WHAT WOULD SURVIVORMAN DO?

[wayno]

In the sprawling genre of survival television, there is one man who has managed to earn both huge ratings and the respect of bearded guys with big knives on their belts: Les Stroud, a.k.a. Survivorman. Stroud, 52, grew up in Toronto watching Jacques Cousteau and Tarzan, then became a rock-and-roll addict with dreams of being the next Neil Young. At 25, disillusioned by the music industry, he took a survival course at a Toronto college and was hooked. He went on to train for years with elite survival instructors and honed his skills on numerous wilderness forays, including a yearlong honeymoon with his wife in the remote woods of northern Ontario, during which they lived off the land and used no metals or plastics. Early on, Stroud had the idea of creating a home-video series to teach survival skills, but it wasn’t until 2001 that he pitched a more ambitious idea to the Discovery Channel: just him, alone in the bush for a week, filming his struggles—building fires, catching game, fending off the cold.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-ad ... troud.html

[McWade]

He's an interesting fella. It wasn't until the reality show "Survivor" came along (a show that had very little to do with survival at all) that, after receiving a lot of calls for comment on the show, thought he might be able to get the show that would become Survivor Man produced. Prior to that he'd had experience as an outdoor guide in Summer Camps and expeditions (hiking, kayaking etc) but also in media production. If I recall correctly he shoots all of the footage for the shows himself and has from the beginning. A bit of a right place right time story. He's still into music and tours with a band doing shows that seem an odd mix of live music and footage and stories of his survival adventures.

Listened to him guesting on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast a while back:
http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/j ... ian-redban

[wayno]

he carries around a large amount of professional video gear with him to film himself....

[Hallu]

Do you have to be named Les to be a true bushman ?

[icefest]

Dammit, now there is another TV show to watch. :p

[ben.h]

Survival, bush craft and bush tucker? Then we can't leave out Ray Mears!
Also, I really hope Cody Lundin gets a "proper", serious show of his own one day...

[Travis22]

Bush tucker man hands down king.

Have always loved Les Strouds work too. The series he did building the sustainable house in the wilderness was fantastic too, Ray Mears honestly ive just never really connected with the way he comes across.?

Honestly i love all of these types of shows, i dont care if its a *&^%$#! take aka Bear Grills, Dual Survival, Man Woman Wild i love watching anything filmed in the outdoors for entertainment value.

Travis.

[Hallu]

Survival, bush craft and bush tucker? Then we can't leave out Ray Mears!
Also, I really hope Cody Lundin gets a "proper", serious show of his own one day...

Honestly, I mean no disrespect, but Ray Mears sucks. He looks like a big beer drinking city guy lumping his big weight around. Barely fit enough to do a 2 hour day walk, giving survival advice from his deluxe Range Rover... He simply doesn't look the part.

[McWade]

Funny how when someone posts about a particular celebrity outdoorsman on a forum (not just here but seemingly anywhere) it soon turns into a kind of competition about who is the best or the "real deal".

Honestly, I mean no disrespect, but Ray Mears sucks. He looks like a big beer drinking city guy lumping his big weight around. Barely fit enough to do a 2 hour day walk, giving survival advice from his deluxe Range Rover... He simply doesn't look the part

I'm no big fan of his style either, but to fair ben was commenting on his skill and knowledge with/of survival, bushcraft and bushtucker, all of which seem to be substantial. He's got mad skillz with axe and knife. He also appears to be a fairly accomplished canoeist. And I'm sure all that reserve energy he's carrying would help with the survival thing too

Like Travis, I'm happy watching any of these kinds of shows. Beats watching 90%+ of the other offerings.

[wayno]

yeah ray mears isn't high on charisma, i saw a recent series on his in canada, it was fascinating he got involved with the locals showing you their outdoor crafts in making traditional items, clothes, canoes, tools.. thats his strength, he acts like an old school master. but he's a smart methodical guy. if you were stuck in a tricky situation and had a choice of ray or bear being with you, i'd take ray hands down... unless it was a run like hell scenario!!

[wayno]

watching Ultimate Survival Alaska, they take eight experienced professional outdoorsmen and set them challenges to travel across alaska on foot or on rivers....
one of them gets hypothermia... its just above zero, its raining they'e been walking through snow, he's got a rainshell he leaves open at the top and what looks like a cotton bandana around his neck. no hood, a leather hat,, no waterproof pants.....

[Strider]

Survival, bush craft and bush tucker? Then we can't leave out Ray Mears!
Also, I really hope Cody Lundin gets a "proper", serious show of his own one day...

Honestly, I mean no disrespect, but Ray Mears sucks. He looks like a big beer drinking city guy lumping his big weight around. Barely fit enough to do a 2 hour day walk, giving survival advice from his deluxe Range Rover... He simply doesn't look the part.

Are we talking about the same person? Ray Mears isn't even overweight. Remember he's a bushcrafter not a bushwalker.

[wayno]

[Strider]

OK that's the first pic I've seen of him looking like that. But I think saying he couldn't handle a 2 hour walk is a bit silly.

[wayno]

he tends to be slow and steady....

[Strider]

Nothing wrong with that. Its not a race.

[wayno]

absolutely. he takes the time to think things through and do things properly

[wayno]

ultimate survival alaska was a great series... didnt seem staged,
"life below zero" is another good series, a sobering look at the reality of life in the back country in alaska from several different peoples perspective.

