Les Stroud to end Survivorman

I always say the same about Les Strouds program suvivorman. Firstly he does it for real which should be commended. Secondly he takes far less supplies than most people would be left with in a similar situation. Thirdly he's always on the move trying to get out, which reduces that amount of food he can find as a normal person in such a situation could try and supply themselves before the long hike.

Most importantly however is the filming. I remember him setting up a camera and walking a good 500 meters down a mountain. Then he had to walk back and get the camera and then walk down again! He basically covered the same distance 3 times, which is obviously going to use a ton of calories. Without this constant self filming he'd be a lot better off in his survival situations. He even says that himsefl at one point, i think it's on the "making of" part.

Bear grills should be shot, just my personal opinion. Staying in hotels, taking extreme risks, eating raw meat, i mean come on. I saw in several of his shows how he drank water straight from a stream, without boiling it and passed it off as safe. He was in the middle of a jungle! Any sensible person, with any knowledge of water bourn parasites will tell you that it should have been boiled at least.

I have a decent amount of respect for Mr.Stroud and i'm sad to see him leave his series.

reply to post by ashamedamerican


Yes, DP reminds me of my dad, who was big on making things and building things from scratch. Dad has the ability to get going on a project like that and just has an old world's craftsmanship about him.

The Craigheads were an often featured pair on various Disney shows, and one of them highlighted their kids, who had a life reminiscent of Tarzan's Boy, swinging from trees, homeschooled (iirc), and generally being at home in the wilds of Wyoming and elsewhere. It's a life to be envied.

I looked for a video on the C's but only found a poetry recitation.
Found a couple books by the brothers:
Hawks, Owls, and Wildlife

The Grizzly Bears of Yellowstone




[edit on 11/9/2008 by Badge01]

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
I remember him setting up a camera and walking a good 500 meters down a mountain. Then he had to walk back and get the camera and then walk down again!

I think I remember the one you're talking about, same episode that he smashed a camera to use the lens to start a fire, if it's the same one.

He did that kind of thing alot though, going way out of his way to get good camera shots, and wasting valuable calories and energy that are vital when you're going 7 days without a normal food intake.

Mad respect for him and I wish he the show could go on, but I definitely understand his reasons for stopping. It seems he just wants to live a relatively quiet life with his family off the grid.

As for Grills he should be ashamed of himself. Stroud admits on camera when he is wrong, Grills has a show with influencial kids watching it, who could easily get themselves killed by trying to do what they saw him do.
He's Ex-S.A.S. and has the knowledge to make a much better show, if he wasn't such a showoff.
Grills is a fraud, and shouldn't even be allowed on T.V. without a huge disclaimer stating "this is entertainment only."

In fairness to Bear Grylls, my understanding was they did two versions of the pilot, one was a 'goofy' James Bond style survival show where he did risky things, and the other a more straight up survival.

People liked the exaggerated, risky version much better so they went to that format.

Having said that, I think they also knew they had stiff competition with Les's show, so they had to pump up the action or get rejected as a pilot.

Even people with the skills, say an ex-SAS wouldn't necessarily have Les's determination. It might even be a different skillset (or at least harder) to do it for a show, vs doing it IRL. If Les is that hardcore for a show, where he has a rescue method, imagine him in real life. (I wouldn't bet against him).

Besides, Les had done it, virtually going where no man had gone before, and that is putting himself in harm's way all around the globe.

Have you seen his 'making of' shows? He really spends a lot of time editing the show, filming the show, building extension devices.

He also gets coaching by an expert for the previous few weeks before he goes in, so he doesn't go into it unschooled and unprepared.

reply to post by Badge01


I can understand that, but my point is that if you take two kids who are both lost, (seperately) and who's only introduction to anything survival related is either survivorman, or man vs. wild...

The kid who watched survivorman might actually save himself, whereas the poor kid who was watching man vs. wild is probably going to get himself injured, sick or killed.

If grylls (survivorboy as I like to call him) wanted an exaggerated, over glorified show to showoff with, he shouldn't claim it to be a serious show about survival.

My point is that survivorboy actually has the SAS survival training background to completely blow stroud out of the water if he wanted to, he just seems to prefer to showoff and make himself look good for the camera instead.
I just don't think they should be allowed to market what he does as a serious survival show, it could lead to people (probably kids) who are lost, ending up worse off because of the showboating antics.

Keep in mind how easily influenced kids are, they will repeat things they see a "professional" do, if they don't know any better.

reply to post by ashamedamerican


We're talking cross-purposes. I agree, Stroud's show is better, he actually gets real survival tips. (But, he does practice some of them. Some he doesn't)

I think in real life, he would be better at survival than an ex-SAS - he's done it, and he did it for a TV show. Don't underestimate the value of 'did it'/experience.

Grylls is younger, so that might give him a physiological edge.

Could Grylls do a show like Les's and 'blow him out of the water'. I say no. Otherwise, why is he doing an exploitative version. That's what he could get to sell and (maybe) he's lazy.

