His bow drill video - laughable
Leaping off cliffs into a river pretending he is only using the clothing he stands in but you can see his PFD through his wet shirt
Ab-ing off cliffs pretending he is not using a safety line
Wandering in "the wilderness - yards from his hotel
Sleeping in the wilds - the wilds of a hotel
Being attacked by a bear - bear-suit wearing camera crew
Building a raft on a desert island - from parts precut for him and it was in a holiday resort...
Have you watched his programs?
They are full of this stuff! I find it laughable that folk take him seriously.
Some folk think he is teaching real survival - it is about as real as "Transformers".
OK he is enthusing a lot of children to join Scouting ... but I think the porn star they had as a previous Chief Scout was a better role model!
At least he admitted to having been in dodgy movies....
While not disagreeing with your points, it's more than a little black and white IMHO to put it as if he is a liar and a cheat.
It's television, that means it's not real. It's meant as entertainment and I think you'd need to be pretty uptight not to see that a lot of it is meant to convey an element of humour. The only way I can try and explain it is that almost everything you see on TV has an element of what I think you'd call fakery about it. I'm a helicopter pilot, and I have friends whom have been involved doing the airwork in many televison shows, from challenge annekka (remember that?) through to top gear, and all I can say is just run with it and enjoy it. It's not real, but it's as real as they can make it out to be while satisfying the insurers and the financial backers.
With the things he does that are obviously not faked - naked into a siberian river in fast flowing freezing water, some of the things he is willing to eat etc, well I think you'd have to be pretty hard of heart not to give the man kudos for that. You could have all the safety crew you want staanding nearby, it'd still not be me doing it.
He's not a chap you're going to find extolling the virtues of carving a spoon, ventile clothing, stag antler whistles and spending a week making a canoe. That's not his niche. His is the high testoserone approach, and fair play to him. There is room out there for everyone.
You could also argue he is more inclusive a personality, as lets face it, he could have put his signature on a £450 knife as well and it would have sold. He never, he's went for the mass market, get the job done part of the kit scene. Kit that teenagers can purchase and get a foothold in this hobby. Thats a positive for me.
All in, good luck to the guy. He's as worthy a role model for kids as any out there.
