Bear Grylls vs. Les Stroud: The Survive-Off
Posted by Mike White on July 21, 2007
For the past year or so, there have been many a debate in my house centered around one question:
Given the exact same scenario, who stands a better chance at surviving? Bear Grylls, host of Man vs. Wild, or Les Stroud, host of Survivorman?
With the new season of Man vs. Wild just ending and the new season of Survivorman about to begin, I have decided to end this argument once and for all by creating a fictional scenario to see: who is the better survivor?
Before I go on, you’re probably asking “Wait a minute…this is a sports blog! What does this have anything to do with sports?” Well, two facts make the Grylls-Stroud survive-off perfectly applicable to to this piece of Internet real estate. First, the subtitle of Digital Headbutt is “A Sports Blog About Stuff…Stuff That Involves Things.” That gives a fairly wide berth of discussion. Second, writer Barnaby Conrad once said, “There are but three true sports–bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing. The rest are merely games.” (This quote is normally credited to Hemingway, but he never actually said it.) In essence, it’s not a true sport unless there is a very real chance that you could die while participating. Under this precedent, TV survivalism is definitely a sport. This challenge will also be presented in as humorous a way as possible.
On to the competition.
The Players:
Bear Grylls. Host of Man vs. Wild. Former soldier in the British Special Air Services; youngest Briton ever to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. Seen here inside a glacier in Alaska.
- Survival Strengths: Can climb just about anything; has a million ways to make a compass; very fit; willing to take a risk to survive; purposefully puts himself in worst possible scenarios in order to show his TV audience how to deal with them; unmatched intestinal fortitude; knows all of the survival techniques from the British Special Forces and the French Foreign Legion.
- Survival Weaknesses: Mother Nature will make him pay for that bravado of his; has never been truly alone in a survival situation, and thus is less cautious; somewhat of a carnivore, taking less opportunities from the plants around him; take away his flint and he might never see fire again; that barge on the river Thames isn’t exactly the best place for him to practice his skills.
- Ideal Location for Showdown: Any rough terrain where he can exploit his climbing ability.
Les Stroud. Host of Survivorman. Survival instructor from Canada, where his backyard is one of the toughest environments on Earth. Seen here here on the second biggest hunk of ice you will ever see in your life, enough ice for every margarita in the course of human civilization.
- Survival strengths: Can make a fire from just about anything; Efficient hunter and trapper; has been in many survival situations where he is truly alone; takes a more realistic approach to survival, an example more worth following; the knowledge that, no matter how much you have in terms of tools and knowledge at your disposal, the most important survival tool is to keep a cool head and not panic; he lives in Canada, for crying out loud.
- Survival Weaknesses: While Stroud is fit, his age (45) might give a physical disadvantage against Grylls; lives in Canada, and when in very warm environments (e.g. Costa Rica rainforest), he can be very much out of his element; struggles a lot more when climbing, but not having to haul camera gear might him more evenly matched; let’s face it, his show isn’t as exciting.
- Ideal location for showdown: Any location that is cold.
The Location: So, Bear’s ideal locale is a rough and rocky terrain, whereas, Les is at home in the cold. So, should we hold the Survive-Off to test their weaknesses in a hot, flat area, or or should we test their strengths in a cold, rough terrain? The biggest issue is that we cannot give either of them an advantage by choosing a location with which Bear and/or Les are familiar. This eliminates the following locations:
- Nearly all of North America
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- Sahara (from Bear’s “Escape to the Legion”)
- Australian Outback
- African Savanna
- Alps
- Scottish Highlands
- South Pacific Islands
- Scandinavia
This pretty much leaves us with Asia. There are plenty of harsh environments from which to choose: The Arabian Desert, the Himalayas, Siberia, the Gobi Desert, and even the Central Asian Steppes. However, for this challenge I have chosen one of the most remote areas in the developed world:
Hokkaido, Japan. An island the size of South Carolina and north of Japan’s main island of Honshu, it’s one of the most most remote areas in the developed world. more than half of Hokkaido’s population of 5 million live in the area around Sapporo, in the southwest peninsula of the island. The rest is absolute wilderness. Hokkaido has several active volcanoes within its cold, wet, and rocky forests.
The Challenge: Both Grylls and Stroud will begin from the same place, either in the north or east part of the island, and will be put at least 25 miles from shore. They must camp together for at least three days. Each player will have their own cameraman do document everything; however, they cannot interfere even if a player faces death. Hey, you got yourselves into this mess when you decided to have a survival show on the Discovery Channel; you should be able to get yourselves out! Both players will camp with each other for at least three days before going their separate ways.
You may not know much about Hokkaido, but it has one of the world’s highest concentration of bears. The volcanoes could be helpful, but both players would be doomed if one of the volcanoes erupted near them.
Just because you find civilization in Hokkaido doesn’t mean safety. Any western-looking residents are Russian spies who still believe that the Cold War is alive and kicking, and they may very well kill to keep their secret. Any Japanese looking residents are either various Anime villains or Japanese hillbillies. The only true safety is the Southwest end of the island.
Both players will choose exactly three things to bring with them, along with the clothes on their backs. Bear will have his usual knife, bottle, and flint, while Les will brings a multitool, water bottle, and the world’s most underrated survival tool: the harmonica! Because nothing says “In your face, nature” quite like an annoying musical instrument.
The Objective: First man to arrive in Sapporo alive wins. It could be in five days, it could be in five weeks, but the first man to arrive in Sapporo alive will win.
The Prize: The title of Ultimate Survivor; a 300-foot sculpture of their face on K-2; everyone on planet earth must take his survival tips as gospel from then on.
The Survive-Off will be a mini-series of sorts on Digital Headbutt, so stay tuned in the coming weeks to find out: who is the ultimate survivor?
UPDATE (7/23): I’ve set up a poll on Ballhype, so now you can vote whom you think will win the Survive-Off. If you pick right, you will win…the knowledge that you guessed correctly.
Go out and Vote for your ultimate survivor!
UPDATE #2: According to the Times of London, Bear may not be roughing it as much as we thought. Still, we are going to hold the Survive-off with the Bear whom we know, the one prepared to sleep inside a rotting deer carcass in the Scottish Highlands.
FINAL UPDATE: The Survive-Off has begun. Read day one and day two.
SA said
This is one of the best things I’ve ever read.
I haven’t watched that much of Survivorman (will when it comes back on), so I can’t comment on your description of him. But what you have for Bear Grylls is exactly on point. I don’t think even he could sum himself up better than that.
With that said, I’m rooting for Bear. Can’t top the naked push-ups.
Mike White said
Thanks, SA. I think that Bear is much more entertaining, but Les Stroud is a better overall role model for survival. All of my family members think Stroud is going to win this one, but I’m still debating with myself. That’s one reason for this survive-off: I need to make up my mind about this.
Pssh said
This is too easy, Bear wins in every way.
25 miles from shore? Winner Bear. Builds his own seaworthy raft from trees, swims through ice cold Alaskan waters. Lee failed at floating on open water in an inflatable raft.
Volcano? Winner Bear. Runs across lava with socks on his hands.
Bears? Winner Bear. “Yo Bear!” from Alaska, not to mention the whole lions in Africa thing.
Russian Spies? Winner Bear. British Special Forces enough said.
But surely the winner is obvious solely from the pictures shown. Bad-ass inside a glacier or nice warm parka?
jake said
Isn’t the point of a survival show to to show NORMAL people how to survive in realistic situations where they wouldn’t be prepared with flint, a big ass knife and people to help when you can’t accomplish something yourself? I’ve watched both shows and Les is definitely a better survivalist. If you look past Bear being a “badass” you’ll see that he is fake and most of the time completely irrelevant. When you’re in a survival situation, a normal person wouldn’t carry a knife and flint with them, or choose the most ridiculous path from destination A to B. I’ve watched Bear do what most of his fans would consider badass, but what he does is completely unnecessary, and he even gets help from his camera crew when he is unsuccessful at a task. And how is the fact that Bear Grylls climbed Everest make him a survivalist? That is a completely irrelevant argument over the better survivalist, as much of Bear Grylls fans arguments are.
Episodes of Bear Gryll’s shows have even been reedited to announce that some situations are “presented to Bear to show the viewer how to survive,” in which are unrealistic and unnecessary. Bear Grylls shows how to survive in a situation if you are Bear Grills, while Les exhibits a realistic situation of survival for the average person.
And about that raft that Bear claimed to build by himself with no tools, he was actually helped by the shows stunt consultant. Plus, the channel which aired his shows admitted that there were fake situations, and that staged scenes were acceptable according to his show being a “how to guide,” rather than a documentary. He stays in hotels and has real survival experts show him what to do, and then takes credit for the knowledge.
As for the scenario, to me surviving isn’t a race, and thinking Bear will win because he is badass is such a terrible argument. Surviving isn’t about looking cool and being a showman, and if you think that you are fucking stupid. If you’re in a survival situation are you going to do the same irrelevant things that Bear does? And on top of that, do you have flint, a knife, a camera crew, or hotels and survival experts with you at all times?
I’d like to reply to all the ignorant people with arguments such as “when did Les do such and such that Bear did,” and “I don’t see Les doing this superfluous and completely unnecessary thing that Bear did,” and the answer is simply practicality.If you think Bear is a better survivalist, or a better anything than Les, you obviously don’t understand survival and you merely enjoy excitement. Les is 40 some years old and not only surviving practically and in a way that a normal person could benefit if in a similar situation, but hauling around at minimum 50 pounds of extra gear, and in many instances traveling twice the distance. I could keep going but there are too many flat out stupid comments to read. If this isn’t enough to prove Les is better and Bear is fake, you’re fucking ignorant.
Tucson said
I totally agree, Les is the real deal and Bear gets to have a camera crew following him around. If Les gets into trouble there is no one there to save his ass, Bear just calls in rescue with his Sat Phone.
luis said
i totally agree that les stroud is the better survivalist i mean i hate that bear goes out with his little flint stick and starts a fire. and he alson has a camera crew and survivalist experts. it even sometimes sais that bear gets help from people if he is in real danger.now les stroud goes out there with little thing and a multi tool.he has to think of a plan to make fire not like bear that uses his flint stick and les also has to carry around the freaking cameras.so i personally think that you are right on the money.
Mike White said
I will agree that the picture of Bear is more badass. But there will come a moment when he a just a little too sure of himself and takes too big a risk…and that moment might kill him.
Besides, we’re creating a fictional scenario here. The winner will be determined by my own mind, and that mind hasn’t decided yet. The Survive-Off will stretch over several articles, so I have to keep it close. And of course, there’s the small possibility that the “wild” will kill them both.
Steven said
You say bear can’t make fire without his flint. I have seen him make fire using a bow and some wood and another time using just wood. The Bear can make fire without the flint so that takes away one of his weaknesses making his domination even more obvious.
Mike White said
Bear is the man right now, while Les Stroud is very much under the radar…but that might be exactly how he wants it. The crafty Canadian is comin’ for ya when you least expect it.
Lunchbox said
I think it comes down to a battle of accents. British accents may be appealing from time to time. But are they tough? I say no. When I hear a Canadian accent, I visualize a rugged dude that is one with nature, ay. This is coming from a HUGE Bear Grylls fan.
Survival mashup « Reassembler said
[...] Published July 23rd, 2007 Reassembly , Sports Digital Headbutt mashes up Survivorman and Man vs. Wild. If you drop both guys into identical situations, who survives first? (Or should that be survives [...]
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Signal to Noise said
My vote goes with Bear, for sheer bad-ass quotient. Bear is a showman. I don’t get that sort of vibe from Les.
Cheap Shots #48: I’m Firmly In The Bear Grylls Camp. « Signal to Noise said
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emily said
too bad bear didn’t actually build his own raft. and about les stroud not surviving on an open raft, that’s because he actually spent the time on the raft, he didn’t book a hotel room for the night, like bear. bear is a fake! sure he bites the heads off of snakes, but that just makes him another ozzy osborne not a survivalist.
Les owns Bear said
Bear is a wus, he actually stays in hotels, and it never shows Bear actually lighting the fire from bow drill or whatever, it just shows him trying. And the raft was built by people who know what they are doing, then taken apart to be rebuilt by Bear on camera. Les is way more practical too. Les Stroud is really susviving, Bear is just looking like he is.
Born Survivor: Bear Grylls said
Bear Grylls is a beast and will surely win. When was the last time Les Stroud climbed Everest?
Go get em’ Bear!
czmilosz said
Bear is a fraud. They should rename his “survival” show Limey VS. Marginal Outdoor Discomfort
Les Stroud is a small, Canadian god of a man.
Joe Gregory (Bear Grylls Nephew) said
My uncle is one of the best survival experts in the world, but theres one thing that all of you do not know…he is a dick (when he’s not on t.v). He might be my uncle but he is seriously like thinks he’s better than everyone else just because he is on t.v. I mean thats pretty cool but he tells us every little trick they pull, yea the hotel rooms, and they built the raft for him, but most of all he said that they have multiple survival experts with him and that they do everything for him first to show him how it’s done. Personally, I think that the series is basically a fraud, and even tho he is my uncle Les Stroud is probably the toughest guy you’ll ever know. I mean he’s 45 years olde and has all the money he’ll ever need but still risks his life for a week at a time with noone to even film him. How many guys are there in the world that at his age would even attempt it even if they NEEDED the money, c’mon give the guy some respect he is a true Man.
killacappapilla said
my vote is for les stroud, he brings so much realism to his series… bear just seems too fake
Lina said
I am a huge Bear fan. I watch religiously. (At first it was because I think he’s eye candy…) I really do LEARN something everytime I watch his show. Although I think Les is an amazing survivalist (I watch his show very often as well), I think based on pure showmanship-I have to give it to Bear. My only hope is that he is really bringing that kind of knowledge to the table and not just being coached, as his nephew says. (That would really put a damper on my fantasies about him…)
dean said
so since when does showmanship get your ass out of the bush?
Dave said
Joe Gregory –
You ought to prove you’re really Bear’s nephew if you want us to believe what you say. Also, to all of you who say he’s a fake, YOU eat a live tree frog and carpenter ant larvae! You can fake alot of things, but not that. People are all up in arms about him getting coached by other survival experts before he does a show. The problem is, we’d all want that, too if we had to do a show like his. It’s easy to point the finger, isn’t it. He has even said on the show that he gets info from other experts. His show isn’t meant to show off how cool or tough he is, but to teach you what to do in certain situations you may get yourself in unintentionally.
mike said
even though bear grylls has been proven to have stayed in hotels and stuff he could still definaltly stay out there all night and as for the flint… is it possible to make a fire in the european alp mountains without a flint or something.. .come on les is cool but bear is awesome and he would win
Garrett said
Okay, the person who wrote this obviously hasnt seen much of man vs wild. I’ve seen Bear make fire out of virtually anything. I also watch Les Stroud, to make fun of him. Stroud is given a match, snacks, and a multi-tool. Bear is given just a knife and a flint. Stroud stays in just one spot, and has his rescue set up. Bear has to find his way out. Stroud also comes up with the most ridiculous techniques I have ever seen, and you say he’s realistic. And to the so-called Joe Gregory, how can his rafts be supplied to him if he makes them right on camera? And what they hell is everyone who is hating on Bear talking about when they say he books hotels? In the middle of the Amazon? In the middle of the Icelandic tundra? On a deserted island? At the bottom of Copper Canyon? In the Costa Rican rainforest? That is just plain ridiculous.
Hands down, the winner is Bear Grylls. Period.
Lee said
I submit that if the allegations on Bear are validated as true, his program should be removed as he is quite simply a fake! I am a fan, and I don’t want other fans to get all pissy – but if it’s not real, then 86-it as fiction. Move on people…
Les would be the true winner. Irritating harmonica aside, at least he’s real!
Mike White said
One thing to keep in mind about all this: The Survive-Off is less about who would win in real life, and more about how they would cope in a fictional scenario and the hilarity that would ensue. Holding the event in Japan will make it even funnier.
charmaine said
les is way better then bear bear is a show off
ronny said
what a joke bear is a drama queen les would out last him anywhere
Jacob said
Les really is the better survivor because he uses his head and thinks about what the best strategy is before he does anything. Bear just runs in whatever direction he feels is the best way out. Bears way is the way the average person gets even more lost and possible killed. Bears way works for him but is not realistic. Les would defiantly win in any REAL survival situation. What Les does is real life.
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kevin said
I watch both shows.I have seen every episode of each.I even watch the repeats.Both Les and Bear are great at what they do,but Bear is careless.I think that the only way Bear would win is if he got lucky enough not to break his leg. And even if Bear did get to the end first, Les would be in better condition.
Martin said
I agree that Grylls is over rated, he doesnt due anything how you are really suppose to and is not educating people right
David K, Seattle said
bravo!
i didnt know much about Bear, but supsected that he might not be the best survivor, or and perhaps a bit full of it.
I bet on Stroud all the way.
Brilliant post. Thank you.
dan said
i think les would probably do a better job. i have seen every show of both guys. the problem with bear is, he has a camera crew following him. for all we know the camera men are survival experts too, helping him throughout the whole thing. there is no way of telling what he does on his own.
i know les putts a lot of time showing you how he films and it is boring, but he is alone. it is all him. if anything it is harder for him because he has to carry all the camera gear. advantage LES STROUD
Spud said
You know I disagree with Bear.I liked his show to a point till I saw the one in Scottland,that stag deer he claimed had been dead a few days had been shot and was very fresh,you could tell by the blood and it was quite limber don’t you think?Les might lose this little contest but at least he ain’t no fake.Face it,Les is a better man.Les shows the average man how to survive not a english military prick.
Ashley said
bear grylls would win
survivor man is retarded and does nothing =]
Michael said
Is this a joke? Canadian L. Stroud does not even belong in the same category as Bear Grylls. How many times has the Cannadian summited Mt. Everest? L. Stroud is boring and old….. Bear Grylls is exciting, athletic, and fun to watch. Give me a break!
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bmeeks said
I would like to see that show! I would not let them stay together for 3 days – Bear might bite off Les’ head and eat him! Plus – some of Bear’s entourage of experts could pester and otherwise stall Les while Bear dines on crumpets and tea, resting in a sauna.
While Les has his un-branded multi-tool – Bear will be using his signature hand made knife that YOU TOO can buy for 20 payments of $19.95!!!
Slow and steady wins the race… Go Les!!!!
Lee said
I quite frankly don’t understand these Bear hold-outs…
Ashley @33 just diddles to Bear ’cause he’s a decent looking guy and I can guarantee she is young and does not appreciate true survival; while Mike @34 probably is Bear just trying to get his ratings back up, one at a time!
His show is staged people! If we know this and accept this, move the program from Disco to FOX!
Lee said
Discovery is SCIENCE SCIENCE-FICTION. Let them know what you think…
http://extweb.discovery.com/ViewerRelations
TJ said
les stroud is the real deal. bear grylls is a pussy that stays in hotels. Les carries his own cameras and is actually stranded. Pooh bear Has a camera crew and im sure a catering company behind the scenes complete with a cheese and cracker platter. Les would win hands down. why? because its real and not manufactured for your intertainment.
Nick said
Les could own Bear, plus Les feeds reef sharks with his hands on shark week, what is Bear doing
tim said
Some of you people need to do some home work on the special air service before passing judgement on bear (special forces nuff said)
gavin said
bear grills sucks and is fake so he will lose then heel have to wipe les’ ass
Jess said
Bear is definitely the better survivor. He is younger, in better shape, and beyond that has the intense military background to race ahead stay ahead. Granted Bear does take the more showy or riskier ways of surviving but what young buck (or bear) doesn’t.
K said
Bear would win. It doesn’t matter if he has a camera man or if his show is staged. If it wasn’t it would be called survivorman 2. No and he would be on some odd slot time on the national geographic channel not prime time Discovery. In a real survival situtation Les might be more at home being alone, but the absence of a camera wouldn’t phase Bear’s abilities to stride through any situtation. He has the training and background to survive and terrain or climate. Les has a hard time when out of his element, terrain and climates simliar to Canada. Les does things at a slower more thought out pace but Bear is down right more exciting.
