Bear Grylls

[toilet digger]

I think that anyone that actually encourages or energises youngsters to get out and enjoy the great outdoors and away from their Playstations or XBoxes is a hero. Yes a lot of it is showmanship and done to attract ratings for the TV companies, however it also acts as a catalyst for people to start picking up books and learning for themselves.

There will always be people who follow through on things they see on TV without proper thought, be it on Top Gear, Eastenders or Bear Grylls. The truth is that if you have the right training and the right equipment you can do lots of things that those without can not. Sometimes you need to step back and apply a bit of common sense and have a bit of a reality check.

It's because of Bear that I (we) started getting into Bushcraft, albeit I am very much a beginner in the art. My Son who is autistic loves Bear, and has constantly badgered me to "go on adventures" and camp in the wild. So we now own a tent and some basic outdoor equipment and because of Bear we go prepared with what we might need to survive, even though I hope that we will never need to.....and I am going camping for the first time since I was a Scout 20 years ago.

We perhaps can't call ourselves bushcrafters yet, but hey we are trying

It's easy for people to knock Bear but anyone who has made SAS selection, recovered after breaking their back and reached the summit of Everest deserves respect!

point taken, very sorry, i'll stop being silly now.

 

[Tengu]

His living wild is a lot more sensible.

The antics of my `high adventure and derring do` heroes (and heriones) was a lot less sensible, but they were respectable folks so thats ok.

 

[Mike8472]

Can i just add he wasn't actually in the SAS he was in the Teratorial Army SAS reserves. Which is not actually the same thing.

 

[JonathanD]

Can i just add he wasn't actually in the SAS he was in the Teratorial Army SAS. Which is not actually the same thing.

It's not, but it shouldn't be sneered at as selection is the same.

 

[rancid badger]

Sorry, but anyone who deliberately misleads the public in the way this man does(or at best, allows himself to be used to do so,) is not the sort of person I would consider to be a good roll model or mentor.

R.B.

 

[RobF]

agreed, Ray has stated before producers have asked him to do things a certain way to make it more fun. He said no, its done this way and this is the way that I'll do it, it doesnt matter if its boring or not.

Bear says sure I'll do whatever you want to make the show look cool!

People watch his show and its worrying that if ever caught in a survival situation they would all be drinking their own urine and chasing wild horses i.e. ending up dead.

 

[silentpaddler]

Okay, so I've seen this guy's name mentioned a million times, so I finally had to look him up on google video to see what all the fuss is about.
Wow. What a poser. I love how the makeup department smears fake dirt on his face to make him look all tough and mean. Why the comparisons
with Ray Mears? They bear no resemblance whatsoever. Ray is a genuine documentary presenter. This other chap is 'reality' TV at its saddest.

 

[trekkingnut]

wow... let me just stop you right there... the selection for 21 is incredibly hard and requires probably more commitment than the regs as you have to manage it round your personal life as well! the amount of training you have to go through with the unit before they even put you through the selection is incredible, then you have to do all the further training after that. TA sf is not to be knocked even a little bit! I know people who have just finished their fourth back to back afghan tour with the unit and thats really saying something!

hahaha having said that if you are lucky enough to find someone in 21, they have interesting things to say about bear grylls....

i think bear grylls program, has some interesting survival tips in it, however, as someone who teaches this sort of thing for a living, 90% of it is just showman ship. now fair enough, makes good tv, gives some people something to laugh at (us) and other people a bit of inspiration to get out and do something outdoors! even if its only camping! better than nothing!

as long as no one gets hurt and it keeps encouraging people to join the scouts, d of e group, mountaineering club etc then it cant be all that bad.... much as i dislike him myself!

and also, if you havent drunk your own **** you arent missing out.... give it a miss....

 

[JonathanD]

hahaha having said that if you are lucky enough to find someone in 21, they have interesting things to say about bear grylls....

They weren't based too far away from where I gave pistol combat lessons while I was still in the Reserves, there was a fair amount of crossover and I spent loads of time with them on a casual basis after hours. I remember one day BG came on TV in the mess. One trooper from Sheffield who new 'Teddy' quite well, stood up and told someone to turn him off. The exact words rhymed with 'hookin' punt".

 

[rancid badger]

wow... let me just stop you right there... the selection for 21 is incredibly hard and requires probably more commitment than the regs as you have to manage it round your personal life as well! the amount of training you have to go through with the unit before they even put you through the selection is incredible, then you have to do all the further training after that. TA sf is not to be knocked even a little bit! I know people who have just finished their fourth back to back afghan tour with the unit and thats really saying something!

hahaha having said that if you are lucky enough to find someone in 21, they have interesting things to say about bear grylls....

i think bear grylls program, has some interesting survival tips in it, however, as someone who teaches this sort of thing for a living, 90% of it is just showman ship. now fair enough, makes good tv, gives some people something to laugh at (us) and other people a bit of inspiration to get out and do something outdoors! even if its only camping! better than nothing!

as long as no one gets hurt and it keeps encouraging people to join the scouts, d of e group, mountaineering club etc then it cant be all that bad.... much as i dislike him myself!

and also, if you havent drunk your own **** you arent missing out.... give it a miss....

