is not doing anyone favors with his advice... and is actually harming us with his poor advice (drinking urine, and floating along in a rapid... are you serious???).
Really, taking so many risks like repelling water-falls, climbing sheer rock faces, swimming under log-jams ("not knowing" if there is an openning on the other side), jumping into a white-water rapid are all highly ill-advised... don't take my word for it, read a book or talk to an expert on survival.
Overall, Man vs. Wild is about the adventurous things that Bear can do. It is not about the best survival tips and advice for you...
August 27, 2007 @ 02:03 PM
Justin... are you going to drink urine (full of toxins), squeeze elephant dung for moisture (staurated with disease causing bacteria), jump into a white-water rapid, repell a water-fall, swim under a log-jam not knowing if there is an openning???
Bear's advice is not just wrong, it could cost you your life... However, If you are looking pure adventurous entertainment, and do not mind being lied to for the sake of the enterainment, then Bear is for you...
Gerenally speaking, most campers/hikers/skiiers/mountain-bikers, etc will be in an area where a search and rescue will take place... Surving for 7 days (even in a weakened state) would be more than enough time... Not to mention, the 7 day survial approach would allow you to move at a more deliberate, safer pace (without tooling along in a river at high altitudes, just asking for hypothermia).
Not to mention, how many times have we seen Bear running, juming, climbing with little to know preparation for fire (collecting enough wood for the night), building shelter, etc. A coule of nights of exposure and you would be dead... Bear's way would get people killed (just ask those lost skiiers who needed their dog to lay on them to survive). Don't take my word for it... Go read a survival book or talk with real survival experts (drinking your own urine, indeed).
August 27, 2007 @ 02:17 PM
actually Rich the whole drinking urine thing can be debated all day because of sketchy details on if it can help you survive. people are advised not to because of toxins and salt but others debate that it may help first time around because of less concentrations of salt and toxins and more water. but doing it multiple times is bad. so like i said people are constantly debating that theory so maybe you shouldnt take such an attitude about that.
now smart guy you're talking about Bear lying and being misleading right? how can you have a tv show called "Survivorman" when the host can barely survive it for a week. i cant figure out why this "expert" cant teach me how to survive out in the wilderness for longer than a week. a real pro would know how to survive off the land indefinetly! ill say the desert and maybe the frozen tundra are exeptions to indefinite survival but the forests? you just admitted that people will usually get picked up within 7 days. so is that the excuse for not trying to survive better. shouldnt the host be able to show me how to survive in case im stuck out there longer? what if it is longer than 7 days. if im lost for longer than a week i might as well been watching cartoons that whole time cus im gona be screwed.
you said that Les's 7 day survival approach will help me move on to a safer place later. how can i do that when im too weak and malnurished to get very far? (like Les usually is). say what you want about Bear but Les could not survive in the wild indefinetly like a true expert would. you know what, put Les out in just the regular woods for 2 to 3 weeks instead of 7 days and let me see whats left of him afterwards. because if he looks as bad as he does after a regular 7 days in the woods than there's a good chance he actually might not make it after 3 weeks.
Justin
August 28, 2007 @ 09:42 PM
Justin, there is no just thing as a "pro survivor man" that can live off the land forever. That's only for books and people that are born into native tribes. Les and his wife spent a year in the remote Wabakimi area of Ontario for their honeymoon. Survivorman is about a normal guy who gets stranded and has to survive long enough to be rescued or find civilization. Man vs Wild is about a guy trying to conquer the wild.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j_LkdCt2P8
That video is a good comparison. Les will teach you how to stay alive while "Bear" will entertain you by drinking his own unfiltered piss and calling it safe.
archcoder
August 30, 2007 @ 01:46 PM
I think Bear Grylls is a better at survivng than Les Stroud.les takes energy bars, axe, and survival blanket.But on the other hand Les is by himself with no film crew.that is my comments.
betty
August 30, 2007 @ 04:19 PM
Survivorman is much better than man vs wild.
why?
HE SPENDS HIS NIGHTS AT A HOTEL! WITH INTERNET ACCESS! so for all of u nit wits who think MVW is better than survivor man, ur a dumb-ass,
your probably wonderin how i know this,
in google search , "man vs wild is fake" for more fakes in MVW.
peace out, P.S, les knows more about survival
August 31, 2007 @ 11:12 AM
i think les is better than bear, and betty, if u think bear is better at surviving, then why not in gogle search man vs wild is fake, for loads of cheats that he uses.
P.S, he spends his nights at a hotel!!!!!!!!! with internet access!!!!!
August 31, 2007 @ 06:34 PM
I happen to enjoy both shows tremendously. But I was always suspicious about MvW because for having a camera crew, some shots were off. The Ecuador Ep. where he caught pirahnahs comes to mind. They never showed him actually catching one. And as far as him "cheating". It is very relevant. I feel mislead. Now I view his show like it is Worst Case Scenario where they dramatize life or death situations. To appreciate Survivorman you have to mentally understand what it is he is going through. Being alone for 7 days in a house is difficult. Imagine being in a strange place with little to no conveniences, plus having a job to do. You know what, i might be grumpy and do nothing for long periods of time as well. He is not there to show us what an expert would do and make it easy, because it isn't. He is there to show us the experience in the truest form i have seen yet. Both entertain me, but for totally different reasons.
Edwin M.
August 31, 2007 @ 09:25 PM
One more thing, I never once heard Les claim to be an expert. I may be wrong. He seems to come forth as an average person, with survival knowledge, but not expertise. And he does survive, whether it be by calling in the troops or lasting the 7 days. I just cannot imagine someone being stranded alone with hardly anything being energetic after 7 days in the wild, especially the desert or arctic.
Edwin M.
August 31, 2007 @ 09:29 PM
I really enjoy both shows and each is different and unique in it's approach to the topic of survival. I don't think one is better than the other, and both are very entertaining.
What I like about "Survivorman" is the stark realism of the show, and the fact that he is truly struggling alone in each episode. Sometimes you can hear the fear and frustration in Les' voice, as he tries to get thru another uncomfortable survival situation.
Bear, on the other hand, always seems cool and confident. His encyclopedic knowlege of survival skills is quite impressive. His show is really an outdoor classroom set in different locals. Each episode has a simple and consistent theme- survive and get yourself back to civilization and help.
Both men have "cojones" and deserve praise for offering very informative and realistic survival shows.
Mike
PS: Any man that is willing to squeeze "elephant crap" to get a few drops of "liquid" to survive on, is more a man than I will ever be. Go Bear!
MichaelJohn63
September 1, 2007 @ 02:20 AM
I really enjoy both shows and each is different and unique in its approach to the topic of survival. I don't think one is better than the other, and both are very entertaining.
What I like about "Survivorman" is the stark realism of the show, and the fact that he is truly struggling alone in each episode. Sometimes you can hear the fear and frustration in Les' voice, as he tries to get thru another uncomfortable survival situation.
Bear, on the other hand, always seems cool and confident. His encyclopedic knowledge of survival skills is quite impressive. His show is really an outdoor classroom set in different locals. Each episode has a simple and consistent theme- survive and get yourself back to civilization and help.
Both men have "cojones" and deserve praise for offering very informative and realistic survival shows.
Mike
PS: Any man that is willing to squeeze "elephant crap" to get a few drops of "liquid" to survive on is more a man than I will ever be. Go Bear!
MichaelJohn
September 1, 2007 @ 02:36 AM
Mike, I see what you are saying, but at the same time the fact that he is not squeezing the "elephant crap" for survival takes away some of the emphasis. He is shooting scenes as in a movie, it is not survival. It doesnt take away from the fact that it is a very hardcore thing to do. However, if he did it bc he had to would make it so much more effective.
Edwin M.
September 1, 2007 @ 10:57 AM
Are all u people that like Bear stupid? Les is alone in the wilderness and has to survive on his own with no camera crew. An most of the time he even shows taht his satelite radio doesn't even work. and don't even come with that bear is a SAS vet. so what hundreds of people can say. In the end Les is a lot better becaue he doesn't do crazy shit for entertaiment purposes then he goes off to the hotel. Les is actully in the wild surviving.
Max L
September 2, 2007 @ 09:59 PM
I think that this thread has lost it's point. Why do people have to start insulting each other when they are trying to get a point across? Get your point across without doing it.
I personally think both the shows are good shows. They are completely different, I love them both for seperate reasons. I like that Bear does the crazy stuff that he does, and I love that Les is actually by himself. I find Les more relatable, I'm not a SAS vet, nor am I tough at all. I couldn't do what he does.
iwannawookie
September 6, 2007 @ 08:36 PM
Les is best,but bear is cool also!!Man vs wild is entertaning but surviverman just grabs ya and won't let go,i mean les is TRULEY my himself! That's a bad ass!!!!!
craig
September 7, 2007 @ 09:21 AM
Ok, so Survivorman is a more truthful show and MvW is a more entertaining show. I think, however, that you have all missed the point; that Justin, while amusing, is an idiot.
The latest revelation; MvW put a guy in a cheap bear suit and the show pretended it was an actual bear. Google it if you don't believe me. Justin, end your denial.
Following Bear's "advice" will get you killed as quickly as following Superman's advice on how to fly. The reason for this; they are both FICTIONAL ENTERTAINMENT!
Why does Les look so crappy after his week of Survival? The answer is self-evident; he just spent the week SURVIVING! If he looked great and tanned and toned and well-fed like Bear, we would choose the term "vacationing" or something similar.
Why does Les consider calling it quits when he has trench foot or some other malady? Because he knows he's on a television show and does not want to lose a few toes to prove he's tough.
Why does he get angry when his cameras break? Because NO CAMERAS = NO SHOW you morons! Do you honestly expect Les to carry some backup Etch-A-Sketches in case he can't film?
Why does he have a rescue crew within radio range? Because this is TELEVISED ENTERTAINMENT! He's not trying to prove he can die like that idiot Bear Man in Alaska, he's earning a living.
There is no way to tell who, in fact, is the better survivalist, based on the television shows alone. The two shows are produced by two separate companies with two different budgets and two different agendas. They are apples and oranges. This suggests that most of you who have commented thus far have far less knowledge about the entertainment industry than your demonstrated lack of knowlege of survival.
However, here's an idea to put the question to rest once and for all;
- ONE television show (a Discovery Channel special), starring Les AND Bear.
- No third party assistance, both of them have to carry their own gear.
- Four or five "terrains" that each must complete (Ocean, Jungle, Widerness, etc). Each round consists of a start and finish - must survive and reach waypoint. Fastest time wins.
- Third party auditor to ensure that the only items they carry are the approved items and the only possible assistance they can receive is after calling in a rescue, at which point they forefit the round.
- Winner take all.
Dave
September 7, 2007 @ 10:53 AM
I'm not going to lie, I like the contest idea. Dave, write to the Discovery Channel.
iwannawookie
September 7, 2007 @ 03:47 PM
I have watched both shows and read these comments. Both of these shows can never be truly instructional, as real training guides put people to sleep. I doubt many viewers have their notebook and pencil out; if they did they would be maybe 1% of the audience. These men are more interested in the survival of their shows and contracts than focusing on survival education, and I don't hold that against them. But both should be viewed for entertainment only. In other words, do not act like them to survive in a real world situation.
I can assure you that Bear did not learn survival skills from a TV show, and neither did Les. I can also guarantee that both men would act completely differently in an actual survival situation. Bear would conserve his energy, and Les would have to catch more food. Cooking food is also too slow in a real-world situation, or building a camp.
It would be interesting to put them in an endurance contest, to see how both looked after 30 days in the jungles of Panama.
Mike Noyes
September 10, 2007 @ 06:53 PM
To finish my post, I am not saying who is the 'better' survivalist because neither man can showcase his skills and keep up the ratings. Otherwise, military field manuals would be on the nonfiction best seller list. Les 'spares us' from seeing him gut/clean a frog or snake, when that would be more educational and useful than watching the meat cook over the fire. Bear would never try half his stunts in a real survival or combat situation, where a small wound can lead to infection and any serious injury would impair his ability to continue survival (catch food, move, etc.)
If enough people have a true interest in survival, I suspect we will see a third show that showcases practical survival knowledge in various environments. Otherwise I love the contest ideas others have posted already.
Also remember that it is never a contest of which man is more 'bad-ass', mother nature always has the upper hand and if you survive, that is 'bad-ass' enough in itself.
Mike Noyes
September 10, 2007 @ 07:12 PM
I watch both shows and it seems like every episode of Man Vs. Wild has at least one instance where I think "dang, that's stupid."
Like the episode where Bear catches a fish then bites into it. Dang, that's stupid. He has a leatherman tool in his pocket. Why doesn't he fillet it?
Or the episode where Bear is in Africa and finds a Zebra carcass. He pulls out his leatherman tool and starts hacking away at its neck like he's got lions breathing down his neck. Then he bends down and starts gnawing on it. Dang, that's stupid. Why doesn't he just use the knife in his hand to carve out a big ol' zebra neck steak?
Or the episode where he's somewhere in Alaska or Canada and he's crossing the river and he makes a flotation device out of his pants. He gets halfway across and needs to refill the pants with air. He says his "only option is to swing the pants over [his] head to refill them with air." Dang, that's stupid. I had a survival class in college where that technique was taught. To refill the pants with air in the middle of a river/lake, you hold the waistband underwater and you "splash" air into the pants. Splashing makes lots of bubbles that come up in the waistband and 'voila' after half a dozen splashes, the pants are full. Of take a deep breath, dunk your head and exhale. He didn't seem to know about how to inflate his shirt and make it into a flotation device, too.
Every episode, at least one "dang, that's stupid." I watch now just to find them. I think I'll make it into a drinking game. Find something Bear does that is stupid, drink a shot. Probably more lethal than playing "Hi, Bob!"
chuck
September 14, 2007 @ 09:28 AM
Survivorman > Man Vs. Wild. To the guy who said Bear made his own raft, he didn't. He had his camera crew put it together and took it apart and then he probably copied them to look like he knew what he was doing. Les is obviously the winner.
Todd
September 17, 2007 @ 05:18 PM
Wow people are really so ignorant re the SAS! Get a grip Bear was in (21) SAS (R) TA - yep that's the Territorial Army. Not (22) SAS - THE REAL SAS. Bear passed and was badged to the SAS for the Territorial Army. He did 3 years part-time which equals about 5/6 mths full-time, inc selection. How on earth could you compare that to the guys in (22) such as Lofty Wiseman, Any McNab etc?
Bear milked the SAS connection for all it was worth to build a media career. He's a total fake. No TA guy would say he was ex SAS that's just misleading, they always make it clear they were TA. All except Bear that is!!!!!
Before you guys start slagging me off re the TA SAS is equal to the real SAS. Let me just say this:
FACT; Any guy wanting to join (22) SAS from (21) or (23)(R) TA has to do full 6 mths selection, no fast track allowance (they rarely make it) Chris Ryan was a notable exception. Even if they pass, they are then sent away for 6 mths for basic Army training skills with the Para’s before entering F/T with (22). So does that say equal selection to you?