DSJ said
Bear may a survivor, but I would NEVER follow his advice. Since his first show in the Moab desert, I have thought he is putting people’s lives at risk. Only about half of what he said and did in the Moab desert was worth watching. The rest would get you killed.
Sure he can survive with someone providing him with food and water. His main problem he is just a sensationalist. He is only out to entertain, and he does it well. After all, his is “scripted reality” television. But of course, the Moon landing is fake and wrestlin’ is real….
Lee said
I had read somewhere else, all new episode, Bear vs. Cancun…
BTW; Special Forces and Everest…any proof? Starting to wonder…
Lee said
[Feedback from Discovery]
Thank you for contacting Discovery Networks. Man Vs Wild is a how-to guide
to basic survival techniques in extreme environments. We have learned that
isolated elements of the show in some episodes were not natural to the
environment, and that the crew and host received some assistance while in
the field mainly for health and safety concerns. Moving forward, the
program will be completely transparent in its promotion and all elements of
the filming will be explained to our viewers. This will also apply to
repeated programs which will be re-cut and include a disclaimer upfront.
Bear Grylls is a world class adventurer and terrific talent.
For more information about schedules and programming, please visit our
website at http://www.discovery.com.
A reply to this message is not necessary. If you have any further
inquiries or comments, please contact us via our webform at
http://extweb.discovery.com/ViewerRelations. Thank you again for
expressing your interest in our programming.
Sincerely,
Viewer Relations
Discovery Networks
Les is my Hero said
Bear Grylls is a goon. His show is compleately unrealistic. He is merely cashing in on his fame by making this weak discovery channel show. I think everyone forgets about the fact that Les Stroud does 2x the amount of traveling because he does his own camera work. He walkes all the way up a mountain to set up his tripod, then hikes back down just so he can get the shot of him walking up the side of a mountain. Les is my hero. Bear grylls is a turd. If he didnt have his camera people and his crew of experts he would surely die. For real if they had the survive off i would be watching every second. GO LES!
james said
How television rating stack up , Im not sure. I,am a fan of both shows and think that your average viewer would probably enjoy MAN VS WILD better. It does have a lot more excitement so to speak, but survivor man is the real deal…bear is by no means a wus that’s for sure. If I were to be in a survival situation, I would want Les Stroud with me that’s for sure…Both of them would be nice though…LOL Bear,s strength and les brain. Keep up the good work Discovery Channel, Its still better than the normal boob tube… couch potatoe, James Frank
Bear is fake said
http://www.daughtersoftiresias.org/bearwiki/Main_Page
Bear is a fraud. He never flew over the Everest, he was not the youngest Brit on the top of the Everest. He was never ever with the “real” SAS, but the TA_SAS..
His show is a complete fraud! read the Wikibear.
john said
Who is les stroud? I have never heard of him.
Ashley said
bear probably stayed in hotels in the first season because he didnt know that his show would be so popular. In season 2, there were no reports of him doing anything wrong. he would beat that other loser any day.
temagamichick said
As a Northern Ontario girl, I have to go for Les. He’s not nearly as cocky, plus he’s already lived in the bush with absolutly nothing. I am a little biased however, as he shot an episode pretty much in my backyard (Temagami). I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
mark said
bear?
everest… almost died. teammate had to save his ass from falling to his death.
special forces… almost died. a team of doctors had to save his ass from dying.
stayed in hotels, has a team of experts and camera crew with him all the time…
less?
45 years old. no camera crew. no flint.
i like bear. he’s accomplished more than anyone i know. can probably kick less’s ass in a death match. but i’d think less would win the survivor-off.
mark said
“You are going to see the Amazon jungle this year and I end up getting chased by a 250 pound jaguar.” – Les Stroud
Mike said
Hmmmm…What is more difficult? I would think that anyone stuck in a an unfortunate situation could just sit in one place and go hungry for a week. Bear actually has to hike his tail out of wherever the drop him off. I realize that there are times where Bear does some completely insane things…but that is because he wants to show you that you must be willing to do anything to survive. I’ve seen Bear making fire with more than just his knife and flint…but really, is it his fault that he always caries it with him? I have a pack just for survival gear that I take wherever I go. I learned to be prepared from Bear, I learned how to go hungry from Les. Don’t get me wrong…Les is a good survivor too, I just think some of you are betting on a losing horse beacuse you heard from the friend of a friend that Les is tougher or that Bear cheats survival. Oh, and for anyone that makes light of his Everest expedition…write me back after you waved a flag at the top!
famlay said
LMAO ive seen les dude on a show and for some reason he only ate like 3 berries and a mushroom…..what the hell kinda survival tips did i get from him?? That the mushroom he had eaten may be poisonous.. wow..
Ashley said
In the kalahari episode, les shows up with water, peanut butter jelly, a multitool, and a car along with other things. if that is not cheating, i dont’t know what is. He is a loser.
Go Bear!
kml said
I’ve seen several episodes of Man vs. Wild, but I’ve probably only seen like 1 and 1/2 episodes of Survivorman, so I can’t say I have much an input on this, otherwise I would be extremely biased in saying that Bear owns. Both of these guys I think, however, are terrific.
I was just wondering what everyone thinks of this, Bear’s latest blog post from one week ago (link when you click on my name) in regards to this whole motel brouhaha:
“Re: the recent press accusations of motels and stagings in the show that have been doing the rounds, all I can say is they don’t always tell the full story, but that’s life and part of being in the public eye I guess.”
People say not to believe everything you see on TV, yet the same can be said about what people read or hear. Or maybe Elvis really is still alive?!
awu said
I think Bear would win this contest simply due to his special force training and better physically condition.
However, I think the contest should be having a pair of twin brother without special force background. One gets trained by Bear and the other by Les. I’d guess the one trained by Bear will probably be killed doing one of the risky stuns
joe said
Bear grylls is a fake. I stood up for bear for a long time and didn’t really like survivor man but after they found bear a hotels at night and floating down rivers with life jackets and camrea crew giving him foodand helping him I am imberssed I stood up for him.
joe said
Bear grylls is a fake. I stood up for bear for a long time and didn’t really like survivor man. But after they found bear at hotels at night and floating down rivers with life jackets and camrea crew giving him food and helping him I am imberssed I stood up for him. Bear is a fake. les is the real survivor all alone and would win this competion hands down bear is a fake and the olny reason he can show all that stupid stuff he does is cause he has the crew to fall back on if he gets hurt Les is the real man>
American Scot said
Ashley @ 58
How exactly would a westerner end up in the Kalahari? Except by an airplane, most people tour the Kalahari by automobile. The chances of having some of these items on hand really isn’t that questionable.
Compared to staying in a hotel, or having all the parts to a raft left around, this isn’t even comparable!
Whatever said
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is
Bear Grylls looks like a cool person and would probably be a nice guy to have a beer with, but his show is phonier than a three dollar bill. His advice is also total crap; you’re better off doing anything but what he says.
gavin said
Well I watch the kenya one last night stuck in the wilderness, I was in the OLD South African armed forces- Him being in the BRITISH Special Forces-well maybe thats why he isn’t there anymore, hope he enjoyed the stay at the safari lodge for the night cause he never slept there in the bush at night-I’m talking about prior to the tree night before he made it out.Hope he enjoyed the comfortable lodge, maybe when shows he face back in africa-us Real OPERATORS can show he how things are done.
Kevin said
All,
Try anything near what either of them have done for say…3 days…and then get back to me.
As a seasoned high-elevation backpacker…as well as camping five days in July at the north end of Death Valley, I can say that this argument of whether Bear or Les is better is a Non Sequitur.
Both men demonstrate (key word; demonstrate) survival skills. I say, leave it at that unless you can offer better.
Get Outdoors!
K
awu said
Except one of them gives out advices that will get people killed. People are better off without those advices.
Mike White said
You guys are missing the point entirely. The Survive-Off is not about who provides the better survival advice. It’s about a FICTIONAL SCENARIO AND THE HILARITY THAT WILL ENSUE. That’s it. If you read Day One, the emphasis is less on their particular survival skills and more on the humorous aspects of their show, personality, or skills. The Survive-Off is meant to be just an elaborate and entertaining parody, and you should not try and read anything more into it. So stop it.
Ripper said
Bear Grylls is a fraud ! the guy is in love with him self.
More action than Survivorman ? sure.
But thats what “Kids” like.
Give me a mature smart guy to show me the way anyday.
Les all the way.
bob said
i hate les his advice is stupid and he is a beech he is right next to campground in the desert episode who knows if he sleeps there and eats there
Ashley said
Did anyone see stupid Les in the new amazon episode? he had a canoe, machete, fire dust, a multitool, a blowgun, a spear, a soda can, a hut! this is ridiculous. he ended up leaving because of a jaguar anyway. i cant believe that anyone would take him over Bear.
Cali said
bear is an idiot in a lot of ways but he is also pretty good at what he does. les may be slower and less entertaining but he is much more likely to actually survive. if you watch the shows and see what les does in terms of not eating or drinking much water for days while still building fires and shelters and making his way out you have to give him credit. bear shows you how to do certain things but he doesnt demonstrate that he could do any of those things alone. plus some of the things he does are downright stupid. like jumping in the freezing glacial river and then running quite a ways to lay in a hot spring. makes for good television but not for good survival. i watch both shows but i respect les alot more. if i had to put my survival in one of their hands it would be a no brainer, les would take it. if i wanted to watch someone else’s survival on tv, i’d probably pick bear.
supersurvivor said
its funny what people who dont like les think are weak about him. it usually invoves his lack of balls or some other thing. those are the same people that would die in a survival situation. the only person who would survive using bear’s methods is bear. he’s an animal like that. but if you tired any of that sh*t, you’d break your ankle, catch hypothermia, get sick, and die and probably quickly. not saying i dont like bear, but if the question is who’s the betetr suvivalist, les is far more realistic and thus much better. face the facts, your fat a*s couldnt climb that tree, or jump that river, or slide down that glacial or any of the sh*t bear does, but you could do alot of what les does and survive. survival isnt about balls or taking risks, in fact its the opposite. its about tending to basic needs, thinking clearly, and not taking unecessary risks. watch them both for sure. be entertained by bear, but actually listen to les and you might learn something you can use someday to save your life.
mdog said
Holy Jebus! I was watching two different shows and didn’t realize! The shows do have a slightly different premise. Les is dropped in a hellhole alone (he does his own camera work) and he tries to survive and shows you tips while trying to get back to civilization. Bear is dropped into a hellhole (with a camera crew)and sorta goes insane jumping around, sometimes showing tips, sometimes trying to get back to civilization. BOTH guys dropped into a real hellhole with no cameras: Bear would jump off something and die; Les would wander for 2 weeks and then die.
Les (bian) said
Les Stroud could only wish in his wildest dreams that maybe one day he’ll be half the man Bear Grylls is. If Bear and Les were left alone together in the wilderness, Bear would probably skin Les, eat his bone marrow, drink his blood, and then use his hollowed out carcass as a shelter ( and he’d like it).
Ashley said
Les is a complete retard. Everyone says that Bear’s survival advice will get you killed which isnt true. Les shoved his hand into a dark hole in the amazon river. That is pretty stupid.
Jenkins said
stupid les, stupid les, does whatever a stupid les does.
JOHN MACAK said
BEAR IS PRETTY COOL AND IS GOOD AT WHAT HE DOES, SO IS LES, HOWEVER, I WAS CHECKING OUT LES’ WEBSITE AND HE HAS COMMENTS POSTED BY ELLEN DEGENERAS AND ROSIE O’DONNEL. I WOULD BE FUCKING EMBARESSED !!!!! ALSO, LES HAS ALOT TO LEARN ABOUT THE DESERT. IF HE REALLY HAD NO WAY OF GITTING OUT OF THE DESERT, HE WOULD DIE. I WOULD CHALLANGE LES TO DESERT SURVIVAL AND I AM A 53 YEAR OLD DISABLED MAN !!! HEY LES, SURIVE TABLE TOP MOUNTIAN IN ARIZONA IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY !!! YEA RIGHT !!
JOHN MACAK said
LES DOSEN’T DRINK HIS OWN PISS.
USMC OM said
Les Stroud truly sucks he is no survivor. His scenarios are highly scripted and filled with his senseless bitching. He magically acquires materials such as guns, canvas, spears and still manages to whine and bitch. In my opinion Les Stroud is a glorified pussy!!
huh? said
I know if I was stuck in the wilderness with one of these two guys, I’d rather it be Bear. That way I wouldn’t have to listen to Les constantly bitch about everything. Has anyone else noticed that on a lot of the Survivorman episodes Les never really even eats anything… It like he just lies around for 7 days complaining. Anybody could that. Bear actually demonstrates things like how to stay warm, how to “find your bearings,” and how to find food…. in other words, how to SURVIVE. YOU’RE THE MAN BEAR!
Mikey Lennon said
Ive been thinking about this for soo long. Stroud is a savage, Bear is an idiot
Kevin said
I’m glad to see that some people recognize the huge disadvantage it is to lug around all that camera equipment. Then to have to take the time to film yourself, sometimes at a considerable distance! That, in and of itself wouldn’t be easy!
Also significant is the energy it takes to do these (important to the show, but detrimental to actual surviving) things. I don’t know how many people on this blog have actually spent much time in the wild; but I can tell you that a couple days of walking around and surviving bitterly cold nights saps ALOT of energy. Without food (including high calories) you’re just drained after a very few days. Add four more days and nights to that and you’re beginning to REALLY test your survival skills. (When you’re weak and tired. Just walking around on uneven ground can be dangerous) I can’t image how hard this would be while carrying all that (virtually useless) equipment.
Significant advantage to Les Stroud!
To be fair, the thing I do admire about Bear Grylls is his willingness to put himself in some potentually deadly situations (that is, if he were alone!). In order to show us viewers how to get out. (The quicksand and jumping through the ice into near freezing water were particularly impressive.)
On the other hand… Check the link (below) to see video of Bear “white water rafting with only his backpack”. While really wearing a lifevest under his sweatshirt. (Not that I blame’m for wearing the vest (what he was doing was DANGEROUS!), but he shouldn’t play it off as if he wasn’t wearing the vest!) I just hope someone doesn’t try what he’s doing without being aware of his unspoken caveats!
http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2007/08/16/man-vs-wild-is-a-phony/
Mike, don’t call me Shakespeare! Dis be da man:
“To be or not to be? That is the question! Whether ’tis nobler
in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a …”
Great blog Mike! Thanks!
Speaking of slings, I have to admit Les’ slingshot was one of the lamest things i’ve ever seen!
Kevin said
Gotta love youtube!
I came across something some of you folks may find of interest.
It’s called “Survivorman vs. Bear Grylls” and it includes the the catchy phrase: “How to drink your own pee.” After watching it, some may want to reconsider with whom they’d rather be stranded.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2j_LkdCt2P8
Dave said
Has anyone noticed that the women prefer “Bear”. I wonder if there’s a reason for this?
Kevin said
Mike White,
I just read through all the comments. Please don’t feel bad that we’ve all missed the point of your original post. You’ve obviously struck a nerve. So, ee’re having fun with it, while waiting for “Day 2″.
For what it’s worth, why not consider incorporating some of the insights expressed by fans (and adversaries) of both shows? Although, I’m not sure how you’re gonna improve on “Day 1″.
…Maybe “Bear” in his underware crying “SooooEEEEE!”
Kevin said
Gee, I wonder what Les could do with a forest of bamboo?
JOHN MACAK said
Well, Les is getting old and tired, doing what he has to do to make money, but he would rather be somwhere else. BUT, he is “stuck” making survivor films. So all he does is make laim films and fucking complain about it. And I say again, When all you can get on your website is Ellen D. and Rosie O. You need to make some changes or quit complaning and do somthing else.
Also……. …. .. Les dosen’t drink his own Piss !!!!!!
SantoroGirl said
You just can’t match wisdom for showmanship…If I had to pick someone, Les would be it! He’s more rounded in food and water retrieval and you can’t beat that ability to make fire!!!
Tom said
I don’t get why people are so impressed by Bear’s willingness to eat disgusting things. I’ve got a 5 year old neighbor who eats worst stuff than what I’ve seen Bear eat!
awu said
I remember one episode Bear says not to think too much, just start moving to find your way out. How many people had died doing that?
matty c said
Bear Grylls is the man
His show isn’t meant to show off how cool or tough he is, but to teach you what to do in certain situations you may get yourself in unintentionally its a t.v show designed to help. He is the real deal if ya didnt no he has achived alot behind the camara that not many ppl no they just watch the show then judge him here sum fact for ya……
He served three years with the Special Air Service, a special forces unit of the British army. During his service, he broke his back in three places in a parachuting accident over Southern Africa witch forced him to leave the SAS.
He is the yougest brittish man to climb mount everest at only 23 years old. Bear achieved another first when he and his Everest climbing group circumnavigated the United Kingdom on jet skis. Hes had a dinner party at 24,500 feet on top of a hot air ballon and also led the first unassisted crossing of the frozen North Atlantic Ocean in an open rigid inflatable boat and plenty more
he has donated alot of the money he mad from everest and all his adventrues and books to charity he is a legend so 4 all those who bag on him about bein a FAKE etc u dont no shit about the guy so i hope it make ya think a bit diffrent before dissin him
ow yeah and he refently On May 15, 2007, set another world record when he became the first person to fly over Mount Everest by powered paraglider. Supported by the GKN Mission Everest Team, Grylls and fellow pilot Giles (Gilo) Gardozo flew specially developed paramotors. Though a fault in Gilo’s machine forced him to abort only 1,000 feet below the summit, Bear continued to ascend until he reached 29,500 feet and was able to look down on Everest as he circled above some of the most famous peaks in the Himalayas. The mission raised $1 million for the Global Angels Foundation, a charity that supports children in Africa.
like to c anyone who bags him to do better ?
Brent R said
I’ve read through half the posts and one things seems to be emerging. The opinions given seem to be centred more around who is the more entertaining of the two and not who the better survivalist is.
Les is an average, older, harmonica playing Canadian. Bear is a young, ex-special forces, mountain climbing ball of fire. It’s not hard to figure out who has more appeal for tv.
About Bear: Climbing everest and being in the special forces doesn’t make you an expert survivalist. I’m sure that Bear could kill a polar bear with a toothpick and that would be very entertaining but he would die in the process. The point of being a survivalist is to survive. I’m sure that he is a bad ass military dude and has paid his dues.
About Les: Being a survival expert doesn’t make you an entertaining tv personality. If Les were younger, had a hot body and at the end of each survival story whipped out his drum kit and soloed he would be more entertaining.
Who would “win”? On the entertainment scale I think bear would be more entertaining. On the survival scale I think Les would win.
Regardless of who would win. If you want to watch a “Survivoresq” show then watch Bear. If you want to learn how to survive realistic situations watch Les.
Mike White said
Just so that everyone knows: day two is now up.
http://digitalheadbutt.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/grylls-vs-stroud-the-survive-off-day-two/
What Da Fuck !!! said
Hey Shmuckle, keep you opinions about our soldiers 2 ur self.
DeeDee said
People seem to forget that Les Stroud lugs around all his own camera equipment and films himself. Bear Grylls has a camera crew undertake the risky (and stupid)stuff he does, but does the camera crew get credit? Nope! And people say Les is complaining – it’s just his running narrative. Bear stands there and talks about how wonderful he is – what an egomaniac! Bear is also a spokesman and salesman for a shady pyramid scheme, sham of a “supplement” called Juice Plus. He goes around talking about how it helped him climb MountEverest, without ever mentioning that he sells the stuff himself! Les is the real deal — he’s cool!
