Les Stroud vs Bear Grylls
GeneralIf you are into survival types shows as much as I am, you know about Les Stroud’s Survivor Man and Bear Grylls’ Man Vs Wild. Both are captivating shows that keep our interest and keep us coming back for more in a quest to see just how these men are able to survive against insurmountable obstacles. Both shows are about real survival stories and teaching us how to get ourselves out of tough situations that may face us down. The real question is just who is the better of the two at surviving in the wild.
I think Bear Grylls is all flash. He’s got a pretty face, he talks and he’s full of energy. It seems like he is always running from one thing to another with no breaks in between. It’s like he is trying to shove as much into a single episode as possible. His episodes start with him getting dropped into a location and then trying to make his way back into civilization with no food and very few supplies. It’s about survival, or so we are made to think.
Les Stroud is different. He may not be all flash, but he is into real survival. He tells it like it is and demonstrates how we can survive in a place using the things that are naturally around us. It’s not about running an obstacle course or trying to rush from point A to point B. It’s about showing how ordinary people who own deskjobs and who’s best experience to sports is playing bingo online can survive in a very inhospitable place. It’s not about fake scenarios. Survivor Man has more plausible scenarios than does Man Vs Wild.
Another thing about Bear Grylls and Man vs Wild is that Bear always has a cameraman and crew nearby to help him, if he’s in a life or death situation. It’s nice to think that Bear is doing everything himself, but sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. Remember that episode where he was crossing the big ice crevasse and we were made to believe he was in the middle of nowhere? Look closely and you can see he was next to a highway.
You don’t see that sort of thing with Les Stroud. He’s a real survivor man. All of the Survivor Man episodes are filmed by himself. It’s just Les and the camera when he is surviving in a new place. It makes for a more authentic survival learning experience. In fact, just watch any of the Survivor Man DVDs and you can see just how much it’s about authentic survival living without any of the flash you see from Man vs Wild. Les Stroud and Survivor Man beats out Bear Grylls and Man Vs Wild by a long shot. It’s the kind of show that I enjoy time and time again. I can’t wait to have a DVD for Season 3 because it’s always fun and exciting to watch and there isn’t the scripted shenanigans as found in Man vs Wild.
19 Comments » Posted on January 23rd, 2009
October 16th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I just wanted to point out that Grylls doesn’t get “dropped into” anywhere. His show is completely a fictitious drama and is produced in the same manner as other shows of this type. They scout out locations ahead of time and then Grylls and the crew film their scenes on location with multiple takes and props that are brought along. After a scene is complete they all move on to the next location or back to base camp for the night. Discovery has released some behind the scenes videos that revel how the show is actually made. Here’s one- http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/man-vs-wild-behind-the-scenes-hanging-in-panama.html . You’ll note that there are at least 10-11 guys including a director who yells “action”. Obviously all of those people and all of that equipment weren’t dropped off by helicopter nor were they all following Bear through the jungle.
I am personally familiar with the area he filmed one of his episodes and it was beyond laughable. He lied about where he was at, he pretended a popular swimming hole a half mile from a road was in the middle of nowhere and he made it seem like domestic animals were actually wild. Supposedly he’s giving survival advice but he neglected to mention that the entire area is criss-crossed with hundreds of miles of gravel roads, old logging roads and ATV trails. It would be virtually impossible to get lost there for more than a day making food a very low priority but he suggests risking serious injury by going after a rattlesnake. There are tons of wild edibles which would be easy to identify but he only mentions a couple of the more obscure ones and then doesn’t know how to properly prepare them.
The reality is that Man v. Wild has nothing to do with survival. They just use that as a gimmick to draw in a broader audience and to provide Grylls with an excuse to basically show off.
November 11th, 2009 at 4:58 am
they r both not that good if your in places no one would do much of that stuff but hay at least grylls can catch fish with his hands
December 6th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Oh, please! I saw an episode of Survivorman where he himself said and showed us how he is dropped off at a location a week prior to taping and shown everything he needs to survive his environment. Ever notice the guy ALWAYS has the right tools??
I’m not saying one is better than the other; I do watch both faithfully, but to say one is a cheat while the other isn’t is a far stretch. Neither is the real deal. It’s ALL just entertainment.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
While part of me wants to go into detail and debate Bella’s statement I won’t she is too simple minded and lacks common sense.
December 10th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I have to (politely) disagree with Bella, at least in part. You’re right that they’re both entertainment, but there is a lot of difference between one man alone for a week and an entire crew doing scripted setups. Les Stroud often mentions information he has been given prior to episodes, including certain survival techniques pertaining to the habitat he will be filming in. In most of the Canadian forests he would need no briefing, but to go into an area he is unfamiliar without first doing research (and even being instructed by locals) would simply be irresponsible. And what knowledge would he have to impart if he himself hadn’t bothered to learn it?
Survivorman comes a lot closer to reality because he actually has to deal with the consequences of his actions, whereas Mr. Grylls does not. He’s going to have a coffee and supper waiting for him at the hotel when filming is done that day, and Les just has whatever he’s managed to scrape together, which is often nothing.
December 26th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Bear is the real deal, he climbed mt. everest, crossed the atlantic in a r.i.b. so why would he make his show fake?
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:25 pm
To grand stand…, and get paid. Seriously? You must be watching a different Man vs. Wild than the rest of us. While mildly entertaining us Bear Grylls does not base his show on survival at all. If he did he would not take the huge risks that he does by climbing cliffs with nothing more than vines and luck. Seems to me the locations are chosen to afford him the opportunity to do these stunts, when in reality anyone trying to survive would not take such chances if it were not absolutely necessary.
