Bear Grylls injured

[He' s left the building]

Do what I do, watch Bear Grylls with the sound off and try to concentrate on the wilderness back-drop, wonderful!!

 

[saddle_tramp]

Do what I do, watch Bear Grylls with the sound off and try to concentrate on the wilderness back-drop, wonderful!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Grylls



Go read that, then come back here and tell us all what a loser he is . . .

And then maybe you can list some of your own accolades. . . lol

 

[Draven]

totally mate, is just forum banter innit


I suppose you could compare the sensible advice to travellers in bears show. . to the sensible advice to motorists in top-gear. But i still maintain its just entertainment.

Its like that Aussie snake guy who died, i cant remember his name, but he used to wrestle crocodles and pick up snakes, and take crazy risks but I would much rather watch him, than watch David Attenbourough, even if David knows far more on the subject. If i want to learn how to survive in some distant land, im gonna take it a little more seriously than what i can pick up off bear inbetween his stunts . . But im not going to slate him for that reason, anymore than im gonna slate clarkson for being more concerned with how fast a ferrari goes round the track, than he is concerned about whats the best value car in the uk

Well I agree really, it makes for more "gripping" television. I think you're referring to Steve Irwin? I think it is arguable that anyone interested in survival training isn't going to turn to a TV show for it, anyway - but the show is really about survival situations which you are thrown into, rather than go into willingly. I suppose that the chances of his advice really being followed are slim; I guess I see it as a matter of principle. I just don't like it being portrayed as good advice when it's not - but I guess it wouldn't really work if he said "Don't actually do this - I'm just going to jump into the water so I can whip of my shirt - it's quite impressive really, isn't it? "

Atb
Pete

 

[He' s left the building]

Go read that, then come back here and tell us all what a loser he is . . .

And then maybe you can list some of your own accolades. . . lol

Bit uncalled for mate, I'm not calling him a loser, I'm stating fact.

Or have I just 'bit' and need to adjust my online sarcasm filter?!

 

[saddle_tramp]

steve irwin, thats the guy its a proper shame about him

im not trying to win arguments, we all got us own opinions and these forums would be borin if we didnt. I just think that Bear Grylls is worthy of a little more respect, and on here especially, he gets flamed for not being something that he was never meant to be in the first place

 

[gloomhound]

Just because of the fact that he is very goodlooking.

Yet another reason to hate Mr Grylls. ;-)

 

[saddle_tramp]

Bit uncalled for mate, I'm not calling him a loser, I'm stating fact.

Or have I just 'bit' and need to adjust my online sarcasm filter?!

yeah your right, im sorry

I just get annoyed when people start trying to rubbish his whole character,

So he was only in 21 SAS? anybody else and that would be a huge achievement, yet others see it, and seem happy to voice how, completely ordinary it is,

 

[He' s left the building]

Fair comment

I personally think that to state you've just spent the night out in a deer/yak carcass, etc when you clearly haven't is on the same level as keeping expensive phone-vote lines open when the competition has ended, ie fraudulent!

I do like to watch him on TV though (just with the sound off... ) and he's done a lot of good for different charities, so fraudulent might be stretching it a bit

 

[He' s left the building]

This is what got me thinking:

My reckoning is that he can't have completed more than 150 - 200 days reserve training with them at most, which is 7 months "on duty" time at most.

and his wikipedia entry says 'serving for three years as a Specialist Combat Survival Instructor and Patrol Medic'

But the medic course alone takes several weeks even if you're doing it full-time (I know that from people I've worked with who were actually involved with teaching that course while serving in the Army medical service)

I'm not saying his military service claims are incorrect and I don't want to be accused of defamation, but would he have had time to do that? Surely seven months training over three years wouldn't have been sufficient to gain entry into this elite/specialist Regiment and then further gain specialist qualifications such as survival instructor and medic once within its ranks?

Edited to add: I think he only served two years in real terms, as his wiki entry says he left the TA in 1997, a year after he broke his back in a parachuting exercise, so his third year would have been spent on sickness/rehabilitation? Or am I rubbish at dates?

