Bear Grylls

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trekkingnut

Settler
Jul 18, 2010
680
1
Wiltshire
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.

that was a GREAT program i thought!!! really showed how hard it was. it was stupid enough to do it outside hunting season so he couldnt actually hunt anything anyway! idiot! hahah
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,481
Stourton,UK
Ed Wardle had a lot more than an 'inking' how to live out there. It was the phsychology of it, and lack of food due to hunting restrictions that beat him. He was more than prepared. There are quite a few threads on this on here
 

trekkingnut

Settler
Jul 18, 2010
680
1
Wiltshire
Ed Wardle had a lot more than an 'inking' how to live out there. It was the phsychology of it, and lack of food due to hunting restrictions that beat him. He was more than prepared. There are quite a few threads on this on here

ive just got infinite amount of respects for him for two reasons, firstly he actually went and did it, secondly that he stayed for as long as he did! epic!
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,481
Stourton,UK
ive just got infinite amount of respects for him for two reasons, firstly he actually went and did it, secondly that he stayed for as long as he did! epic!

He also should have taken far more cheese with him. That was a great scene.

lots-of-knife-pics-59.jpg
 
Feb 15, 2011
3,860
2
Elsewhere
Yes Ed did do it , he got off his laurels & tried to live his dream ( albeit for a television program) but you can't launch yourself into a project like that with just basic bushcraft skills. The hunting season had nothing to do with his problems, he didn't have the firepower to kill large game & most of the meat would have been wasted anyway. He made some bad descisions through lack of experience (leaving the first lake where the fishing was good for example) & you can't live on meat alone. He was obviously suffering from hypo-glycemie due to the lack of carbohydrates in his diet, there are plant roots & bark that can be found & eaten, also in the small intestines of the porcupines he killed ther would have been valuable glucides he could have used, in a soup for example, he didn't know how best to use his kills (best ways of cooking or preserving) He was so squimish about dressing the porcupines that he made a real dog's dinner of it, ........This is not dartmoor or the lakes but a sauvage & unforging eden where an indepth holistic knowledge of wilderness living is essential not only to survive but to thrive & enjoy fully the experience.................................................
 

trekkingnut

Settler
Jul 18, 2010
680
1
Wiltshire
Yes Ed did do it , he got off his laurels & tried to live his dream ( albeit for a television program) but you can't launch yourself into a project like that with just basic bushcraft skills. The hunting season had nothing to do with his problems, he didn't have the firepower to kill large game & most of the meat would have been wasted anyway. He made some bad descisions through lack of experience (leaving the first lake where the fishing was good for example) & you can't live on meat alone. He was obviously suffering from hypo-glycemie due to the lack of carbohydrates in his diet, there are plant roots & bark that can be found & eaten, also in the small intestines of the porcupines he killed ther would have been valuable glucides he could have used, in a soup for example, he didn't know how best to use his kills (best ways of cooking or preserving) He was so squimish about dressing the porcupines that he made a real dog's dinner of it, ........This is not dartmoor or the lakes but a sauvage & unforging eden where an indepth holistic knowledge of wilderness living is essential not only to survive but to thrive & enjoy fully the experience.................................................

alright, dont have to preach to the converted! still enjoyed the show!
 
Feb 15, 2011
3,860
2
Elsewhere
Ed Wardle had a lot more than an 'inking' how to live out there. It was the phsychology of it, and lack of food due to hunting restrictions that beat him. He was more than prepared. There are quite a few threads on this on here

More than an inkling eh ?........rather a condradiction; being "more than prepared" then getting into difficulties through lack of this & that, the only thing he really lacked was knowledge & as every bushcrafter knows, what you know is more important than what you have.............This was Eds' first solo outing & being a socialable soul, it's probably his last though he did say he would do it again but taking more food.......we shall see.
 

Shewie

Mod
Mod
Dec 15, 2005
24,259
24
48
Yorkshire
I thought the Ed Wardle series was a fascinating insight into the way our brains deal with adverse conditions, solitude and the growing fear of predation. You've got to remember that Ed never claimed to be an expert in survival or bushcraft, the whole point of the exercise was to see how an average outdoorsy person would cope in that kind of environment. Putting an expert out there would have made for a very different outcome and also risked becoming just another "how to" film. Ed went to CH4 with the idea and they bank rolled it.
I think he made some bad decisions along the way but that was always going to happen, one which sticks in my mind was the days he spent hacking his way through the undergrowth between the two camps. A much easier option would have been to lash a couple of those fallen trees together and punt his way down the flat calm lake.
I was told a couple of interesting things by people who were involved with the production, firstly that he didn't want to move on from his established camp one but the powers that be were the ones that made the decision for him. Also he wanted to come home much earlier than he eventually did, he was having some serious issues with the isolation and missing his nearest and dearest something rotten, again I believe he was persuaded to stick it out for a bit longer.

The bear thing became annoying but still an enjoyable watch.
 
