What is it with Bear Grylls and Pee!?!

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
As a knife lover I've stopped watching Ray's videos after the one where he was explaining how to make a knife "Scary sharp" by rubbing it on the window of a car door....
As for Bear's vids - they are all for show as people before me noted. Everything is staged and the crew is with him at all times.
I liked Cody Lundin from Dual Survival and after reading his letter to the fans when he got kicked from that show I like him even more. http://www.ibtimes.com/cody-lundin-fired-update-dual-survival-star-speaks-out-1583872
True survival should be all about avoiding the danger and picking the safest way not the opposite.
 
Last edited:

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,211
364
73
SE Wales
Bit strong, to stop watching the guy's videos just because you disagree with that one small detail? I've never had to use the window of a car but if I needed an edge on one of my tools and that was the only way, or the most convenient way, to get that edge I wouldn't hesitate to do it; what possible harm would this do to any half-way decent blade?

Seems a tad shrt-sighted to dismiss all that skill and knowledge that he imparts just because you perhaps treat your tools with kid gloves?
 

Phil P

Member
Oct 8, 2014
13
0
West Lothian
I was drawn to this topic with a thought out vilification of BG and after penning my thoughts I realised that it would've given Tolstoi a run for his money.

BG: Charlatan and Walt 1st

Simples

(Pictures removed by Mods for language content. Thanks Goatboy).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Whats wrong with that technique? It works very well, i'v been doing it for years

;) Right. There are a lot of cheap and effective ways to sharpen a knife(not to mention that there are enough natural stones in the wilderness that are suitable for the task).For example - Fallkniven's DC4. I got it for about $15 and it works perfectly. Not to mention the size and weight that allows you to carry it with you almost everywhere. If it's a cheap china-made knife - ok, do as you will with it but for a custom made knife with a high grade steel blade such as M390 sharpening it on the glass of a car door is sacrilege... to me that is.

Don`t get me wrong - if it's a life or death situation I'd happily do whatever it takes to get out of it alive but telling people that it's ok to sharpen all knives like that.... :rant:

Btw I saw the news about Obama going on the show with BG yesterday... what do you think?
IMHO it's a cheap publicity stunt but isn`t that all that BG does.
 
Last edited:

sunndog

Full Member
May 23, 2014
3,561
477
derbyshire
I'm guessing if someone were to mount a piece of car window top in a wooden block , etch "lansky" into it, and charge £40 it would be a perfectly fine thing to do
Oh hang on, lansky do sell ultra fine ceramic rods for exactly the same purpose :D
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,666
McBride, BC
If you ever worked in a microscope lab where tissue sections are cut to search for disease, you would know that the final
honing wheel to sharpen the microtome knives is glass.
 

sunndog

Full Member
May 23, 2014
3,561
477
derbyshire
If you ever worked in a microscope lab where tissue sections are cut to search for disease, you would know that the final
honing wheel to sharpen the microtome knives is glass.

Never even heard of a microtome knife till just now but i'll say to everyone who's never tried it to go out to your car, roll the window down a bit and try a few strokes on it
Don't worry, it wont damage the window :D
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
I agree a very sad story, i was thinking more the act of heading into Alaska without the proper skills and knowledge needed to live there as the bad example, his choice of living a free life with no strings on the other hand read like one hell of an adventure
Yeah, he certainly took a huge gamble. A costly one in the end. Bit of a dreamer but a Doo-er.
Aye, What adventure without risk.
Into the Wild, a great Sean Penn film, but a tragic story, Chris had some mental health problems, but for out and out crazy, Timothy Treadwell AKA The Grizzly Man, no prizes for guessing what happens to him in the end. Christopher McCandless ultimately payed the price with his own life, what's more disturbing about the death of Treadwell, he took his girlfriend Amie Huguenard along, Amie suffered the same fate.
 
Last edited:

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
Unglazed china and the raw edge of glass have long been used to fine hone blades. Like said earlier one of my mates had a summer job sharpening blades in a lab for preparing slides before the advent of chemicaly sharpened blades.
The edge of a window or a piece of fine china wont harm a blade and are a lot easier to come across in most places than a suitable rock of the right smoothness and texture. So I don't see any harm in Mr Mears video. In fact it's probably done a lot of members more good than harm as some of the ways I've seen others butcher blades is pretty awful.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
 

Stevie777

Native
Jun 28, 2014
1,443
1
Strathclyde, Scotland
Never even heard of a microtome knife till just now but i'll say to everyone who's never tried it to go out to your car, roll the window down a bit and try a few strokes on it
Don't worry, it wont damage the window :D

Could one use water worn glass.? Seems like the same texture as the edge of car door window glass to me. You find loads of it in Rivers and on beaches etc. Could be a good addition to the sharpening kit.
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
I suppose you could as long as it had a flat surface. Just don't use patterned bathroom glass like the lad in the Ogri cartoon when he was grinding a motorbike engine block.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
 

Stevie777

Native
Jun 28, 2014
1,443
1
Strathclyde, Scotland
I suppose you could as long as it had a flat surface. Just don't use patterned bathroom glass like the lad in the Ogri cartoon when he was grinding a motorbike engine block.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
A curved piece would be good for Gouges. Maybe even crook knives and Adze's
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Could one use water worn glass.? Seems like the same texture as the edge of car door window glass to me. You find loads of it in Rivers and on beaches etc. Could be a good addition to the sharpening kit.
Sea glass sounds like a great idea for a make do or emergency sharpening stone. As I said earlier the non glassed bottom of a coffee cup works very well, it certainly puts a good razor edge on our kitchen knives.
 
Apr 8, 2009
1,165
144
Ashdown Forest
Out of Mr Mears and Mr Grylls, I know who I would rather spend a post apocalyptic afternoon with.

One thing you don't need on any trip, let alone one where survival is an issue, is a big ego.

Met Mr Mears - a humbling and fascinating experience

To be fair, my impression of the two of them - personality wise - is completely the opposite. Unfortunately Mr Mears to me at least appears to have grown a rather large ego in the last few years. One particular 'an evening with' type event that i went to was pretty excruciating throughout for that reason (and in stark contrast to a similar event i attended about 10 yrs ago). Bear is the first to admit his market audience, and I've found him a pretty grounded individual.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE