Man VS Wild – How listening to Bear Grylls will get you killed

Linedog on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 5:43 am 



Here, here, I agree 100%, the guy is an idiot. The things he eats are dangerous to your survival, better to be hungry than incapacitated because of scetchy food. Plus, I hate his accent.

Scott B. Williams on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 7:56 am 



Great post. It seems like TV and movie producers can’t do anything without trying to make a stunt out of it. I suppose they think their audience won’t watch unless there are hair-raising close calls and stupid risks.

One of the first rules of wilderness travel should be: Never Jump.

Dustin Tarditi on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 10:12 am 



“Yeah, the scavenging part is good, but can you make it a little more ‘Jackie Chan’ looking?”

Much of it is in the spirit of “good entertainment” – people don’t want to tune in to see some old codger tell you how to play it safe and invoke the “spirit of the coyote” – they want to mix “Best Ranger Competition” with “Fear Factor” and throw a few parlor tricks in there.

Agreed – not much education in there, but some people learn all they think they need to know about sociology by watching “Jersey Shore,” too.

Mike Ginerro on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 10:55 am 



This guy served in the British SAS….He will end you both

Romadant at eluctor.com on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 11:02 am 



I’ve never really watched it to learn anything – it’s always been really obvious that a lot of the things he advises and does are kind of stupid. That being said, I still watch it when I happen to find it on TV. Maybe it’s the “watching someone do something dumb” factor… Ha! I view it more as a comedy or a list of things not to do. That’s not to say EVERYTHING he advises is wrong, but a lot of it is… and if it’s not wrong, it’s not the BEST advice or technique.

David on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 12:25 pm 



Bear was a survival instructer for United Kingdom special forces. I’m gonna take a guess and say that he knows more about survival than you. And he is running and jumping because it is important to get from point a to point b as quickly as possible. Time is against you, you dont want to lose sunlight before youve set up camp and you want to get rescued as soon as possible. But, OF COURSE the show is ENTERTAINMENT…things are set up to show you what to do in worst case scenarios…

CampPapa on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 12:53 pm 



The show is stupid and dangerous. On the latest travesty, he would have done better to show the audience how to trap rats than climb along the steel girders to eat one unwashed pigeon egg in the shell. And as for exiting via the sewer…I hope his hepatitis shots are up to date. Survivor Man is way more realistic and valuable.

Jacob on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 8:34 pm 



Are you guys really that dense? The urban survival episode is meant to be satire and poke fun at surviving. Some of you guys really need to get a brain. He’s not telling you to crawl though a sewer. Learn to think a bit, ya?

Dave on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 8:59 pm 



When Bear Grylls first hit the scene I thought it was awesome. I mean to see a guy bite directly into the back of a living salmon was pretty awesome. What gets me is that just about every episode the dude climbs into a cave and just so happens to find his way out. What idiot trying to survive would risk getting stuck in cave???

Urban survival, I do have to say that the guy was special forces so I’m sure he knows more than the average bear about making your way in a urban environment. Maybe more so than the outdoors.

Got to say though, his clothes are pretty bad ass!

Robert on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 9:18 pm 



Hey Jacob, before you go and attack people who come to the site maybe you should get your facts straight. The show on Discovery was not meant to be satire.

The spots that he did for the beer company on Youtube was satire but the actual Man vs Wild TV show that aired last night was presented as factual advice. That is what the article is about not the commercials.

British SAS on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 9:47 pm 



Big frickin deal who cares if he was SAS it doesn’t all of a sudden make all his stupid advice right.

The guy’s advice is going to get someone hurt or killed, it’s one thing if the show is entertainment but when they pass this stuff off as actual advice it crosses the line.

And when they use the SAS stuff to sell him it is a slap in the Face to real special forces people. It also makes suckers who fall for marketing like the guy above believe that this stuff is somehow relevant.

maurice on Fri, 5th Feb 2010 4:16 pm 



There seems to be some confusion as to this blokes credentials.
He definitely does not come across as either Special Forces or SAS. The British Special Forces are sceptical of his claim to have broken his back parachuting while on a mission in Africa.
They claim to have not heard of him until he started popping up on TV and the SAS won’t confirm or deny. His only claim to fame is that he has been appointed chief world scout.
There were so many raised eyebrows that his production team had to come clean about many of his stunts being set up.
I agree with others who claim he takes unnecessary risks.
Some of his advice is plainly wrong. In Australia the rule of thumb is if you get lost, even in the desert, and someone knows you are out there, stay in one place eg. broken down veicle, because survival is always more likely if a search is started and you wait to be found.
When he goes into the Sahara and is losing a litre of fluid an hour he couldn’t survive without his film crew when he carries only a litre to begin with.
His emphasis on getting “protein” conflicts with the need for carbohydrates which restore sugars for energy.
I think the SAS guys would find him a bit of a “pussy” when he whines on about his fear of snakes and bats.Also his suggested treatment for snakebite is outdated. Living in a country with the worlds top ten venomous land snakes people are aware of snakes and snakebite treatment.Research (here) has shown that you should wash the bite(s) to rmove venom and then wrap the bite in a compression bandage and apply a splint to immobilize the site. Venom moves through the lymphatic system and the restriction of movement restricts the entry of venom into the blood stream.This system has been shown to add many hours to the survival time. I shudder when I see the old “cut and suck” methods still advocated and the use of tourniquets is also more likely to cause damage and can’t stop the flow of the venom.
My last word on Grylls is that he is a showman and I only watch the show if I need a laugh.
And I hate his accent too-and that’s coming from an Australian.