People often bet on the wrong guy IRL. I've seen one survival show where they walked across part of Australia and the highly tech-equipped guy lost, but came in a close second to an Aborigine.

But I do get your point. I just think that's what would sell the show, coming second, and so that's what he does.

reply to post by ashamedamerican


Treadwell was brave, noble and even admirable but he was an ignorant MORON from the city(Long Island, NY). Studying the grizzly is fine but his antics also got his girlfriend killed and will likely get a bunch of other urban dwelling folks killed as well.

A smallish female black bear can kill most human with a single swipe of its paw. In the last couple of weeks, a friend who deer hunting in Idaho was stalked for a hour or so by a large male black bear who finally stopped after being shot at.

All bears ,wild or captive, are as dangerous a predator to humans as any of the big cats.

reply to post by crgintx

Am I the only one who sometimes thinks he is not as well-prepared as he should be? I mean, it seems like every other time he has an extremely difficult time finding food, when I feel that I would be eating practically everything that moves and getting by.

It's the production itself that makes it too difficult. Every time you see him walking along some far-away ridge or something, he has to come back and get the camera stuff. That eats up a lot of time that would realistically be used for survival.

So on one hand, he's demonstrating survival techniques, but the production itself forces his example to be unrealistic.

reply to post by Badge01


The other wildlife naturalists you've mentioned all showed a great deal more respect for the potential threat of the animals they were dealing with than did Treadwell towards the group of bears he was studying from what I've seen of the show. Treadwell and Steve Irwin were outdoor adrenalin junkies which eventually got them killed.

Les Stroud has a very healthy respect for the potential threat from wildlife and not just predators. I'm far less afraid of a bear than I am a bull moose, elk or wild boar. During rut, even whitetail deer can be aggressive enough to kill people.

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Like everybody else I will be sad to see him go, I am also an avid outdoors man and when I'm in the woods I always try to remember things he said and did. I do think though that he should still make a show that teaches people how to survive by just educating them on different survival techniques. By this I mean he could just go out with a camera crew and show people edible plants, how to make traps or weapons, dangerous animals, insects, and reptile's and just show people neat ways to survive. I agree with him, hes getting older and its just to hard. I believe though that he should make a show that just educates people on nature and how to use it to survive. I wouldn't care if he stayed at a holiday in at the end of the night he proved all he needed to.

Damn... I love Survivorman.. and Les rocks. But I guess it's for the best... you do those kind of shows long enough, and it's bound to be the death of you.

While I was on my way home from work tonight and I passed the ever growing pack of homeless outside one of Seattle's rescue missions the thought occurred to me that Stroud should do at least one or two episodes on surviving in the urban jungle. Considering the crappy economic outlook, I think it's a safe bet to say that the odds favor a higher percentage of Discovery Channel viewer someday finding themselves on the streets than, say, lost in the Amazon rainforest or stuck on a brokedown snowmobile on an ice shelf in Northern Alaska. Might be nice to show people how to stuff newspaper into their shirt to stay warm(er) at night or tell them that discarded pizza boxes are an excellent source of free cheese.

No Thats one of my favorite shows. I have learned a lot of what not to do from that show.

The new show just out with him doing a stint on Baffin Bay was well worth getting.

After four tough days you get to see what happened, and his reaction is worth the cost of the show.

Four stars on that episode. Don't miss it. Also, bonus, pretty good harmonica at the beginning.

I watched that show today, know exactly what you mean, and am completely with you, That may have been one of my favorite Survivorman shows - as well as the SO's.

Well Les, it was great while it lasted. I always looked forward to watching his new episodes and learning a little more about surviving in the wild. I understand where he is coming from. Doing what he does takes a real toll on your body by not having food or water for days at a time. I will say I have learned a tremendous amount of information from him and hope I can recall a majority of it when the time comes. Can't wait to see his next show idea!!!!!!

reply to post by Frogs


Ahh, too bad. I love that show. If you get a chance, check out his documentary about living off the grid. It's very informative if you ever considered living a self-sufficient life. I sent him an e-mail once, but I don't know if he got it...

Pure entertainment. I see him on a motorbike and with other equipment in the episodes. In one he has a rifle WTF.

In one of the episodes in Arizona where I happen to live he says it is below freezing, yet you cannot see his breath. It rarely gets below freezing in the Sonoran Desert because of the low altitude. It only got up to 80 degrees and he says it is INTENSELY HOT in the day. Come back when it is 114 degrees in the shade and then see what hot is. Then he goes on to say how Peccaries will attack you. Wrong again. You do not usually see them because they run away from you as fast as they can. They only attack when you cut off their route of escape. This is so phoney.



[edit on 11-29-2008 by groingrinder]

[edit on 11-29-2008 by groingrinder]

this guy was an idiot try being homeless. noone watched his show and its getting canceled he cant keep up with the real guy from the french foreign legion.

this guy whatever his name was should have never been on tv and was only copied by other shows that share the same commonality of sucking!