TA SAS selection takes place mainly over selected weekends during a year, whereas real (22) SAS is 5/6 months continous hard slog, little rest bite and much higher times are required. There's no way Bear would have made the real SAS, those guys are GODS!
Don't insult the real deal SAS by including Bear as one of them cos he never made it! The TA are good but no where near (22) SAS. So just remember Territorial Army ok?
jules
September 21, 2007 @ 07:58 AM
My husband and I watch both shows but have to admit that we get really annoyed with Les Stroud. He whines WAY too much! Dude, if you hate your job that much, get a new one! He's afraid to get wet, can't catch a damn thing to eat, he's afraid of his own shadow, complains about the heat/cold. I think underneath it all, he is a real sissy.
Of course, Bear Grylls annoys us too because he constantly grunts when he talks. Everything is so dramatic with that guy.
So you say, "why the hell do you watch them?".
Good question...........
September 23, 2007 @ 07:59 PM
While sitting here reading this somewhat repetetive debate I would like to introduce a defense of Les that has not been made yet, namely that the main reason he doesn't get as much food as one would expect is that he has to keep moving. He could just stay in one place, begin building a long term shelter (including a permanent sheltered firepit and woodpile), locate a source of fresh water, find active game trails and set carefully crafted snares and traps (though his trapmaking abilities do leave something to be desired), locate a fertile fishing spot, maybe even plant a few crops... but that would be a different show. It might be called Gilligan's Island. He covers as much ground as he can while gathering whatever is available along the way, exactly like you would do if you didn't plan on spending the rest of your life in the place you find yourself stranded. And yes he does complain at times but what should he do, talk about his favorite movies? He is giving commentary on his experience, which is brutal. He is spending sleepless nights curled up in temperatures below freezing with very little protection, or in hot humid weather sweating all night long trying to fend off hordes of bloodthirsty insects. This commentary is the point of the show, to depict how difficult it is to SURVIVE in these circumstances, it is not a show about Les's vacation in the swamp. I guess there are some who prefer the Hollywood version. What Les does is real.
'Bear' acts like a child badly in need of some Ritalin, desperately seeking attention by attempting the absolute dumbest antics you could conceive of in a real survival situation. Like running, for starters. Documenting his mistakes would take about as long as it would take to watch all the episodes of MvW. What jules says makes sense, this guy is SAS as much as George W. Bush was a fighter pilot. I simply do not believe it. Someone with his supposed credentials shouldn't have the demeanor of a fourteen year-old.
Dominick
September 25, 2007 @ 06:44 PM
Back to square 1 (an attempted summary)
1) Watch Bear for - entertainment, if you like silly accents, to learn a few rare handy tips surrounded by mostly sketchy tips. Don't ever do anything he does unless you have a full film crew, a medevac helicopter on standby, and a comfortable hotel room waiting for you.
2) Watch Les to see a guy actually using survival skills.
Dominick has summed it up fairly well and I agree with jules.
LesIsMore(Manly)
September 27, 2007 @ 11:47 AM
Les is solid. he's a one man show. The fact that he does it all solo makes him the stronger man. Solo baby....Thats right. Fire, shelter, H2O, food, plus filming the whole ordeal, all by himself people. Ask any special forces, you need support when handed a mission, but when the mission is to survive alone in the elements with no support, Les is way ahead of Bear. Bear's got nothing on Les...Solo baby.
Ryan
September 29, 2007 @ 02:32 AM
If Bear had to truly survive, in the wild on his own, some rescue crew would be picking up his dead carcas about a couple of months later.
Where as Les, would probably greet the rescuers, with a cup of tea from some of the local fauna, and a meal of rabit, or deer, or somthing like that, from the porch of his hut that he actualy made himself, not having a group of people design it, build it , and then number the parts so Bear could put it back together again.
September 30, 2007 @ 09:22 PM
One of the comments says that Bear is better because he attempts to find civilization, while Les doesn't. Just so you know, I've done a lot of backpacking. Once for 10 weeks straight, and the first thing they say to do if you get lost is stay right where you are. Moving is only going to make you harder to find.
Maybe that right there is a horrible idea for bear to be giving people?
Nate
September 30, 2007 @ 11:52 PM
I would say Les is better; i rather be safe then sorry, i wouldn’t do stupid thing like bear did that has a higher chance of getting yourselves killed or injured. Les advice is better for REAL survival. Bear, a newb.
October 5, 2007 @ 06:48 PM
John on July 6, 2007 says to leave immediately in "dangerous areas" but most survival experts say stay put when lost. Of course, it depends on the situation, like are you a mile away from home? Remember, the wife and kids of James Kim survived by staying in the car while he took off and died.
Jung
October 9, 2007 @ 03:34 PM
Man vs. Wild is the best ok you can't beat that. Just because people go oh no look a life jaket he is a fake who give a f**k! I mean les he has radio contact and he just camps and gets amount of food and crap and bear as to find a way back. unlike les camping places. les doesnt go more than a mile or 2 past were he was dropped off!
Nathan
October 12, 2007 @ 06:32 PM
First off, both shows give bad advise, if anybody is actually watching these to learn about survival then stop! Watch Ray Mears.
Man Vs Wild has more to answer for though as the advise on that show may actually kill you if attempted, where as Survivourman advise is just plain stupidity.
Unrelated to the show, if both men where pitted against each other in an off camera 'survival stand off' then my moneys on Bear despite his show giving worse advise. My reasoning for this is due to the drama factor in Man Vs Wild. If the guy was out on his lonesome off camera he's not going to be leaping from cliff face to cliff face and climbing waterfalls (that stuff is obviously all for show), he's going to be more practical and actually apply his survival techniques, and it would look much more like Strouds methods of just basically camping.
Heres a quote from the survival consultant Ron Hood, from the show MvW
"I want to remind everyone that Bear is very capable and highly skilled in survival skills. We both objected to portions of the show when we filmed but thought we knew that my narration would enlighten the viewers about the hows, whys and wherefores of what look like dangerous activities. When that narration was removed it left Bear looking like he was clueless. He is not clueless. He is clever, courageous and capable. If anyone can save this show it is Bear. As I posted when we started this project months ago, the show was supposed to be a new format that was drama driven with an educational and adventure component. The script I have looks nothing like the final show."
I object to Les for using the title 'surviourman' when anybody (skilled in survivalism or not) can plainly see his inexperience which is displayed whenever he attempts to do pretty much anything. (how many times have we heard Les say something along the lines of "well I've never actually done his before" and correct me if I'm wrong but I swear I once heard this followed by something like "I saw this technique on TV"
In closure MvW is for the entertainment of watching some crazy guy drink elephant crap and climb waterfalls and SM is for the entertainment of watching a lifelike Homer Simpson try to survive in the wild.
If anybody wants to really learn something then watch Ray Mears.
It aint a show for people who want to see action or drama its pure factual survival techniques that are proven to work.
Andy
October 18, 2007 @ 05:50 PM
When Les says something like "Well, I haven't done this before" thats because he is usually trying something that the locals do.
Nobody can walk into every environment in the world and survive. They try to do what the locals do, as is probably advised for anyone trying to survive.. know what your getting yourself into.
Les doesn't get food from his camp, as his help is usually several hours away. As for everyone saying Les is basically camping? Yes, as a matter of fact that is right.
Didn't you guys ever go to elementary school, or attended a single boy scout/cub scout/girl scout meeting? When you are lost children, what do you do? You sit where you got lost at, and blow your whistle at intervals until someone finds you. Les shows how to survive in a situation like that.
Bear runs off to where he knows people are, which if lost in a forest you don't know... hence why you are "lost", its odd that term, eh? Les doesn't know where the people are most of the time, he tries to guess based on various logic he uses.
That said, I do enjoy both shows. For the same reason most people do. I watch MvW the same reason I watched Croc Hunter, to see Bear sit on a cobra nest or wrestle a crocodile because it dares to live.
I watch Les because its good for good sake.
Arti
October 22, 2007 @ 09:11 PM
To say Les is "basically camping" is ridiculous - he is going without a tent, sleeping bag, fire starting equipment...food...water--for 7 days. Its like the difference between a bruise and a broken arm. Maybe it doesn't look that hard to people who go 'camping' in cabins or RVs. Try curling up on the ground and going to sleep in even 30 degree weather, with a decent winter coat. Not fun or easy- but then it is a show about survival. I think the real survivors are the homeless - Les should try an episode in that environment, maybe Philadelphia in January. That would be worth watching, see him set up camp under a bridge, dig a half eaten cheesburger out of the trash, no panhandling allowed of course. Get hassled by the cops. Fend off crackheads trying to pick his pockets during the night.
Dominick
October 25, 2007 @ 06:55 PM
Hi Dom,
"To say Les is “basically camping” is ridiculous - he is going without a tent, sleeping bag, fire starting equipment…food…water–for 7 days. Its like the difference between a bruise and a broken arm"
You obviously haven't been camping with me before.
If its not camping then what have I been doing for the last 8 years?
'Survivaling'?
And 'yes' Les does have and use fire starting equipment.
You have to admit, some of his ideas are a little dumb. For example boiling water in a plastic bottle above his fire.
Ok if you really only have a plastic bottle to boil water, you place it in between hot rocks next to the fire on a downward slope with a small trench built just in case the bottle does melt, then you don't loose the fire and you can collect the water for re-boiling. Boiling it above the fire is a time bomb, it will go but how long will it last? remember you need to keep the water boiling for 20 mins (not the common misconception of 15) Would you really risk loosing your fire like this? Even if I had to boil the water from above, I would still take the extra precaution of making a small second fire just in case.
He does have some good knowledge however, like the 'prison' match (or lint match). However I just take pre-made char cloth, ignites off only one strike of a dead lighter and its wind proof. I don't know if you've tried a 'prison' match outside but it can take many strikes with the lighter flint to actually ignite, and the lint has a tendency to blow out of the tissue. Can be very frustrating.
But yeah, I like your homeless guy survival idea.
Wonder how long he'll keep hold of his cam equipment.
Andy
October 26, 2007 @ 08:32 AM
I agree that not all his ideas are good - I wouldn't suggest he is the ultimate survivalist, in fact he does make a fair amount of mistakes and shows his inexperience with certain activities. Especially fishing and trapmaking. Has he ever been fishing? As an engineer I take issues with some of his shelters as well but that may not be fair. That said, I respect him for going out and doing it, flaws and all. Its funny that you mention the prison match, I tried it right after seeing it (inside though). One method of firestarting I have to give up to Bear (for passing it on at least) is the firebow - I think that's what he called it. Sandwiching some tinder between two flat pieces lashed together, then drawing another long piece of wood across it, it looks like you can really get some downward pressure on it and generate a lot of friction, I want to try that method next.
I think there should be another term for this kind of camping - it doesn't fit the traditional definition of the word. Survivaling is a little awkward (no offense). That is great that you go out and do it Andy - I have gotten a few tastes of those experiences - hitchhiking to Texas and sleeping on benches and in bus stops, camping in the Amazon (with a mosquito net though), winter survivals with the scouts when I was a kid, camping cross-country. I feel inspired to push the envelope.
I don't think its legitimate to criticize Les for admitting he "saw this technique on TV" - people learn how to do things from many different sources - would it be somehow more valid if he said he learned to make a firedrill from an old Native American Chief? What about reading about it in a book? I have learned to do quite a few things through video, some of them from Les. Will have to check out Ray Mears.
dominick
October 26, 2007 @ 07:54 PM
There both pros, les just sits ever minute wanna get something to drink or eat, while bear grylls try to find his way out of whatever situation. the camera crew are with bear grylls to see what hes doing, if you ever get stuck in quicksand or whatever. but les never has to slide down hills or get out of quicksand, he just walks around looking for stuff to eat, until he finds his way out. so guys, bear grylls wins this one as for he is the real professional. him and his cam crew has to have the same level of training
Jared
November 1, 2007 @ 07:58 PM
I though I should add that Bear Grylls stayed in a hotel while filming one of his episodes - thats what I would call lame. If you don't believe me google 'man vs wild hotel'.
mamui65
November 4, 2007 @ 02:57 PM
Man vs Wild sucks. I liked it after it first came out, but now it sucks. I think the first episode I saw was the one in the Sierra, Nevada mountains. The first time I saw it, I clearly remember him grinding a throwing stick on a rock, practicing with it for a little bit, then using it and killing a rabbit with his first try. Now tonight, I saw the same episode and after practicing with the throwing stick, he says ,"I think no little critters are in much danger right now". Then he goes and shows us how to make a fire and says that the crew got a rabbit to show you how to cook it. I was like wtf? I noticed this in a lot of other episodes now, the first time I saw them he says he caught the food, and now he's saying his crew gathered it. Bear is too lame. Les rules. the end
ryan
November 4, 2007 @ 08:28 PM
"Moving forward the program will be 100 percent transparent and all elements of the filming will be explained up-front to our viewers. In addition, shows that are to be repeated will be edited appropriately.
Ha! Just found that on google, he sucks so much, I hate him. read it for yourelf at http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/7/24/145848/369/hotels/_Man_vs_Wild_TV_Show_More_Like_Man_vs_Hotel_
ryan
November 4, 2007 @ 08:32 PM
I'd have to say Les is best for me hands down. Whoever suggested Bear could beat the crap out of Les is missing the point. i think the fact that Bear is fake is a extremely critical. Some say they don't care that he is fake, but it's all about integrity, it even kills the entertainment factor for me. It's something I've always suspected, it annoys me with his silly accent and all. I don't doubt he's climbed Everest, but the fact that he is territorial army only and not SAS(22) only reinforces my suspicion that Bear is just another media fabrication. How can I take a guy seriously if a guy isn't entirely truthful about his background and his show.
Les's so called whining and 'stay put' strategy doesn't bother me at all. He's an every day bloke like the rest of us, I really appreciate that about Les.
Les is best
November 8, 2007 @ 08:50 PM
ok so you actually believe that survivorman carries his own camera gear...highly doubt it...besides les is just some dirty hippie who barley survives 7 days. Anyone who belives that one person could do all that camera work and still have time in the day to scavange for food, build shelters and find water has never spent very much time in the wilderness...i think both shows are phony, but of the two i go with bear because of his actual expirience in extreme environments.
brandon
November 11, 2007 @ 02:01 PM
Okay, I have read a lot of these comments, bashing either Bear or Les, and decided I have to stick up for the both of them at the same time. A lot of people make the valid argument that Bear is more entertaining, he has a crew that can move to get more interesting shots of him than Les can film of himself. Bear performs a lot of pleasing stunts that always make me say "wow I wish I could go out and do that right now!" however, you have to realize that if Les attempted the things that Bear did for example crossing near frozen rivers, scaling trees several hundred feet off the ground, and anything went wrong, he would be in a extremely desperate situation. However, I do realize that Bear can in fact pull these stunts off, which does make for a fun show to watch, I just do not think many of the things he does would be survival necessities for anyone, ever. If you are watching a show that will teach you to actually survive in the wilderness, alone, go with Survivorman. If being entertained is your goal, Man vs Wild. Both shows involve a lot of random useful facts that could save a persons life. To who would last longer in the wild, it is really hard to say, if there were a show, where both of them were on equal ground (either both with crews or without, both in the same general area) then it could be. Until this happens, who knows, sure Les hardly ever catches food, but when 65 percent of your time and energy is spent hauling camera gear, thats more than half of your day wasted you could have spent successfully surviving. If Les did not have to tape himself, I have no doubt he could survive for months alone. It's tough to say if Bear could, as trained as he is. Anyways, both shows are really fun to watch, Les the ingenious, and Bear the stuntman.
