I have watched this show before and thought it was rather obvious this man was not traveling alone, even though throughout he makes several points he is. On Thursday I was flipping through the channels and came across him in the desert, lonely as always. But then on the bottom of the screen you see the shadow of a 20-30 ft boom for a camera mount. I am quite familiar with these setups and I wonder how a lone man carries a 4-600 pound camera boom around with him? Because he is a fake, and is definitely accompanied on these so called "test of survival." What a joke he is.
Well my friend obviously you havnt watch the show enough for done your reasearch. I have worked for les for 2 years and the show is great. If you have any solid evidence dont be shy to post it, I would like to see what you come up with.
P.S He has 3-5 cameras, 60-90lbs of camera gear, not 600lbs. He's not carrying a generator around.
If you really watched this show... Then the epsoide where he was "lost at sea ".. A sever thunderstorm approached, while sitting in his life raft, he mentioned that his buddies following him might have to pick him up in order that they did not get sepratated and have a real lost at sea situation...
Since this epsoide confrimed what I suspected all along... I now don't even try to watch...
Discovery do us a favor and cancel this show before someone in the real world tries to mimic these guys and dies...
Just like those that died while climbing Mt. Hood this past fall when caught in a Blizzard...
You know, if you have a problem with Survivorman, you can just not watch it (you have that option).
You can always watch Man vs. Wild - it's waaaaaaaaay more "realistic" (insert heavy sarcasm here).
Myself, I think that Survivorman is totally realistic and I'll continue to watch it. At least Les doesn't have a troop of cameramen following him around like Bear does.
Originally posted by mdemco: ...on the bottom of the screen you see the shadow of a 20-30 ft boom for a camera mount.I am quite familiar with these setups...
Oh, and you can tell from a shadow, distorted as shadows are, the length and width of the boom, and therefore the weight? You, my friend, are FULL OF IT.
If you had ever *watched* the show, you would have learned how Les carries several cameras, tripods, etc., some of which are attached to him with special custom mounts, so he can shoot footage of himself while walking, and how he often has to make a trek of several hundred yards, and or a climb, to film it, then go BACK to get his camera gear, and do it again, this time carrying the camera gear with him. What you saw was part of the tripod or frame of one of the cameras Les carries with him, with considerable difficulty.
quote:
... he is a fake, and is definitely accompanied on these so called "test of survival."
And what is this *definitive* statement based on? Your intimate knowledge of camera equipment you HAVE NEVER SEEN because it is custom-made? Oh, wait, you saw a shadow! Oooh! Right! I'm convinced now!
As for Bryce01:
quote:
Plain and simple. This guy is in no more danger in most situations as you would run into on a well lit street.
??? This is a non-sequitur! What is your point? He's supposed to get himself *killed* to satisfy YOU that he's in danger?? I guarantee that if *you* were dumped by yourself into the wilderness in Canada, alone, with very little gear, you would be in very real danger. As would I. As is Les. And there are plenty of shows where Les IS inarguably in real danger; remember the rattlesnake he killed and ate? The time he got horribly sick from eating those roots? In fact, any time you go alone into the wilderness, there is danger. Ask the hikers, ranchers, hunters, etc. who "went for a short walk" and **died** when they broke an ankle and couldn't walk out, or got caught in an unexpected storm and died of hypothermia, got thrown from a horse and broke a leg, etc. Or any of the unfortunate hikers and mountain climbers who sadly lost their lives this past winter, or the few previous winters. Oh, wait, you can't ask them, because they DIED! But they never were in any danger, right?? But this is pointless, anyway, because nowhere was it claimed that "Les is in mortal danger every second on the show!" The point of the show is to place Les in situations where average people would find themselves in danger, and show some ways to survive. Your argument is attempting to set up a straw man, and is not valid. Whether Les is in danger every second or not has no bearing on the validity of the show! It's more of an ad hominem attack ( http:// en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ ad_hominem) and beside the point.
And finally, jaybird100:
quote:
...this epsoide[sic] confrimed[sic] what I suspected all along...
What are you talking about? The fact that the producers and the insurance companies insisted in this one situation that Les be able to call for help if he got in trouble? Would YOU be willing to be dumped in a liferaft in the middle of the ocean with no way to call for help, for a television show? No? Didn't think so. [sneer] So why do you think Les should? Did ANYONE on the show claim that Les couldn't call for help if his life was in danger? Did Les try to hide the fact that the other boat was around? And Les very easily could have been swamped by a wave or attacked by sharks before the boat could get anywhere near him. You're acting like the boat was in visual range the entire time! That didn't happen until the storm came up and Les' life WAS in danger.
