I think the discussion is steered on your attitude to survival techniques in the same way rambo movies are scorned by those who dont appreciate the need to do what you have to to survive which was supposed to be the essence of the stories. The will to live.
If anyone watches the survivor man - he generally just sits around failing to get any food till the rescue plane picks him up or he walks 400 meters to the road for a lift - bit boring really. Now he's going green and sustainable with a different set of programmes.
While the Bear grylls stuff is glory edited for tv who could say that we wouldn't try to do the same things if we were fit enough seeing as how you might be sat around for weeks waiting for rescue. Every area has a different 'expert' to advise on what he could do safely and if they tell him that without proper cold weather gear then he should get off the rock before he becomes physically incapable though hyperthermia or malnutricion then he has the right idea. It is a military approach I admit but it maybe the only way a novice could survive in some situations. Some knowledge is still better than no knowledge and if people are squeamish because he ate a scorpion well at least we know that scorpions are edible.
Whether for tv or not - how many of us would willingly do a similar thing with just a knife, flint, mug and a bottle for company. letting him loose with our pocket contents might be boring viewing though.
At least he's rightly or wrongly given us something to watch and hopefully improve his camera technique, there's woefully little survival, bushcraft stuff out there as it is. I used to like RM's little skits on tracks as they were usefull and informative giving me no end of grief from eager scouts wanting to learn. While I enoy watching RM's later and current stuff it would be fair to say that it too is watered down and tv edited concentrating on vista shots etc.. making it more of a here's RM in a different wilderness each week interviewing the locals.
I cant see there ever being a true survival/bushcraft production on normal tv unless channel four decides to show lofty's new dvd or the dryad stuff when it comes out. To be fair most people would probably find it extremely boring unless they had the chance to vote someone out.
As for the lad himself anyone who breaks his back and is told that he might never walk again, To then go on to climb everest and throw himself down waterfalls deliberately has to get my grudging respect especially with two young kids to feed.
Bit dismayed that he never saves his chute or uses any of the harness, cord etc... like we know we would, he'd have no end of hammocks and sleeping bags by now
I've watched a couple, that was enough for me. I think he is stupid and dangerous in his actions and teaching it on to others. In just the first couple of episodes I saw him put himself in numerous dangerous situations that he didnt need to put himself into and we part of his survival tactics, for example climbing the highest posible tree around him to get a lay of the land, personally I would have liked to have seen full-footage of the pleb climbing back down! That was a tremendous tree and a tremendous waste of his time, strength & energy, which is something not to waste in that situation. Aswell as climbing down slippery rock face with a waterfall beating down on him with some natural-cordage he'd gathered. Just stupid and risky, one bad slip and thats it you could be dead. I thought he was meant to be teaching survival? Not how to put yourself in an even more dangerous situation.