Paul
November 11, 2007 @ 04:57 PM
Les keeps it real and that's what it's all about. If Les makes a mistake it's a legitimate mistake and you, as a viewer, get to observe how he survives having made the mistake.
Sure, Bear jumps into quicksand and shows you how to get out of it but it's not real. He's got his crew on standby should his carefully planned mistake turns bad.
November 18, 2007 @ 03:24 AM
I would have never thought there would be a blog on this let alone that many comments.
I agree though, Les is the man.
Bear's stuff just seemed so staged at times. Not to mention he seems to be behind less in almost everything by a few episodes. Les went to Costa Rica, Bear went. Les went the everglades, Bear went. Les went to the African Savanna in a hot air balloon, bear did too.
Maybe there are only so many places you can 'survive'. I don't know.
November 18, 2007 @ 06:35 PM
@anyone interested in survivor skills: read some books from Ruediger Nehberg! he is a real survivor, a really good person and he fights for human rights! i don`t know if there are translations of his books, but if you see one and you are interested in the matter->GRAB IT!
Bear is a fraud, Les is cool but should get a show about philosophy i think..
Ruediger Nehberg is awesome!
i never believed that one single person could change that much to the better.
compare him to Bear or Les
November 20, 2007 @ 04:13 PM
This is a direct quote about Bear from the Discovery Channel website. However, they are still facts.
"He served three years with the Special Air Service, a special forces unit of the British army. During his service, he broke his back in three places in a parachuting accident over Southern Africa.
Despite the accident and severity of his injury, Bear went on in 1998 to become, at age 23, the youngest British climber to complete a summit and descent of Mount Everest. He wrote about his experience in the book, The Kid Who Climbed Everest.
Not content to slow down, Bear achieved another first when he and his Everest climbing group circumnavigated the United Kingdom on jet skis. He also led the first unassisted crossing of the frozen North Atlantic Ocean in an open rigid inflatable boat. His book about this adventure, Facing the Frozen Ocean, was shortlisted as the U.K.'s "Sports Book of the Year." Bear was awarded a commission in the Royal Navy in honor of leading this record-breaking expedition.
In June 2005, Bear broke a world record by hosting a dinner party at a table suspended below a hot air balloon at 24,500 feet. He rappelled from the balloon's basket to the table, where in full naval uniform he ate a three-course meal before saluting the queen and skydiving to earth. His goal was to support the work of two charities: the Prince's Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
On May 15, 2007, Bear set another world record when he became the first person to fly over Mount Everest by powered paraglider. Supported by the GKN Mission Everest Team, Grylls and fellow pilot Giles (Gilo) Gardozo flew specially developed paramotors. Though a fault in Gilo's machine forced him to abort only 1,000 feet below the summit, Bear continued to ascend until he reached 29,500 feet and was able to look down on Everest as he circled above some of the most famous peaks in the Himalayas. Then his own engine developed problems and he, too, had to glide back to safety — but he had achieved his goal. The mission raised $1 million for the Global Angels Foundation, a charity that supports children in Africa. Filmed by the Planet Earth team, Bear and Gilo's undertaking will be made into a two-hour documentary for Discovery Channel and Channel Four in the U.K.
Bear's most recent book, Born Survivor: Survival Techniques From the Most Dangerous Places on Earth, was released in spring 2007. It is already listed on the Sunday Times Top 10 Best-Seller List.
Bear lives on a converted barge on the River Thames with his wife Shara and their young sons Jesse and Marmaduke."
Now tell me that he doesn't kick ass!
Scott A.
November 23, 2007 @ 05:37 PM
Survivor man is way better than Man vs. Wild. Man vs. Wild is the fakest survival show, ever. He does things that you wouldn't even think of doing if you were lost. He also is very fond of staying in hotels when he's supposed to be getting out of the jungle.
Mike Hawk
November 26, 2007 @ 05:45 PM
Bear wouldnt be able to do the things he does holding cameras. Survivorman wastes his time doing that. Survivorman sits in one place and eats berries and builds rafts that dont work (swamp) and spends an hour trying to set up a game trap almost breaking his finger then realizes he forgot to put the food in there. Give me a break. Boyscouts can stay alive in the woods. Survivorman couldnt even dream about doing some of the life risking maneuvours that Man v Wild can do.
wes
November 28, 2007 @ 10:35 AM
Man Vs. Wild wins for me. I just think it is a more entertaining show, despite being "fake." It seems like 3/4 of Survivorman is Les Stroud sitting on his ass, the other 1/4 him telling us how he doesn't like to kill animals. Plus Bear has that thing called charisma.
Will
November 29, 2007 @ 03:25 PM
I have to go with Man vs. Wild on this one. You get a better perspective simply because when u are trapped in the wild there is no need to film yourself, you just witness bear using his survivor skills and that is all i want to see.
jason
December 8, 2007 @ 11:56 AM
You can not properly compare these two programs. The main problem is that the names of the shows should be reversed.
Man v Wild is a "how to" for scenarios that are potential dangers to travelers, hikers, climbers, etc. Bear intentially places himself in situations to demonstrate techniques on survival. It looks staged because it is. This program should be called Survivorman or Survival Man.
The actual Survivorman, although dispensing valuable advise on survival, is mainly about him "surviving". He rarely intentionally places himself in more precarious circumstances while trying to survive. It is more like a competition him v nature or Man v Wild.
Both men present great techniques and ideas for true survival when one is faced with dire striats. It seems that there is an agreement that both provide entertainment and useful knowledge and both shows are enjoyable once the objective of each is understood. I belive both man could succesfully survive if the roles were reversed.
dude
December 11, 2007 @ 02:29 PM
I hope the fans of Bear do the incredibly stupid things that he does if they ever get lost. It will thin the herd a bit. The stupid and dangerous crap Bear does practically assures failure in the wild.
voodoo
December 12, 2007 @ 04:27 PM
i think suvivorman is better i no he is he is more real because he carries his own cameras hes alone but man vs wild has a camra crew and i bet is getting fed from the show lol
hunter-dom
December 13, 2007 @ 05:02 PM
I’ll start off with; I enjoy certain aspects of both shows.
MvW; I like the fact that Bear has a camera crew following him so he can focus on something other than camera position.
Survivorman does a better job showing you the skills you may need using the materials at hand.
That said, if I was in a survival situation and I had to choice between Les or Bear, I have to choose Les! When MvW first aired, my 8 year old daughter and I loved watching it. However, the more MvW show’s there are the more I’m saying, “Maddy you really wouldn’t do that in a survival situation”. Bear puts on a good show for the TV audience however it is not something you would do in a survival situation. He likes to show off his climbing skills in every episode and he always seems to be running (wasting energy). I don’t doubt his survival skills; just the way shows them off.
Les shows you that it may take multiple tries to start a fire or you may not be able to catch something eat. He provides a more realistic scenario.
Mapes
December 19, 2007 @ 09:35 PM
I think Man Vs Wild is the real adventurous show
The Only negatives for it which i have realised so far are
-Bear uses camera crew.
-Bear doesn't stay in the exteme situation throughout.
-Bear is not really in the extreme locations
My point is how does it matter.
-He is doing the extreme things a man would resort to when there is no help.
-He is giving you the ways to survive just in case you are stuck in those extrems.Why the hell he should suffer those extrems knowingly
Just check the past history of Bear and Les and you would realise Bear shares his experience and survivorman does to make money.
In wars many soldier drink there urine, they eat raw meat which is absoultely true.
In those situations we have to resort to whatever is available because life is at stake either go for it or die
Bear is doing all this after his experience in life he has really faced the extreme situations himself and came alive out of them.
Now he is sharing them with all.
Why the hell he should again fall in the extremes knowingly.
Survivorman absolutely makes no sense to me he just goes to the extremes to make money.
nothin is real life experience.
Surviving extremes is fallin in them accidently and coming out alive which Bear has really done in his life and it's not falling in extremes with all the mental preparation and knowingly which survivorman does.
RealHero
December 25, 2007 @ 09:43 AM
And in all ways Bear is a much much better presentor than Les.Bear has a charisma.He presents it so well that the one hour is gone just like that.
Awesome speaker/presentor he is.
RealHero
December 25, 2007 @ 09:47 AM
Def survivor man. Bear talks about how it would be easy to get down when your all alone then cuts the camera and has two guys two hang out with. Les is all alone, shows you what its like to deal with the depression of being stranded and lonely. While its cool bear puts him self in danger its mostly not real danger because he can always have his buddy pull him out of sand, or swim in to get him, or whatever. Les is careful on purpose, cause guess what? If he fucks up it could be lights out game over. Respect em both but I like les a little more.
ZomB
December 25, 2007 @ 10:55 PM
Les is the man. He does absolutely EVERYTHING by himself. Bear, at one point couldn't catch a fish so he had a camera man catch it for him... he even said it on the air. Also, all those "Dangerous" areas he has to climb, the camera crew did it first to get the shot of him climbing up, or down from different angles. So, either the camera men are the true hero's of this show, or it's just one camera man and it's Spidey.
pspraven
December 26, 2007 @ 04:15 AM
Back with another comment. With a quick Wiki search, the page for Man vs Wild cites several instances where bear gets help from his crew and admits he didn't do a few things we originally thought he did. That's all listed under "Criticisms". Then going to the Survivorman page... there's not even a section about criticisms or anything he's doing wrong.
pspraven
December 26, 2007 @ 04:32 AM
While a fan of both shows, Les hangs it more out on the line that Bear. Bear takes more chances because he has a crew there to save his butt if he gets hurt. Les has only himself. I know Bear says his crew won't help, but that means zilch if Bear seriously injured himself or got sick....they'd help him out. Les has himself...period. If he gets hurt or sick he's on his own. THAT is the difference. There is a psychological difference between being in the remote ice of the north with a film crew for company....and doing it alone. Both are tough, hardly, resourceful men...but Les is THE man.
sgtmac
December 28, 2007 @ 05:48 PM
Bear is the man!
Scenario wise; Survivorman has it down, you cant take anything away from Les.
As individuals, Bear is the ultimate survivor, and I am sure anybody reading this would prefer to be stranded with Bear than Les - he is hard...
As for the show, well there is always that camera crew element, but lets face it, Man vs Wild is more entertaining, Bear is always pushing the envelope, even if there are people there to help him. Also having camera men there does have an advantage: all the shots are perfect, unlike Les' camera work (he does it as well as any person can film them self) which can be a bit dizzying.
I would love to see Bear give the Survivorman style show a shot, just to see how he does.
NathanUK
December 30, 2007 @ 01:40 PM
Bear teaches us how to survive the wild. The cameramen are only there to film him. They can eat, sleep & cross ravines in luxury but not for Bear.The show should be watched as if Bear is by himself just like if we were lost in the wilderness alone.If Bear happens to wear a lifejacket at times he is still showing us how to go about as if there is no lifejacket..the show has to go on.
Les' techniques are educational too but reality is I don't plan to carry a 50 lb camera if I have to survive the wilderness.
I am sure both men are covered by life insurance and to be allowed to do the show they have to follow the rules.
Enjoy the shows and learn
December 31, 2007 @ 01:41 PM
I just like Les better.
And truth be told, why should I waste my time trying to convince anyone of whether or not they should agree with me.
It's just a personal taste.
Besides, anyone (on either sides), who calls anyone else an "idiot" or insults anyone else for their argument is the real idiot in my opinion.
It's just a freakin' show.
Hyejeong
January 1, 2008 @ 08:41 PM
Stop all this, everyone knows I am the daddy. God has spoken now all go to bed.
Ray Mears
January 6, 2008 @ 04:42 AM
I am Canadian, not that it makes any difference, as we Canadians do not live in the wild. As far as either show is concerned they in my opinion are not to be taken seriously.
As a weekend hiker and average camper, I have no claim to expertise, but, common sense tells me always be prepared for the unexpected.
I generally carry a fanny pack with run of the mill essentials such as waterproof matches, trail mix, a bottle of water, a couple of granola and chocolate bars, a small flashlight, and if I'm really going out in the wilderness, A GPS!!!!!!.
My son and I watch Les Stroud sheerly for the entertainment value and have nicknamed him "It's a Miracle he Survived, man!"
For instance, when stranded on an Alaskan beach, don't sit on your backside complaining about how hungry you are, walk down at low tide flip over a couple of rocks and have a clam bake!!!! Same episode, don't build your fire too close to your shelter or at some point you are going to be homeless, here's another jewel, when you find edibles gather extra for later!!!!
Another episode, if God forbid your small plane goes down, use it for shelter and stay with the plane, don't go trudging through the woods, in a snow storm trying to walk out. Rescuers will be looking for the plane, not you in the woods.
I could go on and on, but, I will begin to bore you if I haven't already. I just have a real problem with kids watching this show and perhaps following his advice to their deaths.
Take it as what it is, purely entertainment, but, most importantly, when you are planning to go off the beat and track, TELL someone where you are planning to go and when you plan to return!!!!!!!! That way if you don't have a television crew to pick you up, rescuers will have an idea where to look for you!!!!
Lisa
January 14, 2008 @ 01:41 AM
Bear's the man.
Ger
January 16, 2008 @ 11:23 AM
I have seen many episodes of both Les and Bear. On both an entertainment level and a survivor level, there is simply no comparison between the two. Les seems unqualified in every way when "embedding" himself in these "controled situations" controled?? yes, he scouts out the exact site he is traveling to, he "explors" with expert locals off camera, and then goes back with camera to film a rather boring show, how is that entertaining?? Les is no Survivor, he is a soft paste white "doey" frame of a man. I am sure what he does he is proud of, but entertaining it is not. Contrast Les with someone with real survivor credintials, Bear. Here we have a young tough man with a lifetime of serious difficult challanges which he has better then overcome. Weather it is his time in the RAF or his summit to ME, he is the real deal, and he is entertaining. I have only one question for everyone, if you were stranded in the outback, who would you rather have with you? Bear woould win everytime.
Wattage
January 16, 2008 @ 12:47 PM
Les all the way. I can't even watch Man vs. Wild without thinking, "Gee, I wish Survivorman or Dirty Jobs were on right now..."
Barrin515
January 23, 2008 @ 12:09 AM
Now that MvW has been editted, I am OK with the show... If they would have just sold the show as - "an adventure series, where this former special services, youngest Mt. Everest climber, outdoor athlete, guy goes into extreme situations and interacts with locals and other experts to learn how to cope and overcome dangerous situations" I would not have had that much of a problem with the show...