Maurice

Self Defense Knives on Sat, 6th Feb 2010 7:58 pm 



Lol.. thanks for posting this. i do feel that the show is somewhat scripted.

rachel on Sun, 7th Feb 2010 4:23 pm 



Mind you, Discovery channel is still pushing global warming as an actual threat. Everything and everything on TV is a set up. Especially “reality shows.”

In the same aspect that you cannot cook the same meal a TV chief cooks the same can be said for any reality show. It’s all edited, shot several times from different angles and then spliced together to make footage.

Ever watch dirty jobs? Ever see how many camera guys that guy has with him. Far more than one.

All TV shows are meant to be entertaining rather than educational. The scary part is how many people actually think they learn something from TV. The TV set has become our Achilles heel. It’s a box that will only tell you what it wants you to know not what you should know.

Anyone really interested in survival skills will find info on blogs and books. Not TV.

Dustin Tarditi on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 8:21 am 



Just an update… they were making fun of the Urban Survival episode of Man vs. Wild on “The Soup.” Normally, this time is reserved to mock the inane antics of the Kardashians, Paris Hilton, and Tyra Banks.

According to Joel McHale (Soup Host) [paraphrased] “… so if you’re found in an urban post-apocalyptic survival situation the best skill to have is: gymnastics” – they then proceeded to show about 5-6 clips of Bear performing parkour-like stunts, hops, and rolls around the rooftops and debris.

I used to like Man vs Wild… now it’s just a joke.

Daniel on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 1:13 pm 



The only rational and logical debate about global warming is rather or not humans are the cause or have influence. The globe IS warming, and as plankton and algae die from exposure fish will die.

As survivalists, you should know that in order to continue surviving you must have a food source. If your only food source dies, you die.

As for Grylls, he has made some pretty substantial claims including climing Mt. Everest. If his resume is real, then he’s due some credit. It’s producers that want certain situations to be shown, even survivorman was set up. Even though he was alone, he constantly set up shots and retraced his steps for the sake of his film making.

estevan salcido on Tue, 9th Feb 2010 6:04 pm 



ok ok calm down this guy isnt a fraud and you would now that if you simply didnt only watch the shows and go to his website you would learn that bear grylls is the youngest person toclimb mount everest. and if you took a minute to think the real verdict is that all tv is fake and its for entertainment purposes only

Robert on Tue, 9th Feb 2010 6:22 pm 



Doesn’t really matter what his accomplishments are if the advice he gives gets people killed.

The guys advice is Ridiculous & Dangerous.

Kenneth Robinson on Wed, 10th Feb 2010 10:23 pm 



You do grasp the point that what you see on tv is entertainment? Only a dolt would take what they see on a tv show as serious instructional material.

Sounds to me that people are jealous of Grylls’ success and need to whinge and whine. Lighten up. Bear Grylls’ show is great fun to watch.

Josh on Thu, 11th Feb 2010 8:04 am 



Do you get the point that the TV Show passes this garbage off as advice?

There are a lot of stupid people in the world that will take this guys advice if the end up in a survival situation. It’s one thing to have a show that entertains people it’s another thing when that show tells people how to survive in an emergency and the proceeds to give advice that will get those people killed.

Wake up, no one is jealous they just don’t want people to get hurt.

Jim on Thu, 11th Feb 2010 11:00 am 



WOW… such experts…if you really listen to what the man has to say you would hear time and time again the advice he gives is always the same order ” Water..Shelter..Fire..Food. and …Rescue. its basic survival.. as far as how he does it , so its a little off the wall. but I have made shelters and fires using his teachings and they work…Would I grab a snake and bite its head off…not likely but I have eaten things from under logs and cooked some are not bad. and will save your life. and if I have a choice of walking around or walking over a frozen lake I would go around, But hey I’m not on TV. and besides most people are not capable physically of doing the stuff he does or would they have the guts.

Dave on Thu, 11th Feb 2010 2:10 pm 



I DVR and watch MvW and at this point I bet I have seen all of them. The show is entirely set up (running from a train? come on), but I think that is obvious to anyone who has seen the show. He calls them “challenges”. He’s not finding the best way to get from point A to point B, he’s looking for the nearest waterfall/cave/mountain/ledge/etc to entertain the viewer by tackling it and demonstrating thinking outside of the box and using what is available to your advantage.