It makes me SICK that you people are so quick to criticize what you would never do yourselves, especially when you haven't seen enough of the show to have an informed opinion. You people just like to see your names in the forums, and want to appear clever because you "caught Les out". Guess what? You didn't. Your arguments don't stand up.
If you are so determined to "pile on" one after another with your "me too" postings, and spew negativity, go to the "Man vs. Wild" forums, where there are dozens of posters with nothing better to do, just like you, who spend all day picking nits about that show. Leave this forum to those of us who like the show. Or at least come up with a better argument than "I saw a shadow, so the show is a fraud", or "Les wasn't really about to get killed every single second of the show."
Grrr...
-Andrew [edited to fix typo]
This message has been edited. Last edited by: kim g,
Andrew is 100% correct. I find Survivorman a far more fulfilling show than Man vs Wild. It is far more challenging to be out in the wild by yourself trudging all the camera gear around than to have some crew that follows you around everywhere. Les's show is much more realistic too. He goes into the wild with things that an average person would have, like the episode with the bicicle in Utah. Bear would have parachuted in like always then used his parachute as a means of survival like he does in nearly every episode. Who goes into the wild with a parachute, no one. Les's show is superior hands down.
The thing I noticed about Bear is that he seems to be cleanly shaven each day he is out there. Hmm how does that happen? If he is out there for atleast 3-4-5 days you will definatly see some facial hair. And the last time I was watching he didn't have a razor and a can of Edge gel.
Survivorman is so much more real than Man Vs. Wild. Bear makes everything so dramatic with all the music and his ridiculous dubbed over commentary. His panicky narration is absolutely not the mindset to have in a survival situation. Les makes one of the most fascinating quality shows on Television. He has no dramatic music just the calm of the wild that he is really in. I find it pathetic that Bear (great name huh?) has a camera crew with him and acts like he is in trouble when Les Stroud actually survives. Some of his tactics are astounding to me, did anyone see the one in the southern swamp with the bubble gum trap? That was incredible. Bear just tries to make an exciting, (and fake), show while Les makes and honest work of genius.
Love the show. Not only for comments like "no matter where you go, there is some one's trash." but Les comments.
Born and raised in the south near water Les's comments where fascinating. To me warm water is safe and snow = death. For Les it is just the opposit.
While I concede that for insurance reasons Les is not in full danger I do belive he puts himeslef in danger and that the experiance is real. Just as the Crocodile hunter. All Les has to do is slip, hit his head, bleed out and that's it.
Thanks for the show - looking for more. Ever been to Mid Inner Mongolia?
Even just lost in a national park or Northern California where mountain lions get hikers. Georgia along the applachian trail where bears are a problem.
Regards, as186282 "Dream big like you will live forever, Live like you may die tomorrow" - James Dean.
I would like to add in that Les always has a satelite phone with him incase he gets into a very serious situation (like the storm at sea. He is in danger, especially in he hits his head etc. But if he breaks his ankle, he could still call for help (if the phone actually works)
I still thikn that all of survivor man is completely real though.
My favorite was the desert island one, I kinda laughed when he decided to go into the jungle.
I'm not here to bash either show. I am a fan of MvW but mostly because of Bear himself not necessarily MvW. I will say that although Bear has a camera crew, this would depict what would be like if you were by yourself. Les' show is pretty good. But i wouldn't be walking around with 60-90 lbs of camera gear. So from that angle i like watching Bear because thats what it would look like alone.
And for the record I have only seen Bear use his parachute cord once. It was a belt and he used it to climb something i think. I immediately threw out that scenario (no one would have a parachute cord), but i didn't stop watching it, or even hate it for that matter. Every other time, he has said "I can't use this, as you wouldn't have a parachute".
I am no survival guy. I'm a nerd. Both shows would be useful if i got caught away from my computer chair and in the wild. Both shows have idea's that would help me survive.
Again, as i have stated in other posts. Both men have great credentials. You can't take away that Bear has climbed Everest and set some interesting world records.
My feeling is that both shows - Man vs. Wild and Survivorman are dramatization.
But, Les is more believable. The dead fall he built was pretty bad, and its funny to see him smash his fingers trying to set it.
The episode where he made a crude rudimentary fish weir shown me how fake his scenes were. Then he must have caught a turtle by hand and put it in there just to make it seems like it worked.
Oh well, better than seeing a boring show where his traps and dead falls don't work, and seeing him eating jerky, cashews and food he brought along.