Ashley said
How come Les always ends up in a log cabin(labrador episode) or a premade hut(amazon). He might have to film himself, but he has so much survival equipment that it would be hard to die out there. In labrador he had a gun, an axe and steaks that were supposed to be for the dogs. People who call Bear a fake should watch survivorman and see how pathetic Les is. surviving in a desert is much easier with 5 gallons of water. just ask Les.
william arkansas said
give me a break, bear has a support team. He also creates scenarios during episodes to play out for audiences. These scenarios are pre planned. He jumps in cold water to demonstrate how to survive hypothermia, but he has conveniently cut holds to pull himself out of the water. Would you rather have a couple buddies with you or blow gun? Ill take a couple buddies every time. Would you rather take a couple buddies or a multi tool? Ill take a couple buddies. Why you people think Bear is more entertaining puzzles me. Les actually survives, Bear creates survival-like TV episodes. Is that entertaining? Les is a badass, Bear is a boy scout (With an entire troop of scouts to rescue him at a moments notice). Do I even need to mention the energy burned filming yourself, by yourself, for a week. I think Bear would have a ADHD fit before day three. Les, keep on surviving. Bear, keep on pissing on your own head.
william arkansas said
Matt C., riding jet skis around and island and flying over mountains in a engine powered glider are not surviving. As far as the charity, Bill Gate donated almost $400,000,000 (yes, 400 million dollars) last year. I commend Bear for his charitable work, but isn’t this about survival.
Bear has a camera crew. Need I say more.
c.kane said
most of the above posts are STUPID….BEAR HAS BEEN EXPOSED AS A FAKE…FUCK A DUDE STAYING AT MOTEL 8..PROBABLY STAYS AT THE HILTON…LOL…ANYWAY….LES IS THE BEST AND HE IS THE REAL DEAL
Sue C said
why must some people use “Bleeping” language? Aren’t you intelligent enough to use words that are in the dictionary and words that don’t offend others?
Each man has his own style and they are both good at what they do. Have fun with your comparisons, but one doesn’t have to be obscene.
Don M said
I watch both, but to the person that said Bear is the man because he has to find his way out forgot to mention that Bear also has a camera crew with him that Bear himself said will intervene in a serious situation. Les is alone, and that can play with your head. Multi tool? Big deal! whats a screw driver gonna do for you in the wild? It’s basically just the knife…just like bear!
Also people…understand something…It’s TV! They are NOT going to intentionally put themselves at serious risk, so who cares if Les has a team waiting for 7 days!? I’m 99% sure Bear has an emergency way out as well! Bear does some really stupid things though like hauling butt down slippery, rocky hills. Thats a good way to fall and break something! Not good in a survival situation.
Ripper said
Well after reading all the news on Bear Grylls and his
so called survival show, just to find the guy stays in hotels while filming ! lol, what a goof. This guy is a candy ass fraud. And he needs a film crew as well to film his shows. I would suggest this show for dumb assess how sit on there coutch eating pizza & drinking beer saying,
” wow, burp/fart that guy is cool.
Lets keep the ” Bear Crap ” off the T.V
RANDALL said
LES STROUD COULD NOT HOLD BEAR GRYLLS JOCK STAP. BEARS URINE IS ACTUALLY THE SECRET RECIPE FOR GATORADE. THATS THE BIG FREAKING SECRET.
RANDALL said
IF BEAR DID STAY AT SOME HOTEL IM SURE HE SLEPT IN THE MOP BUCKET TROUGH IN THE JANITORS CLOSET AND USED SOME SOILED BED SHEETS FOR WARMTH.
el uno said
Les has to carry his own camera equipment, even when hiking up steep-ass mountains, and icy rocks…even when crossing a 110 degree plus desert….so every step he takes away from the camera is a step he has to take back, and then travel again. Keep in mind he has to do all of this while managing the amount of time he has before sundown. They both get into some completely unfavorable situations, but Les is actually doing it alone. If something happens to him he has to wait until his 7 day limit is up and his crew comes looking for him… .there’s more of an element of danger for him for that fact alone.
Bear has his own cameraman and I don’t think he’s surviving off of that grubworm Bears eating, and I’m pretty sure if Bear doesn’t want to he doesn’t have to either. I give Bear credit what he does, but there’s more danger in Stroud’s approach. Bear is more for entertainment purposes with a little bit of live and learn along the way…and I’m not discredting him for what he does, he’s good at it. But I feel the one who brings the most realism to this survivalism is Stroud.
el uno said
and also, this is completely off topic, but i’d much rather sit down and have a beer with Les… he seems least likely to go out of his way to make himself the topic of conversation.
C.KANE said
SORRY…LOL…REMOVE THE PROFANITY AND THE FACTS REMAIN….PSYCHOLOGICALLY…ONLY A PERSON THAT’S INSECURE WOULD PROJECT AN ICONIC FALSE IMAGE OR ANY FALSE IMAGE FOR THAT MATTER…. A SURVIVALIST THAT HAS A SUPPORT TEAM (AHEM…CAMERA MEN)…AND A COMPANY CARD FOR THE LOCAL MOTEL/HOTEL/….I BET HIS URINE WAS GATORADE…..LMAO…REALLY…WOW…THE POWER OF THE TUBE.
C.KANE said
BECAUSE OF TV PEOPLE REALLY THINK THAT JOHN WAYNE WAS A COWBOY THAT COULD FIGHT…LOL…
Rand Peterson said
The difference between Bear and Les is pretty clean cut. Les survives and has no immediate support where as Bear takes chances he shouldn’t if he were truly survivng; and has a film crew with him which provides some security. Both due have good knowledge that the average person may use in emergencies.
Ed said
Great idea. I’d enjoy seeing the Hokkaido competition even if you presented it sort of tongue in cheek.
Also, I just noticed that in the new season of Survivorman that Les keeps emphasizing his own camera work. Bear kept emphasizing in his new season earlier this year that he had no assistance from his crew. Hmmm, shades of competition already?
I enjoy both shows, but I have to agree with the consensus that Bear may be more entertaining and probably could out climb Les. He’s just younger and stronger, but Les probably is the hardier of the two, and could outlast Bear.
Seeing Les in the Kalahari for the premier of this new season really brought me to that conclusion. Both are tough guys, but I think Les with his more level-headed approach would win the proposed Hokkaido competition.
Now, as a gay guy, I do have my preference of the two. I realize they’re both very straight and married, but I think Les would be far more fun in a makeshift thermal springs bubble bath. LOL
Peace.
Bill Clinton said
Les Stroud would be dragging Bear’s near dead body out of just about any survival situation one can imagine. Some people are too dumb to bother watching BOTH shows, which is sad if they have an opinion which seems to be where most that vote for Bear are coming from. His show is comical to say the least, he has an entire film crew running around filming him do stuff, half of which is sure fire guaranteed to get you KILLED in a real survival situation. Half of his episodes, if he didn’t have someone standing just off camera with a wool blanket or some sort of survival gear, he’d die within under an hour from the exposure. Les Stroud is the REAL DEAL. He trains people for just this for a living. He goes out ALL ALONE and is dropped into remote regions all over the world, showing you some of the ways you have to figure out how to live off the land. He ALSO has to lug around his whole film crew on his back, as he films everything, and almost always has to set the camera up, walk the shot off then get back to retrieve the gear, not so easy a thing to do when you’re trying to cross a glacier or some such. All I ever hear from Bear is some hoohaw story about “Just last year some guy fell in this so and so just a few miles from here…” Never any names, dates, real specifics. Always just some random ‘this guy just last year’ type story from him. I don’t honestly think Bear would know an edible plant if it came up and bit him as he’s living off of steak and shrimp every night while filming his show. You do realize that they’ve admitted that the film crew brings his food and most of his clothing for him. There is no way you can compare these two people, Bear would barely survive getting out of the mall of America if he didn’t have 20 people to assist him.
Kyle said
Okay… I want to point some stuff out.
Bear Gryll’s shows up with a knife, bottle and flint.
Les Stroud shows up with:
Snack bars.
1) A Rifle.
2) 3 gallons of gasoline.
3) A plane to sleep in… or a cabin he “finds” in the wilderness.
4) A giant axe.
5) If the giant axe fails, he has a backup saw.
6) Matches
7) A coffee can (with lid)
9) Multi-tool.
10) A box of uncooked meat.
Do I really need to go on?
It’s funny he brings all of that… considering the blurb about his show states:
“No food, no shelter, no fresh water, no tools… no camera crew. One man – alone in the wild for seven days with only his wits and stamina to sustain him.”
If I want to watch someone camp… I’d watch Les.
If I want to learn survival techniques, I’d watch Bear.
Kyle said
One more thing — for all of those who call Bear out for having a raft pre-built or whatever.
Do you honestly think he couldn’t build one if he had to?
Another thing… it’s been said, time and time again, Man vs. Wild isn’t a documentary… it’s a how-to show.
Like I said before, if I wanted to watch someone camp, I would watch Les. But if I actually want to learn something, I go with Bear.
awu said
Oh boy Kyle, I’d love to see you doing half what you’ve learned from the stunts Bear does without getting yourself killed.
IMO, I’d probably survive longer not knowing any of the stunts he tries to teach me.
DSJ said
Kyle,
I understand what you are saying about Bear. I also understand that true lack of understanding of survival situations can make one assume that any information is good information.
To preface, I was born and in Moab. I was excited to watch the first episode of MvW. After seeing it, I have never been more disappointed, even disgusted, at another human being. While Bear’s way of getting water was excellent, the rest of the show made me despise Mr. Grylls.
I guess the crux of the problem is how you stated “But if I actually want to learn something, I go with Bear”. Almost every year, someone dies in the Moab desert. Mind you, they are tourists who do not fully understand the dangers they face in the wilderness versus people who follow Bear’s advice. But if there are people like you who “learn” from Bear, and follow his “advice”, I can only hope those people stay safe in their own home, sitting comfortably on their couch in front of their TV instead of experiencing the true wonders and dangers of the real world.
It was in the Moab episode that I gained my first impression of Mr. Grylls, and it was not a good one. That show was so full of bad advice and misinformation that it should be shown as what not to do in the Moab desert. i.e. Bear states there is civilization all along the Colorado. In the area of the Moab, this could not be further from the truth. There are 100 mile stretches in which the only civilization you may see is a once a week rafting trip.
On a last note about the Moab episode. When Bear swam across the Colorado River to the hose on the other side. Well, that was the lodge he was most likely staying. It is known as the “Camelot Adventure Lodge”.
I know this has been a “slam Bear” post, but I am truly concerned those who believe that that MvW is a realistic survival show that gives life saving advice. Kyle, if you do ever go on a wilderness adventure, and I believe you should as nature in it’s truest from is the only way to experience and appreciate nature’s handiwork, please read up on real survival techniques instead of getting them from a sensationalized TV show.
Kyle said
I totally get what you’re saying DSJ. Obviously I’m not stupid enough to do most of what Bear does.
He even prefaces that when he states he survives the way he can which just so happens to involves a lot of climbing. I’d never try to scale a 40 cliff, or climb a wet waterfall, that’s just out of my skill level.
I do however understand why he does that type of thing — because he can, and, it serves a purpose: to find water or a river or whatever. Excellent.
The truth is – I do learn more from Bear. I wouldn’t do a lot of it, but I also wouldn’t do advanced math long hand… yet I know how.
I didn’t mean to say what Bear teaches is practical — I just mean to say that he actually TEACHES, and in my opinion is a hell of a lot more hardcore than Les. (Which is what I thought this forum was about — who of the two could out survive the other.)
And I’d give that to Bear any day of the week.
My big problem is with Les not actually doing anything. Wow — he films his own show. Amazing. He also shows up with a frickin’ kyack,a rifle, an axe, a cabin, gasoline, etc… yet continually claims he’s given no tools, shelter or food.
Point is: It’s reality TV. Yes, some things are staged and extra footage is sometimes needed (ie: Bear crossing the lava bridge). Yes safety is an issue.
In an ideal “documentary” world Les (or Bear) would jump out of a helicopter and the producers would let him get lost for an undisclosed amount of time. No rifle, no box of meat, no kyack, no target of “gotta last 5 days.”
I enjoy watching Bear because he’s exciting, eats bad a$$ stuff and does cool sh^t …while explaining why he does it.
I just don’t see the point in watching Survivor man to see a guy essentially camping. Jessica Simpson had an episode about it on her reality TV show and sadly, it was more entertaining.
I’m not saying I could survive trying ALL the stuff Bear does. In fact, I know I wouldn’t. But I do guarantee I (or anyone whose not a complete retard) could do exactly what Les does given all the crap he brings along and “finds” during the episodes… and given a goal “5 days” till I get found.
Kyle said
Here’s another quick way to look at it:
Jeff Corwin is to Les as Steve Irwin is to Bear.
Jeff/Les… kind of lame, tame and rather boring.
Steve/Bear… exciting, experienced, heroic.
In either case, which made better more exciting TV?
And the funny thing is… and it’s the point you’ll make… Steve and Bear did/do things that are somewhat questionable. Why? Simply because their experience was/is so much more than a normal persons.
Does it make them wrong? Nope.
Kim said
what idiot would go into the desert without a jug of water or purhaps peanut and jelly for something to eat If I was going to be somewhere and know there might be a possiblity of getting stranded I would defiently bring a survival kit with me.
Chris said
Bear is extremely entertaining and usually does at least one or two crazy things in every episode.. i.e. pissing on his shirt then wrapping it around his head, or grabbing a frog and eating it live. But Les is way more practical and if your looking for true survival advice, you should pay attention to Les because he’s more of an “everyman” type survivalist. I love both shows and am glad they arent on different networks competing with each other. But Id like to see bear grills pull a musical instrument out and play a solo in the middle of the show. Maybe next season. peace
awu said
There is nothing wrong with what Bear does. What is wrong is he is advising other people doing the same thing. This advice will get people killed.
Sean said
I’m rootin’ for the frost bitten canadian.
Paul said
So here is how it goes IMO with the comments that Stroud has all kinds of goodies given to him. I don’t think I could get lost in the wild without a few tools that would help out. As I sit on my coach right now, I have in my pockets 1 lighter for my cigs, my wallet filled with all kinds of things and a condom, cell phone, and a swiss army knife(classic w/file,blade,scissors, toothpick,tweezers) on my keys chain, My watch is a Tissot T-touch so I have a compass and barometer. And folks this is just what I have right now. When I go Hiking, I bring all sorts of crap, a couple of powerbars a large gatoraid, Bigger knife, multi-tool, a .357 magnum, Trout lures and other stuff left in my day pack from forever ago, etc… My car has like 3-4 fishing rods, 2 gallons of H2O (extra for radiator and the dog), 2 Blankets, a Parka and rain jacket, Tool kit, sunblock, first aid and way more odds and ends. So when Les is criticized for having some meager supplies, I ask who goes out side buck naked and wouldn’t have access to some helpful stuff. If I was lost in the middle of the mountains right now, I know that I am going to have way more at my disposal than Stroud ever has, and if you look a what you have, I bet so would you.
Keith said
All Stroud does is have someone drop him off for a week, go hungry for 7 days, drink unfit water, and have someone pick him up at the end of the show. Big deal. This week he’s plucking mimosa leaves to wipe his bloody arse, literally. Some suvivalist. He didn’t even want to go out in the rain to salvage material from the generously supplied hot air balloon he downed. AFRAID TO GET WET, EH LES?
icemarmot said
They both are excellent survivors. Les would probably be a better survival guide in certain situations, but Bear would be much better in others. Les has knowledge, bear has brute strength. Bear climbed mt. everest, I don’t care if he stays in hotels or not, it’s no damn hotel on 8000 meter peaks. Bears show is much more appealing, and it doesn’t matter who helps him- the point of the show is to show you how to survive, right? Bear does this very well and is quite exciting to watch.
wezzel said
Les will survive. Bear may? Who do you learn the most from? For me its Les.
wezzel said
A 12 pack split w/ Les would be nice where a single beer w/ Bear would suck!
Ravlen said
Well, I read through a lot, and feel like I should post my 2 cents. It seems that people are actively avoiding some facts here. Let’s take a look at what has been overlooked (If someone did mention this and I missed it, then I apologize).
First of all, Survivorman is a show about how people MIGHT survive if they got lost or stranded. It is not, and has never been, about having nothing but the clothes on your back. (that tagline is really a leftover from his original 2-parter that he did for @discovery, a canadian science show almost 10 years ago). He brings with him things that your average person in that scenario would have. EVERY hunter/fisherman/dogsledder in the north carries a rifle with him. If they were to get stranded up north, it would be strange to think they would have nothing with them. A person driving in the desert that runs out of gas (or gets stuck) will have SOME water with him, it would be strange if that weren’t the case.
Every one of Les’s episodes are truly realistic scenarios that could (and have) happened to people. Just because you have some equipment doesn’t mean you’ll survive. (I’ll go into this in more detail later). Les’s show is certainly much slower, and yes this is due to filming it all himself, but also it is due to food deprivation later on in the survival week. This is how a normal people would be after a few days. Tired, weak and struggling. Les’s training is what helps him persevere through this. He doesn’t take big risks, because in a real scenario with a normal person (not Bear Grylis) it would likely result in injury or worse.
Remember, the show is about trying to recreate a realistic survival scenario, and most people have *some* things with them when they get stranded or lost.
Also, some have said that Les must survive the 7 days on his own. This is also not true. He has a satellite phone with him at all times in case of a real emergency (if he’s injured or too weak to continue). He IS completely alone, but he is not without lifelines. Every time he visits a place he is unfamiliar with, he has the locals teach him their favorite tricks for living in the wilderness (which Les often tries to use, but usually learns out it is a lot harder on his own). Les isn’t trying to get himself killed! He is doing this to teach a little, and just because it is interesting to see how someone goes about surviving in different situations.
Next, let’s look at Bear’s show.
Recently, some of the Producers came out and said they were shocked at all the allegations about the show. Not because they were false (of course, Bear did stay in hotels, the raft was prepared, etc… etc…), but because people didn’t realise that the show was done for ENTERTAINMENT. Bear is actually a great survivalist, but that’s not the point of the show, really. It’s more about watching Bear do some of the riskier survival stuff that wouldn’t be practical in a normal survival situation. Every episode is scripted. Completely. “Bear jumps into river. Bear climbs out other side. etc… etc…” He is simply following the script given to him. It isn’t that Bear is more bad-ass or more exciting than Les, it’s because the show is SCRIPTED to be more badass, and therefore more entertaining to the general population which is more interested in watching Bear, then watching a slower paced (yet possibly more interesting, depending on who you ask) show.
Put in a REAL survival scenario, Bear would do things much differently. He do things that have a higher chance of success (walking along the river instead of jumping in, etc…) because he isn’t an idiot. The show is about what Bear CAN do, not what he WOULD do.
In the end, both would likely survive and it would all come down to luck as to who would do better. (Les would be able to do his own thing, no cameras, no need to show people tricks he learned from the locals, etc…) (Bear would no longer need to do ridiculous things and could be much more practical).
LASTLY (whew!), the REAL survival expert is Ray Mears! In 127 posts, not a single mention of Ray! He’s done WAY more survival shows than either, and has never made any claims that he couldn’t back up. He talks about his camera crew all the time, often inviting them into the scene to taste food or help out with some activity of some kind. He’s never trying to survive, or fake a survival, he simply careful and clearly discusses different survival techniques. I’d wager that 99% of everything Ray Mears says is the soundest advise you could find about survival.
He discusses how other people survived, or sometimes didn’t survive (tourists in Australia that left their stranded vehicle and tried to hike back to town, instead of staying with the vehicle. ALWAYS stay with the vehicle. Remember the family stranded in Oregon in winter? The father left the vehicle to find help… and died. The wife and kid survived and were found… IN the vehicle). That’s what Ray Mears is all about. Real Info. In every new territory he discusses how people DID survive though, and in that exact part of the world.
Well, there you have it. Les is more real (but TOO real for some people), Bear is more entertaining (but too Prime-Time), but Ray Mears is the better teacher with the best information. All three would likely survive a long time.
Ravlen
Mike White said
Ravlen: good points all around. I’ve heard of Ray Mears, and it sounds like he’s a real survivor. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a prominent TV show in America. If he did, I certainly would have put him in the survive-off (and now that you mention it, he may make a cameo).
It’s worth mentioning, once again, that the emphasis of the Survive-Off is on the humorous qualities of their respective shows and personalities.