Feb 15, 2011
3,860
2
Elsewhere
I thought the Ed Wardle series was a fascinating insight into the way our brains deal with adverse conditions, solitude and the growing fear of predation. You've got to remember that Ed never claimed to be an expert in survival or bushcraft, the whole point of the exercise was to see how an average outdoorsy person would cope in that kind of environment. Putting an expert out there would have made for a very different outcome and also risked becoming just another "how to" film. Ed went to CH4 with the idea and they bank rolled it.
I think he made some bad decisions along the way but that was always going to happen, one which sticks in my mind was the days he spent hacking his way through the undergrowth between the two camps. A much easier option would have been to lash a couple of those fallen trees together and punt his way down the flat calm lake.
I was told a couple of interesting things by people who were involved with the production, firstly that he didn't want to move on from his established camp one but the powers that be were the ones that made the decision for him. Also he wanted to come home much earlier than he eventually did, he was having some serious issues with the isolation and missing his nearest and dearest something rotten, again I believe he was persuaded to stick it out for a bit longer.

The bear thing became annoying but still an enjoyable watch.

You made some good points & I suppose it's realiy about what one wishes to watch. If you want to have an insight on how our brains deal with adverse conditions, the loneliness & fear of being eaten you only have to watch big brother Personally I would have preferred a more practical view, not a " how to " but more " how I do" ................but of course this is a highly edited program & the producers obviously thought it would be more profitable showing Ed breaking down rather than showing how he coped...........................These sorts of programs are very rare on our screens so I am not really condeming it, but I was a little disappointed..............prehaps if he had been mauled by one of his phantom bears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,481
Stourton,UK
More than an inkling eh ?........rather a condradiction; being "more than prepared"

That's not a contradiction, I said he was prepared physically and knowledge wise, his mental state let him down. That is not something you can prepare for. Inkling was a word you used and means 'vague understanding'.

!.........but he did'nt have an inkling about how to live in such an enviroment

I merely pointed out that he had far much more knowledge than a vague understanding, and you said he didn't even have a vague understanding. Which amounts to no knowledge at all. So my statement wasn't a contradiction, it's an accurate assessment. This is a contradiction:

He had all the kit needed, including 2 rifles, fishing rods, even a canoe

The hunting season had nothing to do with his problems, he didn't have the firepower to kill large game ............

getting into difficulties through lack of this & that, the only thing he really lacked was knowledge .....
 
Last edited:
Feb 15, 2011
3,860
2
Elsewhere
What do you call knowledge ?.......How to light a fire, how to skin a small mammal, how to fish, or how to pitch a tarp, then yes he is /was very knowledgeable
 

SimonD

Settler
Oct 4, 2010
639
1
Lincolnshire
That's not a contradiction, I said he was prepared physically and knowledge wise, his mental state let him down. That is not something you can prepare for. Inkling was a word you used and means 'vague understanding'.



I merely pointed out that he had far much more knowledge than a vague understanding, and you said he didn't even have a vague understanding. Which amounts to no knowledge at all. So my statement wasn't a contradiction, it's an accurate assessment. This is a contradiction:

well played sir
 

toilet digger

Native
Jan 26, 2011
1,065
0
burradon northumberland
Hi all,
first of all, I'm a big fan of Bear. In fact I really enjoi his show, a lot of fun. For sure not all is true, at the end of the day his a TV show, but I recognize that this guy is tough and brave.
Now, my question is simple: may I could eat all the things that Bear eat? For sure I may eat snakes, or frogs or crawlers (I eat frogs and crawlers, actually), but Bear also eat insects larvae, scorpions, bugs, ant eggs etc.
It is possible to eat them safely, I mean avoiding parasytes or being seeks? I'm not asure about it.
What do you think about it? Do you have any references to address me?
Thanks, ciao
Alfredo

now i enjoy a bit of oratorical pugelism but we seem to be skirting close to godwin on this so............

alfredo mate, if you plan on eating anything you are unsure about there are plenty of books, websites and bushcraft/survival experts, many with regional specialities.
which would be more appropriate to your favoured location. best of luck.

as for the rest of you....... lofty is GOD! and les hiddins is the archangel gabriel.
 

johnboy

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Oct 2, 2003
2,258
5
Hamilton NZ
www.facebook.com
But as fathers, we have a huge influence over the types of men our sons are...


Very true...

In this case one view might be that the influence exerted has lead to a motivated, sucessful, family oirentated man, with philanthropic interests.

That he makes a TV programme that is not to some peoples tastes does not mean he is the epitomy of evil...

As I think we've said before in some of the Numerous Threads relating to BG. TV is one thing the man in reality is something else..

My opinion is having a crack at the TV show is reasonable its semi tangible we can form an opinion on it.

Having a crack at someone because of something their father did and infering that they are the same is not fair comment. Its a low blow.
 
Jan 28, 2010
284
1
ontario
Regarding Ed Wardle, I only know the basic outline of his escapades but I never knew...did he not pack enough food on purpose--as part of the
challenge as it were, or did he just miscalculate how much grub he would need? And he was messing his drawers over the bear thing...but the
guy was armed to the teeth from what I heard....did he ever actually see a bear? I wish I could see the show; if anyone has a link I'd be grateful.
 

Shewie

Mod
Mod
Dec 15, 2005
24,259
24
48
Yorkshire
Regarding Ed Wardle, I only know the basic outline of his escapades but I never knew...did he not pack enough food on purpose--as part of the
challenge as it were, or did he just miscalculate how much grub he would need? And he was messing his drawers over the bear thing...but the
guy was armed to the teeth from what I heard....did he ever actually see a bear? I wish I could see the show; if anyone has a link I'd be grateful.

Not sure if it'll work for you over there but ....

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/alone-in-the-wild
 
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