bear grylls (sp?) and his swim in the canadian rockies

[waterlily]

Ok, so I couldn't hold back any longer. Did anyone else see the episode of Man vs. Wild where Bear is dropped off in the Canadian rockies? He ends up near some river (they never say which one) and he tells people the best way to get out of the wilderness is to jump in and 'float' down stream. He tells people the water is about 40 degrees (pretty accurate) and ends up swimming what looks like about class three water in jeans and a sweat shirt. An up-close camera shot of him clasping to a rock talking about his swim clearly shows a pfd under his sweat shirt. In the end he said he floated about 12 miles.

First, telling people to jump into and swim in any river, let alone one they know nothing about. . . and---being stranded in the wilderness and jumping into 40 degree water with no other clothes except jeans and a sweat shirt. . . . .saying he swam 12 miles (I'd like to see anyone in jeans and sweat shirt last 2 miles, let alone 12) and most offensive, wearing a pfd under his sweatshirt!!!!!

I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. Luckily they showed the episode again and I was able to ask the opinion of my roommates on the pfd issue and it was a unanimous vote that he was wearing one. What an idiot!

[cma]

Never mind the fact that he jumped about 30 feet into water that he knew nothing about as far as depth and rocks.

[ransark]

Yup. You're on the money. If you want to die of hypothermia, jumping in a river in jeans and a sweatshirt and then staying outside is a good way to start.

That show has a lot of fake stuff that pisses me off. The show makes surviving in the wilderness even though you're completely unprepared look much easier than it is. It's irresponsible.

[farp]

That guy is a complete jerk-off.

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/viewtopic.php?t=11909

[tuberslickmysweatyballs]

Yeah, I agree. I've watched a couple of his shows and it's a horrible and dangerous source of information. He will get some wilderness noob killed at some point.

And yeah, it seems really fake and staged to me,as well. It seems more about showcasing himself as some extreme stunt guy then passing along info that will save lives in the wilderness.

So much of the stuff he passes along is stuff you should never do...ever...and especially when alone and lost in the wilderness.

It's a real train wreck of a show. Glad to hear others think it sucks too.

[teamamericawp]

I've also noticed that this guy unlike Les Stroud has a cameraman with him documenting his every move. Survivorman Les carries all of his own camera equipment 60+ lbs. of it as well.

[farp]

Did you see the one where he squeezed crap-juice from elephant sh-t and drank it?

[jmack]

I like the episode where he is dropped into the middle of the Alps. He spends his entire first day postholing through balls deep snow to the top of a mountain. When he gets to the top, he discovers that...he is in the middle of the Alps. Because he spent his whole day climbing a mountain instead of walking downhill, he gets to spends the night freezing his ass off in a snowcave above treeline. I hope no one takes his advice seriously.

[WhiteLightning]

He had something on his web site about the pfd thing. I think he said something like his producers made him wear one, it was the first show they taped and after that, he had an argument with them, and now they allow him to do everything without the extra safety.

My personal favorite was eating the raw dead Zebra carcass. I agree, no normal human would or should do the things this guy does, but it sure is fun as hell to watch. It's almost like the Crocodile hunter saying "you should do what I do if ever approached by a croc....grab the bloke's tail!"

[WhiteLightning]

From the "ask Bear" chat on Discovery's web site:
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/ma...script_06.html

stealther: What do you have to say to people who claim you used a flotation vest instead of your backpack when you rode down the river in your previous show?

Bear: That was the first show I did, and health and safety insisted if I wanted to get in that river with those rapids, I had to wear a thin flotation device for one particular shot. After that show, I told the producers if I'm going to do it, I need to do it on my terms, i.e. no vest. And the rest of the series, they've allowed me to do it all my way.