Jordan said
I have to get in on this.
Ok, I’m gonna try to not be biased against Les on this, but only recently have I begun to appreciate his show. That being said…
Bear Grylls is going to win this, hands down.
He’ll win because this scenario is exactly what Bear does. He gets put in a place and he gets out. Les usually gets put in a place, finds some shelter, and prepares to chill for 7 days.
Also, while I find it hard to deny the claims of Man Vs. Wild’s producers about Bear staying in hotels and the infamous “raft”, to hear people proclaim he’s a fraud makes me want to kick them in the head. I don’t think he’s faking drinking water from elephant dung or eating raw zebra. I like what Dave (comment 19) says about how easy it is for others to point fingers. I know I wouldn’t want to be in the situations Bear gets in, much less without talking to other survival experts about it.
I originally watched Survivorman just to make fun of Les (But adding “With all due respect” before I did because I realize I couldn’t do the crap he does). Only recently have I started to like him. A few problems I have are that:
a. He just freakin complains to much. At least in the first season. I mean, he signed up for this stuff right? Though he’s complaining less and less these days. (I always enjoy a good pun and therefore I coin the term “les complaining”)
b. He films everything himself. The shows strength is its weakness. It’s hard to watch because it’s so hard to film yourself doing things.
c. He normally takes a crap load of stuff with him. I personally like the episode where he spent like 2 days in a cabin. A friend of mine termed that episode the “vacation” episode.
d. He’s not more realistic because he uses the most random assortment of objects to help him. A for ingenuity, but seriously. “You could very well be the hiker who gets lost with a video camera.” Whatever.
Like I said, recently I’ve begun to back off these a little and appreciate Les more and more. I mean, if I were stuck in Canada and couldn’t have Bear with me, I’ll definitely take Les.
Even so, my man Bear is taking this one.
Also, Bear’s a Christian, which may not influence survival all that much, but it means a lot to me.
Burton Reingold said
I like this guy but he is nasty. He will eat and attempt to get water from any vile, disgusting thing that he can find. Bear has to have all of the harmless type parasites living in him. He seems to revel in eating disgusting bugs and grubs. He just ate a frog raw and whole. He’s sick! Les always cleans and cooks the food.
Andrew said
At first, I watched Man vs. Wild I instantly loved the show. Survivorman was on at the time but did not pay much attention to it. Then I actually watched survivor man and realized it is much better. He is alone, no camera men or anything. Dont get me wrong Bear’s show was the shit…but now its no compitition. I get bored when i watch MvsW now. Then there was the allegations that he really didnt stay in the wild. Also critics said some of his survival tech. were stupid and could get you killed.
and after all of these allegations, Bear then voiced over some of the episodes…like the one where he made rabbit traps….at first when you watched it, he made rabbit traps and said he would check on them later…when he got back there was one in the trap of course. Then when they started airing the show again, all of that happend, and then he said i will check back on them later…right before he got there…a voice over came through of him saying, “I didnt get a rabbit, but we had one to show you what would happend” then you see him running up to the trap all excited.
to fake for me sorry. Les’s show is more real. Watch the show at least a good episode…not the african one. lol
Mike White said
To be quite honest, I had always believed that there was an aspect of theater in Man vs. Wild. I don’t enjoy watching the “neutered” versions of the show nearly as much; I would rather have the theater. You still get some solid survival tips within the show (e.g. basic climbing techniques), and it’s much more entertaining.
V Man said
Survivor man is realistic. My brother did the walk across Lao’s jungle into Thailand(not by choice of course). Believe me it was not like Bear’s show. The real one is very scary, very quiet, and very unpredictable. You want to conserve energy because you never know what comes next. Learn to stay calm is the best thing because you would be scare all the time and get panic easily. Physical endurance is demanding but it’s nothing compare to the mental side of it. It took the 3 of them nearly a month to get through what was suposed to be only a week worth of walk. Real suvivor situation usually comes when you are least prepared. In real trouble cases the survivors do not know, or at least very uncertain, of being rescued. It’s not how strong you are. It’s how well you can preserve your sanity + skills + a lot of luck. Les Stroud has gut to keep on daring mother nature like that. I don’t think i’ll ever want to go out there and try it for fun, because it’s not, but I am watching survivor man to learn more, just in case. Who knows …
Chris said
If they are going to spend 3 days together i think that Les would kill and eat Bear on the 2nd day then take his 3 items clothes and walk off playing a soft tune.
Dazed said
Last year I would have agreed that Les is the better survivor, but after seeing the first 3 episodes of season 2, I’m losing faith in him. He hasn’t actually “survived” any of the 3.
Episode 1: He lays around for a weak, not doing or eating anything. Hears sounds in the forest, runs to a nearby village in terror, where the natives laugh at him and tell him how women out gathering food had run from a jaguar as well. He leaves before the 7th day.
Episode 2: The desert. He shows up with plenty of water, peanut butter, jam (insane amount of calories, all sugar) All sorts of equipment and tools. He lays around not eating or doing much of anything. Gets to hot. Leaves before the 7th day.
Episode 3: Gets a dog sled, a rifle, all sorts of equipment. Ends up sleeping in a prebuilt cabin, eating the dogs’ food (smeared with their feces) that he /brought with him/ then we see his secret crew show up and say the ice is melting and they have to leave. We see a helicopter airlifting out tons of equipment we weren’t shown. He leaves before the 7th day.
So far he has not “survived” any of the season 2 episodes. He lays around starving and doing nothing the whole time and then calls a helicopter to airlift him out when he runs out of the stuff he brought with him. I understand why, but it still doesn’t make for television as good as season 1.
Anyway, what prompted me to post here is that nobody has mentioned the third contender: Ray Mears. His shows are pretty awesome too, I like them equally as much as man vs wild and survivorman. You should check them out. Ray Mear’s World of Survival is the best series I think.
As for Stroud vs. Grylls.. I think they’re about equally matched, but they have distinctly different styles. Bear’s technique is to use all his energy traveling, trying to “get out.” this technique can actually screw you if you don’t know where you’re going though, (Which you probably don’t) and you might just end up farther from civilization. Les’ technique is more “long haul” survival where he establishes a base in a good place where survival is more practical. (like on a river’s edge.) And uses that as a base of operations, so if his exploring is fruitless he has something to return to. Which technique is better depends on the situation.
Dazed said
Oh and one more thing to add, Bear Grylls isn’t necessarily a pussy because of the “fraudulent” aspects of his show. Take the part where he was going down the river with the lifejacket under his sweater. I think he wanted to do it without the life jacket, but the tv network he is working for is responsible for his safety and most likely did not allow it. They have liability and their insurance companies aren’t gonna let him die.
surfer dude said
Yes, Bear is more athletic and agile. Les is wise and his show seems more real. Les goes it alone, no camera crew and that can give you that feeling of helplessness that Bear never feels. But in a survival showdown, it would have to go down to who can survive the longest without anyone around, and I think Les would win.
But when it came down to it, whoever has the stronger mind really would win.
David said
I stumbled on this by accident and have read lots of comments.. and although strayed from the original topic, who would survive. I have seen more of Bear Grylls man vs wild, and found much about the man…. and basically he will doing anything that is dangerous…. even his own website shows the things he has done…. and being a great athlete has what has helped him. Now in a survival scene, no one would be stuck with only a flash of water, a flint…. ( who carries a flint these days…. ) and a knife. When I go hiking, or skiing.. I have nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, anything that has high carbs and protein…. in the event of getting lost or stuck.. and not to mention some water….. but not living in a desert, but in the tropics, there is water almost everywhere, and of course in the snow, who needs water. Apart from africa and the man eating lions and canada and the man eating bears, most of the things you meet in the bush are quite tame. Do a search for the most poisonous animals, and in the first 8, 5 are found here in australia… right on our front door. I dont’ have to go 10 feet and can find spiders that can kill. On man vs wild, bear has not only camera crew, but also survival experts to advise him……it is still scripted. Without the experts would he do so well. And to Kyle to compare Bear and Steve Irwin…… yes.. both take risks… and now Steve is gone…..so exciting means dangerous…? So now I have had a look for some of Les stuff…. and yes, he is boring….. takes his time…… doesn’t do much…..does all his own work……takes what any normal person would have for the area they are visiting, and then survives. To climb down a 300ft cliff because its quicker… nope… I’ll walk around… after all its about survival….not to show off my athletic ability. I’ll be keeping out more of an eye for Les and make a further discision later…..
kaydo said
les sucks and bear rules. end of story !!
~Dal said
Bear. Hands down. Even if he was “Fake” I like how I actually learn something from Man Vs. Wild. I don’t learn much from Les, and he’s rather boring. He doesn’t seem nearly as resourceful, and has a tendency to whine a bit. They are both pretty good looking, but Bear is hotter annnnnd looks rather nice when nude =)
iTom said
On who would be in Sapparo first…..MMM this isn’t easy. I am Les fan and perfer watching his show. Although I do watch MvW. If you take out all the opinions and just look at the shows them selfs and use what you actally see on the TV, Bear would arrive first, he moves quicky and stays moving only stops to sleep. Les is more caution and moves slowly to be safe. So bottom line Bear wins.
Mav said
Guys – can I suggest you turn your computers off and go outside and do something real.
I really mean it… TV is for entertainment. None of this matters.
And for the record, I know Bear and I was with him on SAS selection (yes really) and regardless of all this hoo ha above I can guarantee you that you’ll never meet a bigger hearted gutsy chap.
SciFi Ranter Girl said
Les Stroud would whoop that nancy boy Bear Grylls’s arse.
jkite said
I will be voting for bear… i’ve seen many episodes of both shows, and looking at bear’s credentials, physique, and what not… he would win. Me and a few of my friends are actually going “bearing” this christmas break to see what we can do for 3 nights. wish us luck… it’ll be cold
B said
Last time I checked, Bear climbed Mt. Everest. What has Les done that compares to that? Cold weather would have no affect on Bear, the dude holds the record for the highest flight ever on a para motor at 30,000 ft. Oh yea, did I mention that he climbed Mt. Everest.
bearforsure said
les is an old pussy, he has a canoe with him and travels everywhere, bear falls 50 feet from a chopper into shark infested waters then swims into croc infested mangroves..i dont beleive that hotel bullshit…bear wins he climbed everest, flew over everest,and was in the special forces…les is an old pussy that spends the nite in iglues. bear would rock that!!
a said
BEAR WILL WIN AT ANYTHING AGAINST LES AND BEAR IS REAL
Tom said
They both have their moments, and are trying to do two very different things with their shows. Bear is trying to make his exciting and fast paced, which is why he has a camera crew. But that shouldn’t make you think that Bear couldn’t survive on his own…that’s rediculous. the guy’s climbed everest, flew over everest on paraglider, and, most importantly, was a member of the SAS. The SAS folkes! Read about the SAS, what it takes to become a member, and then consider criticizing Bear…you’ll find you can’t. I’m sure they both could survive for a long time out in the wild, but if they were stranded together and starving, Bear would have the advantage as he could kill Les three times before he hit the ground, just so he could eat him.
Mike said
The two shows have entirely different purposes. Les is showing what it is like to try to survive in the wilderness and is showing real survival skills. His show is more useful to watch if you want to learn real survival skills. If Les doesn’t manage to trap or otherwise find food and water, he has to go without.
Bear’s show is purely for entertainment and shows Hollywood, Rambo style “survival” stunts. Anyone in a REAL survival situation who emulated Bear would be carried out dead. On the first show I was, he was running through the mountains and came to a steam about 20 feet below (or so it looked). He then proceeded to jump off the cliff into a mountain stream! The only thing that could be accomplished by that is to break both legs and drown!
Bottom line: If you want to watch fantasy survival and are 12 years old with the mental capability of a 9 year old, watch Bear. If you want REALISTIC survival information, watch Les, no matter what your age.
OH, and as to which one would survive a real wilderness challenge, put your money on Les. He would (and actually has done so) use his skills to survive indefinitely and prosper.
Wally said
I watch and like both shows. Bear is a badass, sure, but he stages everything. He has employees carry his stuff, film him, and give him mouth wash after he downs every disgusting critter imaginable. He’s also a drama queen, staging and filming every aspect of the show for maximum dramatic effect.
Survivorman goes alone, films himself, and rarely sensationalizes for effect.
Bear would win in a fight, but Les would survive longer (and could survive longer without the attention.)
Cole, Survivorperson said
I’m a 16 year old from New Hampshire, and I honestly LOVE Les. Where I live is just forest, you could go 100 feet away from my house and not be bothered by a soul for as long as your outside. I actually go outside and try out certain tricks I learned from Les, but would NEVER try tricks I learn from Bear, because I just don’t feel comfortable and couldn’t pull off his stunts. I know better, and go for the more logical approach. Bear does have some good techniques up his sleeve, but most of them would get you killed if you were the average human being.
Les is the average Joe’s guy… Bear is not so average Joe’s guy… I know I couldn’t climb Mount Everest or complete military training, so I pick Les. But if you were built like Bear then you may pick him. It all depends on the person.
T diddy said
Bear would win easily any day over Les. It’s not even a match up. You can just call Bear the bus driver cause he’ll take you to school!
Cole, Survivorperson said
Check out the site I just made with a “survival guide” on it. I sat down for a few hours and compiled a bunch of stuff I know about trying to stay alive if your lost. http://www.freewebs.com/survivorguy
bearsux said
Bear Grylls is so fake. Les only seems weaker because he does all of the filming himself. take away that weakness and his survival strengths increase exponentially! Bear has help from his crew including at least 3 cameramen to help him out, land vehicles, and the occasional helicopter. Bear may seem more exciting, but Les is 100% real, and will take this competition while leaving Bear as food for the wild animals.
lt. rios said
Lemme start by saying I have watched and enjoy both shows.
Bear is one of the most badass people on this planet, but he is not near one of the best survivalists.
Les Stroud could walk into the woods alone and live out the rest of his life with nothing but the clothes on his back.
One more thing, clearly most people here have never been in the military. They provide JACK SHIT for survival training. There training consists of trying to show you how to get out. Les stroud is actually a master of BUSHCRAFT you people probably don’t know what that is.
The Bottom line is that the toughest hardcore paratrooper marine Navy SEAL
would not be able to thrive in the wilderness like an indigenous native or a trapper.
Before you all go trying to compare who is better at surviving, you all should educate yourselves on what survival ACTUALLY consists of. try going the survival.com/IVB and chat with some of us who actually do this shit. Its a lot more useful to be able to sharpen a knife using a flat river stone than it is to be able to climb down a 200 foot waterfall or climb up a fucking 100 foot tall canopy tree in the amazon.
Anyone who says bear would win clearly doesn’t know what the fuck they are talking about.
Nico said
I think the best proof for this couple of survivors would be a raid on the Atacama Desert. They would be drop parachute way near the frontier between Chile and Bolivia or in the middle of the desert and the finish line would be in the coast.
Now between Bear and Les i think Bear rules because there’re 3 words very powerful: SAS (Special Air Service)
Christian said
Less is a true man! He shows you how to really survive!
Bear just shows off! How could the average man scale a 100 foot vertical rock face!!
Less is the real deal, I could care less if Bear is (SAS).
Less Stroud is Canadian god!
Let me just say this…. yes Bear is a badass but Less is a real survivalist who would easily win the face off and would possibly make Bears face into a container to boil some water!!
GO LESS!!!
snafu said
This isn’t even a fair showdown because Bear is a complete fake and cheater. I get that it might make for somewhat more sensational TV to watch someone squeeze water out of feces and drink it or eat any number of other disgusting things but that doesn’t make him a good survivalist. As others have noted Survivorman has a more documentary style and doesn’t rely on stupid stunts to gain viewers the way Bear does on his show, but if you’re the type of person that values sensationalism over realism then you’re probably the type that thinks ‘Survivor’ is real too, get a grip people! For those of you that don’t know the details let me break it down for you:
Les Stroud is a genuine survivalist. He and his wife went out into the wilderness and lived for a year in a cabin they built from scratch with no tools that they did not make themselves, thats hardcore! Les regularly gets dropped into some of the most inhospitable regions of the planet for 7 days at a time with virtually nothing but the clothes on his back. He is completely alone with no contact to his crew (he does carry a satellite phone in the event that he breaks an ankle or something and needs to be choppered out but thats for emergency only). He has to carry 60 lbs of camera gear in his backpack throughout the week and he films the whole thing himself. The only thing he carries with him is a multi-tool and his harmonica and a random collection of things that a real person stranded in that location might conceivably have on him….so for example the episode he was dropped in the rockies he had: a walking stick, crampons, and an old video camera and a video casette tape (he used the camera lens to start a fire). Les offers real life survival advice that you can take to the bank, he doesn’t take stupid risks and favors a conservative approach that focuses on food & water, shelter from the elements and trying to either make his way out or attract attention to would be rescuers…all things you want to do in a real survival situation.
Bear Grylls is a fraud and a phony. His show relies on carefully scripted stunts and action sequences that highlight Bear’s buff physique as much as possible, and trying to find the most gross and dangerous things they can or him to do. The problem is that he masquerades as a survival ‘expert’ but then does all kinds of things that are inceredibly ill advised in a real situation. Like the first (and fortunately only of the only) full episodes I saw he was in a desert and he spent most of the episode running around in the noonday sun, sweating out all his water…theres no way you’d last more than a day with that approach, complete BS. It has been well documented that he stays in hotels at night, that his ’stunts’ are setup by his crew. You can find all kinds of articles on Google detailing Bear’s suspect show, here’s just one of them: http://thememoirs.org/2007/07/25/bear-grylls-show-faces-allegations-of-a-fake-survival-show
There’s also a great video on YouTube where he tries to say you can float down a set of river rapids with nothing more than a backback as flotation. If you’ve ever been white water rafting you realize how stupid it is to go down such a river, even with a full life vest…and in fact, he is wearing a life vest under his hooide as the video clearly shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acYExF4RRqE
A joke, thats what he is, dont even waste your time, and if you must then please dont take any of his advice as gospel…sure some of it is good but alot of it is plain dangerous.
Mike White said
To all future commenters on this subject: please keep in mind that the Survive-Off is meant to be as UN-serious a survival topic as possible. Please try to look at the humorous aspects of this whole thing. And believe me, there’s a lot.
Meow said
I’ve seen both shows, I think the initial question was who would survive in a showdown…its sort of a complicated question because it depends on how they would approach it. If Bear dispensed with his hotels and camera crew but applied his actual survival skills (I’m assuming he actually knows what he’s doing from his training though you’d never know from his show) instead of trying to do crazy stunts he probably has the slight advantage by being younger and in better shape and could get to the goal faster. But if he tried the same shit he does on his show he would be lucky to last 48 hours. Les is practical and careful in all he does and often slow and methodical wins the race.
Anyway, I think everything has been said in most of the posts above, so I’d like to quote a few of the stupider ones:
Kyle, #113, who lists all the things Les gets to survive:
You clearly dont understand the premise of Survivorman…perhaps you’re slow or maybe your sense of reality has been twisted by watching Man vs. Wild. So let me explain it to you, the show is about creating a possible real life survival situation. So for example the one with the plane is intended to simulate a pilot who crashes in remote northern Ontario in the winter. So explain to me how using the plane to survive is somehow inaccurate? He even wore a sling to simulate a dislocated shoulder! So explain exactly how the hell else would a person find themselves stranded way up there you idiot? You also have clearly never been to Northern Ontario in the winter but I have, I’ve lived my whole life in Michigan and as cold as it gets here it is nothing compared to Northen Ontario, it is biterly bitterly cold there, you can easily die in an hour if you dont know what you’re doing, forget about a week.
Paul #123 sums things up perfectly, well done.
Keith #124 says “All Stroud does is have someone drop him off for a week, go hungry for 7 days, drink unfit water”
Thats what survival is about jackass, you conserve energy and try to stay warm and dry and attract the attention of rescuers. I’ve actually been lost in the woods for over a day with only a knife and a few matches. It was downright terrifying and finding water was enough of a challenge, nevermind trying to find anything edible. When you have a whole camera crew to help you kill stuff and you get to go back to a warm bed and a hot meal each night it makes survival a tad easier. Sure Les often fails trying to catch something to eat but if you’ve ever actually tried it with none of the tools of the trade its pretty damn tough.