Trashing all of his advise is wrong, it’s not entirely BS. He does do some really dangerous stuff that anyone with half a brain should know not to do to survive. As far as I’m concerned if someone attempts to do everything he does to survive out in the wild it’s just natural selection at work.

Also the urban survival episode was an absolute joke – although still entertaining. They are running out of ideas.

randy on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 2:45 pm 



Chill guys… youloved her show, but would you take lucille ball’s advice if you were working in a chocolate factory?

Mike on Sun, 14th Feb 2010 6:28 pm 



I agree with this article. This show is very misleading. Sliding down a steep slope can result in strains,sprains and broken bones. Break a leg and you don’t get out of the wilderness. Jumping off a cliff into any body of water is not only dangerous, it’s ignorant. The primary word here is survival. One of the first rules in winter survival is, don’t get wet.Another is to never expose yourself to the possibility of injury. Watch what you drink or eat. Diarrhea=dehydration=death. There are so many things wrong with this show. If you want to venture into the wilderness, take a course in survival and hope this idiot isn’t your instructor.

Galen on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 5:58 pm 



If you want real expertise on Urban Survival, go talk to your local homeless. Spend a day with them. Learn how they find food and shelter, where they sleep, and how they avoid being victimized by criminals and cops alike.

MVK on Wed, 17th Feb 2010 2:46 am 



I think it is just a show.
I do like his silly accent, and I certainly don’t take his advice on how to survive seriously.
Of course most of the situations are staged,
of course he gets logistic support from his crew,
A britton in Sahara would die even with a litre of fluid per hour – the european metabolism works unsavvy with water, he’s not a berber or a bedouin.
But the show displays nice places, beautiful views, and I do like this.



Kids, don’t try it at home, indeed it may get you killed.

Dave on Wed, 17th Feb 2010 7:59 am 



A true survival show with no risk = boring and no one would watch it. If his show wasn’t him doing crazy jackass-esque antics we would have never heard of Bear Grylls. There is a disclaimer shown a couple times during each show announcing that you should seek professional advice before attempting any wilderness survival.

Watching this show in order to be able to survive in the wilderness is as foolish as watching Burn Notice to become a spy. If that’s your MO you deserve to be drowning in a frozen lake.

Chloe Hart on Wed, 17th Feb 2010 8:00 pm 



Bear Grylls is a highly trained survivor! If you got stuck in the wild and followed his advice you would have a better chance of surviving than if never having seen the show. His being able to survive is not a matter of coincidence when he faces these horrific extremes… He uses a lot of common sense and the rest is knowledge and training executed by a highly trained man with extra large ca-hones! What he does is truly a fight all the way and you should be ashamed of being such a pussy for doubting yourself in a life or death scenario! I love this show!

allegedwun on Wed, 17th Feb 2010 8:35 pm 



bear grylls is a ninja.. that’s why he jumps everywhere he goes. he was in the sas for boot camp pretty much and is the chief scout of the world. broke his back because he failed to follow procedure and that pretty much sums it up. He is legit and if he were in a real life survival situation he wouldn’t necessarilly jump into a stream of freezing water. He does things like that to show you what to do afterward if you were to encounter such a problem.. and about him jumping and sliding down hills. He tells you that there is a safe way and the bear way. Anyway the thing about the ninja was a joke. cheers. the show is fun to watch and this is the truth about bear grylls.

dave1 on Thu, 18th Feb 2010 6:27 pm 



He’s a bloody legend!

Brian on Thu, 18th Feb 2010 7:18 pm 



Did you guys miss the warning at the beginning? I think the only fool here is the guy who thinks he is advising you do anything he does. He specificay warns the viewer to NOT attempt it….sheesh…sounds like jealousy. The guy does crazy stuff. period. Its fun to watch a man drink water from elephant dung and eat a dead zebra’s neck off.

I bet you watch the “End Of The World-what if a comet/tsunami/hurricane/tornado hits NYC/Chicago/L.A./Antarctica” shows with all their CGI and dont blink an eye to complain about how they over dramatize this ridiculous notion of global warming…..

Josh on Thu, 18th Feb 2010 7:56 pm 



I feel sorry for the people who are defending this guy and buying into the marketing that made him…… the guys no legend and people who think that this guy has anything of value to say are the same idiots who end up having to get rescued of the side of a mountain for following this jerks advice.

And as for a disclaimer that’s only there because the lawyers at Discovery made them put it there, the fact is this guy through out the show passes this stuff of as advice, he constantly tells people “this is how it’s done” especially in the urban show.

Not jealousy, just don’t want to see people get hurt.