As for Les, and the Alaska and airplane episodes... He did stay with the plane for several days, then only left as an exposition of what to do under circumstances that called for going on the move... He often discusses the crucialness of making the difficult decision of choosing to stay put or look to make a move. Additionally, he regarded that bay in Alaska as "bounty bay" and illustrated that he could return there whenever (he would not likely be able to carry a lot of groceries on his kayak, topped with camera gear... that is just the show). The fire was a dicey move but most of these criticism are fairly weak, especially about his complaining over hunger... he tried to do some fishing that was unsuccessful... frustration set in. Perhaps the complaining on video does not make stellar TV, but those are small scale complaints by comparison to MvW's criticisms. And if anyone is concerned about kids watching the show, and following Les' advice to their deaths... please refer to: http://www.daughtersoftiresias.org/bearwiki/Bad_Advice_and_Inaccuracies
January 24, 2008 @ 01:50 PM
And suggesting that Les is unqualified is a little off... THe guy has been a wilderness and survial guide for 20+ years... He and his wife lived in the Canadian bush for 1 year with nothing but a few commons tools (axe, knives, etc). They made a documentary called Snowshoes and Solitude. They build their own cabin using trees and mud mortor and foraged, trapped and hunted to eat...
I would say that he is qualified (nor Ray meads or Cody Lundin... but qualified)
January 24, 2008 @ 02:04 PM
If I hear him explain sweating and hypothermia one more time I'll poke my eyes out The only reason I watch this is for the scenery and a few interesting tips. AND there is shit to watch on TV.
That'll be 2 cents
buster
February 8, 2008 @ 10:59 PM
Les is way more bad ass.
Bear sleeps in hotels, and films next to freeways.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is Case in point.
Ashley
February 9, 2008 @ 08:39 PM
Being in the military (even TA SAS) gives you a bit of credibility in terms of fitness/survival. But being an athlete is only one aspect of survival. For any duration, the focus would be on efficiency rather than brute force.
Most the people that vouch for Bear do it on this credential along with the pretty-boy aspect.
If you want real survival you watch Les. If you want a pretty-boy with entertainment value you watch Bear.
As for Les complaining... two things:
a.) regardless of viewer complaints it makes for better TV; a la Jackass... sure most of it is painful, but good TV dictates you make it known.
b.) it actually does suck... it isn't fun nor would you want to be there. It's not some fun cavalier adventure. It's shitty and you would want to be elsewhere. While Bear makes like Indiana Jones, Les makes like someone who is actually stuck in the middle of nowhere for a week. And if you've heard the story of James Kim, the CNET reviewer, you'd know that any real survival situation can become dire. And a satphone might not help when rendezvous is a matter of hours; and that's if weather decides to cooperate in the first place.
There's a reason Bear does what he does... it's for safety, he's not going to die for some TV show. Les has the same amount of safety due to his extensive practice, but is able to cut immediate ties with help. Which is a big difference; a trapeze artist can do a trick a million times flawlessly with a net, and sure as shit it's different without the safety.
I suppose for real safety, noone with half a brain is looking at TV shows for guidance anyways, but the idea of watching such a TV entertainer like Bear when you want to watch someone roughing it up is a bit disappointing.
JB
February 14, 2008 @ 03:57 AM
He is not the youngest man, nor the youngest Brit to climb Everest and make it down alive. What self-promotion.
Shammy
February 14, 2008 @ 04:08 AM
I've watched every single episode of both shows and I must say I find them both entertaining. I do question wether certain people that have responded here have really watched any material of these shows. For instance when Bear squeezes the elephant dung for fluids, he tells you it's an option. Ofcourse it's not the best option in survival terms, but if you are really hopeless and there is absolutely no sign of water, I'd take the dung. Everyone with a couple braincells knows (should know) that when it comes to true survival you shouldn't exactly follow what these 2 shows do. It are not educational tv shows and they do not claim to be. They do however give very handy tips that I wouldn't have thought of myself.
In defense of Les, he does 'whine' a lot, but I know I would in a situation like that. He's all alone in a remote location and has to do everything more than once while setting up his camera.
In defense of Bear, you can't possible cheat eating a grub or swallowing a big grasshopper. You can't cheat swimming a river or climbing up a steep rock.
On top of that I think Discovery has a big hand in both shows. They do not want either of them to die, hence the safety measures. They also are the ones cutting and editing the video material. If they don't, they do have a big say in the final episode footage. So before you go ranting off about either of them, do realise that the atmosphere in the actual show is created by the editors.
In conclusion these are just beatiful shows that give handy tips, have a great entertainment value and show you the awesome scenery of a remote location you will probably never visit.
XJ
March 6, 2008 @ 04:59 PM
Les is better than bear because he is stuck alone in a remote location with basic survival tools that you probable have in a realistic situation, he also has to carry his own gear sleep on the ground while bear sleeps in a hotel.
and something tells me most people aren't going to have military training,Les shows what the average person should do. plus he's a true Canadian badass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jim
March 13, 2008 @ 03:18 PM
Survivorman is much greater than man Vs. wild for many reasons, first survivorman is by himself. while bear is out there with his whole film crew. which probley feeds him. 2nd many of bear's scenes are clearly set up for television. but even if bear was legit i would still prefer survivorman's show because it's a all around better show.
forrest Rainizo
March 20, 2008 @ 07:42 PM
Les is alot better. bear fakes alot.
Les Rules
doncha know
March 20, 2008 @ 07:48 PM
Les is the man! Just the fact that MvW needed a fake bear to make his show better is a big NO NO to me. End of story.
Outback01
April 1, 2008 @ 02:41 PM
Let's get real... Survivorman cannot even catch a fish. Every time he is on he sets a line & goes to sleep, when he wakes up there is nothing. Plus he is lazy. Bear will go out and hunt or eat the weirdest things plus he will sleep in the edge of a knife if he needed to.
Lou
April 3, 2008 @ 03:41 PM
After watching your episode where you use potassium manganate+glycerin to light fires, I tried buying the potassium which looked like tar in the episode. Could not find it anywhere so where do you get that stuff? I'm from Gatineau,Québec,Canada.
Ray Lefebvre
April 11, 2008 @ 01:16 PM
i like both shows to
but if u think bear doesnt do it all twice ur wrong
how u think they got all those nice shots that doesnt come with one shot
he has to do most of the rock climbing etc. twice to.
ok ur right he doesnt have to walk back for the camera gear but still...
ME
April 13, 2008 @ 05:50 AM
All this stuff about Les "barely surviving" his week is pretty stupid. "Barely surviving" is the whole point. He's not looking to start a new life. And if you are truly stranded, and not found within a week, you probably are in a lot of trouble. Les is much more the "everyman." I would rather do what he does--which I am physically capable of-- and "barely survive" then try to do the risky, stuff that Bear does--that I cant do, like sliding down a waterfall, or free climbing a 300-foot wall.
As for Les's occasional tools and equipment, they usually seem related to how he got "stranded."
Bear is to fantasize "I wish I could be like him."
Les is "I should probably pay attention, because that's more what I'm like."
Captain
April 18, 2008 @ 01:34 PM
I think that les is awesome. he has to actually survive. Bear Grylls is good too but he just isn,t realistic. I mean what normal person can climb up a shear rockface when they are lost in the woods. I am doing a school project on these two shows so this sight really helped. Personally i think that les is ten times better than Bear.
SUrvivormanfan
May 2, 2008 @ 10:28 AM
i will meep all of u for saying suviorman is better there is no way in hell that he is better then bear with a name like bear u cant go wrong and he likes aricadies
MEEP
May 13, 2008 @ 05:19 AM
First off calling each other names and spewing hateful remarks towards one show or the other is no use to anyone and only makes you seem less intelligent than you probably are. Most survival situations last less than 72 hours, most people in those situations barely make it out alive, any rescue crew or survival expert will tell you that. In such situations you have to do what you can to stay safe while remaining near the scene of the accident you were in(if there was one) or near some open area where you can more easily be spotted than is possible if you are in the middle of a dense forest. The jungle for instance-you have to get near a river as they are always the lifeblood of the area and usually have people on them who can save you. The facts are though that both shows are for entertainment purposes only. Even with all the survival knowledge in the world anyone, ANYONE, would have a difficult time living in wilderness areas be they arctic, desert or temperate and even then they would, if they had any training at all, stay put to provide search and rescue crews a higher chance of finding them before it's to late. The reason Bear stays on the move is that THAT is what his military training tells him to do, Air Force pilots are trained to never stop moving because if they stay put they will be found-it's all about escape and evasion-hence why Bear's tactic is to not stop moving. He even mentions that a few times such as when he was in the jungle and met up with the helicopter, saying something along the lines of remaining hidden until the chopper lands because you don't want to be spotted before you need to be spotted. Les on the other hand uses a more survival oriented technique, sure he doesn't eat a lot of meat, most survival stories you hear about discuss how the person survived only on berries or bugs or even simply dew licked off of leaves nearby. Many people in survival situations have no prior knowledge on how to live in the area they are lost in, but as both shows' hosts so often mention, the key to survival is the will to live, the will to get home again, and everyone who has ever survived a true survival situation had that will to live. That is what both Bear and Les are trying to get across-it's not about whether he whines to much or he is fake-it's about the message they are both trying to send. Personally both shows are good, Man vs. Wild for the pure entertainment and Survivorman for the practical showcasing of what someone would more than likely go through(emotionally and physically) if thrust into such a situation. Both also occasionally show some very good survival techniques, along with some that are not so good. Basically, who can kick who's ass and who could out-survive who is unimportant, they both have upsides and downsides, every show on TV does. As I said before, they are both shows made for ENTERTAINMENT and should be treated as such.
Thor
May 27, 2008 @ 06:49 AM
I have read most of the postings and have come to a grand conclusion. You all like watching TV. The comment about the airplane carrying an axe really got me laughing! I travel the north, mostly in helicopters and up until recently they were all outfitted with Ace 22 rifles or a similar small breakdown model. Oh yeah, axes and other survival gear too! To this day there are bush planes that go down that are never found. Well I shouldn't say never. One was found a couple of years ago that the investagators figured went down twenty or so years ago. My point is that it seems a lot of comments are made by couch experts. I am not an expert but believe not one of you has a right to judge either person until you are personally challenged with no food or contact with other people in a remote area. Both men could live up the challenge I am sure but Les' show is the real deal. Try it, then post your next comment. I have and it is not a sane thing to do........
Dave from the North
June 12, 2008 @ 08:02 PM
Here's a new site that allows you to answer the *REAL* question: http://www.beargryllslesstrouddeathpool.com
Bear vs. Les: who eats it first?
They have other polls too but that one's the funniest...
Steve
June 12, 2008 @ 09:53 PM
After spending an hour reading all of this stuff, I've got to say that if I were Les or Bear I'd be damned embarassed having you grammatically-challenged dweebs as my viewing public...
ganzhoulin
June 13, 2008 @ 10:45 PM
Ok I have grueled through all of the threads (comments) and I have come up with a simple conclusion.
I think they are two totally different asspects of survival, and in a way they both kind of compliment each other. I think that you can't have one show with out the other because for one. Bear is a bad ass. Entertaining to the bone. He may have a whole google search on him contradicting his actions, but put yourselves in that situation he is in.... you would wish you had that same knowledge. He is very knowledgable of all his surroundings so i can see how he researches his surroundings to understand what he is getting himselves into. he may have a camera crew... but he already did his homework. flying in a helicopter gives you a vast view of your surroundings, and in military training that is a must for recon missions. SAS I guarentee he has that imbedded in his brain. second. Bear is not there to get out alive it is just a tv show, he is there to show YOU how to get out of the impossible. you may not use all his knowledge but even if in the situation you remember how to make a fire, or shelter.... The three main goals in any survival situation is fire, water, shelter... where there is drinking water there is food... You remember those things it will give you 1 up, and the one thing Bear emphasizes is those three things.he may do some crazy stuff along the way, but dont pay attention to his antics, but what you can take from his experience and expertise. The man puts his self at risk and yes there may be precautions but remember owen hart they thought the stunt was safe... so no matter how safe you think you are there is always a way nature lets you know to watch your step. Bear is a very smar t guy in that area of expertise and I wouldn't count him short on his abilities.
Now Survivorman. This guy makes you think he is a pathetic whinny escape artist but in any situation like that your main goal is to find a way out... there are two scenerios you can play out in any survival situation... 1 you go and find your way to safety, or two you wait for help to arrive. even if it takes treking a few miles.
The man is more realistic because not everyone who is lost in the woods is left with out any conventional means to survive. Les uses everything at his disposal like when he used everything on the snow mobile. Also Les did a demonstation on how to get out of an ice lake... he had a medic tent with medical supervision and an advisor... bear has shown numerous times what it takes to jump in the water and find a way to get dry. but thats besides the point.
Les has shown you one side of survival in his droughts of luck, and his level in morale. Les demonstrates that even in the worst of times, even when your luck is down you just dont give up.
Bear takes the physical and aggressive approach, he shows you the other side of the coin. The road less taken. He also shows that in a suyrvival situation the worst thing to do is to lay around hoping for your luck to change, laying around and doing minimal to keep your mind focused on the task at hand. Bear shows you that the more motivated you are the less likely you are of dying because you wont sit and wait for help... You sometimes are your only help. It is a show though, and it is used to get ratings. along with Survivorman... but try to put it in this asspect.... one show demonstrates the physical demands of nature, the respect you need to show nature.... it shows the determination to not give up by keeping busy and keeping moving.
The other show demonstrates the mental preparedness needed if faced with that type of situation... It shows that the less you do the less calories you use up, and the less water consumed. It also shows you the reality of what it would be like in retrospect. and it makes you think would i be ready mentally in that type of situation... you could have all the survival knowledge at your disposal and still die with out the mental capacity to withstand isolation, dehydration, loneliness, and the need to keep going even when you really dont want to...
So they are nothing alike in some asspects, but they two points one needs to take into account... the physical rigors of nature and the mentality to make it through
I think this makes some sense, you cant really compare because they are both very different on the spectrums of survival but both are neccessary to survive
CHRIS
June 21, 2008 @ 12:05 AM
Les by far... M v W seems extremely fake, and like it has a script
Andrew
June 29, 2008 @ 07:17 PM
I would rather die than eat a goat's testicle.
Holy Man
June 30, 2008 @ 01:28 PM
MORE IS LES! The Bear can growl all he wants about the difficulties that occur when man vs. wild. However, LES IS MORE courageous. LES IS MORE realistic. LES IS MORE of a SURVIVOR MAN! YES FOR LES!!!
MIMI
July 2, 2008 @ 12:11 PM
it doesn't matter if bear ever cheats considering that he shows you how to get out of situations.i dont ever see Les jump into quicksand to show people how to get out.in one episode i think it was the everglades on man vs wild he jumps into water thats below freezing temperatures and tells you what to do and what not to do.bear is also very instructional on what's edible and what's not.plants,bugs etc.but don't get me wrong i like survivorman.i just dont like the fact that he just sits around for like 4 days then decides hes going to try to get out....
sam
July 5, 2008 @ 01:19 PM
WOW! You people need to get a life and quit crying about pointless shit! Be it fiction or non-fiction it is on TV for your entertainment, PERIOD! Time for you zombies to get back to the real world now, you pointless lives await.