Jordon #130 says “Also, Bear’s a Christian, which may not influence survival all that much, but it means a lot to me.”
WTF? You probably believe the earth is flat and that all life originated 6000 just years ago. Tell me do you know that Les is NOT a Christian? And would it matter if he was? And I love how earlier in your post you say “Also, while I find it hard to deny the claims of Man Vs. Wild’s producers about Bear staying in hotels and the infamous ‘raft’, to hear people proclaim he’s a fraud makes me want to kick them in the head” Kick them in the head huh? I’m sure Jesus would heartily approve of that…if anyone is a fraud its you… I’m a Christian myself but its people like you that give the whole religion a bad name, go crawl back into your hole.
VMan #134 who notes that his brother walked thru thee Laotian jungle to Thailand.
Exactly dude, my uncle had much the same experience during the war and he can’t even talk about it without getting really tense with a spooky look in his eyes. Of course having people hunting you adds a whole other dimension to survival but still he said that the hardest part was trying to keep dry and find enough to eat, etc. Not to mention all the snakes and bugs and everything else, I cant even imagine.
Steve Cox said
I actually watch quite a lot of both of these shows and I think it’s hilarious that people are getting so fired up about such inconsequential speculation. Second, if you disagree with me I hate you and everything you stand for.
Yeah, Bear hams it up and has a lot more support, but it’s a how to that aims at entertainment, at least after getting called out for it. That being said, you can’t take away his whole climbing the Himalayas at 23, and circumnavigating the UK on a jet ski, crossing the Atlantic Arctic in an inflatable boat, and other badass stuff to boot, (not on the show, but in real life).
Yeah, he has people watch his back but give me a break, I’m a big fan of Les but he couldn’t hang with that action for a even a hot minute. That being said, I think Bear would have a machete-sized-edge on Les if it was life or death, (mind you Les has gotten bailed out some hairy situations by his support crew and natives- jaguar jungle thing, dog sledding and storm on life raft).
I think Les’s show is more useful for the outdoor enthusiast who is capable of saying “that shit could totally have happened to me”. Or those who crave authenticity for that matter, but come on, It’s not really even a fair contest. Have we even seen Les catch a fish? Seriously, I can’t remember.
tom said
Let’s face it they are both great shows to watch,but Bear is more on the show biz side and Les can’t fish! Les does make mistakes on the references to certain plants and probably stop reminding us how the FOOD ENERGY is what we will need to gain if ever caught in the GEORGIA SWAMPS…He’s from Canada and really has not been to most of the places he goes. Bear is just a show off who loves his family…..
Brian said
Ok seriously people think before u speak… The shows are completely different, Bear is not expected to survive for the show, he is supposed to show people how to. Les Stroud is expected as the descrition of the show to survive. It doesnt matter that Bear is a “fake”, because he is not expected to actually practice what he preaches. Les Stroud would win because he is supposed to survive, his show is purely educational. Bear goes for flashiness over the education aspect, which would result in him just doing something stupid. Les Stroud is much smarter and adept to fit the situation.
Bear is the shizz said
you guys are all just mad that Bear is a bad ass. Thats it. Stop crying. Les Stroud just sits there and starves while Bear actually tries to find his way out. You guys are just jealous you can’t do what he does. HAHA
Mike White said
When you think of it rationally, Les would probably win based on more experience by himself. However, the Survive-Off is not meant for rational thought.
John Krimble said
Anyone looking for authentic survival tips should look into Ray Mears. I watched all of his series before seeing Man vs. Wild or Survivor Man. When I started watching Survivor Man I thought it was funny compared to what I had seen with Ray Mears. A lot of things that have been said I believe are right, Les barely survives, he just doesn’t eat for seven days and feels sick. But Bear’s show is hardly an accurate survival show. He takes every it seems at a full head first run. Anyone wanting to learn real tips would be well advised to disregard what they see on Bear’s show. I don’t think his show can be compared at the same level. It lacks the authenticity of Survivor Man and the excellent knowledge of Ray Mears. Bear’s show is obviously presented as pure entertainment. Jumping out of planes into the Alps, screaming with excitement, taking everything at a run. It quite clearly works to give a lot of viewers the sense that he is the best survivalist just because Bear is portrayed as a bad ass and climbs whatever he can all the while using up all of his precious energy. Please please check out Ray Mears, he wont do flying jump quicks out of palm trees or beat up tigers but he is extremely dedicated to bush craft and you can learn alot.
- Greg Jungledick
bxgjhg said
i personally think that bear grylls would kick les stroud’s butt. and for you les stroud no one wants to hear your stupid music it suonds like crap!!!!!!!!!!!!! it sucks. and bear grylls you are the best TV STAR IN THE WORLD.
bxgjhg said
so what if bear grylls stays at a motel at night. i dont think i would want to stay out there in the wild at night who knows what would happen. and les stroud brings a wepon every time or somthing like a first aid kit. still bear is better so who ever likes les stroud is smoking pot man.
Francy said
This is very nice blog I have ever seen.
I like this type of funny images.
Justin said
you people are all very, very gay
Smithers Black said
Bear would win no doubt. Bear is a Christian. You should remember he ” can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens him” Phillipians 4:13. les says freakin and crap to much. Besides all Les has to do is survive. Bear has to get out of the survival situations. Bear has GOD to rely on. Bear can do all things, but only through CHRIST who strengthens him.
campman said
Bear is an idiot! First time I saw his show, he was supposedly stranded alone in the Aussie outback atop some highlands. So what does he do? Actually runs and jumps down a crumbling rockface just to show his audience how agile and fear-free he is and how fact he can get to the bottom. If he had broken a leg (and IF he was truly alone) he would die. The absolute key to survival in any situation is not to take unneccesary chances. Les Stroud knows this.
D Morgan said
The whole Les vs Bear thing is an interesting idea but it will never happen. Grylls would never let himself be exposed like that. Let’s face the facts people, Bear Grylls has never done anything of the sort or proven in the least that he’d be capable of doing it. British SF, sorry no, he was just a reservist (21SAS TA) with limited training and some questions as to whether his accident even allowed he to complete it. French FL, again no, that was just another fake tv show where he simulated FFL training for ONE month. For cryin’ out loud the guy can’t even spend the night alone in one of his shelters. Do you have any idea how many people do that just for the fun of it? Apparently you can’t even get Bear Grylls to do it if you pay him. Sure he does exciting stunts and eats gross stuff but when it comes to actual wilderness survival he’s about as pathetic as it gets. Les Stroud has spent an entire year living off the land with no modern conveniences, not even metal tools, so it seems safe to say he would come out on top quite easily.
Renato said
all these reactions of people..
what do you all think?that Les Stroud, when the real survival situation is there ,he will just stay at the ‘place of accident’ for many days in all of the times/every case?
every situation demands other ways of acting.sometimes it is more wise to stick to the car/plane.sometimes it is not.it all depends.
and you all think that Bear Grylls would, when he would be all alone in the bush ,would run like he does in the movies on discovery?
come on.you are all that naive?I think people underestimate when people think these guys ‘only’are the persons they portray on discovery.
these guys got more survivalwisdom in them than that,than what they show.
tv is a for a big part sensationalism.
I think they both hold up well .and Ray Mears is a VERY knowledgable also.who is the best?what tastes better?an apple or an orange?
Bear is not less of a survivalist because there is a team behind him.that is only the way things are set up.it doesn’t mean he doesn’t hold his own when needed.some reactions here are just too …insulting.
Renato said
if could I would vote for Timothy Treadwell.
but he is dead now.
eaten by his ‘little friends’.I wouldn’t do that what he did for one minute,let alone for how many years did he do that?living between his little hairy friends.
but you can have a serious discussion about the fact if that man was all sane in his head.which i strongly doubt.victim of his own fantasies.well..he wasn’t the only one i guess.many people are.
Greg said
Both men are knowledgeable, and both are smart, as well as practical. Their styles oppose each other. Bear, the showman and athlete. Les, the voice of experience and reason. Since they are nearly polar opposites (as far as survival “style” goes), it allows them to keep both shows airing, and bring the DSC network a significant amount of popularity and money (the bear vs. les disagreement I see and hear so often is proof of this). I love to watch both bear and les, for their unique skills and knowledge. But they have, as I mentioned, very different styles.
My only beef is this: I am currently an active duty Navy SEAL. I have operated as such since 2002. To hear Bear, at the beginning of every episode, mention his special forces experience, makes me itch. He spent two years in the British SAS, before he injured himself on a parachute landing in Africa (too badly to continue operationally in his military). That his SOF experience is a big reason for his popularity bothers me. Why? In the SEAL Teams (well, at least at ST2), do you know what we call a guy with two years experience? …….. NEW GUY– (if you look up new guy in the Team Guy dictionary, it says this: 1. Doesn’t know anything about operating. 2. Individual may survive a deployment, with proper guidance) veritas762@hotmail.com -Greg (email posted for anyone who doubts my word that I’m an operator, and needs me to give them the warm and fuzzy)
Michael said
Well I am biased I guess cause I believe Les Stroud would win hands down, not to mention I love the SPOT Satellite Messenger he sponsors/promotes.. I bought one from TheWayToGPS.com and I wouldn’t leave home without it. Furthermore, has Bear ever been documented for being out in the wild without his team of makeup artists, camera man, etc…C’mon there is no comparison…funny thought though.
Mario said
BEAR might know some survival stuff and be in good shape, but the fact that you people glorify him by eating wierd stuf bothers me. You would have to watch Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern to see that Bear Gryls is not even a match for this guy. Andrew would never be out of food in a survival situation, for sure. If i was stuck in a survival situation and had the chance to choose from either survival expert, i would definately go with Les Stroud, i would gladly carry the camera gear for him. Granted, it was a crappy igloo at the arctic and a poor excuse for a raft at the swamp, but he always has similar solutions available, and does all of it alone. And by the way, he also cooks some mean rattle snake, lizards, scorpions and delicious stuff. Bear just doesn’t want to work to hard at making a fire, just shows off his (supposed) military skills. He definately has skills, he does better then i would, no doubt, but Les would have him for lunch… on a nice open fire… done all by himself… with 5 cameras at diferent angles… all by himself.
But “seriously”, i think that putting them together for 3 days would result in them actually helping eachother.. well, actually, les would do most of the helping, i think…
Armande said
Survivorman may be slower or more boring to your average Joe, but I find it much more interesting. I learn a lot more from Les than Bear. Les shows average people like you and I how to survive the smart way. Les also has more respect for the earth and for animals because he states he only kills for survival and he hates the thought of having to kill anything, he’s also known for saying ‘leave nothing but tracks’. Bear will kill an animal just to do something flashy and shocking.
While Bear may be a very athletic/smart individual–He’s too staged for my taste. Les may not be funny or good looking, but he’s the real deal. For those who deny it, he and his family lived off of the grid for an entire year just living off the land.
Don’t mean to bash Bear too much–Just saying his show is more about entertainment (which he does well) and less about actual survival knowledge. Someone above compared Bear to the Hare, and les to the Tortoise. Slow and steady wins the race. My bets are on Les!
Just my 0.02 cents!
Renato said
to Armande,
this is what I found on the internet about Bear:
“Bear, fristly is it true your a vegetarian (or did my mate make that up) and secondly what was your favourite survival situation throughout the born surviver series?”
“I try not to eat a lot of dairy or meat as a rule, but the odd steak is a treat and when I am in man Vs Wild mode anything goes! ”
beargrylls.com/ask_bear.asp
he’s not such a bad guy also
josh said
bear never sleeps alone. he sleeps with the crew at a “base camp” which he said so himself in his blog. bear’s rafts were MADE FOR HIM from a survivor expert. they were made mostly with rope, not natural cordage. a lot of times bear has stuff done for him or given to him. stroud does everything on his own and is truly alone. stroud wins almost every time. read up on some of the bear grylls controversy instead of being ignorant and believing and assuming everything you see on tv.
josh said
bear is for entertainment purposes only. most of the stuff he does is only for those who are in excellent shape and have physical superiority. les stroud is more for the average person who is trying to survive. man vs wild is great, but remember it is for shock value and entertainment purposes only. les stroud is the man i would want to be with if i was stuck in the wild. dont get me wrong, bear is amazing, and does amazing things, but lost of things are told to him, given to him, and provided to him off the camera. such as the raft, the horse, the info, etc. les stroud is an all around survivor man who knows EVERYTHING. he wins. i still like watching man vs wild, but i keep in mind that it is 80% for entertainment. survivor man is the real deal.
pj said
for all the ignorant morons that choose bear over les:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2116195.ece
remember, man vs. wild is originally a British production, on DSC and Channel 4 in the UK, and its name in the UK is Born Survivor. the episodes are then later aired in the US as Man vs. Wild. so, for all you ignorant idiots, MAN VS. WILD IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. HE WAS IN THE SAS FOR 2 YEARS WHICH ISN’T SHIT. SURVIVORMAN IS THE REAL DEAL. if i had to be stuck in the wild, i would choose les. bear is still a cool dude, and his show is entertaining, but that’s it. those who think bear is the better man are the idiots that get sucked into the media and into all the bullshit that you can’t see through, because you are STUPID, which is exactly what the media wants. they are laughing at you while you blindly buy into their bullshit and get deceived.
Renato said
@PJ
I certainly wouldn’t want to be stuck with you in the bush,that’s for sure.
“ignorant morons”? “ignorant idiots”?
look who’s talking.
PJ said
@Renato:
Ok? Good to know that you wouldn’t want to be stuck with me in the bush – I don’t care. It’s not about me; it’s about Bear vs. Les. You’re dumb.
Renato said
as I said
look who’s talking
james clark said
lol its kind of obvious isnt it…..bear is an ex-SAS guy and les is just sum random canadian guy
obvious who is better isnt it…bear
Kory said
Even though Grylls is not alone in the wild it is still much more interesting than Stroud. Les propably would not be able to the things he does if he does not bring his ‘little, random things,’ like peanuts, bubblegum, 1 match, lighter that does not work, scobby-doo underwear, etc. Plus Bear is an inspiration to many people.
Kory said
Bear Grylls holds many world records and was in the British Special Air Services. Les is an average man who is smart but does not even compare to Bears physical shape. Bear can out stand almost any kind of conditions.
Inflatable Boat Sealer said
Inflatable Boat Sealer…
For the past year or so there have been many a debate in my house centered around one question:Given[...]…
James Clark said
Lemme add summin 2 my post about 4 posts back…out of every1 the best survivor would be Chris Ryan since he was being chased by the iraqi army and managed to escape over hundreds of miles of desert…he would beat everyone
me said
what kind of knife does bear use? depending on the quality would probable determined life or death.
bear grylls said
I use a gerber knife
Ariel said
My vote is for Les. Bear’s show is staged edu-entertainment. Les does what you see pretty much for real. When it comes down to it though, both would probably do just fine in most situations. I think Les is a better teacher and isn’t a full of himself as Bear. This shouldn’t be about who’s the biggest star, but who provides better info and helps regular people more. Les is that guy.
Ariel said
Did you know that after Les got married, he and his new wife moved into the Canadian wilderness and basically lived a peliolithic existence for A YEAR. They built a cabin with no metal, plastic, or otherwise manufactured tools. Pretty cool.
Steve said
someone else is asking a similar question: http://www.beargryllslesstrouddeathpool.com Which one of them will die first if they keep eating rotting animals and jumping into ice water? I voted for Bear ’cause he takes way more unnecessary risks
Topher said
I go with Les! Though Bear may have a Gerber knife, I think I saw Les with a Ginsu knife!
Lets face it. If you do a “Survival” show and stay in a hotel, How bad can it be? Unless it is a “Motel 8″ You are getting a comfortable amount of sleep and a continental breakfast. Les, while dragging his own camera equipment around is eating worms and the sort for breakfast has it a lot worse off. Don’t believe me? Try carrying around mega pounds of camera equipment and everything else you need to survive. Worms are the easy part. Yum, I am getting hungry.
Bear has the balls! I mean I would not jump into a freezing arctic river just to show I can get naked and get out 4 feet across and dry off. I would have walked down the river a few feet and jumped across when it was 3 just feet across a few dozen yards down the “river”.
I mean damn lets face it each one of these guys has more balls (and ate more odd animal balls) than 99 % of us.
I think Bear is like the college football jock, while Les is the Pro.
If both survived on their own 100% like Les I would go with Bear.
That’s my 2 cents!
James Clark said
haha i take it most of you dont know then that bear has reached the summit of mount everest, and that he’s circumnavigated the uk on a jet ski, he’s paramotored over the himalayas, led 5 men unassisted across the arctic Atlantic ocean, and has paramotored over angel falls
Luciano said
A pesar que Bear va con un equipo de cámara, sus técnicas de supervivencia son mejores ya que por lo menos come durante el programa, en cambio Les lo que hace es morirse de hambre en cada capítulo, suerte que cada programa dura sólo 7 días, si durara un poco mas lo encontrarían muerto por ahí.
Lo que digo es que Les no enseña mucho de supervivencia, sino mas bien como no morir en 7 días.
También pienso que Bear se arriesga mucho innecesariamente y es posible que en alguna escalada se rompa el alma.
De todas formas mi voto es para Bear.
Nick said
This is why people piss me off, sure Bear Grylls is a bad ass. But thats just it, survival isnt about being a bad ass, (which will probobly get you killed in a survival situation)it’s about surviving. And let me tell ya, if you were to put Grylls in a situation where he was A. alone (without his survival experts and medics) and B. with his camera equipment, the guy would either become a lot less exciting (since he would realize trying to look cool creates many accidents) or he would break a limb and die because there wouldn’t be other men there to, for example make his rafts, check to make sure the land he’s about to jump off is safe, or show him how to make a fire. However, put les stroud in a rough situation he already knows how to deal with all of his equipment, knows his limits, and can make incredibly rational moves in short periods of time. Not to mention he knows everything about survival. But aside from that, if you put anyone in Costa Rica, they’ll have a little trouble with heat. All in all, Id root for Les.
kc said
Maybe the question you pose is incorrect? Maybe the real question we should be asking is not who is the better survivor, but if our plane went down in some god forsaken environment, who is it that you want being your leader? Not only by picking one over the other are you touting them the better survival expert, your also touting them as whom you whole heartily put your trust into if you were in that situation.
For me, that personally would be Bear. Hands down. Why?
Yes, I do realized he’s stayed in hotels, and yes, I realize that his show was a little misleading in that he may/may not be “roughing it”, however … it doesn’t make him any less of a survival expert, it doesn’t make his information any less relevant to the situation, and frankly, makes watching the show that much more enjoyable than survivor man, in my opinion.
I’d put my trust into bear(I’d put my trust in Les pretty easily too but given the two options I choose Bear). Not only has the guy been to the top of Everest, he was in SAS(who writes the book on survival), Circumnavigated the UK on Jet Ski, ParamotorED over the Himalayas, climbs inside of dead camels, skins deer to show how to keep warm, jumps in bogs and quicksand and freezing cold water just to show how to get out even though he doesn’t have to. For me, most importantly, he takes chances. It seems when I watch the survivorman, his show is just how to sit and wait for rescue for 5 days and then he’s done, where as Bear makes an effort to take it upon himself to help himself.
That’s why I’d put my trust in Bear and that’s why Bear would win hands down in a suvivoroff.
Having said that though, they both kick ass. I love both the shows and I hope they BOTH continue on for a long time ….