Ken on Thu, 18th Feb 2010 10:46 pm 



Well, I think the people on this site that are serious about survival and advice are correct, his show is a complete joke, for real and doable advice. I don’t recall who said it, but not jumping in a survival situation is wise. BUT, my bone to pick is that for people who watch and don’t know about survival, the question is will they try it? If your only frame of reference is TV, you very well, may try some of it, especially if your under pressure and not thinking straight. Beware – That drinking your pee thing, I honestly haven’t researched but I recall they taught us don’t under any circumstances drink urine, but then I saw that epsoide and couldn’t remember whether it was ok or not. I think that’s a lot of peoples point, it can confuse someone when it’s a serious situation. Now, I suppose have at it for entertainment if you don’t plan to actually survive. Just some thoughts.

Dave on Fri, 19th Feb 2010 9:52 am 



I wonder how many Bear-bashers watch the show. I bet there are plenty of people who don’t watch and simply read articles like this to form their opinion of how dangerous the show is. As I said above the urban survival episode was a complete joke and I mean in every way. They really opened the door for some deserved criticism on that one. That show was 100% stunts that were unfortunately passed off in his usual advice format. Stunts are a huge part of his typical show, I would say a typical show is about a 50/50 mix of stunts and actual advice.

I’d like to see a list of his advice and how much of it stacks up as a half-way decent way of performing the task at hand. Like I said above I agree that his urban survival show was a joke, but his typical tips on jungle/cold/island survival seem relatively legit.

Basic stuff such as how he makes a fire, builds a shelter, gets food, gets clean water, finds his bearings, even burying the head of a poisonous snake seem like pretty good advice. Hell, I would use his advice to make snowshoes if I needed them. Ok so maybe you shouldn’t squeeze water out of fresh elephant dung to get a drink or eat raw goats testicles, if he didn’t do this stuff it wouldn’t be on TV.

His tackling of obstacles is the least safe but again he clearly does this for the sake of the show. Climbing straight up cliffs with no ropes, going through caves under mountains or through glaciers, climbing down a tree like it’s a firepole to get off of a cliff, etc. He even says many times the best way to be rescued is to stay where you are and wait for a rescue party, but what kind of show would that make? I for one wouldn’t watch it.

BamaLOLs on Fri, 26th Feb 2010 5:06 pm 



All I can say is thank God for Man vs Wild . IF the numbers in the comment section are reflective of how ignorant even supposedly semi-educated readers of survival blogs can be many MTV Reel World “survivalist” will get knocked out in the first two weeks .

Anyone “learning” anything from that clown show needs to seriously assess their knowledge base and their so called “skill sets” (if they actually took the hard earned time to have learned any past Power Ranger day dreaming about playing “survivalist” )

Just for good measure they should also seriously question their own intelligence and common sense . Then set to work doing everything they can to improve both .( You can’t fix a problem if you don’t even know you have it so you can’t say you haven’t been told )

Or don’t . It really works out either way .

If the worldwide (or even a regional) herd gets culled it is good to know those who are truly useful can save their limited energy and ammo keeping you away from that which they care about because you got killed early on playing “survivalist” ….

hawkins on Tue, 2nd Mar 2010 2:36 pm 



Well I did see a few of his shows and I have to say I never used any of what he showed on T.V. I mean I’ve been homeless for quite some time now and all I used is what I learned from the military and some good old common since really thats all a person really needs.

hoo RAh .

Joe M. on Wed, 3rd Mar 2010 8:17 pm 



This is a website about survivalism, and yet this is the most discourse I’ve seen from ANY THREAD!! Wow, I couldn’t help it , I even got sucked in. Its a show. If some idiot steps outside of their skill set and tries what BG does and dies, it thins the herd for me and my family. Survival is for the fittest. Frankly, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if some of these posters here tried what he does and don’t make it. Yes a lot-read all-of his stunts are set up….but I bet he’d outlast 90% of the people posting here (including myself). p.s. If you’ve read all the way down here….you’ve got too much time on your hands. Go for a run, work on your survival cardio. Via con Dios muchachos

rick jones on Sun, 7th Mar 2010 8:54 pm 



this is a show for city idiots.
ya, i could survive without a camera, tech, and medical
crew feeding and catering to me off camera. if this idiot
is a uk expert survival guy then the uk is in deep shit!

ale on Wed, 10th Mar 2010 11:38 am 



he climbed mt. everest he knows how 2 survie.if u listen to him u will not dye i bet he knows more than all of u

Frosty on Sun, 14th Mar 2010 10:23 pm 



I don’t watch the show, but there is another called survivor man, is that any better?

Matt on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 8:37 pm 



U r all thick the MAN is brilliant he teaches to be positive in adverse situations i know i would not like to be stuck in a jungle with any of you lot i would die from ur grouching now listen if a hard snake bites u then your going to die but eating shit that you find lying around wont pussy he teaches all the nessasary practices and lets face it he didnt have to he is developed enough to do running and jumping but thats part of being alive and he clearly makes more cheese than you his wife is hot and you are a bellend

Teddy on Fri, 26th Mar 2010 9:01 am 



Had to get my two scents in. It has to be about jealousy. Bear has accomplished so many things that most of you could only dream of. I bet most of you didn’t know he was an acclaimed motivational speaker who has written many survival books. These survival books have earned awards. I guess he must be some kind of survival expert. Relax, its just an entertaining survival show. If you don’t want to take the advice then don’t watch the show. I bet half you people don’t know the first thing about survival. Please tell me how many of you so called survivalist would pass up on your own show exactly like this? Bottom line is Bear Grylls is a bad ass and your upset because you don’t have you own cool show.

