Bear Grylls: Born Survivor

Sam Kade

Yes his TV program is very interesting but is it for real anyone can walk in front of a camera for a couple of hours to make an hour long program. I don't think that the camera crew drink their own p like him also it's hard to imagine them following him for hours on end until he gets back to civilisation.

Lou110

i love bear grylls. especially when he does the extremly weird stuff like eating live fish, nd frogs. oh and when he opend the camels stomach nd took the half digested grass out, squeezed the water out nd drank it. how sick can it get like. lol. i tink its brill, extremly weird and unneccesary but brill!!

Alanstrainor

Sam Kade wrote: »

Yes his TV program is very interesting ....

That's all that matters.

Mr E

Threads merged.

Indie18

Lou110 wrote: »

i love bear grylls. especially when he does the extremly weird stuff like eating live fish, nd frogs. oh and when he opend the camels stomach nd took the half digested grass out, squeezed the water out nd drank it. how sick can it get like. lol. i tink its brill, extremly weird and unneccesary but brill!!

fair point but you would probably see steve-o from jackass do the same or one of the dirty sanchez boys. i don't know just don't see the appeal at all.

Alanstrainor

Indie18 wrote: »

fair point but you would probably see steve-o from jackass do the same or one of the dirty sanchez boys. i don't know just don't see the appeal at all.

It's a survival show, he's not just doing it for kicks like those other gobsheens, it's really interesting seeing how someone can survive in those kind of extreme environments, when 99% of wouldn't have a clue.

Indie18

i still think he is full of it

CodeMonkey

Alanstrainor wrote: »

It's a survival show, he's not just doing it for kicks like those other gobsheens, it's really interesting seeing how someone can survive in those kind of extreme environments, when 99% of wouldn't have a clue.

Well, whenever Bear Grylls do something unusual, he always have this look on his face that remains me of those people who'll do anything to be on tv. Someone put in the script about getting moisture from drinking elephant poo water and Bear Grylls will grit his teeth and do it and be gratefull he's on tv.

The difference between Bear Grylls and the jackass boys is that Bear doesn't even come up with his own stunts.

The difference between him and Ray Mears is that Ray Mears does actually know what he's doing. Bear Grylls is just doing whatever is in the script or the producers wants him to do. Left alone in all those different location, he can't survive. You can hire any athletic posh dude who wants to be on tv to do the show.

BaZmO*

CodeMonkey wrote: »

Well, whenever Bear Grylls do something unusual, he always have this look on his face that remains me of those people who'll do anything to be on tv. Someone put in the script about getting moisture from drinking elephant poo water and Bear Grylls will grit his teeth and do it and be gratefull he's on tv.

The difference between Bear Grylls and the jackass boys is that Bear doesn't even come up with his own stunts.

The difference between him and Ray Mears is that Ray Mears does actually know what he's doing. Bear Grylls is just doing whatever is in the script or the producers wants him to do. Left alone in all those different location, he can't survive. You can hire any athletic posh dude who wants to be on tv to do the show.

Ya what now? Have a look at his history and see if you still hold those views about him not having a clue what he's doing.

Sherifu

BaZmO* wrote: »

Ya what now? Have a look at his history and see if you still hold those views about him not having a clue what he's doing.

Ya, his job as Survival Instructor and Patrol Medic with the Special Forces might mean he knows something...


But I guess it's easy to shoot from the hip CodeMonkey.

CodeMonkey

Sherifu wrote: »

Ya, his job as Survival Instructor and Patrol Medic with the Special Forces might mean he knows something...


But I guess it's easy to shoot from the hip CodeMonkey.

Yeah kinda heard that he was a survival instructor in the special forces for a few years before having an accident that cut his career short. So I guess I was wrong to accuse him of not knowing anything. But in case I missed other stuff in his history I did a bit of googling.

Born - 1974. Youngest Briton to climb everest at 23 in 1997. That was a year after his parachuting accident in 1996. Before that he did his 3 years stint as the survival instructor which means he started in 1993 at age 19.

So to summarise, he was the son of the late Conservative party politician Sir Michael Grylls. Went to the posh Eton College. Got a degree in Hispanic studies whatever that is good for (after 2 years?). Became a special forces officer at age 19. That's pretty impressive. I am sure he's an outdoors kinda guy but how much first hand knowledge would he actually know at 19? Can we say born with a silver spoon?