I'm not Bear-bashing, it's just that others have questioned/doubted his military credibility and that got me thinking. Didn't Ran Fiennes also have a blemish against his service record? Oh dear, that'll probably cause a right old off-thread discussion Sorry folks

 

[Wayland]

You said you work in a shop, suppose your boss decides to sell some second rate product? Do you inform every customer that what they're buying is crap? Do you make some moral protest and quit your job? Or do you do what your told, and say nothing . . .

I worked in retail once and did quit my job over exactly that kind of issue.

He was selling ex service stock as new and acting all innocent when it came back faulty.

Honesty and integrity are the same whatever your job.

 

[saddle_tramp]

I dont know nothing about reserve/TA but i would have assumed that they utilize civilian skills, rather than train specialist roles from scratch. . . but i would also imagine that the time comittments in 21/23 SAS are somewhat greater than conventional TA units

 

[saddle_tramp]

I worked in retail once and did quit my job over exactly that kind of issue.

He was selling ex service stock as new and acting all innocent when it came back faulty.

Honesty and integrity are the same whatever your job.

I admire your principles Wayland, I would probably place loyalty to my employer above my own personal morals

(within reason)

 

[Wayland]

I like being able to sleep at night.

 

[saddle_tramp]

I like having food on the table

 

[He' s left the building]

Curiouser and curiouser... his wiki entry states:

'Grylls first entered the record books in 1997 by being the youngest Briton to summit Ama Dablam in the Himalayas'

but earlier states:

'His military service ended in 1997 due to a parachuting accident he suffered the previous year ... Grylls spent the next 18 months in rehabilitation at Headley Court'

That must mean that:

a. The wiki entries may not be correct with the dates.

or

b. His rehabilitation included an ascent of Ama Dablam?!!!

 

[saddle_tramp]

climbing ama dablam wouldnt be my idea of rehabilitation, but he climbed everest the following year, so who knows

 

[He' s left the building]

I dont know nothing about reserve/TA but i would have assumed that they utilize civilian skills, rather than train specialist roles from scratch. . .

From http://www.beargrylls.com/biography.html 'trained in unarmed combat, desert and winter warfare, combat survival, medics, parachuting, signals, evasive driving, climbing and explosives'

That's some civilian skills to learn, who was he working for Thunderbirds?!!

It looks like he travelled after school, did his TA stint and then went to uni (Hispanic studies), nowhere has he had time to do civilian paramedic training, not to mention all the rest of it? I believe the parachuting course alone is four weeks in length?

Fast learner or bluffing it?

 

[rik_uk3]

Ok fair points guys but your all basing your opinions on his present show. I doubt many of you even knew who he was before this. All of you would do what he does for the money he is on. Simple as.

OK, what did he do before all this nonsense?

 

[saddle_tramp]

also says hes a lieutenant commander (honourary) in the navy . . . think they maybe checked his credentials before bestowing that on him? . . . Just a thought

 

[He' s left the building]

It would be interesting to find out what exactly those 'services to Her Majesty's Royal Navy' were:

http://www.beargrylls.com/biography.html 'Bear...is awarded an Honorary Commission by the First Sea Lord and Admiralty Board of the Royal Navy, at the rank of Lieutenant-Commander. Approved by the Queen in recognition of services to Her Majesty's Royal Navy'

Her Majesty's Royal Navy website is even more vague:

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.1868/changeNav/3533 'For some years the rank of Honorary Lieutenant-Commander had lain dormant and in 2004, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West, was keen to ensure that some younger people who could project the naval image filled these appointments. The appointments for 2004 included the mountaineer, adventurer and expedition leader Bear Grylls'

Raise £X thousand for charity and gain a military rank, very dubious... so why haven't we got a General Richard Branson ?

I'll cut-away now as I believe I may be getting off-thread/political and I realise it may be boring or irrelevant for some, it is a bushcraft site after all and I really have no axe to grind with anyone.

Cheers folks