Evan on Wed, 31st Mar 2010 2:13 pm 



You guys are Retards sure maybe some of the things are unintelligent, but the guy was in the British SAS he’s been trained on how to survive in situations like this. If you don’t want to follow his advice thats fine go ahead and get your dumbass killed. And also he isn’t suggesting that you go swimming through a sewer and climp up 100′s of feet to eat eggs but if you had to choose between following his advice or starving to death i hope, for the sake of humanity, that you choose to starve to death.

Pete on Tue, 6th Apr 2010 8:53 pm 



What I don’t like is when they make a “behind the scenes” they try to fool us and make us think everything is real. Like when he was climbing down a tree he tells a crew member to put a foot on a branch and later on a “behind the scenes” we can clearly see the crew member was hanging on cables. Also when the train was following him someone was outside the tunnel taking pics so obviously it was all staged, but they try to make you think it wasn’t.

How come the man gets inside any hole inside any cave and finds an exit? If you ever get lost don’t do that.

But I wouldn’t say he’s a complete fake, he eats poop for us for christ sake!!!

BamaLOLsEvenLouder on Wed, 7th Apr 2010 2:19 am 



Oh good grief … did someone post this link on a Bear Grylls fan club site for young and easily impressionable children ???

The comment section is an absolute knee slapper and gets even funnier as it continues to grow with tweeners running in trying to defend the stupidity that is Man Vs BS as “survival” advice .

Even pretending to take anything about that show seriously has a level of nativity that is breathtaking . To cap it off you have those who are not satisfied with merely ordinary levels of stupidity . They want to ice the cake and show they can outdo their fellow fans .

Saying stuff like “Bear climbed Mt Everest” , “Bear ate raw snakes in Vietnam ,” Bear is going to play Superman in Superman VS Shazam ” you really have to wonder why no one bothered trying to do a Bear Grylls vs Chuck Norris comparison and then use that as an example of what a great learning tool this show for idiots really is .

Let’s just put it this way . If you are running so low on the IQ / life experience scale that you actually THINK you can somehow learn to stay alive by watching an MTV style “survival” show … maybe it is actually helping you .

On the other hand you have obviously slipped way way way down on the IQ chart . I would argue watching Sesame Street or even just some random TV test patterns would be every bit as effective at maybe … just maybe … stimulating enough neurons to perhaps one day allow you to come out of your walking coma . Keep hope alive !!!!

GILMORE on Tue, 20th Apr 2010 5:03 pm 



Suggested strategy from Bear Grylls on what to do when stuck at a dead end on a glacier:

“Climb INTO the glacier.”

Oh, and… “Glacier tunnels are *extremely* dangerous. First check that the ice is solid…”

Thats akin to saying, “ok, you have a gun, right? Now remember, they’re extremely dangerous. Now just put the gun in your mouth, and squeeze…”

He actually recommends the “descend into the ice” strategy on two different shows (Yukon & Alaska Mountains)…

While he’s sliding into a tunnel, he mentions, “this is actually not where you want to be. I was almost killed on a glacier..”

And “the further you go in, the harder it is to go back”…

There should be captions saying, “WARNING: Never do anything you SEE Bear Grylls doing; this is for amusement only”

His show is amusing, but 90% of what he demonstrates is totally useless as real-life wilderness skill.

Charim on Thu, 22nd Apr 2010 4:25 pm 



Sure is alot of haters here.
I like the show man vs wild mostly cause 50% of it is staged but it can kill as hes just showing what and whatnot to do if you ever end up in a similare situation.

On the other hand there 50% of the show thats not staged like where he jump into the glacier and the near death in glacier that was at Everest and such as he swims over a cold river just to make a sample out of the situation.