[puredingo]

Hey Wayno I watched that series too and I didn't mind it either although, like all those types of productions, I think it was totally staged. See that one instance where the naked gold panning molboro man falls out of his canoe? well the next time they showed it from a different angle he had a dry suit on under his clothes. A few other thing also, but hey I don't mind, I'm in it for the scenery more than anything so it's all good.
Did you happen to catch any of the series mountain men?...Talk about staged, this one takes the cake.

If you want see the ultimate in the art of bushcraft? do yourself a favour and google Dick Proenneke...Makes Ray Mears look like me in year 8 woodwork class, F*&KING HOPELESS!!!

[icefest]

Of course, there is also the other end of the spectrum - Russel Coight.

[wayno]

actually it was pretty coincidental how they got the plane ride when they missed theirs, the only other plane on the airstrip. pilot about to leave.... plus coming across locals in the middle of nowhere,, all of them friendly and helpful. not that alaskans arent but, it always went swimingly with the locals to help them out when they needed it... every team got a turn in local accommodation...

[phsculpture]

Yes, Dick Proenneke. When I was working in NY, one of my buddies used to bring in some old PBS videotapes and we'd watch them during our lunch break. It was riveting stuff - and all the more enjoyable for the absence of showmanship and splashy music. We were (and are) artist/carpenter/independent types, so this guy was right up our alley. I think it was the late 60s, and the film had that beautiful washed out Kodachrome look to it. Good stuff.

[Hallu]

ultimate survival alaska was a great series... didnt seem staged,
"life below zero" is another good series, a sobering look at the reality of life in the back country in alaska from several different peoples perspective.

I've watched the first episodes, and although it is clearly not staged, they tend to "juice up" the numbers for suspense. For instance on the third ep with the glacier walk at the end, the last duo had 1 hour to cross 4 miles of glacier without crampons. After 30 min they miraculously crossed 3 miles even though on camera they were painfully slow, they couldn't have possibly done that. But otherwise it's a great show. Networks usually think the audience won't be able to relate to professionals and would rather have newbies on camera, but watching idiots bickering and whining gets old very fast. I hope more shows will have a roster of local pros, because I'll definitely watch that.

[nq111]

Where does Malcolm Douglas rate ?

He was so genuinely tough he wouldn't need half the tricks these other guys have

BTW, to stir things up, i'd rather be stuck in a situation with Bear than Ray or Survivorman - though I accept pretty much all criticisms of Bear posted here (and elsewhere) previously.

[Travis22]

Where does Malcolm Douglas rate ?

He was so genuinely tough he wouldn't need half the tricks these other guys have

BTW, to stir things up, i'd rather be stuck in a situation with Bear than Ray or Survivorman - though I accept pretty much all criticisms of Bear posted here (and elsewhere) previously.

Malcolm Douglass rates right up there for sure! *&%$#! shame the way he went out through, i was near his property when he died

Nice to see some other familiar shows mentioned too, Dick Proenneke's videos were very inspirational however despite sharing them with my wife and some friends none of them shared the same enthusiasm or enjoyment watching them as i did.

Travis.

[McWade]

BTW, to stir things up, i'd rather be stuck in a situation with Bear than Ray or Survivorman - though I accept pretty much all criticisms of Bear posted here (and elsewhere) previously.

I'll bite. In mountains where a lot of ground would need to be covered I'd rather be stuck with Bear, especially if it meant getting to make a jump with him from a helicopter to kick it off . In Aussie desert it would have to be Malcolm Douglas, who was a bit of a hero to me as a boy growing up in desert country. Anywhere else I'd be happy being with either Ray or Suvivorman. They're all pretty smart and skilled in their own way.

The other end of the spectrum would be Alby Mangels (not technically a survivalist but an adventurer). Remember him? I loved the shows as a kid but some of it was clearly staged. Though Bears stuff is too so not sure how much that really matters..

[jeffyffej]

Theres actually an episode of Ray Mears goes Walkabout where he comes to Australia and meets up with Les Hiddins. They get about in the outback and Les shows him a thing or two he has learnt from the aboriginals. Good stuff. You can see Ray has great respect for him.

If it came down to it, i think i would rather be stuck with Les out in the bush. He was a clever bloke. Two deployments to Vietnam and then later wrote the combat survival guide for the Army. What a straight up champ!

[puredingo]

In that case If I'm lost in the bush and can pick my adventure partner I'll pick Alby Mangles too. If I'm going to perish in the middle of nowhere better to do it perving on Judy Green than getting a wood whittling lesson off Ray Mears flabby, white carcass.

[chrisqld]

Hey there hope you don't mind me joining in on this ageing thread: I've watched Survivorman and liked it. There was an episode where Les Stroud did an urban survival and it was awful (based on the New Orleans flood). I generally like him though and carrying 50kg of equipment and surviving at the same time is huge. Personally, for entertainment value, Bear Grylls is my favourite. Do you know any shows or resources where they actually show you how to do things properly instead of a little bit here and there, eg, on most of these shows they show you about 75% of a particular skill, eg a fire bow but don't show you how to make a tinder bundle although it's a well used term. I'm looking for a wealth of survival resource to learn from as well as general skills like map reading (newbie hiker here). It's all mysterious and interesting.

[perfectlydark]

I like les but he always just happens to have that crucial random bit of equipment