Jjv110 said:
All kinds of people. What's your point?
This is a 'discussion forum'. It's existence is pretty pointless if people don't actually discuss things.....
Bear Grylls- TV programme
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All kinds of people. What's your point?
This is a 'discussion forum'. It's existence is pretty pointless if people don't actually discuss things.....
SWMBO wont let me watch 'war films' because she says that I spoil them by picking holes in the plot - you know, the assualt rifle that holds 300 odd rounds, the bullet wound in the shoulder that doesnt puncture the lung and then tear off the scapular as it exits. These things do annoy me but I still like watching them and the fact that a decade or so in the army gives me enought insight to see through some of the nonsense doesnt spoil the entertainment that I get from the programs.
This program is entertainment and the same principles apply. Many of us have enough knowledge (whether first hand or not) to see through the 'theatre' but that doesnt mean that the entertainment value is less valid.
We know there is a film crew behind him - with all the industry H&S precautions that that requires yet we still talk as if he is on his own etc.
Get past it - its still fun.
His background in the SAS should be kept in perspective, he was 21SAS thats part time TA with a very different selection. He was only able to serve a few years before he was invalided out with a broken back. The amount of pure bushcraft survival training he would have recieved would possibly amount to less that the majority of guys on this thread have.
There is no doubting the quality of the guys backbone even so. Climbing everest, crossing the northernmost atlantic in an open inflatable, and now going back to everest in a paraglider.
But all these exploits have an element of the showman in them so why question his style now?
Like I said - get past it - its still fun.
Cheers
Nick
This program is entertainment and the same principles apply. Many of us have enough knowledge (whether first hand or not) to see through the 'theatre' but that doesnt mean that the entertainment value is less valid.
We know there is a film crew behind him - with all the industry H&S precautions that that requires yet we still talk as if he is on his own etc.
Get past it - its still fun.
His background in the SAS should be kept in perspective, he was 21SAS thats part time TA with a very different selection. He was only able to serve a few years before he was invalided out with a broken back. The amount of pure bushcraft survival training he would have recieved would possibly amount to less that the majority of guys on this thread have.
There is no doubting the quality of the guys backbone even so. Climbing everest, crossing the northernmost atlantic in an open inflatable, and now going back to everest in a paraglider.
But all these exploits have an element of the showman in them so why question his style now?
Like I said - get past it - its still fun.
Cheers
Nick
dommyracer said:
Yeah sorry, I didn't quite mean it to come out like that! I realise how it must have looked. I just meant that. I was just finding it amusing that it was being taken so seroiusly, considering it is only a tv program. If any offence was taken, then I take it back.
Can't wait for episode two.
Figured I'd take a first time look to see what he's all about. (this one is him in the alps) Yet straight away two things stike me, firstly I'm no mountaineer but I'm pretty sure that jumping about and running down a snowy mountainside is going to increase the chance of causing an avalance than just carefully walking?? Secondly all that running around uses alot more energy that walking, which is abit odd when he is constantly going on about the lack of food sources and low calories from what little there is, not to mention increase the chances of falling over and injuring himself which is the last thing you want in a survival situation.
Definitly glad I took a look though, as I'll know to avoid like the plague in future.
Definitly glad I took a look though, as I'll know to avoid like the plague in future.
Didn't watch it to be honest. Half of episode one was enough ("Look at me climbing down this waterfall on a vine". Why not mention the safety rope and climbing harness?) The terms "braggart" and "completely faked" come to mind. I have no problem if he admitted "I'm going to try this, but I have a safety rope in case it fails". The sheer machismo pretence of doing something that the camera reveals as sheer fakery though leaves me cold - the same as it does with all "blowhards". I cannot bring myself to contribute to the viewing figures of such a travesty of the spirit of knowing and honouring the land.
Red
Red
i forgot it was on, but i did manage to catch the second half.
i wonder if he gets paid more for eating raw carrion, maggots and live trout than if he cooks it?
cheers, and.
i wonder if he gets paid more for eating raw carrion, maggots and live trout than if he cooks it?
cheers, and.
another silly show
but check out his web site, you can buy t shirts, sweat shirts, hoodies,man this guy does everything, did you know he was the youngest bloke to climb everest in 98
but check out his web site, you can buy t shirts, sweat shirts, hoodies,man this guy does everything, did you know he was the youngest bloke to climb everest in 98
The guy has got some bottle though, jumping in that water and still be able to speak and eating maggots 
!! He's got to be nuts! And how many tourists would use those ropes, or carry a parachute? On the plus side the landscape is rather nice. A somewhat more interesting program than some of the other offerings..