Ingwe J. Malmsteen said
Bear Grylls would kick Les Stroud’s ass. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron. Bear could survive for years with a knife, a flint, a canteen and his shoe laces. The only reason Les can survive for a week is because he always places himself near water and any human can go 4 weeks without food. While I’ll give Les credit that he does go it alone with no crew and his own cameras, have you ever noticed that he never kills anything to eat bigger than a snail or a minnow? Bear Grylls dines on snapping turtles, live snakes, huge iguanas and carcasses that could actually feed a family clan, not just himself. Les couldn’t figure out how to catch fish in a barrel. Les doesn’t even know what types of vegetation are edible. Les sucks, Bear rules. I hope they have a survive-off sometime, because Bear could live the rest of his life in the wilderness and Les would be dead after 10 days. I really hope this happens because then I’d never have to flip channels to avoid watching another stupid episode of “I’m no Survivorman.”
ju said
In reply to:
Mav Says:
November 23, 2007 at 2:49 am
Guys – can I suggest you turn your computers off and go outside and do something real.
I really mean it… TV is for entertainment. None of this matters.
And for the record, I know Bear and I was with him on SAS selection (yes really) and regardless of all this hoo ha above I can guarantee you that you’ll never meet a bigger hearted gutsy chap.
—————————————————————————————
Well Mav don’t you mean that you were on SAS Territorial Selection? Yeah I do know the difference because I’m married (yep really) to a guy who passed SAS selection and served for over 18 years with (22) SAS B Squad and he’s quite amused to hear your comments. What do the guys from Hereford think of Bear saying he was in the SAS? – NO COMMENT…
Tanner Boyett said
i like both but i think les stroud because he is alone for 7 day and bear grylls has a camera crew and hes not gone very long and theres a scam that bear grylls stays at hotels during his shows
Renato said
JU#204
you act as if the boys from Hereford are the ones who are the ones that are authorized to judge Bear . do I smell some jealousy and arrogance here?
for survival SAS is not needed at all atually,if you didn’t know that.
Mike White said
I’ve got good news and bad news.
The bad news: dudes, seriously. This is a fake competition. Please try to be funny when commenting. There’s an aspect of theater in all TV shows. Have fun with it instead of spewing venom.
On the other hand…HOLY CRAP TWO HUNDRED COMMENTS YAYYYYY
Carry on.
Renato said
Yes Mike you are right.but they should cut that crap ‘Bear was only two year in the SAS ,so it ain’t shit’talk.
ask an Apache or a Commanche indian if you need SAS to survive in the wild.
haha
Mike White said
BTW: Day four is coming soon…I promise.
nick said
I just met Les stroud…Survivorman and asked him what he thought of Bear Grylls. He says he is an actor, people start his fires for him, build his shelters for him, he is on a set all day and his off the set at four pm, if he is out all night, he always has seven people with him…Les Stroud…does everything himself. To me this is a no brainer
Shane said
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!….the whole idea of this scenario is SURVIVAL! the knowledge that the Canadian brings to the viewers is pricless. Les wins this scenario hands down. those Canadians love that cold, rough weather.
Roy said
Who are we kidding? It’s Bear hands down. First off the cold doesn’t give Les an advantage. Bear summitted Everest, not to mention several other notable achievements and has been in numerous real suvival situations. Les has yet to survive his own show unless, you count Costa Rica where he got himself lost and lucked into the coast.
I watch both shows religously and I don”t agree with the opinion that Bear has more entertainment value. I laugh almost nonstop at Les. His incessant whining reminds me of a 3 year old fighting bedtime.
Even my wife, who is admittly wilderness challenged finds him inept and annoying. She does find value in his survival tips as well as she feels that he is more of an example of where she would be in such a situation “if I were not around”. All said Les does depict a good example of a URBAN FEMALE trapped in a wilderness situation
As a former U.S.”snake-eater” myself, I also find the comparison as insulting as as the series Suvivor which should be renamed Soft-Core Lessons in Poor Inter-Personal Relationships.
But, some of you are right. This is after all only TV and from your remarks, 99.9% of you should restrict your adventures to the couch.
Yannick said
I hope, and I think that Les eats Bear Grylls.
Bear Grylls has a good condition, isn’t afraid and stuff like that but he is fake. Les Stroud is fucking hilarious and I mean that in a good way! His humor is “simple” but awesome. I just love to see the guy doing.
Les is the real survivor, Bear is an entertainer. That’s the difference.
Les, RESPECT
Samrod said
Bear is ex-militlary. Les is a survivalist who teaches survival. Bear is an arrogant thrill seeker trying to come off tough and show off. On occasion, the two have given contradicting facts: Bear Grylls says drinking urine is actually quite safe if you don’t mind the taste while Less Stroud has said that the high toxicity in urine can be dangerous and drinking it should be an absolute last resort. Les can derive water from plants, distill his urine, and even find it in various roots.
I watch both Survivorman and Man vs Wild and the difference between the two is clear. Les doesn’t only shoot a higher quality show (better shot composition, editing, and sound), he’s also far more competent in a wide range of knowledge from geology, plants, animals, biology, chemistry, and is the clear winner here. Bear Grylls is 25% survivalist, 75% Jackass.
Renato said
I would like to see the two of them discuss this all here.
wouldn’t we like that? know I would.
that would be very nice indeed.
but I do think that many(some are good) advices Bear gives are better not to be followed.hanging on to a piece of wood to float through a wild cold waterstream to move faster than walking is not a good advice .if you hit a rock with your ass or leg(see the wonderfull movie ‘deliverance’ with those ’sofisticated mountain men’ who love wild boar or sow,haha
)you are in big trouble,and survival is all about safe and sane.getting the most out of the minimum .
siggs said
I love watching them both but I think that Les would win. Bear is trained by special forces and in so many instances would wipe the floor with Les but Les taught survival for years. Militray teaches you how to survive poeple like Les are taught how to live. Bear is also as you mentioned too dependent on his crew and as Les states many times there are alot of mindgames in terms of being alone. The one weakness I disagree with is Les having trouble with the heat. ummm have you ever been to Canada most places easily average over 80 in the summer with many provinces seeing over 100 easily many days as well. Canada is alot hotter than England but summer temps are actually hotter than much of the states. They survive in both extremes thus put Les wherever he is comming up on top.
Iseeflores said
The real survivors are bears film crew!
They have to sit and watch his BS.
Saw one episode where he looked “caught” a skunk using only his jacket. Wow real believable.
Here’s a good analogy
Bear is WWF
Les is UFC
Renato said
“They have to sit and watch his BS”
it’s hard to show some respect for some,it seems.
the fact that he ,Bear,has a film crew doesn’t mean one bit he hasn’t got very good survival capabilities.
Bear is a skilled and friendly person.he deserves respect just as Les does.
James Clark said
Bear only depends on his camera crew because he is told to by ITV who he films for, i reckon if it was up to him he would go it alone
george said
Les is the better of the two. I myself have done a stretch of the A.T., island camped in Fl, and have sailed off shore, many times. The things I’ve experienced and come across in the great outdoors has been more in the realm of Les.
If your drunk or a moron looking for trouble you may find your self in the same situations as Bear. Left on their own Bear would do something a member of Jack Ass might attempt and never be seen again. Les takes his time thinks about the overall situation and lives.
Jim Carey said
Les brings to TV what he truly knows of real survival, Bear brings to survival what he knows of TV – crews. If l ever find myself lost, l will be grateful l watched Survivorman, l won’t be running around, sliding down hills, and taking risks. Survival is a mental war, and Les has given me valuable info should l ever need to fight that war. As an avid outdoorsman, l have tried several of Les’s techniques, and found they could work if needed, l started a fire with nothing but my knife in the rain to see if l could, it took about 45 minutes, and alot of effort, but it worked. I live in Ontario, and a fire is the most important thing to have if lost. It provides heat, light at night to construct a shelter, and wards off animals. Thanks Les. Jim
The Sherpa said
Although I think that Les Stroud is the more experienced and practical survivor it needs to be said that Mr. Stroud not only opted to film himself, but that wilderness photography/videography is a longtime hobby of Les’ so I cannot really justify any argument that Les is better because he carries his own camera gear and does not have a crew. And in fact, if Les would have chosen to have a crew there (if ONLY to film him), I think that the quality and quantity of the Survivorman’s generally sage advice would only become more abundant.
That been said, I do agree that Bear is more entertaining, but I cannot think of an episode where Les has not outdone Bear with practical survival advice. Survivorman, through and through, is a better show with, in the end, Les being the better survivalist.
Steven said
I really dont think either one of them would fail said task, but to not like Les cause he complains. I dont know if any of you have spent 7 days alone and hungry….your not happy. So much respect to both of them.
kevin said
Les would win, he puts himself in situations we can all relate too. yes he brings tools along with him but who wouldnt. Les has the ability to use the tools he brings to their full extent. He is a much better hunter than Bear is. Plus he has to do everything twice. You never know what could be behind the scenes in Man vs. Wild. I am a fan of both shows and i truly think les would win this.
Jack said
I enjoy both shows, but Bear takes too many unnecessary risks that one would not do in a real-life survival situation. This is probably done for the sake of entertaining an audience.
Les Stroud has more maturity and uses better judgment in survival situations. He is the better of the two.
Abdul Ahmed said
To all those knocking Bear, shut up!
We need more contestants for the Darwin Awards!
gooseman said
I think both shows are great. I don’t watch them for there entertainment value but for the learning experience. It’s the little things that you get from the shows that will help you survive. Some things I would have never thought of are going to help me on my camping trip this weekend. Yes Bear is a crazy bastard but man that dude will eat anything. Sure Les is older and not as crazy but he carries all his own equipment and hes by himself. How many people do you know have stayed in the deep woods by yourself at night in bear country? I have and I will tell you it makes you a little nervous. So my hat is off to both of these stellar performers and giving me more confidence to go deeper and stay longer in the wild.
SEMPER FI
schroeder said
heres a good spoof on les and bear http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=38977414&searchid=09f4edd1-c51a-4409-8e33-ffdd1bb01e42
TexasSteel said
I think Les is the better man and has the best show. I’ve heard many times that Les is by himself on the adventures and Bear has a crew with him. That sure makes a big difference. I vote for Les.
GrizzlySteve said
Well after watcing Les in the Sierra Nevada’s I’ve concluded this guy is a menace on nature. The guy is an idiot, he’s lacking in so many ways I just laugh my ass off when I see him doing what he thinks is “survival” He’s always trying to create those dead fall traps and I’ve yet to see him smash anything but his fingers. If he spent more time looking around rather than trying to re-invent the wheel he might find something to eat. So his latest was that he takes a guitar with him like we want to hear him play and sing right! I think he’s trying to make Survivorman a variety show rather than the stupid program it is. Well I shouldn’t say that because I do actually learn a lot about survival in the extreams by NOT doing what this fool does. So anyway back to the guitar, he takes the strings off of it and makes some kind of moronic trap by taping a Pringles chip can to the sound hole in the hopes that a rodent with his IQ will fall into it and he’ll catch it. So he ruins a perfectally good guitar first off, second he leaves in in the woods without taking it apart and thirdly what did he do with the strings? I’m guessing that there are now six wire snares some where in the Sierra Nevada’s just setting there to trap some poor little creature just to have it die. No to mention that there is a guitar still laying there that doesn’t belong and that too could become a problem for a deer or other animal that happens to step a hole in it and get it cought on it’s hoof or something. Ok onward, he makes this shreaded bark thing to transport fire across several miles of tinder dry forest that is so dry that it looks as if it’s just going to spontaneously combust as it is. He gets to the top of the next mountain and looks back to see where he’s come from, I’m really surprised that he didn’t look back and see a trail of fire behind him because he carried this roach looking thing on his back where he couldn’t monitor it to see if it was spilling sparks, he’s a moron! Don’t you think that if you’re going to be in the woods you’re going to want to take a book of matches or a flint, not a guitar! Back to those dead fall finger smashers that he built out of the rocks, did you see what he did? He checked each one of them and “nope, nothing here” to the next one “nope, nothing here” and just walked away from them without kicking them over, the guy’s a moron! So all over the place is this disruption, potental harm, un-natural “leave behinds” and probably now a bunch of little dead forestland creatures, what a f’n idiot! My daughters and I love watching this guy because he does so many stupid, STUPID things and we laugh thru most of his shows. Hell my girls know more about the shit than this idiot moron does. This message is for Les, your moma named you appropriately when she named you Les, problem is that you’re missing one “S”
Steve
Steven C said
I agree, i saw this episode to, one question, where in hell did he get the pringles can!?!?
Bill said
Les didnt build a cabin to live in for a year, he lived in a tipi with his wife. In Canada. For a year. With NO metal. Bear spent a total of 2 years in the SAS. Their survival training is rudimentary at best. Bear teaches the wrong shit, ALL the time; you NEVER risk hurting yourself in a situation. You get a cut, it goes septic, youre dead. Break a limb, you’re screwed. Bear is for ENTERTAINMENT ONLY PEOPLE. About the only relevance of his show is how gross bugs taste. And, you NEVER eat a raw reptile…the parasites can kill you within a few days.
Les’ show, though maybe not as entertaining as Bear’s, is for real. He doesnt take unnecessary risks; he is there, alone. He isnt 200m away from a highway (the hawaii lava show), or spend each night in a village (the jungle shows). His filming is done & gone in 3 days; sure, he may get cold & wet but he has dry clothes and warm sleeping gear right off camera. Les, if he gets wet, he stays wet. IF he’s hungry, he tries to fish/trap/forage. IF it doesnt work out, he STAYS hungry. Les would win, hands down. He DOES it, doesnt show it. PEriod.
anonymous said
There is no doubt that Les Stroud would win! He is a true survivor by going out on his own. He ventures into earth’s most hostile envirnments alone for a week. Not to mention he is Canadian (natural Survivor). Bear is an envirnmental menace who is a fake survivor. He has a crew, which depletes the reality. Do you know what he does during the commercial breakes? He stuffs his face with a sandwich made by a crew member. I wathch his show to get a good laugh. Les would destroy him any day! Go Les!
Bear Faker said
If you just put some thought into Man vs. Wild you will question how real it can be:
+ Most episodes he mentions how important water is and how much is needed per day to survive. He is shown drinking bits here and there (ie. gathered on a leaf) but more often than not in the episode he is NOT shown finding any reliable source of drinkable water.
+ He would need even more water with how much extraneous climbing and running he is doing. He doesn’t catch anything substantial to eat yet is never down on energy. I call BS.
+ He has a camera crew and they are out there ’surviving’ with him. How? With lots of supplies, food, and water of course.
The points above plus the videos on YouTube showing him staging things should make anyone question the authenticity of Man vs. Wild as a survival show.
Survivorman is much more authentic so is much enjoyable in my book.
Northerner said
Les would win in my opinion , he is always alone carrying all the camera equipment . I think Bear might be in better physical condition but he always has a camera crew to help him !!! Who knows how much the crew does to help Bear behind the scenes . Les can survive in extreme cold due to the fact that he is from Canada and knows how to cope with cold and damp !! Bear is a very entertaining man eating snakes and beetles but he wouldn’t stand a chance against Les Stroud . GO SURVIVORMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nate said
Its really no competition, you have one man who has official training, a crew to follow him, and does publicity stunts. And the other who, is just good at what he does, doesn’t cheat, is SMART carries his own camera gear, puts himself in real danger, and is just not an ass hat.
Who would you rather watch?
lesisbetter said
ok so it seems many people are going for bear to win the survive off, but let me tell you. Discovery picked bear to do this show because he is charming and it has obviously worked on you all. He is a queen who gets his own camera crew- this means there is a parimedic on stand-by. remember folks, the camera crew are not survial experts. In any given challenge i am going for les, he may have the most weird techniques but they work, he is a REAL survial expert who can teach us all alot. He may not be as interesting as bear but thats not the challenge, the challenge is who can survive, not who can gather a larger audience and hands down my vote goes to les. he is an excellent hunter, and risks his life to be alone for the sake of a real life survial instance.
survivorbear said
I’m a fan of both shows and have been watching them both for awhile now. honestly tho, les stroud would win imo. hes just much more wise imo than bear and knows tons about the lands he visits and has so much respect for all of the natives. not saying bear doesnt know lots or has respect but, it just seems bear has lots of help and experts telling him and setting up the perfect preplanned situation for him (i know its for showing you what to do in such a situation) and les just improvises his whole show which is much more real. i just think if your gonna watch a show about survival, you should watch the real scenario vs setup scenario. but man can bear eat crazy stuff. i think that and when he falls lol like in ireland is the only reason i like him. but les is a blues man and jams on the harmonica. les > bear
Pat Fox said
Ohhhhh boy…….
This is a fun one to read….
I’ve watched many shows from both survivorman and man vs. wild…….
a few of the things that get me is that bear ( I won’t even comment on hotels or camera crew with him or any other of his cheating……) puts himself into more dangerous situations within a dangerous situation…..—who in their right mind would body surf down a river in a survival situation (with or without the life jacket bear had…) or try to climb rock walls…..not me!
one of the most obvious things to do in a survival situation is to minimize risk for injury……
The opposite of what bear grylls does— because he has a stunt show- not a survival show— sure- I’ll give him he’s in shape- he climbed everest ( who would want to by the way?) or he was in the special forces….
folks should read up on les stroud’s bio—-that alone would win this…. I see les do a lot more practical and possible things than bear…. sure- he’s had his mistakes (like catching his shelter on fire in alaska) but that to me is a good sign that he’s the real deal……
I think Les would win, BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY TRUE SURVIVALIST HERE…..bear Grylls is a manufactured prettyboy stuntman.
TOD said
Bear Faker says:
If you just put some thought into Man vs. Wild you will question how real it can be:
+ Most episodes he mentions how important water is and how much is needed per day to survive. He is shown drinking bits here and there (ie. gathered on a leaf) but more often than not in the episode he is NOT shown finding any reliable source of drinkable water.
+ He would need even more water with how much extraneous climbing and running he is doing. He doesn’t catch anything substantial to eat yet is never down on energy. I call BS.
+ He has a camera crew and they are out there ’surviving’ with him. How? With lots of supplies, food, and water of course.
The points above plus the videos on YouTube showing him staging things should make anyone question the authenticity of Man vs. Wild as a survival show.
Survivorman is much more authentic so is much enjoyable in my book.
——-these are all good points….. and……
a few of the things that get me is that bear ( I won’t even comment on hotels or camera crew with him or any other of his cheating……) puts himself into more dangerous situations within a dangerous situation…..—who in their right mind would body surf down a river in a survival situation (with or without the life jacket bear had…) or try to climb rock walls…..not me!
one of the most obvious things to do in a survival situation is to minimize risk for injury……
The opposite of what bear grylls does— because he has a stunt show- not a survival show— sure- I’ll give him he’s in shape- he climbed everest ( who would want to by the way?) or he was in the special forces….
folks should read up on les stroud’s bio—-that alone would win this…. I see les do a lot more practical and possible things than bear…. sure- he’s had his mistakes (like catching his shelter on fire in alaska) but that to me is a good sign that he’s the real deal……
I think Les would win, BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY TRUE SURVIVALIST HERE…..bear Grylls is a manufactured prettyboy stuntman.
these are good points…..
bear grylls is kind of an idiot—- fuckin’ stupid advice really……camera crew, hotels, or not really surviving all aside, the stuff he says to do is stupid— not everyone who gets into a survival situation climbed everest or was in the british special forces— Les stroud is in his forties—- so you could think the stuff he does in a survival situation is possible for you to do as well….as bear’s isn’t.
Jesus H. Christ said
THIS:
You guys are missing the point entirely. The Survive-Off is not about who provides the better survival advice. It’s about a FICTIONAL SCENARIO AND THE HILARITY THAT WILL ENSUE. That’s it. If you read Day One, the emphasis is less on their particular survival skills and more on the humorous aspects of their show, personality, or skills. The Survive-Off is meant to be just an elaborate and entertaining parody, and you should not try and read anything more into it. So stop it.
pretty much is what I’m focusing on—
without his crew bear gryll’s probably isn’t so tough,
wile without having to pack his shit around all the time les stroud has probably got a whole lot more energy—-
les wins before that anyway—
Les is a badass.
two guys can do what les does—-
LES STROUD AND JESUS.