An interesting fact I also picked up about his career ending accident:

Grylls later said of the accident, "I should have cut the main parachute and gone to the reserve but thought there was time to resolve the problem." Grylls spent the next 12 months in rehabilitation and, with his military service over, directed his efforts into trying to get well enough to fulfill his childhood dream of climbing Everest.

I think that really shows the survival instints you need to make it as a survival instructor at age 19.

Here's a link that shows some of the danger he might have been in while making the show. You telling me he's not just doing whatever the producers are telling him?

And this slightly exaggerated bio suits him more.

BaZmO*

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, you seem to be contradicting yourself.

CodeMonkey

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, you seem to be contradicting yourself.

Yeah, I shouldn't have said he knew absolutely nothing. Sorry. My points:

- He wouldn't have the experience to be a survival instructor at age 19. Most of his knowledge, if he had any, would probably be just academic. It's daddy's influence and connections at work here getting an officer job with the special forces.

- He showed poor survival instincts for a special forces survival instructor at his accident.

- With all his media and motivational speaker work after the accident and then marriage and kids, he'd had no time to do any additional survival training. This means that most of the stunts on his show he would've just heard/read about without attempting them before the show. The producers and researchers most likely found out and confirmed that drinking elephant dung water won't kill him before he did it etc. That's why I think he knows very little compared to the likes of Ray Mears.

Don't get me wrong, he does seem like quite a charming guy. I just think that his popularity is due to his looks, his posh pedigree and his exagerated survival knowledge.

Sherifu

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, you seem to be contradicting yourself.

I'm having trouble following it too.


Lets write a Biography.

CodeMonkey

Sherifu wrote: »

I'm having trouble following it too.

Lets write a Biography.

What's the point of the bio? To answer the following question.

BaZmO* wrote:

Ya what now? Have a look at his history and see if you still hold those views about him not having a clue what he's doing.

Indie18

seems to be some fan boys here who just don't want to hear anything bad about him me thinks.

hshortt

Indie18 wrote: »

seems to be some fan boys here who just don't want to hear anything bad about him me thinks.

I'd disagree, there are plenty of good points in the thread dismissing what he does. Equally there are enough points to qualify his adventures. The same can be said about any 'personality' in the media.

For me it's great entertainment and he comes across good. Seen him eating a raw fish the other night, scales and all..... jasus!

Cheerio

Sherifu

Indie18 wrote: »

seems to be some fan boys here who just don't want to hear anything bad about him me thinks.

I was just wondering why CodeMonkey was so dismissive of the guys background and training. I've read about him sleeping in hotels, saw the video of him going over a fake obstacle. I know it's part survival and part tv show. Like on one episode he was climbing an old rope he found, you could see the safety line but that's fair enough. I don't expect him to risk his life. He does do things like eating raw fish, drinking water from elephant dung and swimming in freezing water. I also like the practical tips he gives. I still think he knows a lot more than your average hiker.

So I wouldn't say fan boy but perhaps balancing the overly harsh imo view of another poster.

meditraitor

CodeMonkey wrote: »

So to summarise, he was the son of the late Conservative party politician Sir Michael Grylls. Went to the posh Eton College. Got a degree in Hispanic studies whatever that is good for (after 2 years?). Became a special forces officer at age 19. That's pretty impressive. I am sure he's an outdoors kinda guy but how much first hand knowledge would he actually know at 19? Can we say born with a silver spoon?

And this slightly exaggerated bio suits him more.

I was curious about this myself but when you look at his father closer you will see were he might have got some knowledge.

On leaving school, he found that his eyesight was not up to the Navy's entry requirements, so he was commissioned instead in the Royal Marines. He saw active service in Egypt and the Middle East, before leaving in 1955 to study Spanish at Madrid University. He then set up the Costa Brava Company to import Spanish wine into Britain.

He was a tremendously lively and positive man who always saw the funny side of things. As a young father, he taught his son Bear to climb by leading him on rooftop escapades from their house in London (Bear later went on to become the youngest man to climb Everest). He jollied others along, never spoke ill of anyone else, and was intensely loyal to his friends. Grylls was a solicitous host. He was knighted in 1992.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1322322/Sir-Michael-Grylls.html

funkycat83

I would watch Bear any day over boring Coronation Street or Emmerdale or any of that boring old crock! I dont think hes as afake as hes made out to be, even if he is I dont care! its good TV!

Hes also easy on the eyes too