!! He's got to be nuts! And how many tourists would use those ropes, or carry a parachute? On the plus side the landscape is rather nice. A somewhat more interesting program than some of the other offerings..
The hare and the tortoise. Which is likely to get there alive and in one piece
Quite enjoyed it, really 
enjoyed tutututing all the way through it 
Quite enjoyed it, really enjoyed tutututing all the way through it
nickg said:
My Mrs has just agreed with your Mrs Nick.
I sat down whilst she was watching "primeval". I was shouting "don't be daft - you cant shoot that with a 9 mill".
Patiently she replied "darling...IT is a pterodactyl...I don't think its meant to be real"
Hmm good point - well presented
Red
havin just watched him i have concluded if im stuck out there in the snow like he was and fall off a cliff with a rope or into a river.... im gonna die.. if he a well trained and fit bloke stuggled to drag himself out of the water and back up a cliff, my unfit self is going to be found during the thaw..
British Red said:My Mrs has just agreed with your Mrs Nick.
I sat down whilst she was watching "primeval". I was shouting "don't be daft - you cant shoot that with a 9 mill".
Patiently she replied "darling...IT is a pterodactyl...I don't think its meant to be real"
Hmm good point - well presented
Red
You haven't been to the Forest of Dean (where they filmed some of it) lately then Red, some very strange beasties down there, and the animals are even worse, apologies to anyone here who lives down that way...Oh and tranquilisers don't work that quickly either
LS
LS,
Think we settled the "why on earth do you need a 416 Rigby" debate though
OOOh can we resurrect the .50 calibre debate
Red
Think we settled the "why on earth do you need a 416 Rigby" debate though
OOOh can we resurrect the .50 calibre debate
Red
Right guys can we get back to the series.
Everyone tht ha spsoted seems to be slagging the man down. One thing I have noticed more than anything else is the speed at which he is trying to work at, this is probably more encumbant on his military training.
The fact is he was trained to effect extraction in the shortest possible amount of time, this is not normal for non military personnel, is this right???
It depends on your situation.
It is no true survival guide, but it does have some good information, the guy is alive and he is using bits from kit available, but unless you are a complete fool then you would not go into the enviroments that he is working in without some tools that you can work with.
You can knock it as much as you want, but would you do it even with a camera crew watching??
I doubt it.
The man has to have a level of knowledge to do what he is doing, otherwise he is most likely to be dead.
Believe me when I say that you mess up even in the remotest way in the jungle and you will have problems that are only dealt with through months in hospital, I have been there, I have and it doesn't matter what you say, skill and training means nothing to microbes.
Speed in exit is a huge thing for non indigenous persons, as indigenous persons live with it, to you it can be fatal.
Whether you agree or not I know what can happen in these situations, it is not nice and you will not have your PSK or otherwise on you, that is what makes them survival situations.
Everyone tht ha spsoted seems to be slagging the man down. One thing I have noticed more than anything else is the speed at which he is trying to work at, this is probably more encumbant on his military training.
The fact is he was trained to effect extraction in the shortest possible amount of time, this is not normal for non military personnel, is this right???
It depends on your situation.
It is no true survival guide, but it does have some good information, the guy is alive and he is using bits from kit available, but unless you are a complete fool then you would not go into the enviroments that he is working in without some tools that you can work with.
You can knock it as much as you want, but would you do it even with a camera crew watching??
I doubt it.
The man has to have a level of knowledge to do what he is doing, otherwise he is most likely to be dead.
Believe me when I say that you mess up even in the remotest way in the jungle and you will have problems that are only dealt with through months in hospital, I have been there, I have and it doesn't matter what you say, skill and training means nothing to microbes.
Speed in exit is a huge thing for non indigenous persons, as indigenous persons live with it, to you it can be fatal.
Whether you agree or not I know what can happen in these situations, it is not nice and you will not have your PSK or otherwise on you, that is what makes them survival situations.