Has anybody heard more on the reports that Bear slept in hotels? If this is true then the aurgument is over. Les wins. Bear's show is just to dramatic with all the music. But I know the diff between reality and tv. Both shows are for our visual pleasure nothing more. If you feel that by watching this you can be ultra-man and go hang out in the congo, God bless you. Your family can collect your remains. I like both shows for there entertainment.
Surviverman is the best by far! All that the haters on here are doing is trying to poke holes in the Survivalman show because Man vs Hotel is faked.
mdemco: You do realise he admits he has a camera crew when they drop him off right? Oh your not just trying to use the Bear thing about him having a camera crew are you.
bryce01: You have anything to back your statement up??? No I didnt think so.
jaybird100: You left out the part about the major storm that was blowing in. Ok so the guy dosnt want to die for a show.
"Discovery do us a favor and cancel this show before someone in the real world tries to mimic these guys and dies... "
AND you think man vs hotel is all about survival? Btw what part of Survivalman could get you killed?
This message has been edited. Last edited by: bearc1aw,
If you read Les's blog he tells you he has a SAFETY CREW. No, not the people who fly off in the helicopter. Those are the camera/technical crew. He has a separate crew of folks who shadow him on the ground. If this is confusing, it is probably meant to be by the producers. He has a safety crew and paramedic who are in the area where he is, so he is no more danger than any other host of an outdoors show. All he has to do is send a message and someone can come sauntering into the camp on foot at any time.
If you read Les's blog he tells you he has a SAFETY CREW. No, not the people who fly off in the helicopter. Those are the camera/technical crew. He has a separate crew of folks who shadow him on the ground. If this is confusing, it is probably meant to be by the producers. He has a safety crew and paramedic who are in the area where he is, so he is no more danger than any other host of an outdoors show. All he has to do is send a message and someone can come sauntering into the camp on foot at any time.
Ya he dose have resque crew. He reaches them by sat phone if he needs them AND he states it all teh time. Problim is though that the sat phone dose go in and out.
is everyone aware that this is a "show"??? there has to be some elements of drama, excitement, etc. or it would flop. it is a great show simply because it shows a scenario where a person is lost or stranded, and can use the resources around him/her to survive. that is it, bottom line. what is wrong or fake about that? of course there are safety measures and cameras in place, or it would be called "didn't survive man who cannot tell you about it because it was not filmed, and he died." that wouldn't make for a series hit, would it? that would be like saying cpr classes are fake because you practice on a dummy instead of grabbing some person and near killing them just to save them. wouldn't make sense, would it? but the information is valid, and if you like survivorman, then you get some entertainment too? people really will just complain and criticize anything, won't they? take if for what it is, watch some episodes before your next vacation and you might come away with some tools to save your life. and as for people who would get killed trying to immitate the show (and not having the knowledge that les has before he enters these situations) i say natural selection is a wonderful tool for picking off the terminally stupid. i would not put myself in that kind of situation purposely when i don't have that kind of knowledge to give myself a fighting chance. if i did, well then darwin definately knew what he was talking about.
LES IS THE BEST!! his show is awesome. and for the most part.. he jumps into a "scenario" ship wreck. etc.. he survives for 7 days with what materials he has.. thats cool enough for me. hes by himself.
man vr wild after finding out most of it is fraud. im not a big fan anymore.
if you really watched this show... Then the epsoide where he was "lost at sea "..
A sever thunderstorm approached,
while sitting in his life raft,
he mentioned that his buddies
following him might have to pick
him up in order that they did not
get sepratated and have a real
lost at sea situation...
Since this epsoide confrimed what I suspected all along...
I now don't even try to watch...
ok well the thing is his safety crew know where he is in a general area but he doesn't so if something bad really happened they need to know where he is soo........ yeah they do.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: kim g,
It doesn't really matter if they are fake or not. It's going to be ironic when one of you skeptics get stuck in a survival situation, think about one of these two gentlemen and how much you wish one of them were there to guide you. So it really doesn't matter whether they are legitimately surviving on their own or not. What they are doing is educating the public on how to survive and they definitely don't have to be doing it. Basically, if you watch either of the shows, you might actually learn something helpful.
But personally, I think Bear's show is a little more entertaining, Les is over dramatic. And that's my 2 cents.
Okay jonlovesjello..... Next time I am lost at sea, I hope to meet up with Les and his crew. It is FAKE!! When you have a crew to step in and save you when things get rough, you are not surviving. That is my 5 cents.
Les sho is "real", but he does have a satelite phone in csae of emergency. So no, unless an injury knocks him unconcious or he can't get to his satelite phone to report that he is ok; he will be fine. But at least he is out there by himself. Maybe your liek all the teenage girls with crushes on bear grylls and his dramatics.