January 5th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
In the promos for his show for Man Vs. Wild, it says, “Bear doesn’t show you how to survive, he shows you how to be alive”. His show never once boasts that watching his show will help you if you happen under the same situation/environment. He’s just doing something he enjoys and hopes people watch so he can make cash while doing the stuff he enjoys doing.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Man vs wild is fake, there are millions of videos that prove so all over youtube, and google video, there are no videos saying les stroud is fake so suck it. Plus, in one vid i watched, he said a horse was wild, but the horse was groomed and wearinghorse shoes. In another, Bear pre-cut hand hold when he was climbing out of the cold atlantic ocean. One last thing, he got his crew to spear a fish for him, and he addmited that! Bear Grylls, Suck it!
January 9th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Ok, Bear versus Les: guys this ia a no-brainer. Yes Bear has climbed Everest, yes he’s pretty (according to my fiancee), and yes he’s a former military man. But the plain truth of it is that he show is scripted and he has more backup within reach during his filming than most families do while camping in KOA campground. Bear’s show (while good entertainment) is all about drama and adenilin – just like Bear himself. Face it Bear, is an adrenilin junkie and a true extrovert – plain and simple. WHile there is nothing wrong with that, I doubt he could handle 3 days of hat Les has put himself through on any one of his expisodes; much less come back for more.
As for Les, well my hat is off to him. Les has managed to actually live his life in the way that most of us hope to be able to spend a 2 week vacation: by doing what he genuinely emjoys and truly cares about – Music and nature.
In regards to overall skills, yes both of these men possess survival skills. The real difference is that Les actually relies on his own skills to get himself through: and then marches back the 1/4 mile to pick up the camera equipment.
I have seen every episode of both shows and I would offer one piece of advice to each man.
Bear – quit running, survival is about making decisions that lessen your chances of dying whenever possible, so quit jumping off cliffs and sliding down hills.
Les – (and I say this with genuine respect and admiration) when you are using a knife: hold the object aways from your body and cut AWAY from your body, and from your own fingers. You simply have to be getting tired of slicing open your own fingers.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
go bear im with suvor man suks idea
January 13th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
no survivor man uses guns and atvs and gps so what if his camra crew killd one fish somtimes u would have a couple people with u survivor man suks his own balls
January 14th, 2010 at 4:02 am
I’d say that all of you are a bunch of losers. Who cares what you think either like it or change the channel. But just this both of them can be assisted in no time, Les has gps in no time he can have his crew there if he wanted or you believe that stuff that only by the seventh day they will come, come on plus in real life help will not come on the seventh day you have to move for help. I doubt that he would have anything on bear if on the move, les can bearly move to grab a bite. I hate myself for living this comment, I’ve become part of the loser gang!
January 17th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
From a search and rescue point of view Bear needs to be takin out and shoot. He is giving people the wrong idea. He does the wrong thing, taking really bad risks. I have been a SAR member for the last 8 years and every time I see the show I think of all the people going out into the bush with nothing, thinking they can do shot like Bear. I live in Canada and we get all kinds of people that get themselves in trouble going out back with no thought about it, I have had to take people of mountains who were wearing high heels!!!
January 28th, 2010 at 1:47 am
Well its obviouse that none of you would survive in the situations that are filmed by les without a crew or bear with a crew.You all are too busy trying to figure out wich one is better. The fact of the matter is that both men are true survivalists and are only trying to show the public ways to survive if they were faced in those types of situations. Have any of you actualy researched their techniques if god forbid it happened to you? I agree that it is entertainment and there making a seriouse amount of money doing so but the techniques are real on both sides and is very usefull information that could possibly save your life one day. Me personaly,I believe bear to be a better trained individual due to his special forces back ground.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:17 pm
i personally think you all need a life,arguing about something as stupid as this…….get a hobby for christs sake!!!!
February 1st, 2010 at 12:22 pm
I really don’t care how fake Bear is, I just don’t like what he does in his show. For example… what tourist in his right mind, lost in Sierra Nevada, would try to go down a steep cliff (300 feet drop, he says), without any climbing equipment?! I’m sorry, I don’t find it believable. And yes, I find Les Stroud much more believable.
I hope Bear’s target audience is not losers like that one with multiple names (survivormansuck and beargryllrocks), but one track mind… I’d love to see him try any of Bear’s survivor stunts for real if he got lost.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:25 am
go facebook and join my man vs wild fan club!!! anyway les stroud is so old and partially bald
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:10 pm
The reason I like Bear Grylls is the fact that he is entertaining. He’s hilarious in a stupidly charming way. Pretty much reminiscent of Steve Irwin. If you combine Steve Irwin + Steve-O you pretty much get Bear Grylls. Problem is Bear’s episode are pretty much the same.. He jumps out from the sky, runs around for a bit, searches for water, somehow finds man made objects in the wild, builds a shelter, gets into a hilarious stupid situation, eats shit if need be, and for no apparent reason always ends up in a cave, finds his way out and then there’s a helicopter waiting for him.
Les Stroud is more hardcore. You can tell when he catches his food he is thankful and happy for it. I do find his show quite emo and kind of sad he displays too much loneliness towards the camera and there are parts that drag, but its probably just the Canadian in him.
Either or, both shows are great, it’s just the viewer’s preference