I honestly dont think peoples gives a rats ass about the haters since they are the onse we hear about on the news a few months/years later “Couple rescued after 7 days, lost in the woods”
Or by gods hopefully the “Couple found starved to death in woods”

Also noticed some comments about how this would never be any use in real life about 90% of what he dose and says is a life saver in a harsh survival situation.

misty on Tue, 27th Apr 2010 7:05 pm 



He does those “stupid” things to show you how to re-coop from them. Remember when he jumped into the freezing water? Yea? Well, do you remember right after that how he showed how to recover from it? He does that to show WORST CASE scenarios. Not semi bad situations. He shows his viewers how to handle the most extreme.

andre on Wed, 12th May 2010 12:33 am 



You guys can say what the f**k you want. The man peaked everest at 23, the youngest brit ever to do so. Thats allready enough to give him the respect he deserves. He broke his back on a jump for SAS somewhere in Africa, semi paralysed he got back on his feet and is still filming more than 6 seasons of man vs wild. I think you idiots forget that the point of the show is not for him to execute everything a 100%, the point is to show YOU, the viewer, what to do in a situation where your survival skills will depend if you live or die. Im not saying everything is real, offcourse its not. But the advice he gives you is for you to decide if you will listen to it when your life is at stake or dont listen to it, and die a stubborn foolish bastard. Maybe you ignorant delinquents didnt know that Bear is rated amongst the top 10 world wide motivational speakers for companies?? or that his 3 books are all 3rd year in a row nr 1 best sellers??? Or that he gives 75% of his man vs wild income to 3 different child care-charities?? I bet not one of you going against his motives have been in the wild, fucking computer geeks!!

pete on Wed, 12th May 2010 7:00 pm 



most of you miss the point the real key here is to use your own brain to determine what is for entertainment and what is not .. some things he says is very good tips like using your fingers to determine the time left in left day or ways to make shelter or beading and if it gets too bad u just might need to eat something to keep up strength. these are the survival tips the rest is entertainment. and the things he does for entertainment is sweet i reckon he is a legend … get a life

ignorant fanboy on Sat, 22nd May 2010 6:37 pm 



WAHHHH BEAR GRYLLS IS FAKE WAHHHHHH I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN COMPLAIN WHEN THE WORLD DOES NOT GIVE A CRAP WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH WHINE WHINE WAHHHHHHHHH BOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!

Seriously thats all i understand from the comments.

Rich on Sat, 29th May 2010 9:03 am 



Having read this thread I detect a massive degree of jealousy on the part of these ‘Armchair Experts’..the sort of backwater American Fat-Ass Lumberjack shirt wearing beardie-weirdies who sit in their Uncle Jessie dungarees, piling on the pounds scoffing beef jerky & nachos whilst guzzling fridge-loads of beer. Real men (so they think) as they scoff & scorn at Bear Grylls latest TV episode.

“That’s not how you shoould do it boyy” I can see them now, telling their wives, and the dog and anyone else who’ll listen the ‘correct survival procedure’ as if they’d ever done anything remotely as dangerous as Bear’s on screen frolics.

Then when the show’s over and wifey switches over to a re-run of The Waltons, they shuffle to their feet, and stagger, part drunk to the computer, where they put their greivances out there on their grubby grease-riddled keyboards.

Why? Because deep down they envy Bear Grylls, his resume reads like an action heros. They hate him for his slim physique, his lack of baldness or greying, his positivity & good humour.

He is everything they are not, and everything that a gun cabinet packed with guns, and a house full of hunting knives, and a wardrobe full of ‘Realtree’ camo cannot, and will not make them.

These people are so chronically housebound they see Steven Seagal movies as training videos for imaginary fight situations they ‘may’ get into, and vent their spleen on crappo websites inhabited by like-minded tossers, all of whom will prattle on relentlessly about their questionable ‘time in the military’ which is at all true in any cases is most likely some paint-balling with the National Guard.

My advice to these turd-valves. Get a life, Lose some weight, accept you’re never going to be Bear Grylls OR Survivor Man, or Steve Irwin or Steven Seagal.

Get off your fat arse, apply for a passport and broaden your horizons a little.

Take care out in the wilds of your backyards when you’re pissing out the back door, cause you’re too lazy or drunk to make it to the bathroom.

Bye y’all!

Boyd on Mon, 31st May 2010 2:17 pm 



To put it bluntly, Bear Grylls – Style, Ray Mears – Substance. Both are entertaining and experienced, both deserve respect.

JB117 on Wed, 2nd Jun 2010 6:40 am 



I think it’s quite obvious to anyone with half a brain that a lot of what bear does is staged in a way to show viewers what to do in EXTREME situations. The reason he climbs into caves and finds his way out isnt ‘coincidence’ its obviously staged, why? because he wants to show you how to climb your way out should you fall down a cave. A lot of his advice is good, A lot of situations are presented to him, as the disclaimer states in the beginning of the show, in order to demonstrate survival skills. He’s not saying ‘go into the bog and get sucked down’ he’s saying ‘im gonna go into the bog and get sucked down, now if you ever happen to get sucked down into a bog, do this’ etc etc.

What’s funny is that the ‘experts’ on here are grouching about people being stupid enough to follow bear’s advice, but arent smart enough to realize that he doesnt show the normal survival scenario and rather the extreme danger that u can encounter, and then shows u how to handle that. Of course there are many stunts that are pointless other then for viewer thrills, and he pretty damn well says NOT to climb down or up a cliff WITHOUT equipment unless you absolutely CANNOT avoid it in order to survive, at which point he DEMONSTRATES what you should do. and having topped Everest at 23, im pretty sure he knows more about climbing then u twats.