But LOL Bear Grylls? That phony. Watch this video.
I'm a Survivorman fan myself, but I must defend Bear on one thing... his parachute. He was a military aviator (supposedly), and a person who parachutes from their plane can land anywhere, theoretically. I'm sure they are well trained in using their parachutes and their surrounding very effeciently. Too bad Bear is a d-bag.
OK survivorman not a fake. MvW not a fake. The shows have different points. Survivorman shows how to survie if alone in the wild, plain and simple. MvW shows what to do when caught in life threating scenarios. You know its so easy for all of you to poke at both of these guys from your cushy seats. I dont see les jumping into quicksand or frozen lakes you know why, cause hes just surviving. Do you know why Bear does TO SHOW YOU HOW TO GET OUT. Who cares if he sleeps in a tent or not. youd be stupid not to.
.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: mod_ivy,
I'm pretty sure that Bear Gryll's used his parachute cord and parachute together. He bundled up the parachute and attached it to himself with the cord. He did this in a snowy mountain area in case he fell into a ravine. He actually fell into one on purpose for demostration purposes. Although when surviving, as demostrated by Les's cannabalizing equipment and findings, anything can be fair game. As long as you live.
I like both shows, my preference going towards surviorman of course. I mean at the very beginning MVW TELLS you they have a crew for human resources reasons, which I am sure is MANDATORY for both les and bear. I think MVW IS a little more for entertainment though. As for the comment about the fish weir, IF it was staged and he put the turtle in there... It's probably to help with morale if YOU were really are in that situation he wants you to know that it works. As Les states ITS ABOUT MORALE AND THE WILL TO LIVE!! =D
Well, has anyone seen the Survivorman episode when he wipes out on the rapids with his canoe? I'm not judging, but he claims that he only has two cameras when he is drying off/checking his gear, yet later there is a shot of him sitting by the fire with two two cameras pointed at him...where did the third come from. Also, Bear has not only had SAS training, but survived a parachute failure and is the youngest Brit to climb Everest.
Ok!! Who really cares if Les has a support crew or Bear sleeps in hotels the shows are not for them to die or nearly die, but to teach you to survive. I am a survival expert and teach survival classes and I DO NOT take students in the field without someone knowing where I am and have a way to comunicate incase of emergency, because that would not be very wise because why die if you can help it. Is that not what survival is all about! Most people who are camping, backpacking, anyone who gets lost or stranded that die, Die due to the fact they did not inform anyone of where they were going and when to expect them back. So, just grow up and learn the lessons they are trying to teach you!!
Originally posted by MvW: Well, has anyone seen the Survivorman episode when he wipes out on the rapids with his canoe? I'm not judging, but he claims that he only has two cameras when he is drying off/checking his gear, yet later there is a shot of him sitting by the fire with two two cameras pointed at him...where did the third come from. Also, Bear has not only had SAS training, but survived a parachute failure and is the youngest Brit to climb Everest.
I watch both shows. No question I like Survivorman a bunch more. I used to like Man VS Wild a lot more than I do now, but I lost a lot of respect when it was revealed about all the help and other crap Bear gets from the crew. This is back when the show first aired and it was said he had absolutely no help or anything. That caused a bunch of controversy.
But really, I feel survivorman teaches far more useful survival tips. If I were to be lost somewhere, and I could only recall either Bear's adventures or Les's adventures... I would readily choose Les's. If I chose bears, I feel I would probably die.
Why? Bear is always running around... doing everything rapidly and hastily with very little planning. He's doing stuff that will have him sweating and also doing things that will potentially leave a survivor with a broken or sprained body part... a quick path to death.
I swear when I'm watching Man VS Wild, Bear is all doped up and attempting to do everything as fast and furious as he can... throwing in a tiny bit of rarely useful advice. It's just not that great of survival tips.
How many of you doubters have survival training? How many of you doubters have camped in a dangerous locataion, and I don't mean your backyard? Seems to me your letting your uneducated knowledge cloud your judgement.
I grew up in the Colorado Rockies (9,100' above sea level, almost twice as high as Denver). I have some of the best survival training the US Marine Corp can provide. Plus I have logged over 4000 miles on my feet backpacking/camping in all sorts of climates, and exotic locations through out this world. I can assure you Les is in dangerous locations, however he doesn't take unnessary risks.
I did like bringing in the Search and Resuce crews to demonstrate how they operate. Excellent lessons, 2 episodes.
