Boy, nine, 24 hours in wild.

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JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,481
Stourton,UK
Why? I'm sure if they just filmed him sat there it would,

Exactly. That's all I meant. We have Les Stroud and RM to do the stationary suvival stuff. BG caters to a different audience completely, and that's why kids tune in because to them his stuff is exciting. My little nephew loves BG, and despite my best attempts to educate, finds Ray Mears boring :(

Ok, it seems that I've started the very topic that I was anticipating from others in my first post :eek: I'll get me coat...... Taxi!!!!!
 

BorderReiver

Full Member
Mar 31, 2004
2,693
16
Norfolk U.K.
I think it's great that he was imbued with the confidence not to panic and to think logically about his situation, what he did right or wrong isn't so important in my eyes, he did enough right to do ok, if he hadn't done some of those things he may not have been found.

It's a positive things that's come out of the TV when even within a 24 hour period it could have been so much worse. A 9 year old being level headed in a situation that might test more experienced people, i think it's great

We have no idea whether or not he did panic, we've just got a newspaper report Tony.

It seems to me that shredding your only bit of protective and high viz clothing suggests a lack of coherent thought.

At least the lad was found safe and well.
 

helixpteron

Native
Mar 16, 2008
1,469
0
UK
With Respect, this incident has got nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Mears or Mr. Stroud, whereas it has everything to do with what the child learned from watching Mr. Grylls on television!

To criticize a lost nine year old child for the unintentional loss of his snack bar and for his well intentioned technique of using his high visibility jacket as a trail marker and signal device beggars belief!

Consider the actions of the lost child, with some of the comments posted, and ask yourself which exhibit the greater maturity!
 

BorderReiver

Full Member
Mar 31, 2004
2,693
16
Norfolk U.K.
With Respect, this incident has got nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Mears or Mr. Stroud, whereas it has everything to do with what the child learned from watching Mr. Grylls on television!

To criticize a lost nine year old child for the unintentional loss of his snack bar and for his well intentioned technique of using his high visibility jacket as a trail marker and signal device beggars belief!

Consider the actions of the lost child, with some of the comments posted, and ask yourself which exhibit the greater maturity!

:rolleyes:

For my part, any criticism was directed at the sensationalist reporting which is becoming all too common these days.

Children these days are exposed to a wide variety of sources of knowledge on many topics.
To single out one source as the reason for his rescue is fatuous rubbish.

The guys who were searching for him got lucky; he got lucky; it had sod all to do with any stupid entertainment on TV.

As for "considering the actions of a lost child", I have no idea what his actions actually were and neither do you.
 

nolightweight

Full Member
Jun 16, 2009
1,067
131
East Midlands
Isn't the main point of this thread that a 9 yr old kid didn't die?

End justifies the means.

Kid didn't die.

Happy days.

Whether that's by his actions, watching Care Bear, having Lofty Wiseman's guide in his back pocket or just in the grand scheme of things being LUCKY. All we've read is what amounts to 4 column inches and a couple of photos and we're basing his entire thought process, strategy, and the response of the Emergency Services on that?

I've trained people 3, 4 and 5 times his age how deal with 'certain' situations; and I've still seen some of them start honking and flying south when the you know what hits the fan. Good luck with conditioning 9 year olds the same way. Lol.

Kid lived and wished his Dad 'Happy Fathers Day'

What more do you want?

NLW
 

303Brit

Tenderfoot
Jan 23, 2007
54
1
65
germany
The child may have not have obeyed the "rules" of rescue and 24 hours in good conditions is not a long time to survive,but at 9 years old he recognised his problem,and formulated a plan and kept to it.Not bad i my opinion.
 

helixpteron

Native
Mar 16, 2008
1,469
0
UK
...... For my part, any criticism was directed at the sensationalist reporting which is becoming all too common these days.......

...... It seems to me that shredding your only bit of protective and high viz clothing suggests a lack of coherent thought.......

Your above comment (quote 2) made in post #22, in no way appears to be ".......directed at the sensationalist reporting......."

...... As for "considering the actions of a lost child", I have no idea what his actions actually were and neither do you.

You have repeatedly misquoted me, and also quoted me out of context! What I actually said is quoted, below.

......Consider the actions of the lost child, with some of the comments posted, and ask yourself which exhibit the greater maturity!

Clearly, I was referring to the actions of the lost child which were actually reported and commented upon!
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
60
Bristol
Ok, not to fan the flames but… The kid didn’t follow the rules laid out by his family, got lost didn’t stay put, tore up his only water proof clothing and lost his food, he then wandered about. That’s the UK equivalent of climbing Snowden in jeans and flip flops. His actions are neither inspiring nor heroic. The greatest thing that can be said in his favour is that Bear inspired him to believe that he could survive and people will be looking for him. All the rest is down to luck. The kid did next to nothing right. He was lucky. My praise goes to the people whom I do think are/were inspiration and heroic, and that is the people who spent 18 hours searching for him

In his defence, I think the kid knew he’s done it all wrong, he was barely 400 yards off the trail and had already lost his back pack and most of his food

To quote the kid
"I was just being pretty stupid that I dropped the backpack," Grayson said. "I was just panicking too much."