July 14, 2008 @ 10:06 AM
It's pretty funny that there are posts agreeing that Bear has faked a bunch of stuff but then they say that Les sits around the whole time and doesn't eat. Well the reason is that Les didn't have someone bring him the food. There is a bunch of stuff that Bear does that will kill you. Some other things are just plain stupid and are only there because they will look good on camera.
Yes Les does go in with some supplies. He is trying to show real life situations that could happen. Most people don't parachute into the forest.
Both of them do eat some nasty looking items but at least Les tries to cook it first.
Don
July 30, 2008 @ 01:12 PM
Simply Great!.
Pan kaj
August 28, 2008 @ 10:23 PM
I simply cant believe the fact that some retards are at it discussing the two people. The two shows were not aired for comparison. They had an aim in mind. Both taught certain aspects of survival. One was about surviving when stranded by conservation of energy and the other brings out the extreme measures you may have to resort to when out in the wilderness. They should not be compared. And if you people have not been in the wild or tried any of the stuff then you have no right to make judgement. If you can pick up some aspects of survival from either of the shows then you have got a life...otherwise flop over and die
victorforce007
September 6, 2008 @ 12:20 AM
I’ve been in the US Army for 16 years. Can’t say what I’ve done, but I now teach SERE (Survival Escape Resist and Evasion) to troops going all over the world. MVW is legit! Bear teaches more on the Evasion from the enemy techniques.
These techniques are however not the way to go for all isolated personnel situations. That’s what the Army call’s it by the way, Isolated Solder Guidance (ISG).
As far as Bear receiving food and water off camera? Who cares??? As long as he keeps ripping the heads off snakes with his teeth when they say “ACTION” I’m good. Again if you’re on a camping trip and family knows you are on a camping trip and you can’t make it back, then yes you would hang out and wait…If you think they can find you.
As far as entertainment…the survivor man makes me laugh my ass off!!!!!!!!!!!!! Other than that, they should take that junk of the air.
If you’re weak?... than MVW is not for you, and you shouldn’t be outdoors anyway.
AWOL
September 24, 2008 @ 11:43 PM
Dude bear is a moron, IN NO WAY WILL DRINKING YOUR OWN URIN IS SMART! and this is what he supposly does. No sane human would do the things he does. Its the most fake stupid 'survivor' show I have seen and he should just be shot. Survivorman actually shows you good advice, allowing you to learn a little where grills shows you what NOT to do.
Grillthemoron
October 11, 2008 @ 02:42 AM
Les said not to drink urine, Bear says do it... You decide.
I didnt know until yesterday that Les and his wife lived "off the grid" for 1 year. nice...
Bear is a sellout ftard!
goLes
October 20, 2008 @ 11:35 AM
Les is complaining all through the show, his show is very borring and annoying. Plus he's got all the tools he needs. M v W is more action and the guy is really hot :) I'd never watch Survivalman again, it's pathetic.
Mary
October 24, 2008 @ 07:48 PM
Les survives for a week doing as little as he can just to get by, whereas Bear goes out of his way to show viewers what can be done in certain situations if need be, sure some of the things Bear does are quite extreme but in most situations he is not doing these things because he needs to do them to survive, but because he wants the viewers to have the knowledge to know how to handle certain life or death situations they may be faced with if stranded in the wilderness. Bear is constantly on the move teaching you how to overcome some of the hardest obstacles in the wilderness. The things you learn on Survivorman to me seem elementary compared to the things you learn on Man vs. Wild. I would rather have the knowledge gained from Man vs. Wild to survive the worst conditions of the wilderness rather than the complaints from Les on surviving the average conditions of the wilderness.
JH3
October 31, 2008 @ 11:15 PM
Les is an idiot wrapped in a moron, he constantly is whining about the wild critters that he is worried that may eat him. A good example was when Les was stuck in the Georgia swamp, he mentioned at least every minute about being worried about the alligators, where as Bear was in a simular swamp and actually killed an alligator for food. Other problems with Les is all of the fishing tips he shows you never work, while Bear is 50/50 on his tips. Les's attempt at noodling for catfish never worked while Bear managed to catch a very large catfish noodling. So what that Les carries his own cameras, he is acting like he is all alone when in fact there is a rescue team nearby in case he runs into trouble or any real danger. It also says at the begining of Survivorman that he has no food, (which is a lie because he started off several episodes with some food)and no water(except when he is in a desert envirnment) All in all he is very dull and boring and alot of his surviving tips don't seem to work. You can knock Bear all you want for having a firesteel with him(which is small and can be carried everday on a keychain) but it seems Les in every episode has a "few" items that LO AND BEHOLD ARE COMPUSTIBLE LIKE GASOLINE!!!!! On the other hand, Bear is a showman, not all people are mountain climbers who can scale vertical cliffs. Bear has scorned going around mountains, saying that will take too much time you don't have. THAT is a good way to get someone killed if they never did any sort of climbing. All in all, I like Bear better because he gives more real survivor tips.
T34
November 3, 2008 @ 02:05 PM
By the way, drinking your own urine is THE last resort if you have no water. A friend of mine was an marine who served in Iraq, and he told me that part of his training revolved around desert surviving tips since he was going to Iraq and drinking your own piss was one of the tips he said is true AS THE LAST RESORT IF YOU HAVE NO WATER AND CAN'T FIND ANY!!!!! Nobody said it was safe, but it will keep you alive long enough to hopefully find water.
T34
November 3, 2008 @ 02:12 PM
I like both shows, but personally, i like man vs. wild better. Sure its been stated that he is a fake, but les also has some downsides. First off, Les bitches about having to drag his camera equipment everywhere like every 5 seconds which really starts to annoy me after a while. Second, its a survival show, it makes it easier for Les to survive when he brings a bunch of crap along with him i.e. a gun, a boat, one time i believe i saw a survival kit, the list goes on and on. Every show its something different.. Bear just has his knife a flint and water bottle. And Bear is simply more entertaining. Bear catches and eats all kinds of animals, and even drinks elephant shit juice. Les catches like a grasshopper and says, oh that will be a good dinner tonight. I'm not saying i won't watch survivorman. I'm saying both have their flaws but Bear wins in the end. But thats just my opinion.
BigBob
November 11, 2008 @ 08:37 PM
To everyone saying that Bear "catches his own food" or that he "wrangles monster catfish while noodling" while Les can never manage to catch anything. There's a simple explanation for that... And the explanation is: That is all STAGED. The same way the horses were staged. The same way the cobra was staged. The same way the bear was staged.
You have no idea how reliable Bear's traps are compared to Les's because all of his cuts and fancy video editing. You never SEE Bear's traps work either. You just see him go back to the spot and be like: Blimey! Look at that huge skunk that my snare trapped, gov'nah!
Who says his crew didn't put that skunk there while the cameras were off? Of COURSE they did. It was broad daylight. Skunks are nocturnal! If you're catching a skunk in the daytime you're catching a rabid skunk and you definitely shouldn't wrestle it under a coat and eat it!
Les wins best survival show hands down. If you want to watch a show to learn how to cliff-dive off a ledge into water of unknown depth and manage to break every bone in your body and then float along the river while you helplessly wait for bears to pick you apart; by all means watch Man vs. Wild.
And yes, I am well aware that Bear could beat up my dad.
Rich
November 17, 2008 @ 02:07 AM
Les is much better in my experience.
About Les and his miscellaneous. If you pay attention he has been and still mention that the stuffs are most readily available for the situation at hand. And because the priority of his show is to Survive the ordeal, it is Obvious-as-hell that you utilize and Maximize Everything that you can hoard off of anything to sustain your silly arse in the middle of fuck-nowhere.
Yeah sure charging in nature's backyard w/ a bottle of purified water, flint and a knife looks cool-as-fuck. It is a whole fucking other thing when the odd of world befall on your silly arse, the last thing that I dont want to know is how the fuck to boil watered dirt in a god damn bottle, or capture scorpion w/ a jar to feed my arse, or use a fucking led light to start a god damn fire. One of you donkey will probably reply "I can do that" or "Basic shits" etc etc... But talking and applying are two whole fucking things.
A quick mention on catching and baiting stuffs. If you really that fuck gullible and believe that your first shit trap, which is what it will likely to be after You set it up, going to catch anything then you are in for a joke on your arse. Yeah it sucks watching him fail miserably at catching catfish, but that is the fuck reality of life and nature. Shit dont always bite or fall sucker right away, in fact might be never for the duration of your stay in mother nature's backyard.
And about catfish, perhaps you would like to demonstrate to the rest of us chickenshit by sticking your Naked arm into that shithole God know wtf else in there than the intended catfish. Oh and doing that All The Fuck Alone. He even noticed that, yet you donkeys probably got all jackedup w/ drinking piss and didnt even pay attention to that.
Again the keyword is survival. Les is showing you how the fuck to do exactly just that by using every single fucking things that can increase your silly odd. On the other hand Bear just fucking walk in park, point A to B, along the way stab some "live" critters and climb some fuck wall under 100+Fahrenheit sun. yeah some of his methods are good, but he sows too much optimism into it and too much false sense of success. Yeah you can catch a rabbit w/ a blunt stick, but then wtf if you fail which is something you Will fuck likely...Les spends most of his time eat berries and miner lettuces-something that I didnt even know till I watched that episode-because that is the likelihood of any survival situation. SAS or not, failing and doing it wrong apply to everybody. Unless you have a dozen of back-ups readily jump in your rescue your silly arse from an alligator, which is something one shouldnt provoke in the first place to make an irrelevant point.
This is really to response to all those bonehead donkeys who keep on playing the SAS and Mount Everest card. Mount Everest is not Costa Rica rainforest nor Kalahari Desert. You donkeys just assumed that he is SAS trained and all those glories, then he can do everything w/ just 3 items in his pocket. I laugh at the obvious delusional between pride in something mixing it to a whole different another.
Oh and nice trolling to some of you. The name "Bear" doesnt help one shit. It gives no bonus to strength or endurance, or life or mana or wat/ever the fuck. It's just a fucking name you shallow misinform tv watchers.
Oh and if you watch the Behind Scene episode for Survivorman, Les actually shows you how he obtain many of the knowledge of an environment before attempting to putting them into use by himself. Yeah it undermines the creditability of the show a bit, but the real-life informations it provide are enough to compensate for it.
-
I can probably write an essay between these two shows just to show how more practical Survivorman over MvW, but then wtf I have to eat raw rattle snake and drink my own piss for lunch. Hey who care about the possible pathogens from raw snake mingled w/ dirt, and heavy metals that my body tries to expel from my system through me pissing in the first place.
Ahura-sama
November 17, 2008 @ 04:58 PM
Ahura-sama, Bear also gets his knowledge from local experts.
Either way, there's a good difference between the two shows which has been said over and over again. Les focuses on survival, Bear's show is mainly entertainment.
How can the catfish catch have been staged? They got a catfish and shoved it, backwards, down a hole in the water? Then they hoped it wouldn't swim away? Get real, I do agree that some situations are staged, but this one was not. The way Bear caught the catfish is actually a sport that people do, called noodling. Look it up online. They don't advise you to do this by yourself however, unless you are in shallow waters, which is where Bear did it. That, to me, is a great survival tip.
Then the alligator. There are more than a million alligators in the area. There had been thousands released to encourage hunting them. How can he not run into one then, even if it is staged, what is wrong with that? He shows you how to safely kill one in an environment that contains wild alligators. I do agree that you shouldn't take unnecessary risks, but if you really need food and you run into one, why not take the risk. An alligator provides you with food for days. If you are not confident, go find some plants and berries. Les' show is good for that kind of stuff, Bear shows other sides of survival. Both of them are great, entertaining and contain some valuable tips of survival.
DXI
November 19, 2008 @ 06:56 AM
both are good but from what ive from les is more on a time table. survive 7 days. which from what ive seen hes able to stay in an area of food and water and wait it out. (which sometimes he does, sometimes he doesnt) and to me he seems to do alot of sitting around and talking to the camera while bear seems to work & instuct u at the same time.
bear on the other hand is more live action (which is why i think he carries a camera crew) so u can see the dynamics of his climbing, building, hunting, etc. or "stunts as like to call it. ive lso heard bears destination are highly scouted and mapped out. (which to me doesnt take away from the show a bit) bear seems to be constintly on the move and more of a dare devil.
with all being said....i prefer bear....more action & dare devil antics.
jason
December 13, 2008 @ 12:11 AM
Bear is absolutly the best. Survivour man coulden't survive with only a knife and flint like Bear. And survivorman is not near as action packed as Man vs Wild. Les stroud us alright at surviving but not as good as good ol' Bear Gryls
December 13, 2008 @ 09:34 AM
Survivorman for me. It may not be as "action packed" as 'Man vs. Wild', but it's definitely the more realistic.
Les may not take as many risks as Bear, but he doesn't have a crew with him the whole time holding his hand. If he snaps an ankle out there in the middle of nowhere, he's pretty much screwed, where as with Bear, he can do foolish things because he knows that a camera crew is always 10 feet away to call for help. Nevermind the fact that Bear doesn't have to haul 50lbs of gear with him everywhere, which (contrary to what some have said) takes A LOT out of you, especially when you haven't eaten in days.
And let's not forget that Les (47) is nearly 50 years old. Bear is only 34, so naturally he's going to have an edge in the physical prowess category.
TriLink
December 19, 2008 @ 11:23 PM
I don't know why everyone is b*tching out over who is better. I like both shows and I don't really care if Les and Bear cheat as long as I learn how to survive if my ass was out there. For those who say "Bear did this and Bear did that" who gives a shit what he did. The whole purpose of the MvW and Survivorman is to show how to survive. People that say "Well Bear does action packed stunts" I don't think anyone would do that if they have to survive somewhere. I not saying les is better but you have to be realistic in that department. If I did have to choose I would pick survivorman because its what a "common man" can do. If I was more fit and in-shape I would go with MvW. It all comes down to who you can relate more too. TriLink has good points for Les and BigBob has good points for Bear. Justin your too focused on what Bear did insted of what he's doing.
Billybob
December 22, 2008 @ 06:49 PM
All I gotta say is, whoever thinks that Bear only has a "2 man camera crew" needs to watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT6Bh3A0Fu0
Bear is a bad ass, and I love what he does - but there is a big crew, with safety/stunt coordinators and emergency personnel on standby. There is no solitude, and much less imminent danger with Bear's show (save for the times when he wrestles alligators!), but that isn't the point of his show. Man vs Wild is more to show you extreme solutions to problems in an entertaining and impressive way.
If Bear got too thirsty and was in danger of dehydration, they could just cancel the shoot and toss him a bottle of water. Les does have an emergency radio in case things go real bad, but he's completely alone out there and truly has to struggle.
I find them both entertaining and educational, for very different reasons. Show aside, I think that Bear takes the cake for overall bad-ass. SAS? Mount Everest? Awesome. Les is cool too but he's more of a rock n' roll hippie.