Travis said
I cant belive anyone would bet on Bear winning. Man vs. Wild is based on pure showmanship, not about really surviving. Is any average person going to climb up a 500 ft cliff to avoid walking around the long way? I know I sure wouldnt. Bear is young and fit, and a bonehead. He puts himself in dangerous situations within a dangerous situation that no one in the right mind would ever get into, and certainly not Les. Would you ever jump into a festering bog in scotland? I sure hope not, anyone with a brain would simply avoid the bog. Bear jumps in because its entertainting! His show is all segmented, whats happening when the cameras are off? He has no goal in the show, no destinations, only to show off his strength and ability to hold crap, sometimes literally, down in his stomach. I dont care if his climbed everest or not, tons of people have climbed everest, that has no bearing on his survival skills. Put him in a real survival situation alone, and he wouldnt fair so well.
Les is older and smarter and more rugged. He puts himself alone in dangerous survival situations and shows the average person, someone who is interested in actually surviving if they ever needed to, how to survive. You never see Les climbing up 500ft rock walls, because he is not an idiot. He takes the long way around, because unless his entire audience is a bunch of rock climbing fanatics or “brittish special forces” he has no need to do it. He is careful and shows his audience how to survive logically.
On survivor man, Les carries all his own camera gear. In my opinion, Bear’s camera crew are better survivors than Bear himself, they are lugging around the cameras and watching him show off. The only reason his show has any popularity is because he acts bad ass, so guys think he’s tough, and hes a brit with a pretty little accent and good looking face, and girls love that. Survivorman might not be as exciting, but Les certainly doesnt just sit around. If any of these “Bear supporters” actually watched survivorman they would see that Les is dropped off by himself in a remote location, with pretty much nothing except a multi-tool and his harmonica. Then he has to make his way to the finish where he is picked up, in the meantime carrying all the camera gear, filming, and surviving. This is the premise of his show!
As for the so called “hilarity” that would ensue from the two having a survive off, bear would win. He would do something completely dangerous and unessicarry and injure himself, and that would be hilarious to watch. I dont know why it would be judged on the hilarity, but thats what the writter of this blog has stated. But i guarentee that in a real survival situation, where the winner was based on surviving and reaching the finish, I guarentee Les would make it to the finish well before Bear. Bear wouldnt even reach it because he would be injured, lost, or dead.
berto levario said
bear grylls can survive any situation
Ozzy Osbourne said
I think they would start off arguing—– les would wanna think anddo things worthwile to the situation and bear would say “hey— This really sucks- we’re really lost!” in his British accent, scared because he doesn’t have his team of survival experts with him, Les would bust out some crazy harmonica and get the forest dancing…….
but les stroud would be the only survivor,
In Man vs. Wild, Wild wins…..
berto levario said
les stroud would have no chance in surviving against bear grylls,
In Man vs. Wild, MAN wins!
Moo said
Bear Grylls is a faker and a liar, and if he actually found himself alone in the wilderness he would die in three days. Hands down. Les Stroud not only survives in the wilderness, but he does it by himself, while worrying about running the camera equipment and keeping it intact, AND he shows how to find food that regular people would ACTUALLY eat. The fact that Bear eats raw fish and snakes proves only that he’d do well on fear factor. Real survivors know better than to risk eating raw meat. Showmanship, sure, he’s got Les beat. But this isn’t about showmanship. It’s about survival. And Bear would be crying for a helicopter to come save his pansy ass three hours in, while Les would already be halfway to Sapporo.
bear grylls #1 fan (berto levario) said
bear grylls is so awsome he already be done when les starts take away all the things les uses and give him just what bear uses and he cant survive a day.
mc said
Have to disagree with almost every post here. Bear has a camera crew with him, and hasnt really even shown that he is sleeping in the wilderness. Bear’s situations are way too contrived and serendipitous.
Les is less glamorous, and more real.
My money is on the person who actually goes at it alone, Les.
The Truth said
bear grylls is gay, berto levario is his lover. les wins!!
Eric said
Bear Grylls is more entertaining … he reminds me of when I used to watch the “A Team” or “McGyver” show when I was a kid.
For those of you who don’t remember or don’t know, here is a typical scenario:
The “A team” would typically get captured by the bad guys, then end up getting locked in a barn. It would just so happen that the barn would have a welding device and a running vehicle. The A team would make a tank out of this stuff and break out the barn and get the bad guys. Even when I was 8 years old, I would ask “What kind of idiots would lock the A team in a barn with welders and a running vehicle?”
Similarly, for McGyver … what kind of bad guys would lock McGyver up with something that explosives can be made with???
Same for Bear Grylls … what kind of idiot would perform the stunts he does when trying to survive?
How often would one be faced with the stuff he does, or the opportunities he has (everything is planned / staged / choreographed obviously, and he does those crazy stunts fully knowing that he has a rescue team standing by).
If you want to learn about survival, watch Les Stroud.
If you want entertainment, watch Bear Grylls, the A team, McGyver, or something else that is fictional
Eric said
I think this pretty much decides it for me …
Watch!!!
meh said
Well, stroud brings far more equipment, plus he always pusses out of situations (especially in the arctic episode, where he had a shit load of stuff). I think if they weren’t being filmed and weren’t bringing loads of equipment like that wussy Les, then it would be interesting to just see who makes it back first.
Also, the author has a ridiculous view of Canada: almost no one lives in the barren wastelands of the arctic, and sothern Ontario (where like 98% of ontarians live) gets very humid and hot in the summer, into the high 30s… so, i don’t think stroud would be too much out of his element compared to bear in a rainforest.
still, i think bear, if he wasn’t being a showoff, could survive without being rescued better.. well actually I am not sure. who care though, survivorman likes to get naked too much though, it’s gross.
Jonathan said
I think that Bear and Les are both about the same in terms of their technique and skill to survive in the wild…meaning that they both know how to survive just about anywhere. So it is not as if any one person is OVERWHELMINGLY better in terms of their skill to survive than the other. So since they both know what to do, what really matters is if they can actually do it and which can, more importantly, do it more easily compared to the other. And so taking into account the difference in their age (Les being a little too old for surviving and Bear being at a prime age for surviving) and their level of fitness (I hope everyone agrees that Bear is much more fit than Les), By this I conclude that Bear is able to complete tasks more easily than Les which means that survival would be much easier for Bear. Since Les would struggle more in doing these unspecified tasks (not saying he would be incapable of doing them, merely saying he would use more energy to do the same thing) I would say that Bear Grylls is a better SURVIVOR because he is, most importantly, more CAPABLE than Les (not saying which is more skilled in how to survive, because honestly no one can know for sure which is more skilled than the other). So the major point I am explaining is that skill alone does not determine which is the better SURVIVOR (notice that this debate is about who is the better survivor and not who is the most skilled), what is more pivotal is their respectively capabilities (Bear being better) which in turn makes him a better SURVIVOR. By this Bear Grylls would undoubtedly emerge victorious in this competition. (Also by looks alone I would say Bear is also more skilled than Les, but its only by looks I am not contradicting myself)
Just a comment to bring to the table…I don’t understand how people can say Bear Grylls does so many things wrong and is careless, if those same people say that he gets coached by survival experts every step of the way.
P.S.-
Les Stroud is HORRIFYINGLY HORRIBLE at fishing!!!!!!!
Jonathan said
After reading Meh’s last part I say Bear gets naked much more than Les and he’s actually in front comermen too. Les at least gets naked with know one around…but I wonder how edits those scenes(hopefully himself).
Bill said
My money is on Les for survival and he has a better show. Im not interested in some of the sensational antics that Bear attempts to pull off. Maybe entertaining tv for some but so was the Gong Show.
L Breezy said
Les does too go with a crew. But anyway, I gotta go with Bear, I mean, the man climbed Everest. Don’t get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for Les, I just think that Bear would take home the victory
YO FACE said
LES IS AN EPIC FAILURE!! BEAR IS ALL THAT IS MAN….AND PART T-REX~GORILLA HYBRID THAT WOULD DEMOLISH LES IN ANY COMPETITION IN THE ALL OF EXISTINCE!
berto levario said
bear grylls is not gay he is the best suvival expert the truth can suck my cock
luke g said
bear would win. he is not careless like everyone says, he is a great climber. he is better at catching animals, and finding water. he takes most of his resources from nature, where les stroud uses pipes and bags and humans trash.
how can you all say bear is careless? i have seen les cut himself so many times! his feet are always infected! he doesnt take time to warm up or dry his clothes.
les wastes a lot of time trying absurd techniques to achieve no goals.
les has a crew nearby that communicates with him at least once daily.
bear also tells you when obstacles are presented to him to show a survival technique.
allegations that bear stayed in a hotel are false, though when hes not filming they stay in a base camp.
Brad said
I have to vote for Les 100% on this one. Les knows his stuff better than anyone else. Sure he’s 45 years old, but isn’t that just showing how much tougher he is? Plus, he is alone out there and not with some camera crew watching him 24/7. That makes Bear a huge pussy.
Les has to stay out in the wild for a whole week with nothing but what he can carry in his pack and I believe that is completely fair. Becasue at survival, I’d put as many things as I could in my pack. It’s not cheating, it’s SURVIVAL!!!!!
Plus, I know what the guy is like. He lives in the same town I do (which is Huntsville, Ontario by the way) and I’ve even met him. He’s not a bad cocky guy like Bear is according to other peoples’ posts.
ghandi said
you gays- les stroud is the man- and an awesome musician as well- bear grylls is a showoff—– sure- an expert climber and all- but you can’t teach someone to be an expert climber while they are trying to survive-
Brad said
Honestly, It’s not about whose show is more entertaining. Sure, Les’ show is more boring the Bear’s, but who gives a shit! If you were out in the middle of a forest or a desert or whatever alone, I don’t think you would be worrying about how entertaining you are.
You idiots are missing the point: Survival! And when it comes down to it, Les is more knowledgable. Bear is just a good for nothing show-off who thinks he’s better than everyone else, but in reality, he couldn’t survive in his own backyard if there wasn’t a camera crew there to supply him with food and make-up. He’d go in his house for food in the middle of the night.
I’m rooting for Les.
Scott said
First off let me state that both of these guys are great and I could not do half off what they do. Both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. I think there are things to incorporate from both of the shows. But, that being said, I think Bear would have a better chance. Les goes somewhere and survives for a weak then goes back out(remember, I not saying the he sucks). Bear(awesome name) goes into a situation and gets to civilization(safety), he escapes(probably good at from his E&E training in the SAS), and doesn’t just survive.
Les’s show would show you to stay where you are and hope somebody comes and gets you. Bear’s show would show you how to get out of where you are and to safety. Bear does things not everybody can or should do, but he doesn’t rely on the hope that somebody will be able to get him.
I don’t know what they are like of camera. I’ve only seen a piece of behind the scenes on “Survivorman”, and Les goes into the territory where he is going to be before he starts taping and talks with survival experts of the area, I don’t know if Bear does this or not but he probably does a lot of research nevertheless.
berto levario said
now watching both shows they are both awsome survivalists but if it realy came down to it bear would win
OttawaOzzy said
The ability to eat a worm, grub, pond scum etc.. does not equal survival skills. Bear is the face and you all look at the ex-military man and swoon. If you dropped both Les and Bear down in Patagonia in a real survival situation (and without the friggin hang glider for corn’s sake) the result is easy to predict. Bear tries to get to civilization and breaks his bloody neck falling off a cliff or some fool crap like that. Les hunkers down builds himself a good shelter and sets up a foraging schedule until help arrives. Oh and his (Les’s) job is made much easier when in his scouting he comes across the remains of Bear and pries that flint from his cold dead hands. Les Stroud wins! IMHO
Zealot said
Bear is awesome. He’s extremely entertaining and eats everything raw. However, Les Stroud is much more realistic and is completely alone. So, Les has my vote.
Logan said
BEAR GRYLLS IS AWESOME
FUCKBEARGRYLLS said
FUCK BEAR GRYLLS!!!!!!!!!! He’s a fucking idiot! He’s always doing retarted unecessary things! FUCK HIM AND FUCK ALL YOU BEAR GRYLLS QUEERS!
hahahahahaaha said
Bear grylls is awesome and so is Les stroud! But come on…one nighters for Bear a full seven days for Les! Les wins hands down!
Topher said
OK after a year and a half of playing who has the larger one. I say we petition each to a dual.
A good old fashion American dual. No I am not talking pistols at noon, though that may speed things up. Both want the money and neither want to look bad on TV so I say they together decide to, or the public demands them both to go to the same “area” and see who lasts the longest.
This would decide the END of this post right?
Unless one get a boo boo of course.
Scott said
I agree with Topher. We should. But there will be always somebody that will side with someone. Hey, I like both the shows and both of them have great things to learn from. Somebody will say they have completely different styles so neither could win and blah blah blah.
I will say this. If you were to drop them somewhere, and not give Bear a camera crew, and not give Les a crew that is about 1-10 miles away at any given time, then there is no telling who will win.
And who tict off post #268. Or are they just an immature idiot?
FUCKBEARGRYLLS said
why would bear grylls win? have you ever watched survivorman? Don’t get me wrong bear’s stupidity can be entertaining at times but survivor man would crush him in a challenge…. I honestly have to say you’re FUCKTARD if you think bear grylls would win.
Youseeitmanup said
I watch both shows, and the bottem line is they do what they do. Survivorman is obviously the logical way to survive situations while Man vs. Wild is more about shock and awe. Bear will do anything and that’s why he draws more of an audience. I mean every show the guy is seriously risking his life with his stunts. I find it more watchable, but Les is still a soldier.
Scott said
I’m just saying IMO that Bear has a better object to his show. As I have said twice, I enjoy both shows(ps. that means I have seen survivorman). I didn’t say that I agree with how Bear Gyrlls does things, I agree that he shows off a too much and that average person could and should not do a lot of what he does.
But I’m not going to keep arguing on a blog like this. If you would have a simple civilized debate and not go name calling just because you think Les would win, then I would talk.
All I have to say is that everybody here should e-mail Discovery and ask for a showdown. Otherwise people will stay on here and worthlessly argue about something that we really and truely have no clue, nor any control over who would win. We can only root for whoever we want to win.
Kim said
A lot of people say all this crap about Bear being a fake. So what if he stays at hotels, he is actually out there. It’s easy for people to criticize when they are in their homes. But Bear eats all this weird crap, swims in freezing cold water and puts himself in situations to show us what to do if it happens to us.
He actually teaches us what to do if we are ever in that situation, you actually learn more from Bear. He shouldn’t risk his life to show us what to do, that’s not fair.
Kim said
Even right there in the article. “Born Survivor is not an observational documentary series but a ‘how to’ guide to basic survival techniques in extreme environments,” the spokeswoman said. ITS FOR EDUCATION PURPOSES!
dave said
bears definitely…Les does nothing dangerous like bear…going against alligators…Lions…eating scorpions…les eats leaves and weird shit like that…bear climbed the highest mountain in the world…les didn’t…les just sits in the woods and survives there…its stupid…i’d rather hunt and eat a camel than eat leaves like les…bear slept inside of a camel..now thats bad ass
dave said
bears definitely…Les does nothing dangerous like bear…going against alligators…Lions…eating scorpions…les eats leaves and weird shit like that…bear climbed the highest mountain in the world…les didn’t…les just sits in the woods and survives there…its stupid…i’d rather hunt and eat a camel than eat leaves like les…bear slept inside of a camel..now thats bad ass…bear is also built..les is all old and hairy n shit it’s nasty
Venom said
Les Stroud, duh.
Bears is fake and couldn’t last without his camera crew.
I don’t care who’s more exciting.
I just want to know how to survive.
MtnManJoe said
I have spent Many years doing the Wilderness Survival Thing ( Not is as many exotic environments as Les and Bear – but in some pretty demanding locales .. from New Mexico and Arizona deserts, to High in the Rocky Mountains and all over the Olympic Peninsula )
In all this time, I have had some pretty harrowing experiences, and a number of true Survival emergencies,
I can relate to both Les, and Bears apparent method of dealing with these situations.
For someone highly experienced in back-country travel and living, either method ‘could be’ utilized.
But – For the average person, caught up in a wilderness survival emergency, I think following the methods demonstrated by Mr. Stroud would give them a much higher possibility of prevailing. ( The more adventurous and risky approach, demonstrated by Mr. Grylls would probably lead to disaster, by the average person.
I have watched All of the episodes, and have All of the videos by Both Les and Bear, and enjoy them all .. And have gleaned some useful tidbits of information from each and all of them.
In the contest under consideration here, I will have to go with Les as winner. ( would they Both complete the objective – Yes : -)
Side Note: I had the pleasure of meeting Les a few weeks ago, when he did his book signing, and ‘Meet and Greet’ at the REI store in Seattle – and had a nice, tho too short, discussion with him about his ‘off the grid’ venture ( which I had similarily done years back ) .. He was gracious, and forthcoming, and seemed to be a hell of a nice guy
Man said
Bear is an idiot. That dumbass would die way before the guy from suvivor man. Bear is the biggest fake ive ever seen. Whenever he climbing something its just different angles but really close up. HHMMM i wonder why. Hey guys lets put this guy out into the wilderness and film him acting like every step he takes is the most dangerous thing ever done. By the way. Bear sleeps in a hotel when they are done filming every day. My dad did a rigging job for Bear and on the climbing part of the shoot he would ask my dad a specific question about rock climbing. My dad would tell him and then he would turn to the camera and word for word say exactly what my dad had just told him. stop. ask him another question and so on. anyway ive spent enough time on this bullshit. the guy is just an actor. he has no survival skill whatsoever and if he does its not from years of trekking and that stuff, its from the guy who just barely told him how to do that shit.
Man said
oh ya and to what kim said. he doesnt risk his life to show us anything. hes obviously in it for the money
Jesse E said
Are we discussing who is going to show who up or who is more knowledgeable about survival skills in any given situation. I think Les will show the necessary skills to win this competition. When you live in these situations in everyday life as Canadians who spend much time in the outdoors you learn by experience. Les rules!
wilder said
how can you not vote bear? all les does is show you how to sit on your ass for seven days, while bear, while not alone, actually shows you how to get yourself to safety. bear has been blaimed for recieving help for his crew, why not? he is acutally putting his life in danger for entertainment. i love both of these shows but, given the competition, getting to a certain place rather than just surviving, you cant possibly vote against bear.
Les Jr. said
I bet if these two were thrown into a survival situation together, it would end in Les Stroud saving Bear’s non-hardcore ass. You can’t even compare these two guys and anyone who knows anthing about the outdoors or survival will agree. All that fake looking climbing, jumping, risk-taking and showing off that Bear does is just nonsense for the cameras to make him look “extreme”. Who is taking the real risks though? Les Stroud is. If he breaks a leg or if there is any emergency, Les is totally alone and there is a high chance of death with nobody to help. No camera crew for comfort. And who really cares if Bear climbed Mt. Everest and how does that make him a better survivor than Stroud? I’m not saying it would be easy or that I could do it, but all real mountaineers know that Everest is not a technical climb and almost any rich tourist with mediocre fitness and bottled oxygen can be dragged up by a guide. I’m curious to know what Les was doing when he was a young buck! Another plus for Les is that he is Canadian. Canadian outdoorsmen live in vast, rugged country with severe climate and large, dangerous wildlife like bears and pumas. Bear’s home country of Britain is about the size of a Canadian lake, the worst weather is rain and fog, and the most feared animal is a raccoon in heat (I do love Britain and Brits though). Anyways, to end my rant I wanted to mention that I just saw a Survivorman episode I had never seen that was in Papua New Guinea and at the end of the episode he gets surprised at his campsite by two serious looking native dudes waving machetes. They ended up inviting him back to their village as a guest of honor for surviving out in the jugle. I don’t know how they knew Les was out there, but apparently this tribe is uncontacted, totally primitive and are CANNIBALS and Les was the first person to ever photograph them. It was insane man. I think if those two natives had brought Bear Grylls back to the village, they would have decided to eat him and that would be hilarious in my opinion.