Actually, totally agree with nearly ALL of that

R.B.

 

[ed_hopper]

agreed, Ray has stated before producers have asked him to do things a certain way to make it more fun. He said no, its done this way and this is the way that I'll do it, it doesnt matter if its boring or not.

I'm not sure it's quite like that, Ray talked about this at the Outdoors Show last month; he said that in reality he has never been allowed to make the shows he really wants to, that the producers always want it made a bit more interesting, so he does most of what they want in order to get funding whilst keeping it as factual and informative as possible (so for example he never does stunts or provides inaccurate information). That said he also spoke of the fun he and the team had sneaking in a show where they did nothing but make a Birch-bark canoe.....

 

[trekkingnut]

Actually, totally agree with nearly ALL of that

R.B.

well i had to restrain myself from an explosive rant and that is what came out. glad someone agreed!

anyways, enough about bear grylls. how about people stop watching someone else make an idiot of themselves on tv and go outside and make idiots of themselves! only way to learn and way more fun!

im fairly sure the original post was about whether or not you could eat what bg ate... so what his character is is totally irrelevant. i also think the answers to that question have been really informative and well worth taking note of! if you dont know what it is, dont eat the damned thing!

 

[John Fenna]

They weren't based too far away from where I gave pistol combat lessons while I was still in the Reserves, there was a fair amount of crossover and I spent loads of time with them on a casual basis after hours. I remember one day BG came on TV in the mess. One trooper from Sheffield who new 'Teddy' quite well, stood up and told someone to turn him off. The exact words rhymed with 'hookin' punt".

Yon chappie from Sheffield seems to encapsulate my feelings about BG!
As to other folks going on about him breaking his back - it can be done without much long term effect... I busted my neck as a teenager (playing Rugby) but never knew about it until I was in my late 20s when the old and safely healed injury was picked up when I was X-rayed for a new injury. Despite the diagnosis of "a broken neck" I was just put in a collar and slapped on a 6 month waiting list!
Luckily I was seen sooner (as I let my feelings be known!) and the displaced fracture of C6 was deemed old and safe and the new injury just a strained muscle ...I have to admit I was a bit worried at the time!
You can talk up some injuries to well beyond their actual significance!

 

[Shewie]

As long as you don't take him too seriously there's nowt wrong with tuning in from time to time.

The guy's acheived so much more than any of us will ever do, he does a lot of work for needy causes and believe it or not he doesn't actually take himself that seriously either.

Discovery Channel have obviously come up with a formula that works so why knock it, if any one of us was asked to present their most successful show of all time then I doubt we'd turn it down, he has to play by their rules remember.

Give the guy a break will ya

 

[BarryG]

As long as you don't take him too seriously there's nowt wrong with tuning in from time to time.

The guy's acheived so much more than any of us will ever do, he does a lot of work for needy causes and believe it or not he doesn't actually take himself that seriously either.

Discovery Channel have obviously come up with a formula that works so why knock it, if any one of us was asked to present their most successful show of all time then I doubt we'd turn it down, he has to play by their rules remember.

Give the guy a break will ya

Couldn't agree more.

Plus some of his stuff is valid, albeit last resort.

Personally Im getting right into that Dual Survival programe, on Discovery, Monday nights. Well worth a look.

 

[ed_hopper]

Discovery Channel have obviously come up with a formula that works so why knock it, if any one of us was asked to present their most successful show of all time then I doubt we'd turn it down, he has to play by their rules remember.

Give the guy a break will ya

Fair do's...... speaking of Discovery who caught Dual Survival the other week

 

[trekkingnut]

i wish we could just have one thread about bg where we managed to actually discuss some of his techniques as opposed to just ripping into him! guilty of it myself on many occasion but nothing useful comes out of it at all!

i havent caught any of that dual survivor show as i dont have sky, any good?

 

[BarryG]

Apart from me you mean?

Well enjoyable, and its good to see two different approaches working side by side

 

[Wayland]

What do you expect from the spawn of a corrupt politician?

It's not going to be truth or accuracy is it.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

As already mentioned Bear Grylls has nothing in common with other bushcraft/ survival presenters. B.G. is an adrenaline junkie closer to jackass than bushcraft, he hosts a fast moving often staged show, evryone knows that racing down mountain scree slopes, crossing freezing, fast flowing rivers, eating putrified carcasses, running over active volcano larva beds or jumping off a rock ledge 30 meters high into a river are the best ways to stay alive, in other words, should you find yourself in a survival situation, think what Bear would do, then do the opposite, you may live longer.........Incidently, has anyone seen the tv series ALONE IN THE WILD ( it's posted on youtube at the moment)......Ed Wardle, a photographer of the extreme, was flown into the canadien wilderness, hoping to pass 3 months of absolute joy, alone, filming himself in this pristine idyll..........He had all the kit needed, including 2 rifles, fishing rods, even a canoe (He settles at first by a magnificent lake)...but!.........but he did'nt have an inkling about how to live in such an enviroment ( like if someone who knows nothing about mountain climbing, decides to climb mount everest) so spent most of the time crying, & ****ting himself everytime he heard a noise, believing it was a bear.........he lasted 50 days, which given the circumstances was an achievement, would Ray Mears have done better ?..................probably.