Rob
December 27, 2008 @ 04:02 AM
Dude! I hate to tell you this, but Survivor Man has a camera crew too! Watch the shows closely. I once saw the shadow of a camera man in a shot on Survivor Man. Think about the picture quality of the show. You don't get that kind of quality with the crappy cameras he has! Come on man! Bear's trying to show survival techniques on Man vs Wild. He's not trying to be a bad ass. Survivor Man is just lame! I wish so much Discovery would cancel it and invest more in Man vs Wild. It is such a joke.
James
December 27, 2008 @ 04:49 PM
I watch Bear to actually learn something (not that would ever be stranded in Siberia). I watch Les for pure comedic relief. How many episodes will we see Bear snare a bat from the air and consume it alive while Les makes these elaborate fish or animal traps over a period of hours only to scavenge for some f***in' grubs for his "energy". Really, how many episodes has Les gone to bed hungry. If I'm relying on either of these two to survive, gimme Bear!
Mark
December 27, 2008 @ 05:39 PM
I am a canadian survivalist myself and with my survival experience i think that Les survivals methods are the best, well for the canadian environment tought.The first needs in the canadian wilderness is to stay warm and dry,even in summer,then you need to find drinkable water. From what i've learn the best thing to do is to set camp near a water source,if you can find one,and start a fire.then you try to get a good supply of wood at dawn and dusk,take a nap at midday and work on your camp at night while feeding your fire.Food come last.
I have 20 years of experience in hunting and trapping here and i know that you cant get easy meat from the wood up here.The only food you can gather easily here is plant,root,rhizome and berry:if you know whose are eatable.So dont expect Les to ambush a moose with a wooden spear or kill a deer with a rock.If you have a nice stream near your camp you can manage to get some small fish or a muskrat but usually this will be the only meat you ll get in a week.It wont worth the effort calorywise but its a good way to pass time, and youll have a lot of time if you get lost.
I think that Les is doing a lot of mistake on purpose to show all average north american that the preconceived though they have on surviving are wrong, like making a 4 shaped snare to kill a squirel,trying to dig a hole for ice fishing... Im sure he's skilled enough to show all of you to survive 1 week alone in eastern canada and thats not a small task.Im sure 90% of the people here wont last a week in the simulate plane crash conditon that Les go thru with only 1 arm half of the time and 65% of is time filming.
Its always easy to talk when you r comfortably sit in your couch, in a warm house with your family.If you are thirsty you only have to make some steps to get a glass of fresh water.Hungry and dont wanna cook?Why not calling a snack?!? Sleepy?You can sleep without fearing hypothermia. Lonely?you can call a friend on phone.If you think Les s pessimist and whining imagine yourself in a world where you need to boiled water before drinking, gather wood all day long with thousands of black flies for only company,(black fly are the worst when you dont have insect)(repellant,those bastard always try to get in your ear ,mouth and eye ),where you cant fall asleep alll night cause you dont know if youll wake up in time to feed your fire before hypothermia get you.And the stress...with all the bug, the preoccupation of getting enough wood for the night, enough water,food plus the camera and all the shooting time in Les's case.... Its a nightmare but that make regular life look like a paradise : D
In fact im sure Bear can do the same thing with a good training,but hes not... Most of his show are fake,and full of non sense survival wise.If the man can climb the everest or go thru an north atlantic trip on an inflated raft im sure he can do better than an average joe.I wish 1 day he will go in northern quebec and show us a real battle vs wild in one of the most harsh environment.But right now its more like a fake reality show...
QuebecHunter
January 7, 2009 @ 11:25 PM
You are wroung i think that when les dies (i do not hope) That Bear Grylles ll take his spot
Gabrielle
January 11, 2009 @ 06:16 AM
You are worng i think that when les dies (i do not hope) That Bear Grylles ll take his spot.
Gabrielle
January 11, 2009 @ 06:17 AM
Ok first both are just showing ways to save your life and what you need to survive. Who really cares how you survive? I watch both every chance I get. I am a huge wilderness survivor nut and I know quite a bit myself. Has anyone ever seen the behind the scenes Survivorman? They drop him off in the EXACT same location that they took him to a day or 2 before to show him what to do, eat and drink. All he has to do is repeat it! I REALLY get tired of his bitching about the cameras and I want to shove his damned harmonica down his throat. He annoys the hell out of me and bitches more than a woman. He takes No risks what so ever. And if you ever think the camera crew for Bear has it easy look them up! Sounds like a horrible job to me. One account was about one camera man's hand freezing around the camera in Siberia. Watch what you want, I dont care but atleast Bear has some balls to do some shit and make his way out instead of sittin around crying.
The Assassin
January 18, 2009 @ 04:30 PM
And I would love to get the chance to surivive in the wild. I dont care, I love a challenge and have no weakness to the cold, hunger and battle for life.
The Assassin
January 18, 2009 @ 04:36 PM
You guys are in love with Bear because he was in the SAS. Well guess what? If you're so horny about the SAS, why don't you change citizenship, and try to get accepted? Just shup up about the SAS already. The army taught me a lot more survival skills than you rookies will ever imagine, but the point is that anybody can learn survival skills. So just because LES didn't join the army to learn it there, it doesn't make him less qualified. And you all say that Bear brings with him a knife. Yet you have proof that everything on his show is staged, and there have been people who came out to say that he's slept in hotels, etc. So then just stop saying he only brings with him a knife. If you find him more entertaining because he doesn't complain like Les, well, maybe you'd all be the same if you always slept in hotel rooms instead of 7 nights alone, wasting all your energy by carrying your own equipment. Big deal, you say? Try it, you bunch of couch potatoes! We'll see who are the real pussies amongst you.
The Real Army Dude
January 18, 2009 @ 06:04 PM
I'm sure it's been said before, but Bear totally takes advantage of the "shock factor" of eating raw meat, jumping into crevasses, etc. There was one episode of "Man vs. Wild" where he didn't even use a knife, instead he ripped into a dead antelope (or whatever it was) in Africa with his mouth on the carcass. Seriously... how hard is it to get a knife out? Bear's playing for the camera and sponsors...
Les, on the other hand, is more about true survival. A good 'ol Canadian with a camera, and no one else, in the wild. That is so much better than some British guy with a parachute and a camera crew with a bag full of MRE's. Yeah, he may have been in the special forces... so what. If he really wants to match what Les does, he should go alone.
Man vs. Wild does demonstrate some good survival techniques, but if I were in a survival situation, I would listen to Les. :)
Scott
January 24, 2009 @ 12:29 AM
I like survivor man a lot more because the stuff that Bear does in MvW can be pretty impractical.
Even though Les may complain and show his stress, it reinforces the fact that he's alone without a crew.
I'd watch survivor man to learn how to survive practically, MvW so that I can say "Whoa, that's extreme, maybe I'll try it.....never."
Both shows are pretty entertaining though.
Watches TV
January 25, 2009 @ 02:20 PM
While I do question Bear's ability to get himself (and his camera crew) out of tight spots, I find it a little too convenient that Survivorman always has used automobile, boat, parachute, bicycle, etc., parts to help him. If I get stuck out in the middle of nowhere, I doubt I'll have a bicycle tire handy with which to build McGyver solutions.
Sarah
January 25, 2009 @ 05:56 PM
I think Survivorman is a much better show because what Les does will help in almost every survival situation you could find yourself in. The reason he always is starving is because finding or catching food in the wild isn't easy. Why do you think that almost everyone who gets stranded dies? Its from hypothermia, dehydration or starvation. Bear ignores all these problems because he can count on his crew to help him out. If Les gets into serious trouble he has to wait hours or possibly days until help comes at which time it could be too late.
One thing that annoys me is that some people are saying that Bear was SAS which I know is true but that isn't the point here. He obviously didn't stay in hotels etc. while he was training for SAS but for the purposes of MvW which is what we're discussing here he has help. It doesn't matter what he did in the past for the purposes of the show he has help from his camera crew. It doesn't matter how "badass" he is he is receiving help from other people of entities whatever they may be for however long he is "out" surviving. In a real life survival situation what good would come from jumping off a cliff into a fifty degree river? Frostbite, hypothermia, broken bones drowning? I don't see how this is helping me survive. I like Survivorman because he does it himself. If you don't like him whining you watch Bear lug 50 lbs of equipment himself for a week along with everything else. I have a feeling he'd begin to get pissed when he finds its not a cake walk.
Sorry for the long post but I have 4 short things left to say
1) Some guy was wondering how many planes carried an ax when Les was stranded with the plane wreck and I happen to know that an ax is standard equipment on any bush plane
2) Justin asked for something to prove that Bear was cheating did you even bother to check the London Times website that wmba referred to are you to worried that it will destroy your image of the big, badass SAS Bear. If you want proof go find it instead of waiting for someone to stick it under your nose.
3) Don't get me wrong, both shows are great for entertainment but Les is showing the reality of solo survival and what its really like.
4) Last but not least How many of you who are making fun of Les have actually survived completely alone for a week. If you did I think you'd find out that catching food isn't easy at all and trekking out when you're completely lost isn't as easy as Bear's camera crew makes it look.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I appreciate your comments.
Marshall
Marshall
January 27, 2009 @ 11:40 AM
Survivorman is totally boring. Man vs. Wild has more entertainment value. Who cares if Bear gets assistance. Les' survival tactics are mostly about finding shelter, and staying put while eating freshwater fish cooked over a campfire. Probably something we'd all do using common sense, but doesn't make for good TV.
Michael
January 29, 2009 @ 10:56 AM
A lot of the comments here are just fueled by people hating on the successful. Les and Bear are both in the entertainment business. If Les had a bigger following, people would be hating on Les because half the show is watching him eat and sleep next to a campfire. Bear has done well in the entertainment industry.
Michael
January 29, 2009 @ 11:00 AM
both bear and les are stupid at least a little don't hit me yet i know they are also entertaining and fun to watch..bear does dangerous stunts to teach us a possible time saver like jumping into murky water from 30 foot waterfall without knowing if there is a rock submerged .. les is in there all alone breaking rule no. 1 dont go in the wilderness alone i think they should pair up and share the camera this would allow les to save bear when he breaks his leg showing us what we should not do also usually these men do not eat much hardly surviving i call it slowly starving .. mr gibbons the author of stalking the wild asparagus was doing a show then we could eat something.. in a positive note les and bear are 2 shows i wouldnt miss if i can help it.. they are entertaning ..and somewhat informative. thanks for your ear(eye) ..
January 31, 2009 @ 08:15 AM
Lets get right down to it, Bear vs. Les. If you were really stranded in the wilderness who would you rather have leading you out? This is hands down Bear, thats not even debatable. Now if you wanted to literally go at it. Bear would straight whoop Les's ass. Bear might have support when situations get bad, that just common sense. Bear has a family to look after, so if his job (yes its just a job for him) gives him unnecesary risks he would be foolish not to get out of harms way. Bear makes for a more entertaining show, and if it were my ass on the line you better believe I'd take the Brit over the Canadian. Bear wins hands down. Not to mention Bear goes adventuring for the fun of it. Has Les ever climbed Mt. Everest? Did Les cross the North Sea in an open boat? Did Les fly over the top of Everest on a Para-Glider? Did Les jetski around Great Britain or survive in Antartica? The Answer to all these questions is no. Bear is a better showman, survival expert, and all around bad ass. Can you say passing French Foreign Legion traing?... Bear can Les can't.
SAS=BAD ASS
February 3, 2009 @ 05:34 PM
Look guys man vs wild is rediculous he doesnt show you how to survive. all he is doing is going hey look im a badass look at the crazy shit i can do. its retarded. for the people who say that les complains to much . wouldnt you to? 7 days no food no water no human contact, all by yourself. bear has ppl there to talk to and converse with and help him. les is all alone and he doesnt need to find a way out the ponit is hes showing you how to survive in a certain enviroment why would he show you how to leave? we all know how to walk. bottom line Les is a kick ass canadian who we all love and bear sucks his camera crews cock.
Nate
February 8, 2009 @ 10:15 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT6Bh3A0Fu0
Man vs. Wild = entertainment. Just information on the extremes you may have to go to to survive in whatever situation. Staged.
Look carefully at the second video. When he is climbing down vines he has a safety rope he is also holding on to. Camera crew plays the angles.
I've also heard of animals being planted (rabbit tied down to be killed) and one of the experts on his crew building a raft for him in one episode.
Personally I think people like Bear because his show is more entertaining, because when you have a camera crew and you have multiple takes as opposed to filming yourself, it should be.
db
February 10, 2009 @ 02:05 PM
Hey they are both good shows,of course les is more realistic,because it is real.But Man versus Wild is good also,not as realistic but good.If I was lost I would want either one with me.I think with bear,he would probably run you to death,he hits the ground running and never seems to stop.I imagine it is the special training for the special forces.Les is much more my speed.
liz
February 14, 2009 @ 08:34 PM
I am a fan of both but Bear is to crazy and I bet if he was really along he would not doing any the stuff he does Survivorman is the better survivor
Sebastian Homewood
February 19, 2009 @ 10:55 AM
Even if Man vs. Wild is fake if I had to pick Bear or Les to be stuck out in the wilderness with I would definitely pick Bear. Bear seems to know way more about survival, regardless of whether or not the show is fake. Les doesn't really survive as the title of his show implies so much as slowly die (and complain about it the entire time). Bear often finds better food and/or more food, even if its nasty. Bear also doesn't drink completely unsafe water without boiling as I've seen Les do over and over. I agree that Bear does some risky things, but I'm sure that's just for ratings. I'm no survival expert, but some of the things I see Les do are just as stupid if not more so, they just might not look as dramatic. I say they drop em' both in the jungle for a couple months and see who lives... then we'll know.
Jesse
February 22, 2009 @ 09:36 AM
A lot of these responses appear to be written by extremely biased and clueless 10 year olds. I'm not saying I don't like one more than the other; I do. I can also rationally justify why I do, unlike some of the nonsense written above.
It is difficult to compare these shows to each other because they are different kinds of shows.
In Survivorman, Les actually has to survive for several days, in realistic situations people might find themselves in, starting out with things that people in these situations realistically might have (yes, including a rifle. I know that it's totally unrealistic for someone, alone in an area where bears might rip them apart, to have a rifle with them. I know Bear Grylls could 1v1 a bear with both hands tied behind his back and have it ready to eat before one of his cameramen is done taking a leak. /sarcasm off). Les does things most average people would be able to do if they found themselves in that situation. Does he cook his food? Yea, when he can, like the rest of us do. He doesn't want to get a parasite, just like the rest of us! I have a feeling that most of the people commenting about the "whining" Les does would themselves be whining a lot more over a lot less in a similar situation. Maybe someday a lot of these commentors will see what I mean whey they are in a precarious situation and can't quite pull off some of the things Bear does.