Not to mention, having met someone who went on a joint survival training between his RAF unit and the SAS, his training is pretty damn good, considering that they drop you in the middle of nowhere with a knife, a bottle and a flint for something like 2 weeks.

barry daniel on Thu, 3rd Jun 2010 3:14 pm 



if you dont like it dont watch it, its been openly mentioned that all this stuff is set up for Bear to offer advice , its doesnt mean you need to bolt out and do it all, if your an outdoors sort of person, you may grab one or two things from the show that you could use if in trouble, things that have been mentioned about going into caves etc, it called edting dude, its a tv program, needs to interesting and show what we want to see.. as i said if it bothers people that much, dont watch

city slicker on Fri, 4th Jun 2010 7:09 pm 



I know nothing about survival. Even I know the stuff Bear does is for entertainment. I wouldn’t be foolish enough to try it myself. Most people aren’t that stupid.

Pete on Tue, 8th Jun 2010 6:35 pm 



Well, “just a show” could get you killed if you take a bad decision influenced by the man. But what I wanted to say is that they could be more honest and I’d still admire Bear and his team. Don’t feel ashamed to say the truth and instead try to fool us because we’ll notice. About the cave thing I said – I was trying to point out how he/you must know there’s an exit or have a map before doing that, obviously he woudn’t do it withot that knowledge, but he won’t tell you “I had a map” or “a local told me there was an exit, that’s why I did it.”, about the skills to get out of a cave he’s great, you can learn a lot from him, I’m not putting his skills in doubt.

And yes… they in fact risk their lives for us.
Keep on the good poop eating!!!

JimBob on Thu, 10th Jun 2010 5:52 am 



Why do they/does BG do what he does? Not for you, not for me, but for their own survival, their bread on their table, it’s their job! And if you’re doing a TV show, it’s gotta rock in some way, else no one will watch, so no one would even produce it. I can’t wait what stupidity and craziness has to be put on 10 years from now, ’cause it’s gotta top today’s stuff.

Having been out there a lot, in the wild and in the world: enjoy the show, read up if you want knowledge, and don’t be so judgemental all the time. I have done some crazies myself, sometimes even aware of it. And I can only say as BG states many times: I did that for the fun, excitement, and adrenalin, and it would definately not have helped me survive in any way, if anything had gone wrong…

Wulfen on Tue, 22nd Jun 2010 1:07 pm 



actually for you all you that thinks the food bear eats will kill you, he served 3 Damn years in the SAS so i think he knows about survival. and his whole running and jumping into things is what you should be doing! you need to not think about the things that will stop you, amd go further than your body limits you! its mind over matter! and as bear has said half the stuff he eats isnt for the flavour its for the nutrients and energy and vitamins. and alot of the survival techniques bear shows you actually work and would help you under the right conditions. anyway i dont think half of you here would survive in the wild. survival isnt about planning what gadgets to bring along its about living off the land! making do when you have nothing.

BamaLOLsTheLoudestYet on Sun, 4th Jul 2010 10:10 pm 



JimBob .. your own explanation explains perfectly the EXACT problem with an MTV style “survival” show. You have a flood of dimwits who think they actually “know” what it takes to survive in life threatening situations . You know … the kind where one doesn’t have standby paramedics and helicopters for immediate evacuation once you inevitably f*** yourself up . That and absolutely NO “magic” editors to “fix” your “boo boos” in post production while you spend a half year recouping in a hospital.

You combine that silly show (which speaks for itself for anyone that has lived enough to know better ) with the flood of dumb ass “you said Santa wasn’t real” kiddie comments on this one blog post alone . It is OBVIOUS that the “being a sideshow dips**t is cool” mentality is ALL many of the shows viewers are equipped to take away from it . The only true service the show could be said to provide is to help cull the herd of mental defectives even quicker if the SHTF .

Anonymous on Mon, 12th Jul 2010 3:24 pm 



calm down it’s a tv show so some aspects of it is gonna be soley for entertainment.

mark on Tue, 13th Jul 2010 10:49 am 



are you all just couch potatoes? have you any idea what he goes through to make these shows? no wonder you americans keep fighting losing wars you dont know reality from the fiction you create. bear was trained by the best of the british forces and knows exactly what he’s doing. he trys to pass on the information to help in situations that you could get in to, you’re just too dense to understand.

Causty on Wed, 14th Jul 2010 3:55 am 



Lets take a look at this realistically …. This was not put forward as a “what to do if your bored on a saturday afternoon” type of thing .. he did say on numerous occasions that it was after an urban desaster (ok 9/11, which was also refered to, was localised to south Manhatten so not really relevant to that) but think Threads (if your in the UK) or after a nuclear attack then all these skills may be a tab more relevant (ok I know that some are really stupid like the whole jumping stuff) .. As for the sewers thing ? hell I know Urbexers who do that for a laugh so don’t be dissing the guy stupid, YEAH but does it not go on under your feet You would be suprised. Deffo a pinch of salf program but get into Urbexing and you will see this program in a different ight .. if your high light in your life is getting in the car to travel to work then this will be lost on you ….