The Daggett County sheriff's office credited the searchers, volunteers and Grayson's common sense for the positive outcome.
and the boys father Kynan Wynne hits the nail on the head.
"The thing that he recognized from the show, regardless of the circumstances you're in, you are capable of surviving,"

The boy did it 'wrong' but survived and learnt from it. That has to be a good thing.
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,481
Stourton,UK
He might not have done everything, or indeed anything right, but he did learn the most important survival skill of all from Bears programme... A positive mental attitude. And that as we all know is the key to surviving.
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
60
Bristol
He might not have done everything, or indeed anything right, but he did learn the most important survival skill of all from Bears programme... A positive mental attitude. And that as we all know is the key to surviving.
I agree 100%.
 

BorderReiver

Full Member
Mar 31, 2004
2,693
16
Norfolk U.K.
Your above comment (quote 2) made in post #22, in no way appears to be ".......directed at the sensationalist reporting......."



You have repeatedly misquoted me, and also quoted me out of context! What I actually said is quoted, below.



Clearly, I was referring to the actions of the lost child which were actually reported and commented upon!

Boy, nine, survives wilderness thanks to tips from Bear Grylls

Headline says it all.

The paper could have reported;

"Nine year old boy wanders off in forest and gets lost. Found by searchers 24 hours later."

If I was BG I'd think of suing the paper. From what they have reported the boy got lost; panicked; lost or deliberately destroyed vital equipment and supplies; wandered about instead of staying put and was found by chance. All after watching a BG show.:p

The fact that he watched BG was irrelevant to his survival.

Or, possibly, the cause of him wandering off in the first place. It's obvious that folk are thinking that watching a few tv programs means that you can go off into wild places and manage to cope with anything. This article will do nothing to disabuse them.

Anyway, that's why I'm saying humbug.

Thank goodness the lad didn't come to harm.
 

firecrest

Full Member
Mar 16, 2008
2,496
4
uk
a positive mental attitude is abolustely useless if you cannot act appropriately when in danger. it wont save you from hyperthermia or starvation, infact the mantra that its the most vital thing is an insult to the millions of people who die everyday from starvation, exposure, disease and other survival related issues. it helps, sure, but it really is not as important.
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,481
Stourton,UK
Sometimes the glass is always half empty to some people. Now I'm insulting everyone that's died :rolleyes:

Negativity rules then :deal:
 

firecrest

Full Member
Mar 16, 2008
2,496
4
uk
I like my pessimism! Actually I wasnt directing that comment at you inpaticular, sorry if sounded heavy handed, its just a personal pet peeve of mine. I think the boy could have done worse but I think his dad needs a slap round the chops for not giving him a whistle and a proper protocol.

3604972392_6603947588.jpg
 

nolightweight

Full Member
Jun 16, 2009
1,067
131
East Midlands
Maybe he did have a protocol, just didn't follow it. End of the day we're judging things on 4 column inches and some photos.
Hardly, if at all, enough to pass full on praise or full on critisism.
In my experience, protocols are great... providing that when the you know what hits the you know what it kicks in. All comes down to the person and whether they get the 'aggression' to crack on with the situation or stick two pencils up their nose and go 'Phwibble' Not forgetting the underpants on head of course....

Seen it work. Seen it fail. That's with adults; not 9 year olds. And that's adults going in 'harms way', not just bimbling in the woods.

As for 'positive mental attitude' and it not being much help to those starving. What will? Not seen anyone marketing Rain Machines by ACME recently. Or miracle solutions to rebels/freedom fighters/warlords/terrorists destroying or stealing food aid.

Seems to me that some people are spouting more about the subject because he lived than they would if the bloomin' poor kid had died!

I hope he's very apologetic for surviving this situation, and deeply regrets it upsetting people who haven't been in that situation at all.
Inconsiderate little lad, there's others worse off than him. How dare he?!

He lives...

Happy days

***.....

NLW
 

mayfly

Life Member
May 25, 2005
690
1
Switzerland
The Daily Mail is really not worthy of a thread here! Possibly the worst journalism ever, anywhere. I wouldn't base any assessment of anything remotely important, and certainly not a young boy's survival, on anything written in that God awful rag. Chris
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,481
Stourton,UK
I like my pessimism! Actually I wasnt directing that comment at you inpaticular, sorry if sounded heavy handed, its just a personal pet peeve of mine. I think the boy could have done worse but I think his dad needs a slap round the chops for not giving him a whistle and a proper protocol.

3604972392_6603947588.jpg


That's okelly dokelly then :beerchug:
 

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