Man vs. Wild, on the other hand, is like WWF meets a motorcycle stunt event. It's a show-off fest. It's not really about surviving (he spends some number of nights at a very ambiguous "base camp" instead of sleeping in his shelter). It's about doing outrageous things to get ratings. Of course Bear doesn't complain - most of the time he's not doing anything! He goes out for a few hours a day for a week, shoots some cool looking shots (people go "ooooh!"), then goes back to his "base camp" aka hotel to sleep. If he can't get a fire going after a few attempts, it's no big deal because he gets to stop for the day after a little while (compared to Les, who does not get "time off" during his time out and depends on a fire to not freeze every day/night). It may show you things you CAN do in these situations, but the huge, vast majority of people watching can't realistically do what he does because they lack the skills. He's letting us all know that if we all train and practice for a few years, we will all be able to do the same magnificent things that got him put on TV. He's not really surviving or showing anyone how to survive. He is showing off his skills (that close to nobody watching him can imitate) while getting ratings by doing outrageous things. More power to him for doing this stuff, but nobody should claim his show is about survivalism when he's not surviving in it. Using such a loose definition of survival, I'm surviving by writing this right now, and I'm going to survive tonight in my base camp aka bed as well. I'm going to survive in the wilderness tomorrow aka at work and in the hostile desert aka my front yard yard tomorrow afternoon. Damn, I need to pitch this idea to Discovery. Maybe I'll get my own survival show.
Juan
February 22, 2009 @ 06:02 PM
I did not read every comment. But the previous one from Juan, is the most accurate that i did read. I agree 100% with his post. Less practices what he teaches in real life situations, and proves them with his self filmed show. Bear takes unnecessary risks because he knows the life helicopter is just behind him out of camera view. Less makes a shelter finds his own food makes his own fire, then uses it to actually survive in for the next week. Bear makes a shelter (that he will not sleep in) be given some food source then dared to eat it or a part of it, and build a fire that he dos not need to upkeep because he wont actuality need to use it. And at the end of the day has a nice shower and either a Tent in a base camp or hotel room depending where he went to film. Bear has every aspect of his show scriped and set up for him ahead of time, where Less has to set things up himself and on the spot and unscripted.
I love the Discovery network it's great for my kids but the rule in my house is every time Man vs Wild comes on then the channel must change, and this is because i found my son jumping out of tree in my backyard into the neighbors yard (over the fence) onto a trampoline. Needless to say he sprained his ankle. He was playing man vs wild and was mimicking Bears stunts.
KC
February 22, 2009 @ 07:26 PM
I can´t believe this debate is still going on, but I am glad it is. I haven´t had TV for a while (been traveling for almost a year) but last night I saw a new episode of MvW and it almost made me lose my mind. rnrnTo all those who try to rise above it and say now, now both shows have value, etc. and one isn´t any better than the other and we shouldn´t call each other idiots - shut up. MvW is for IDIOTS. Bear is a dumb cover girl who shows up on a set and pretends to do something he can´t or wouldn´t actually do. Case in point his ¨catching¨of the ¨viscious¨ monitor lizard in his Indonesian jungle episode. We don´t see him spot it or stalk it or grab it, all of a sudden he is just thrashing it around in the water and holds it up by its tail. The poor thing isn´t even resisting at this point, it was obviously captured hours before and handed to this moron, or even more likely it was probably someone´s pet. So he thrashes it around in the water for 30 seconds and then he swings its head against a tree like the manly man he is and murders it for no reason but to show a little gore for some ratings. I am sure it was difficult for him to swallow a few bites for the camera as he sat around his fake ass campfire after finishing his usual three course meal in his trailer off set. What a man.rnrnIn this same episode he recommends cutting holes in your BOOTS to ¨let the water drain out¨ so you don´t get foot rot. Aside from the fact he cuts the holes an inch above the sole (so you in fact create an inch deep reservoir for your feet to soak in) the LAST thing you need to do in a survival situation is to destroy your ONLY FOOTWEAR. rnrnThen he proceeds to follow the river (a good idea in theory) but he does it by walking IN IT instead of alongside it. Smart. How To Break Your Ankle 101 by Baby Bear G. rnrnI could go on and on, noting his inane idea of rapelling down a waterfall with a finger thick piece of vine (notice his safety rope backup though), climbing down a wall on hanging roots, etc. but the clincher is at the end when he says now he can return to his wife and child, as if he really has spent some time out in the jungle by himself. Almost as good as him pretending he really slept in that dumb shelter he made up in the tree where he supposedly built another fire with tinder he found in a soaked rain forest. I don´t think so.rnrnI wonder how many sherpas it took to carry his fairy ass up Everest? This guy is a complete fraud. I feel sad for humanity when I read people praise this monstrous demonstration of stupidity.rnrnrn
Dominick
February 23, 2009 @ 12:39 PM
Both shows are great, both guys could survive but "Survivorman" is much more realistic... especially after seeing the Man versus Wild fail on youtube. Both men give you plenty of instruction, however Les gives instruction and shows you and I how to survive until you can get rescued. "Finding a way out" as many of you say Bear shows us to do can more often than not get you in more trouble.
As far as the "whinning" that Les does, let's see how Bear reacts when he has no one around and can't spend the night in a Motel 6.
If you are lost in the wild, Les's example is much more beneficial. As someone else noted, he is slow and deliberate, not wild and crazy. Remember, the first rule of survival is to stay alive and I'm sorry but for those of you who suddenly think they have mastered survival skills by watching Bear for 30 minutes will find themselves at the bottom of a ravine.
As far as the things Les uses...if you are going out into the wilderness, you just might have those things with you...people don't get stranded in the jungle on the way to the supermarket, usually they planned on visiting the jungle, I hope they brought something worthwhile to survival.
The thing (and most important thing) I have noticed which many of you haven't factored in. Yes, Les' traps do not always work, yes he eats leaves and berries and the occasional rotting fish...but the reality is, all of the things Bear shows you to do, and all the time he spends building spears and other hunting tools along with the hunting itself uses a valuable, life saving thing called energy. If you are out in energy draining environments, you can't afford to be climbing sheer cliffs and making spears to go fishing..if you want to survive and get out, you need to conserve energy, eat what you can to survive until yo uhave enough energy to actually pursue something more nutritious. This is why Survivorman is a more beneficial show.
Wil
February 27, 2009 @ 11:36 PM
Survivorman and Man vs. wild should get allong and do show with Les Stroud and Bear Grills in new Zealand's jungle
james chalk
March 4, 2009 @ 06:06 PM
LES SUCKS he shouldnt be alive after his shows he doesnt eat anything. at least bear shows you how to make snares and how to find food. one time les pulled out a lighter to make a fire. bear teaches you more les just survives but barely if you follow les's advice you would most likely die if les was there longer without anyone he would be dead from lack of food. but bear would survive because he actually gives advice like how to get out of quick sand les would probably pull a weed out of the ground and say mmmm.. i might as well have my last dinner.
efefe
March 12, 2009 @ 09:17 PM
Les is way better than Bear! Survivorman is so much more realistic which makes it better!
March 19, 2009 @ 10:46 AM
This thread is amazing. I never realized there was such a harsh rivalry from fans on the two shows. I love both of them. Being a solo climber I take great advice from either series. Les' side if I get stuck by weather or lost, how to conserve energy, and Bear's side in getting my ass out of severe trouble. They both are equally educational shows. I respect Les for doing it solo and I equally respect Bear for his exploits and would fully expect that he have a crew assisting him.
yowzer
March 24, 2009 @ 06:09 PM
BEAR SUCKS. Les is the best. Les teaches you survival skills not stupid stunts.
BC
March 25, 2009 @ 08:20 AM
i am sorry but jump in an frozen river, jump in abyss where you do not see where is the bottom, climb some dangerous cliff, eat raw meat who can contain parasite,go in an hold abandon mine where its easy to lost or fall in an deep gallery,that is absolutely not a thing to do when you try to survive in addition when you are lost you don't have 6 or 7 guys with you, who can see much more fruit,plant,animal than one man can see, you don't have an survival expert to said to you if you can eat or not this plant or this fruit. Bear do all that.
March 31, 2009 @ 03:00 PM
Les puts him self in realistic situations like Plane Crashes or drifting along the ocean all alone and make use of whatever equipment you may have in these certain situations.
I think i'll find Les' far more helpful in a survival situation rather than Bear. You will not see me jumping around while stranded alone in the desert or arctic. Les truly demonstrates not only the physical strain these situations can do to a person but emotionally as well.
Ralph
April 14, 2009 @ 12:47 AM
Jeez you guys been ranting on whether which show is better and that is what the whole topic is about but saying Bear gets positioned with things like the rowboat or whatever and all Les ever does is whine, well it's TELEVISION if you didn't know what that box was in front of you. It solely for the entertainment and partially for the informational value it offers.
I don't care if they had things set up for them or that whether or not they really survive out there it is just for TELEVISION.
Josh
April 23, 2009 @ 11:46 PM
There's a reason Les looks tired on his show and Bear seems to have all the energy in the world. It's because Les is trying to survive. While Bear is trying to make television show.
If you think running around in your back yard. Pretending to be Rambo, Is actually how someone would survive. Than I suggest watch Man Vs Wild.
Now if you are not a pussy and want to know what it really takes to survive in the wilderness. Than your only choice should be Survivorman.
David
April 24, 2009 @ 11:42 AM
...So i guess the point im pondering is why does les have to deliberatly show how hard is to survive in the wilderness...if you ask me thats more "theatrical" than man vs wild yeah he is doing it all by himself. but what happens if he accidentally gets himself killed over a tv show? So what if man vs wild isn't as forthcoming about the realism...the point of these shows aren't to prove whos the "better man" but to instructional on specific survival situations..you ever wonder why discovery has both on the air? if you think man vs wild is lame..then go watch some suvivorman and take some noted and go visit where bear grylls had been...either way if i was stranded in the middle of nowhere i would be content with either of them traveling with me!
Tim
May 25, 2009 @ 01:31 PM
Totally agree David. Why are your asking yourself who is the most bad ass guy. I mean les is awesome and does really crazy things. But the shows are verry different. Bear learns you things to survive. His show is actually about doing crazy things so you know what to do in that situation. The Canadian guy just hangs around in some part pf hell and tries to survive. But he doesnt do things that bear do. I mean what crazy guy whould dive in Siberia under the ice. You won't do that if youre trying to survive on your own. So stop making than compeat cous they are both badd asses. And you cant challenge them by compearing their shows.
Bla Bla
May 26, 2009 @ 12:00 PM
Survival man wins imean how would you like to go up a hill and then go right back down to get youre 40 pound camara and go up that hill again? i wouldent Bear hes okay but you cannot compare him to survival man,he has a camara crew wich sometimes helps him.And the thoughts you would have when youre alone for 7 days is terrible. Bear has peaple to talk to to keep him going survival man dos not. And bear only stays 2 days he sleeps once and then in a hour a helicopter pops out and rescues him.
Obama
May 29, 2009 @ 02:53 PM
I was disappointed when I found out that Bear was BS'ing... staying in motels and the like. And it seems so staged. At least, staged enough that I searched for possible controversies.rnrnLes is the shit. Like dude said, Les does it all him self. Bloody difficult, yeah. The biggest difference though is that Bear is never alone. I've noticed Les saying so many times that it gets so lonely. Even if the crew didn't talk to Bear, or even if they stayed 100 paces back, Bear still knows they're around... They're close and that's comforting. The only thing around Les is tonnes of camera gear and the wilderness.rnrnGo Les... make us Canadian proud eh! We gots nothing else.
DR
June 3, 2009 @ 07:21 PM
It just seems like survivor man goes to different locations and starves and whines for a week...
I can't believe the one episode when he brought his hunter friend, a bow, rifle and shot gun and they didn't eat anything for 4 days... they STINK at surviving... my 5 yr old son can survive better, lol.
JJ Hunter
June 26, 2009 @ 08:02 AM
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80581622/rnThe magic of a camera.rnSorry to burst your cherry, but MvW is more showboating then actual survival. Bear is a hack and a fake. Les will show you how to survive in a real situation, he doesn't prance around like he just drank 12 cups of his own urine, he doesn't wear life jackets or have anyone nearby who could help him if he was was knocked unconcious or badly hurt. He has a gps utility that he can set off if things get too heavy, but he has never really used it. And real experts have taken notice of Bear and his 'survival' info. I can't find the references but more than 3 REAL survival experts, with one of them being a guy who walked through the desert for almost 120 miles alone after being the lone escapee from captivity by Afgan terrorists, and having every member of his team killed, says Bear is a fraud.
Dan
June 30, 2009 @ 12:52 AM
i like both shows but i vote for Survivorman because of the more practical things Les teaches... play it safe, watch your every step and you will come out alive. if yo don't have Bear's training DON'T apply his "extreme" survival methods and stunts ...or you will die. Man vs wild is more for entertaining and Survivorman towards practicality. and i'm sure that Bear cheats many time, but i still think he is ok ..but Les is awesome. Someone said that Les's traps don't really work and Bear catche's something most times. I've used animal traps myself , i was taught by the local poachers in a mountin village where i lived most of my chidhood. what can i tell you ... you must use alot of traps to catch something and even then is not certain.
iullian
July 9, 2009 @ 07:40 AM
by the way i'm from Romania. Bear did an episode in the romanian mountains; i have never seen Bear so scared anywhere else :)) ... he stood up all night afraid not to be attacked by black bears... it was a wise thing to do. he was in real danger because most of these bears never seen humans so they will atack if they sense food or feel threatened and they are ferocious.
iullian
July 9, 2009 @ 08:13 AM
I used to like MvW. When I first started watching it I wasnt introduced to survivorman yet. Once i heard of him staying in a hotel during an episode, i lost all respect for the show. For whoever says les cant catch anything, I believe there were a few episodes of MvW where he set up traps and caught nothing, but in the morning he miraculously had an animal, oh wait whats that disclaimer on the bottom, supplied by locals lol. Yeah bear may have been in the RAF and climbed everest, but we are not comparing what they may have accomplished in the past, this is now. Guess what, im willing to bet not all of us here climbed everest and had the military training that bear has. Les is a real person, by himself, surviving. Some of you saying that he is barely surviving. No shit, boy we have some geniuses here, like someone said before me its about surviving! Not making a new life! And about les whining, Im sure you haters would be happy as clam being in his situation wouldnt you. Put yourself in the Kalahari, 100+ degree temp. No food, very limited water, Nobody around, sounds like the perfect vacation getaway doesnt it. And about going to the village when he was being prowled by a jaguar, i suppose bear would tear his shirt off, like he does every episode, flex his chest and the jag would cowar off in fear. I have also read accounts where strouds survival situations have helped real people surive the elements when they found themselves stranded. Its very obvious bear gives bad advice and i dont need to get into, its been covered enough here. Point being, survivorman is a better show IMO. If I had to survive with one of them, Les hands down.
Steve
July 9, 2009 @ 06:07 PM
i agree with steve, if i had to survive with one of them it would be Les :D
iullian
July 10, 2009 @ 05:14 AM
Hi Every one,
My name is hashir and i was a great Fan of M VS W But after watching survivor man i was shocked. Survivor man is crystal clear not Fake. But Bear grylls MF is a fake thing. He does that just for money where as Les did it to show people how to get out of the danger.
But now i am really sad as Survivor man is finished Les man you can do another season. Les is a nice guy
he is very honest and simpled man. Where as Bear is a showing off man. I liked his off the grid video of Les it was a great idea.