I do think his large animal traps are great in concept, however they do lack functionality. I can only speculate that the traps lack bite so the animal lover groups don't complain about his show. Being the hunter I suspect him to be (living off the grid), and his survival skills, he should know how to still hunt, and those skills definetely could have netted him some great meals. He has had opportunity on numerous episodes, yet passes on the meal. I can't prove it, however I suspect he did score a great meal on one episode. His mental state changed half way through the week, as if he got a huge burst of nutrients from a good wild meat meal.
Les if your out there, shoot me an email and I'll give you plans for a great live fish trap. One of those things I learned in Colorado and refined in Alaska.
PS. Great show Les. Don't quit now. I posted it up on your forumn some time ago. Take it to the next level, take some people out and teach them, capture thier errors on film. You made a lot fo rookie errors in teh first season and it was great to see them in the show. Now that you have refined your skills, its time to pass the knowledge along. Look into group dynamics, specifially survival group dynamics. I'd be glad to help you out if your interested. Regardless, great job and thanks for the shows. Your first class!
That guy WILL get somebody killed. He takes fatal risks with no regard for the viewers life. Instead the show is like the Jackass series. Stupid human tricks.
The reason he's so happy on the show is because he has millions of people actually watch him do stupid human tricks in the wild.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: mod_ivy,
I am a survivorman fan. I think he is just more real than bear i mean come on i would rather belearned how to start a fire without a flint starter necklace. I am a fan of both i just like survivorman more.
honestly I don't care if he's fake or not I mean c'mon even if he is totally faking he is really good at it and good enough for me because as we can at lest all agree that it 's a good show and better than anyone that i've ever seen
But the only thing that worries me is that he is sponsored by the crappiest company ever, not SPOT but the worst, COLUMBIA they suck and a guy like Les deserves something like arc teryx or westcomb I mean please
Ok, So Les admit's that he carry's a "SPOT" Satelite transmiter. So I guess he's a fake for not wanting to die while filming a TV show. HA! And yeah, I think when he arrive's to his first location and his last location there's probably a film crew there so they can get some "Quality" footage with higher end camera's. I wouldnt consider that being a Fake. and as for the lost at sea episode when the boat was following him, Come on! you really want this guy to just float around on the open sea with out any help around? Get real, the guy values his life and isn't that what the show is about; How you can survive if your in a bad situation because you value your life and you don't want to become a stat? I mean look at Steve Erwin he had a whole slew of crew members around and he was still fataly wounded while filming his show. As somone who has spent his entire life in the mountains I know that any time you step into the wood's alone or with people you always risk a chance of being injured or infact killed. Keep up the good work Les I enjoy your show! As for man vs. wild... Thats a joke. At least Les always point's out that your best chance of survival is to STAY PUT! That's it, that's all.
I think that Les takes the approach that to try to survive completely on his own, but if something totally life threatening comes up, call for help from the safety crew. He only had to do this in a few episodes. The safety crew may be miles away, but I am sure that they are there for every episode. If he's surviving, he's not using the safety crew or anything else to help himself. The only way I would call him a fake is if he totally ACTED like he was surviving, but was eating good meals and staying in a hotel, etc. and only looking the part. I don't believe this is happening. In every episode where he had to use the safety crew, he announced that on the show.
Any real survivalist will tell you that if lost in the wilderness you should never run unless absolutely necessary, never climb large rock faces, try not to exert yourself and thereby sweat, among others, but most importantly of all, STAY PUT! There have been thousands of people killed while lost in the wilderness simply because they kept walking in circles thinking they would eventually find their way out.
Originally posted by gmikoner: Season 1, Episode 6,Approximately 15:30 into it the camera moves up and down and zooms in and out on its own? i dont think so.
I was going to point this out as well! In this episode, he clearly has a camera man with him. He is not alone!
Survivorman is much better than Man vs Wild in terms of the survivor's endurance however both shows include some great advice which is why I watch these shows.
In addition, don't treat Survivorman as anything close to realism. He can go without food for so long, which many of us can't! He spends "65%" time setting the cameras, talking to it, and anticipating the end of his 7 day survival trip. If real people get stuck out in the situations he's in, we wouldn't have much reassurance of being rescued/found nor have time to kill setting up things. We would think to ourselves, talk to ourselves, and maybe break down.
Survivorman is an awesome show. Les Stroud is down to earth and practical with his advice and the techniques he shows us. He carries all of his equipment and theres been a few times when his safety crew couldn't reach him even if he needed help due to weather and interference with his emergency equipment. I have nothing but respect for him and what he does. I don't even watch Bear Grylls show anymore, I change the channel when it comes on because I just can't respect it.