Dan on Thu, 12th Aug 2010 7:27 pm 



I don’t see what the hating going on is. Forst(slight tangent here) to mark. Not all Americans are as you depict them. Personally I support BG, and his career. That being said not everything he does is real. For those of you who don;t know a massive scandal occured during the first season in which he was investigated, and monitored by some third parties during several of the shows. The third parties claimed that he was a fraud. They lost their case. Second some of the situations are purposely sought out to demonstrate i.g. climbing shafts, exploring caves, freezing in water. Third the man got a full damn background check by Oprah. Who let’s be honest would discover a fraud long before any of you. Not to mention the stack of experience the guy has under his wing. Haters back off, he may not be right a hundred percent of the time, but then again you don’t have the balls to prove him wrong.

Josh on Sat, 14th Aug 2010 12:23 pm 



HOLY WOW, how dumb can people be. I read comment after comment dissing this dude who has done nothing more than set world records, receive some of the highest honors. But these folks have no idea what they are talking about.
This can all be cleared up by watching the first 30 sec’s of the show. you know the part where they tell your dumb ace not to do this at home. People come on of course there is a little fantasy. It is TV ya that thing we use for ENTERTAINMENT not survival. I am willing to wager 97% of the people dissing him here, could NEVER come close to what he does, but it sound good to sit your fat lazy ace behind that computer desk and trash this man.
And some of these people’s comments are just plain retarded, Truly spoken by little cowards in the comfort of their home, clearly you have never been in a survival situation, for your life. how Sad. just watch it and laugh or better yet don’t watch it at all, and this page can free up web space

Jupiter Swords on Thu, 19th Aug 2010 8:11 am 



As always, americans always take advice literally. No wonder they have to put well documented instructions on food labels (add boiling water->drink may be hot from boiling hot water that you added) WTF???

Bear grylls is indeed a performer that sometimes takes stupid risks. But (and I know what I’m talkin about) 7 out of 10 advices given by BG are valid.

a couple of examples:

-Boil water, when taken from a river, even if it looks clean
-always cook your meat well done
-how to start fires
-how and where to make camps
-uses for lost debris.. parachute cords, tires, animal hydes…
-how to find bearings
-how to cross various types os terrains

I know it seems confusing for a couple of couch potatoes and weekend warriors how anything he says could possibly be of use.

I know you hate his british accent.

I know how deep down you wish it was an american that showed how it was done in the marines…

And I know every american thinks that marines are the best. Well. That isn’t true.

Tactically there is no better force. They are just differently trained for the job at hand.

So throw your sticks and stones and hope your never in a situation that requires you to eat some shit like he does, cause if you are… your plain old screwed…

gabe on Sat, 21st Aug 2010 10:43 pm 



There is a disclaimer dummies! Of course this stuff is planned. The show is ENTERTAINMENT. They even had a whole show dedicated to how they filmed the show. And there are countless behind the scenes on youtube.

dan on Sun, 22nd Aug 2010 7:47 pm 



if don’t like his accent thats not his fault and he is safe he is smart and strong so if you want to survive go your own way and die

Mongoose on Tue, 24th Aug 2010 12:44 am 



They’re American. What do you expect?

Iain on Tue, 24th Aug 2010 1:59 pm 



He served in 21 SAS for three years so for some of you clowns to suggest that he knows nothing about survival is a joke. Anyone know what it takes just to get in to the SAS? It takes extreme fitness but most importantly it takes will power which is also the most important survival tool you can have. There’s no point having all the gear if you pussy out at the first step which i imagine the ones who are ripping the piss on here would probably do. Yes he does entertaining and extreme things in his shows but the main substance is true – making fire, getting food and water and then he makes it more entertaining by doing some jumps and climbing etc. It’s not his fault you are too stupid you take everything literally. Anyone who has served in the armed forces, let alone the special forces, let alone as a survival instructor is going to know a lot more than some clown who just reads books and sometimes goes camping with mates. What credentials do you have to attack him and be taken seriously? Anyone here ex special forces or run a reputable survival school or are you all armchair experts who have picked up a couple of books and probably never go hiking/camping unless the sun is shining. I know who i would want on my plane if it crash lands in the middle of nowhere, it won’t be you clowns taking the piss, it would be Bear.

Wraith on Sat, 28th Aug 2010 11:18 am 



Does it really matter? I mean seriously, if idiots do something stupid and get themselves killed, their just giving us competent survivalists more breathing room. Who cares where they got their faulty information from, as long as it doesn’t affect the rest of us personally?

Iain on Tue, 31st Aug 2010 12:32 pm 



Natural selection, the stupid will die first and therefore make it easier for the rest of us. Good point.

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