Hip Hip Hip Hip HURRRRRRA survivor man
and May you live long Les,
AMEN../.....
bye all,
hashir
my id hashir.mansur@gmail.com any survivor man fan can contact me just drop me an email
Hashir
July 19, 2009 @ 02:23 AM
survivor man shows what should be done in a survival situation if you are an average person
Edward shows you what to do if you are an ex-SAS Lt.Cdr. in the RNR and have a camera crew with you
and if you are all of this you should know damn well what to do anyway
also Les shows actual survival techneiques while Bear shows you how to jump in and out of a 3oo ft deep ice cave in Scotland then make some lame ass remark like "my knees are a bit banged up"
and for anyone who says Lt.Cdr. Edward gives good advice my cousin backpacks and loves MvW and decided to follow Eddies advice in doing this he managged to break 12 bones all at once following eddies advice and by the way he is a licenced survival instructor in Scotland Germany Florida Maryland Michigan Greenland Georgia Ohio New Mexico and Quebec with 15 years of survival experiance he is also just in case anyone needs more profe that Eddies ideas are crap he (my cousin) is a Lt. in the Marine Corpand had his last tour of duty in Iraq 2 months ago and agrees that many of these things would be impossible with the things that Edward is seen using
kellen
July 26, 2009 @ 06:50 PM
Survivorman sux
Jim
August 5, 2009 @ 08:23 AM
(-------------I didn't watch this stuff until one day channel surfing I came across Man vs. Wild. I was hooked instantly. While I will agree that some of the stuff Bear does seems staged and possibly foolish I still think he's a bad ass. After getting hooked and watching all of Bear's episodes I saw Survivorman listed. So I figured I'll check it out. So in the episode I watdched this guy Les is on a boat "deserted". Well he started whining about losing contact with his survival boat I thought he was going to cry or wet himself so said WTF and I turned it off. Maybe this was a weak moment in the series but a "survival boat" what the hell? I'll give survivorman another watch or two but if he starts crying about losing radio contact with anybody I'll just assume he's a pussy and find some other way to waste my free time.rnrnskepticrnrnJune 8, 2007 @ 08:28 PM-------------) ...........You are an idiot man vs wild is just a show meant to entertain an audience and of course bear isn't going to cry about shit he has people around him psychologically and emotionally that makes a huge difference, Les doesn't. Les is much more awesome its easy to be a critic but you couldn't do any of the shit Les does and if you were in the same situation you would probably die before the 7 days were up....Les wins this contest hands down
lesisking
August 8, 2009 @ 11:00 PM
Survivorman is genuine and that's what matters - it's what you'd do to survive. the reason he's "whining" is just telling the audience of what they would feel in his spot right now. The dude is actually sharing an expirience with the viewer. He's also pretty smart I might add - he's showing how to actually SURVIVE: the tactics of behaviour, how to plan your day, how to preserve energy, how to carefully watch your body temperature, not to mention all the skills he's getting from the natives or just people who are keen at surviving in the particular area (like making a fire with gasoline fumes and a battery anyone?) - he's doing real serious research and studies the area and trains with the locals for at least a week before each episode.
He's also putting himself into REAL danger - the episode in the amazon where he got foot fungus and in the end he had to walk away(not run away in panic = he would be eaten) from a jaguar.
Aswell as showing the not-so-many useful tricks, Bear is also showing some real stupid stuff that, if used in an actual survival situation, would be the end of you. Getting in cold water in the wilderness = you pretty much die, unless it's really warm. Sweat during winter in the wilderness = you die. Drinking water from a stream, same as sucking out fluid from a fish's eye could easily lead to contamination with god-knows-what - Les tells and/or shows how to boil water or cleanse water with herbal means in his current situation. aswell as breaking survival myths on his way. The list is endless.
If I want to see stunts - I just go to the cinema and watch the latest high-budget action soap and If I want BADASS - I watch 300 or Predator or other ))
SURVIVORMAN for me all the way if we're talking genuine survival documentary. Cheers. (I'm not a native speaker btw, so my apologies for typos)
Jiggster
August 14, 2009 @ 03:33 AM
Anyone who thinks that Man vs Wild instructs anything of valid survival content has had obviously no type of survival training.
Bear = flashy/extraordinary
Les = applicable/realistic
Bear is fun to watch and entertaining, but don't try to use any of his "techniques" in the wilderness. Bear is like the show jackass, funny to watch, stupid to try.
Dojo
August 16, 2009 @ 08:33 PM
i watch both shows all the time and i like survivorman better cause man vs wild isnt a survival show really its more for entertainment and fun to watch not like thats a bad thing but man vs wild is wht its called wht its name is bear is just dose weird stuff like eat raw also when he was in vietnam bear ate a bullfrog raw head and everything while he is holding a torch wtf people didnt want even toast it and even though survivor man complains a little bit he does all of his stunts twice and hes carrying 45lbs of all his own camera stuff
matt
September 5, 2009 @ 03:01 PM
hmmmm
HAHAHA
well. Les is more practicle and Bear is MORE SHOW which is what he's after and what entertains us more on TV its meant to be cooler, not boring and dull. I like Bear more, but Les is still good, I watch them both. :)
NiNJaAAA
September 6, 2009 @ 06:10 AM
who is to say that les is all alone and doesnt cheat? He claims to be all by himself, and even if he is the point is to survive, so why waste energy walking forward setting up a camera and walking back to get in the shot? Even if bear grylls gets help or cheats the important thing is that he doest everything once, he still drank the moisture from elephant poo so he is teaching you how you would survive if you were stuck in that situation. So even if he cheats off screen he only shows you what to do in that situation and sometimes puts himself in situations that you might come across like the quick sand incident.
scuba-steve
September 9, 2009 @ 10:19 PM
Bear seems more knowledgeable. So what if the crew throws him food and water, the fact is he shows you on the show him filtering water, building fires, and eating the most bizarre crap. He just moves so much faster when he works and seems to be confident that he is doing it right.
dem
September 11, 2009 @ 11:14 AM
I like both shows, LES just a little bit more. He does his show by himself, if something does happen, he is @ss'd out. He makes decisions that can actually hurt him later. Sure he'll screw up trying to catch a fish or build a raft, but thats the truth, nothing hidden - slow and deliberate, hence "SURVIVALMAN".
BEAR's show is pretty cool, but more in the entertaining part. For example, him floating down a river with a floatjacket then later on without. His show is like when a group of guys go camping and double dare each other to do guy stuff. He does it quick and to the extreme, nothing in the shows title state "SURVIVAL".
WE SHOULD ALL REQUEST THAT THEY BOTH SWITCH SHOWS. THAT WOULD BE COOL TO WATCH.
j-jay
October 24, 2009 @ 04:29 PM
I like both shows, LES just a little bit more. He does his show by himself, if something does happen, he is @ss'd out. He makes decisions that can actually hurt him later. Sure he'll screw up trying to catch a fish or build a raft, but thats the truth, nothing hidden - slow and deliberate, hence "SURVIVALMAN".
BEAR's show is pretty cool, but more in the entertaining part. For example, him floating down a river with a floatjacket then later on without. His show is like when a group of guys go camping and double dare each other to do guy stuff. He does it quick and to the extreme, nothing in the shows title state "SURVIVAL".
WE SHOULD ALL REQUEST THAT THEY BOTH SWITCH SHOWS. THAT WOULD BE COOL TO WATCH.
j-jay
October 24, 2009 @ 04:30 PM
Les stroud really really sucks... Nobody here likes and watch the show. Born survivor(bear grylls) on the other hand is REAL and more informative. Myself being a adventurer i take many things out of his show. I have personal experience of his techniques. He is the real survivor man. Les stroud's show feels like staged. Moe people feel the same way here.
Vishwanath
November 12, 2009 @ 06:57 AM
Bear is cool, but come on - it's known fact that it's all staged and fake. Think Bear really spends the night out in the wild? nope, he's at a nearby hotel.
Les is for real.. which unfortunately sometimes translates into less flashy and sometimes boring.. like life..
November 14, 2009 @ 10:10 PM
both are awesome obviously, but to those who suggest that Man Vs. Wild is Less hardcore because of the Crew, consider this.
All those magical shots they are getting? Those often involve the camera crew doing even crazier S%it than Bear is doing, and they all have to be fit and healthy and able enough to be able to handle it. And the times when the crew are living a bit easier, say eating granola instead of snakes, or sleeping in a tent/sleeping bag instead of the ground or snow, Bear is staying hardcore while having the alternative just a stones throw away.
I'm not saying that's more hardcore than handling whatever comes all by yourself. Each are crazy, just different crazy.
miguelito
November 22, 2009 @ 05:13 PM
I think that les wins hands down. what people dont realize when watching these shows is the whole fact that les is all alone. For 7 days. That takes a toll on anyone. I dont care who you are. And as far as people saying "les gets supplies" obviously hasnt watched more shows of his. he usually only gets things like a few jars. or a broken down car to strip down. On a rare occasion hell begiven something like a chunk of whale blubber or something. And the fact that yea he doesnt catch anything sometimes or seems desperate sometimes is because hes all alone. And its realistic. Your not always going to be able to catch food or find sustanance so readily. Dont be fooled by the camera friendly action of bear. Much of it is staged and if you can't tell then your one of those people who gets so absorbed into what they are watching that they forget that it is a produced show and their are certain realities to take into account.
skpride
December 9, 2009 @ 10:40 AM
Also there are reasons he brings some supplies that he does bring. Gasoline and stuff like that he is never given. He takes them fromt hings that he finds. Such as draining the fuel line on an empty truck that he broke down in and put him into that situation. He literally had to break off the fuel line and blow out the few drops left into a tinder bundle he made. As for the times hes given a gun. Its because yes is making a survival show. But he is also all alone out there. If you were shooting a show out in polar bear country. I dont care how realistic you want your show to be. I'd take a gun too. There are certain things he needs to take with him. It is still a tv show just like man vs wild.
skpride
December 9, 2009 @ 10:45 AM
Bear Grylls tends to do everything that you'll never do in a survival situation. He even seems to kill every animal he can get his damn hands on! Half the time he wastes the fucking meat and what not, thus making him basically an animal cruelty supporter AND he seems to get his damned jollies off when he does it! Not only that but every show he does the most crazy shit (with camera crew help / support / with their encouragement etc) and half the time you'd never do that!
Les Stroud shows you what needs to be done, and he does it alone. He never has help, he never has the support, he always does what it takes. He also has a rule ""Killing something for me is a last resort"" which even in survival he will actually REFUSE to kill something if he can find another means of eating!
Les is clearly an expert at his field / a great man to watch and hes very fun. Bear is over-hyped and for the younger / more ignorant generation.
Les - 5/5
Bear - 1/5
Vaughn
January 2, 2010 @ 09:47 AM
bear goes into those crazy situations to show what the worst case scenario is and how you can get through it. His show isn\'t a documentary it is a survival show and he does what is needed to survive. les is just a poser who is ignorant and stupid.
meh
January 12, 2010 @ 02:10 AM
the real heros on man vs wild is the cameraman, he does what bear does with a camera.
and i'd be more upbeat if i had a helicopter to pick me up after every thing i did.
les is the man....if i were by myself out there i may get down.....survivorman is real....bottom line
Duh
February 1, 2010 @ 01:38 PM
i say the same
the unknown dude
February 2, 2010 @ 02:11 PM
I like both shows. For me MvsW seems to be more for entertainment. If one really does get lost in the woods and is NOT as survival expert you shouldnt go blindly trying to find your way out, but rather do whats necessary to acquire shelter, water and food. I think Les tries to show what you should do IF you find yourself in a survival situation that infact could happen. MvsW seems to show what a kickass survival expert can do.\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=man+vs+wild+fake&search_type=&aq=f\r\n\r\nAbove is a link of youtube videos clearing showing that MvsW is staged, which im fine with since they have now made that statement at the begining of the show.
Nick
February 4, 2010 @ 12:52 PM
If I were stuck alone somewhere you better fucking believe I'd want Les with me.
February 18, 2010 @ 12:01 AM
you idiots when bear \\\'ropelled\\\' down that waterfall i clearly saw on the tv he had an extra safety rope that was attempted to be clear(invisible) but i and most likely others saw it. i would have done that it requires no skill or bravery.
-urmom
March 29, 2010 @ 08:13 PM
I thinkBear is better no duh! So what he has a camera crew!I'll bet you that Les can sneak some food in that chunky backpack of his. Plus he whines like a baby. I mean he needs to just SHUT UP ALREADY!One time I was watching Survivorman and he was in like Alaska or something and he had a huge chunk of like whale fat!I mean you don't see Bear coming to missions prepared with food!It was unbelieveable! That Les guy it a phoney and adding to the fact that practically every time he does something he 'can't do it!' He gives up on the 2nd try and decides to starve for the night!I'm sorry to all you Les fans but he's a fake and the show should be canceled.
April 12, 2010 @ 02:04 PM
seriously? who cares who would win in a fight. The truth of the matter is most people who get stranded in the desert or whatever arent ex-marines with 10 years of training their regular people like les, and the reason he fails and complains so much is because the show is actually real.
ronald
April 18, 2010 @ 07:57 PM
Both are entertaining and demonstrate proper survival techniques. It would be interesting to get them together on one show and watch how each one handles the situation.
Rick
April 24, 2010 @ 02:43 AM
Holy cow I can't believe this is still getting comments after three years.
Been watching both recently on netflix. Both entertaining.
Nic
May 12, 2010 @ 05:10 AM
Les is the better when it comes to being real. However, I would rather watch Man vs. Wild because it's simply more interesting.
Anonymous
June 13, 2010 @ 12:29 PM
I would have to go with Les. People here say he complains and goes in with food as if that somehow discredits him. However, he does put himself into a real survival situation, unlike Bear who is with a camera crew and is not always even in a remote area. And honestly, I don't care who's more "badass," or whatever term people are using. What really matters is who gives the best advice. And take it from a lifetime of outdoor experience that Les definitely gives better advice on his show. I'm not saying that Bear doesn't know what to do. I just feel that he does things that would not be a good idea purely for the sake of providing an entertaining show.
And I would wonder how many people commenting here have ever been through any sort of survival experience. It's one thing to give an opinion from your couch in the suburbs and quite another to look at it from a remote forest campsite.
T
July 21, 2010 @ 11:47 PM
Personally I like shows like the old Australian show "The Bushtucker man"(the bushtucker man is also named Les) and Ray Mears various shows.
But "Man Vs Wild" and "Survivorman" are both entertaining.
Stop bitching about what parts are "faked" and what parts were set-up for the cameras and just enjoy the shows for what they are.
Obviously Edward Grylls "cheats" a lot and gets help, and often gets rescued when he screws up, he also takes stupid risks and Les Stroud packs it in a day or two early some of the time because he isn't doing such a great job of surviving. but that just makes for good tv. Who cares if they get help or can't handle some situations? it's about the good general advice and the entertainment value.
Even if Edward Grylls does give a lot of advice that would just get you killed sooner or give you parasites like stupidly eating raw meat and drinking urine, it's still a good show and it's entertaining.
Pepe Le Pew
August 27, 2010 @ 11:16 PM
Bear also only has a knife, where les takes a whole kit with him
S
August 29, 2010 @ 10:12 PM