FUCKBEARGRYLLS said
“Man,” you have made some very good points and so have many of you. Although I am not very fond of Bear Grylls, he does have some “balls” and does a lot of stunts that Les and many of us would never try to reenact. So you do have to give the man some props. Dave, however, I give you no props… Personally I think you’re an idiot and I would never want to be in a survival situation with you. Dave please tell me about the next time you are in a survival situation, struggling to simply stay alive, and find yourself in a position where you feel like you need to wrestle alligators and kill camels…
FUCKBEARGRYLLS said
“i love both of these shows but, given the competition, getting to a certain place rather than just surviving, you cant possibly vote against bear.”
“bear has been blaimed for recieving help for his crew, why not?”
-Wilder
^ Bear has been blamed* for receiving* help for his crew. Why not?
1)Learn how to spell.
2)Your sentence structure blows. If you are going to persuade people, work on putting your words into logical order… Most of us don’t speak “idiot.”
3)When you’re lost “getting to that certain place” might be difficult.
4)You don’t have a camera crew in a survival situation.
goblues! said
Bear= A FAKE! Les = REAL! end of story lol
John said
In one episode of survivorman les stroud had walked across a fallen tree to get to the other side of a river…..or so you think! if you look at the tree it had been cut flat on the side he was supposed to have walked on. you can see very very clearly the saw gashes on the tree! i say both bear and les are not the real thing , but i still enjoy watching them.
Jake said
les stroud is beast
Mike said
I am a huge Bear fan and also and Stroud fan, just to get this out the way i own both survival books written by the pair. Stoud has a better more humble writing style while still teaching more then Bears, Bears book is still very good however teaching knots very well.
Back to the subject at hand. You can’t ignore Strouds age but he has done this for years and has been round the block a few times, Bear has done the same as well and is younger but all i can think of is the tortoise and the hare about the race. Drop them in with only the knowledge they already have Stroud would win (but it is close). This is because of his hunter backround and experience. Bear is more likely to harm himself because of his youth and arrogance that only passes with age and so isn’t his fault.
I think they would actually enjoy working together though; sharing experiences and being chummy.
Kris said
Wow, whoever said Bear was a wuss is really…deranged. Have you seen half the stuff he does? Climbing UP waterfalls, not to mention absailing down, eating snakes, insects, dead zebras (just to name a few)..I’m sorry if he doesnt light a fire in a ‘manly’ way, or that he stays overnight in a hotel. In Man vs. Wild, the crew SET UP SITUATIONS to show you how to deal with them, so if they’re not filming him sleeping, then why should he sleep in a forest if there’s a hotel within helicopter distance? I love Bear, his show is entertaining and very informative. (I now know how to survive in a desert / African savannah)
. GO BEAR!
Brianthelion said
Bear stages everything. He’s a movie actor. C’mon you people wake up. Les has walked the talk. Can you see Liz Taylor in a survival situation? We’re talking Bear Liz here! Les has won already.
Mr. Indestructo said
berto lavario is gay. he likes bear because it reminds him of naked. Bear Grylls, loser. Les Stroud, winner. Simple. Berto likes Bear because he drinks his own pee. Toxic, Berto, did you know that?
Grizzlysteve said
I take back everything that I wrote before. Bear Grylls is the looser. The real reason my daughters were laughing is because I like to watch Man vs. Wild NAKED! That’s right super commando. My daughters think that I have the ugliest body they’ve ever seen. So please all of you forgive me. Survivorman Les Stroud wins. He’s the real man. And by the way, I’m called Grizzlysteve because I have hair growing where there shouldn’t be. I apologize to my Proctologist every time that I visit him. So I hope that I have the final say in this debate. LES WINS!!!!!!!! I have to go now,,,,, Bear Grylls and I have a date tonight. Ta Ta for now.
Ashley said
OK OK OK I know what I said before but I’ve changed my tune. I now sing Les Stroud is the best. I met Bear in a bar…(hey that sounds pretty good), he was apparently shooting an episode at the time, the Australian outback. He said how hot it was out there. He said that he spent at least an hour in the sun that day. He also said that the air conditioner in the luxury RV they use on the set wasn’t really cooling him off enough. After about seven or eight drinks I also noticed that he lost his English accent. He started to sound more like a Ukrainian. He then showed me the medals he tells everyone that he received from special forces. He started crying and said that he had to eat at least a hundred boxes of Cracker Jack to get them. I really started to wonder what he was all about after the waiter brought Bear his ninth drink. He grabbed his butt and said ” Wow, I could have really used this in the Sahara episode.” What REALLY turned me off though was the point at which I dropped my napkin. When I bent down to pick it up I saw Bear’s toes through his sandals. HE PAINTS HIS TOE NAILS. RED!!! At this point I started to gag and got up to leave. As I was leaving I looked over my left shoulder and saw Bear throwing up in someone’s Harvey Wallbanger. When I walked out the door into the parking lot I saw Bear’s crew hanging around his luxury RV. I told them they better go in and get him. But,,, they were all too drunk to walk. I was never so disgusted in all my life. Sooooo, Bye bye, POO Bear. I now know,,,Les is the man. The Real SURVIVORMAN!!!!!!
Elisha said
Okay, Bear Grylls is totally badass. I will argue that till the day I die. Les Stroud is stupid because one shouldn’t put themself at risk of death for entertainment purposes. Bear puts himself in the situation, but is smart about it. Plus, I mean, come on, Stroud doesn’t look NEARLY as good as Bear does doing the same things. And I don’t think Les wouls squeeze dung for water. Bear would win from completely owning Les in awesomness. Anyone care to argue with me?
K said
Lol, ok Ashley, i’ll believe that when i see it.. staging an English accent? Haha! That’s hilarious. I can totally see why he’d do that…*cough* I’ll vouch for you Elisha, Bear Grylls is the height of cool.
Jonathan said
Ok, I’m a Bear Grylls fan and think he would win this contest, but honestly Stroud supporters do you really believe comment #296…its ABSOLUTELY RIDUCULOUS come on. Who wears sandals to a bar these days to begin with. And I highly doubt that no one caught the “fact” that Grylls is actually ukrainian, please, look him up in wiki…born in Britain and studied in Britain.
Jonathan said
Also, for you Bear Grylls bashers who say that he takes too many risks and is’nt careful enough, did you ever stop to think that maybe the reason that he is less careful is because he has a crew to help him if he does get injured? Put yourself in his shoes…you don’t think that you might be a little less careful if you had a crew with you? I’m sure if Bear was in a real survival situation that he would be much more careful, but Stroud has to be very careful because he is miles and miles away from his crew.(Though in the case of Stroud, I bet he has some sort of GPS tracking device that he presses if gets into real trouble, because the show says that he is all alone in the wild but not all alone with no GPS device …I mean there are some snakes that can kill you in mere hours in Africa, I doubt he would have no means of communication.)
reply to Jonathan said
comment #296 was all said as a joke. Sure Bear is more dynamic, but not to many people can identify with him because they could never be like him. Les Stroud is more like your average Joe that people could try and immitate by going out on a weekend camping trip. Different strokes for different folks. I like to watch both shows, and take something away from both. What would bring both men to one level and against each other is the Survive-off. Great idea if you could get them both to agree. Each with their own camera crew. Maybe big bucks would do it. It would take more than one show to do it, and I’d pay to see it. Reality TV at its best.
Fake grylls said
Didn’t Grylls recently fell in a crevice? = Lost already off foolish non surviving.
Elisha said
Thanks K lol. I’m glad there are some non-dumbasses on the web. I’m just a bit on the mad side that they don’t show Man vs. Wild as much as they use to. I’m hoping for some new episodes. =]
K said said
Thanks K Thanks K . Hey Elisha I don’t need your patronage. Go suckhole to someone else. I am a dumbass. And hey.. I changed my mind,
Bear Grylls is a dumbass too.
Mark said
I’ve seen every eps of each show. Les rules and Bear is a tool!
Bear knows how to do a lot but he is purely out to make a tv show. He would not be doing this stuff if he were not getting paid and he does his best to fake as much as he can. Even if he is sleeping in the wilderness – he still tries to make every cliff seem taller than it is and pretend he’s close to falling down a hill when he’s not. There are scenes where he is acting like he’s thratened by a snake when the poor animal is clearly just trying to get away from him. How about that alligator he leapt on as if it was about to kill him. that thing was the size of a toy poodle and it too was clearly just trying to escape from him. Then he didn’t even eat it. Bear sucks!
Les is the opposite. The show might not have as many animal encounters or things like that but that is because it is REAL. And it depicts what it would be like to survive in a place. And Les has been doing survival trips for years even without cameras in adventure races and the like. He loves this stuff and it shows. He appreciates the skill that it takes to really do it. Bear does not.
Mark said
I didn’t comment on the actual question – clearly I think Stroud would win. It woudl be close at first but the longer the trip gets the more Stroud would dominate. After a week Stroud would be faring better.
If we had the true survival test of of which would survive the longest in the wild – Stroud would blow Grylls away. Now that I’d like to see! Maybe a test of survival till one of them taps out and says ‘ok i’m done’. I don’t think that will ever happen but it woudl be mighty cool.
Mark said
Check out this site. http://www.daughtersoftiresias.org/bearwiki/Evidence
Bear basically makes an extreme sports show. It’s not survival.
Les makes a survival show. No comparison as far as who knows more or could survive better.
Dr. Phil said
To all you phoney Bear Grylls supporters. I want you to make an appointment to see me in my office. I might have enough straight jackets for all of you. I put Grylls in one after he started drinking from camel shit. What Bear does is for the shock effect, not survival, there is a big difference my poor little misguided, naive, uneducated, gullible, sheep. I want you to know and be reassured,that my door is open to you when you finally come to the realization that Bear lives in the land of make believe. What he does is not really there! Check out fake Bear websites, my love starved,, attention hungry little children. I will do my best to help you and bring you back to reality. I give you my best. Dr. Phil McGraw
David said
Bear owns lesbo…not even a comparison. Les openly admits he uses experts and doesnt know DICK about regions outside of canada…see season 2, espisode 7 behind the scenes, so claiming is bear is fake for that reason is retarded.
Whats the difference between the crew coming in after a show, somehow finding all les’s cameras (if you pay attention he makes jokes about his crew finding them), and just having a camera guy with you? nothing but a crappy video.
Les’s episode in the swamps…. If you listen to ANYTHING he says about the swamp, you would have to be an idiot. I live FL, and I have hunted and explored a LOT of swamps, the crap he pulled in the swamplands of georgia is 100% crap and pathetic.
Saying Bear cant light a fire as well as les is dumb. claiming bear takes to many risks is even dumber. His point is to show you how to survive the worst case scenerio, as if you didnt have a choice but to climb.Its better to prepare for the worse than to ignore it. It’s also a LOT better than watching les camp out playing his harmonica waiting to be rescued…which is funny, his show cant decide whether to camp out, hike out, or just roam around.
Glenn said
Okay, have fun climbing around like a monkey, drinking water out of shit, or even better, taking a piss in your only uncontaminated water container. You are an idiot. I would never want to be out in the wilderness with any Bear Grylls fan. A big part of being in a survival situation is deciding whether you want to wait where you are, find a better spot or try to get out. You have obviously not been in a real survival situation.
Dr. Phil said
Do you know where Canada is DAVE? DUH???? Does the word north mean anything to you? To survive in the swamps what do you eat???? YA”LL your cousins?? Tell me DAVID? Does your mother look like your sister???? Read my previous letter, You need help. I don’t think that I could help you but reality is something your going to have to search for,,my little rubbertitlian pile of iniquity. But it’s OK your hat isn’t on backwards,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,your just facing the wrong way…..
David said
Dr. Fail, are really that ignorant, or just searching for attention? I’m sorry I crushed your hero, and I wont bother you again. You can go camp out in the ditch and wack off to your les photos.
scooby said
“Saying Bear cant light a fire as well as les is dumb. claiming bear takes to many risks is even dumber. His point is to show you how to survive the worst case scenerio, as if you didnt have a choice but to climb.Its better to prepare for the worse than to ignore it. It’s also a LOT better than watching les camp out playing his harmonica waiting to be rescued…which is funny, his show cant decide whether to camp out, hike out, or just roam around.”
No, Bear in many cases has a choice and chooses something way too risky and dangerous. Not the best way to survive.
While some of you may think Bear’s show is more entertaining, Les is the better survivor. It’s not about who is in better physical shape. If that were the case, there’d be much more competition.
Oh, and I agre that Bear is a drama queen. Too much grunt-talking. I don’t know if he’s constipated or what.
Alec said
My school is having a huge debate which one is better. Whoever Takes Bears side says that he is more entertaining than survivorman but everyone for Les says that he is more of a survivor because he does not have a camera crew or been rumored to “stay at hotels” while on a survival misson. And i think it is true that if you take away Bears flint then he wont be able to make fire.
Bear is a drama queen and he is not a true survivorlist.
Les Rocks
K said
Wow, ‘K Said’. Nice work…
Didn’t realise Bear Grylls vs. Les Stroud was such a touchy subject for you lol..
Gammax said
This is why most of you shouldn’t even be talking. Lighting a fire is not brain surgery, and should be common knowledge to anyone that hikes, camps, hunts, or has been a boyscout. Claiming Bear cant, after he has in several of his episodes, is pretty stupid. Even Les uses flint here and there. Les even uses stranger objects that you “might” have when you are in the wild..like the bike parts he used, or the barrels he built a shelter with. (how many people will have a air balloon with them when they are lost in the jungle, or anywhere for that matter? He loses just on that note)
Bear assumes you have no choice but to rappel or climb, and the point of survival is to be prepared for the worst. Claiming he’s risky is ignorant.
Even if bear used a hotel, I bet you at some point les has too, and he almost always gets a ride out instead of finding civilization…they are both great outdoorsman, and les doesn’t deserve to be called anything but bear’s equal.
heh, I think just commenting about this subject shows that I’m the retard.
Jake, here, hey Gammax said
Les has too?!?… Hotel??? It’s documented,,, impposible!! Do you understand anything about, plagiarism???,, Gammax?? Putting it on INTERNATIONAL T V ?? Inform yourself! Watching Hell’s Canyon,,,,,DID YOU SEE IT?? Were you watching???? There is a break in the filming,, because Bear couldn’t even start a fire with a flint stick!!!! You’re right Gammax, you are a retard,! ! ! especially if you think Bear can even equal..what’s real,,,,..your srraka! !, that stinks,, that’s real!!……If I hurt your feelings, well too bad..get over it,, Get informed, before you post anything on http://WWW... The Air baloon was a case senario. Missed that? Were you, not, listening?? OH, I apologize, for the out burst,,,(yeah right) but,.. The reason the world is in such a mess, is because of you! people like you ! have to stop,, reason and annalize, why things are, the way they are. Are you attracted by glitz and glamour of what you see,,, or,,,,by what they are? truth,,, and reality??? MAN VS WILD episodes are being shown less, and LES,,, LES,, . pardon the truth..(SURVIVORMAN),,,…is on more,,and more. The truth lives on. HEY!!! Give your opinions, whatever they may be… Anyone with a measure of intelligence will understand the difference between the two…………………………………………………………………………….
Robert Dunnar said
I came here a fan of Les Stroud, but after reading the rude and ignorant comments, like Jake’s, I had to question myself. What the Bear Fan’s are saying pretty much debunks the Les Fans. Survivorman started a the end of Man Vs Wild’s season, hence you are seeing more of Survivorman for now.
Jake, I suggest that if you can’t comprehend what the others are saying, you shouldn’t call people them retarded. You only make yourself the fool.
Jake said
Sorry Robert, I was only agreeing with Gammax. Sorry Gammax, I don’t think that you are a retard. I am not a fool Robert, I know exactly when both seasons started. I like them both. I watch them both. I apologize for sounding rude. We are all lovers of the outdoors. We are all survivorlists. I love Bear, I love Les, I love Gammax, and I love you Robert.
Susan said
Don’t apologize Jake. I’ve known Robert for years. He’s not sure if he’s coming or going. What you said is true.
Robert Dunnar said
Hey Susan, you promised not to expose me. I can’t comprhend what I can’t comprehend, Do you comprehend? Last night my mother lost me in Walmart, I cried until the clerk to me to lost and found. That’s where I found my grandma. I survived. I think I deserve a lollipop or somthing. How about some bear paws? Jake I love you too. you are my homo, ,,I mean hero. `
Chris said
Bear’s show is very entertaining to watch and to do some of the stuff that he does requires skill and balls. He shows you a ‘how to’ and not an actual survival situation. Les’ show is not as entertaining to watch, but he is out there with nothing but camera gear and he has to find his own food. Both shows are great, but they are very different in nature. To claim one show is better than the other is on very little ground. Those people ridiculing others just cause they like one over the other are idiots. I personally don’t know who would win the race. I like watching Bear’s show better, but I like Les’ technique – real time survival.
Chris said
Les Stroud can play the harmonica and build a flamethrower from a fallen hot air balloon. Enough said.
Bear Grylls is young. He therefore THINKS that he is invincible and that can do anything. He has no knowledge, and nearly not as much wisdom as Les. Les is older than him, and Surviorman show is much more comprehensible, exciting, and realistic. It seems like the vast majority of Man vs. Wild fans are ex-military or military dumbasses, or females (self-explanatory), who couldn’t do anything better with their lives.
Survivorman is the real deal, Man vs. Wild should be canceled. Even the name of Man vs. Wild reflects dumbass Bear’s careless attitude and lack of survivability.
Shirley said
Well hey Chris, like I totally agree with you, like almost. I am a female and a like 10+ blonde. It’s totully like unfare that people think that we ar like all dumm. For exampul, One day I like, broke my leg when I was raking leeves….Like nobody told me that I was supoosed to wait for them to fall out of the trees…..Bear Grills also like totully awsumes me out when he like grunts all the time,,totully rad man.. like he’s like moving a big one. …like i think too, that i coud out servive anyone if like the finish line was a shopping mall…like you know. ……….buy for now, like i have to go and paint my nails..survive on dudes… or is it duds?….oh well like, buy.
anthony said
Some of u people r so naive, prove to me that les stroud doesn’t receive help. It’s hollywood baby and u never what goes on when the cameras are off. and ur all missing the point of bears show, it evens shows a disclaimer at the beginning of the show he is presented situations and such to SHOW ALL U IGNORANT PEOPLE HOW TO GET OUT ALIVE IF UR IN THAT SITUATION. and no matter wut u say, u can’t fake all the badass things he does on camera and how he catches crocodiles, catfish, and giant lizards. yeah some of the stuff he does is risky, but do u think he would be doing all that stuff if he was seriously trying to survive? remember, HE DOES THEM ON PURPOSE.
Anthony said
DUH!…..sorry, too much inter marriage..I an’t two smrt…DUH..illeterate.
Mario said
While the subject matter may be similar, these are truly different shows. Most of us have not been trained by the Special Forces, setting Grylls apart. I feel I relate more to Stroud, because he is more like the rest of us. Admittedly, Stroud is not perfect, he makes mistakes, but most of us are likely to make mistakes in survival situations as well.
I have no lack of respect for either survivor show host, but I tend to favor Stroud simply because of the fact that he has to film the whole thing himself. Hauling 55-60 pounds of camera gear makes your caloric requirement increase faster than transporting your own body weight. It is very hard to argue that point.
As far as criticisms I have read concerning mistakes either men have made, I disagree with almost all on the grounds that unless one has actually been in a survival situation, one cannot comment. It is difficult how one may act when faced with life or death survival.
Officier Jean ( French Foreign Legion ) said
I heard that survivorman is a zoophile. He likes to go alone without a camera crew so he can satisfy all his zoosexual needs.
officer Jean (French Foreign Leigion) said
I should know because being French I’m a pervert expert. In the leigion we did a lot of bending over exercises. Part of our survival training included putting our own panties over our heads and taking deep breaths. I would always pass out from my own rip ass smell. In my previous writing I have to apologize what I wrote, because I haven’t got a clue what a zoophile is. My girl looks like a gorilla so maybe it just got me off saying that. In the legion we get to pick our own camels. They ask me if I want a one hump camel or a two hump camel. I told them to give me one with no humps. I SAID I’LL HUMP IT MYSELF. So they gave me one whose name was HUMPHRY. As I said I’m a slap sucking perv. They should give me the electric chair.