Not that different - 21 and 23 go through the same selection, its just spread out over a year. Still way tougher than any infantry training and probably harder than anything you could imagine.
Fair play Leon,
I respect your opinion. I must say though that after the half of one episode I watched (the jungle one) I don't repect the guy or his show.
Would I "pretend" to abseil down a waterfall to avoid walking 2 hours around it, and disguise the fact, in reality, I was wearing a harness. No, you are damn tooting I wouldn't.
As soon as I detect the guy is faking stuff, everything else he does loses all credibility in my eyes. I didn't think it was a sensible thing to do to begin with, but to fake it is purely contemptible in my eyes (had he said "I'm wearing a harness, but lets see if it holds" - no probs - but he didn't, he cracked on he was doing something he didn't do). Others have speculated his bowdrill technique and the nature of the ember was fake. Well, based on evidence, I wouldn't be surprised.
What are we left with? Poor advice (drink without sterilising, make perilous descents to shave a couple of hours etc.), fakery in pretending he actually did these things. I suspect he is alive becuase, as the photos show, he didn't do at least some of what he claims to have done. Theres a word for that.
Red
I respect your opinion. I must say though that after the half of one episode I watched (the jungle one) I don't repect the guy or his show.
Would I "pretend" to abseil down a waterfall to avoid walking 2 hours around it, and disguise the fact, in reality, I was wearing a harness. No, you are damn tooting I wouldn't.
As soon as I detect the guy is faking stuff, everything else he does loses all credibility in my eyes. I didn't think it was a sensible thing to do to begin with, but to fake it is purely contemptible in my eyes (had he said "I'm wearing a harness, but lets see if it holds" - no probs - but he didn't, he cracked on he was doing something he didn't do). Others have speculated his bowdrill technique and the nature of the ember was fake. Well, based on evidence, I wouldn't be surprised.
What are we left with? Poor advice (drink without sterilising, make perilous descents to shave a couple of hours etc.), fakery in pretending he actually did these things. I suspect he is alive becuase, as the photos show, he didn't do at least some of what he claims to have done. Theres a word for that.
Red
British Red said:
Red I don't disagree in so many ways, but if you or I were dropped into somewhere using a parachute then we would make as much use of the kit as was available.
You are no fool, the problem is that so many need to have a way pointed out to them, this does not mean that I would do any better than anyone else, in fact experience tells that those with no training fair a lot better in so many ways than those with.
You are not blind to that fact, you are also not blind to the kit that was available, you would of used it in the same way as I. Don't try and tell me that you wouldn't, you also know, as do the military, recovery times are vital, on many occasions the military sacrifice one thing for another in that role (I am qualified to purify water for a battlegroup and more).
It is one of the vital and major differences between military and civilian survival techniques.
What we are seeing is more geared towards a military perspective (very poorly), but not civilian really in any way.
People should just watch it as a piece of entertaining television, in many ways as they do a Ray Mears program. Information is there, but you will have to do a bit of homework for it to be of any use to. you.
dommyracer said:
Nail on the head.
The guy just hams it up way too much. Yeah, I know he did parachute into the alps, jump through the ice and actually do it all etc, and blimmin well done, but the level of "hammy-acting-up" for the camera just makes me cringe. He reminds me of that South African snake hunter - that Steve Austin fella - whose programs are more about him looking as tough as possible than the snakes he hunts.
This Bear Grilly fella is interesting in some ways, but there is an awful lot of showmanship going on. Take that "knots in the line trick" - would he really jump into a cravace just to test the theory? No of course he wouldnt, not without a blimmin good belay. When he was climbing back out, did you notice how the line that was supposed to be bedded into the snow was about a foot off the floor? Or how his fall was arrested way too abruptly? Looked to me like he had a solid belay point on the other end. There is good stuff in the program, it's just wrapped in so much ego, showmanship and hammy acting, it's painful to watch - I turned over and watched the other channel in the end.
nickg said:
I thought it was really funny when he almost cut his finger-end off making his snow-shoes, or when he lay shivering in a scrape all night with a tiny fire when there was enough timber at hand to construct a long fire and a half-decent shelter. Balls he may have, common sense I'm not so sure.
I hear that in the next episode he jumps from a helicopter, evades a shark and finally gets the box of chocolates to the mysterious woman...
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