# Does Bear Grylls have too!



## pc7 (9 Apr 2008)

Does anyone watch Bear Grylls on Discovery Channel, I'm not a fan but bf loves it.  It was on last night and he caught a squirrel in a noose and ate it.  Now I'm not a member of peta or anything else BUT surely it is just not necessary for him to catch and eat an animal when he doesn't need too. He has a film crew with him who have tents, food etc, why needlessly kill such animals and eat their brains and tell us it tastes like pate! It really bugs me!


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## shanegl (9 Apr 2008)

I agree with you. Fluffy and cute animals like squirrels and seals shouldn't be killed and eaten when we can just live of the uglier farmward variety of cows, sheep, pigs etc...


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## pc7 (9 Apr 2008)

Its not the killing and eating of an animal fluffy or not (I'm not fond of squirrels I hate the ones in the Botantic Gardens they always chase me  that bothers me. I'm a happy meat eater, its just killing it to eat it for the sake of it when he has a film crew with a back pack of food already. I feel he's just doing it for sensationalism.


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## Newbie! (9 Apr 2008)

pc7 said:


> Does anyone watch Bear Grylls on Discovery Channel, I'm not a fan but bf loves it. It was on last night and he caught a squirrel in a noose and ate it. Now I'm not a member of peta or anything else BUT surely it is just not necessary for him to catch and eat an animal when he doesn't need too. He has a film crew with him who have tents, food etc, why needlessly kill such animals and eat their brains and tell us it tastes like pate! It really bugs me!


 
I've only seen it a few times but isnt the point of his programme to get back to basics and live of the land etc...?? Wouldnt make very good viewing if he told you how you _could_ live but then went back to his tent for beans on toast? Just my opinion...


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## Ham Slicer (9 Apr 2008)

pc7 said:


> ... its just killing it to eat it for the sake of it when he has a film crew with a back pack of food already. I feel he's just doing it for sensationalism.



I disagree.  It's a survival programme.  I'm not going to believe that I can actually eat a squirrel or drink elephant dung until I see someone doing it.  He does it and now I know if ever get lost on Safari or in the Phoenix Park I'll be OK for a few nights.


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## truthseeker (9 Apr 2008)

pc7 said:


> I'm a happy meat eater, its just killing it to eat it for the sake of it when he has a film crew with a back pack of food already. I feel he's just doing it for sensationalism.


 
I totally disagree - he is doing it to show it can be done and how it can be done - its educational. Theres a world of difference between telling someone they can eat a squirrel and demonstrating it. What difference does it make if the film crew has a back pack of food already? How do you know how any of that meat was killed?


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## pc7 (9 Apr 2008)

It just bugs me I guess.  How many of the people watching it are going to get lost in Siberia and use a piece of metal string from their back packs to make a noose to catch a squirrel. Which they will then use their knife to peel the bark from a tree, light a fire to cook said peeled squirrel on. 
I don't know why he annoys me so much, every episode is "6 people died in 2000 in this way"  or "people get hurt falling off a cliff every year" sure people die in every single way, he just annoys me! This is letting off steam and its what I'm doing! In future I'm going to leave the room when he's on


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## truthseeker (9 Apr 2008)

hehehehe - i used to enjoy his show but then i got bored with it cos its always just him dashing about in varying survival situations eating squirrels or worms or elephant dung or whatever. Just too samey!!!

To give the bloke his due he did recover from a broken back and its pretty cool that he can do all he can do - but the whole concept of the survivor series is just old to me now. I loved his Escape to the Legion series.


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## rmelly (9 Apr 2008)

pc7 said:


> It just bugs me I guess. How many of the people watching it are going to get lost in Siberia and use a piece of metal string from their back packs to make a noose to catch a squirrel.


 
Don't bother watching then, sounds like you're not exactly the target audience.


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## pc7 (9 Apr 2008)

maybe not, I'm more of an Ice Truckers, Deadliest Catch and Deadliest Climb kinda girl, now if it was pubar or one of the everest guys or someone who's grown up in adverse conditions having to be a born survivor I'd probably enjoy it more. Not an english school boy type of guy, maybe he reminds me of the scouts I never liked while I was in girl guides


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## truthseeker (9 Apr 2008)

hey pc7 - what do you think of Bruce Parry - he is also an english public school boy type - but with a rough edge to him.


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## rmelly (9 Apr 2008)

pc7 said:


> maybe not, I'm more of an Ice Truckers, Deadliest Catch and Deadliest Climb kinda girl, now if it was pubar or one of the everest guys or someone who's grown up in adverse conditions having to be a born survivor I'd probably enjoy it more. Not an english school boy type of guy, maybe he reminds me of the scouts I never liked while I was in girl guides


 
There's a bit more to him than boyscouting - check his bio in Wikipedia. I'd have said his feats are more impressive BECAUSE he came from the English schoolboy/Eton background.

I'm a big fan of Deadliest Catch but have never seen Deadliest Climb.


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## Squire (9 Apr 2008)

Bear Grylls? Is that his real name?

He should hook up with Ray Mears. He can make a whole meal out of a bamboo stick and a hazlenut. No need to kill wildlife when good old Ray is around.


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## truthseeker (9 Apr 2008)

rmelly said:


> There's a bit more to him than boyscouting - check his bio in Wikipedia. I'd have said his feats are more impressive BECAUSE he came from the English schoolboy/Eton background.


 
Why so? - its well documented that an english public schoolboy education is one of the toughest life experiences that can be gone through.


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## Caveat (9 Apr 2008)

Maybe in a "character building" way, and many do spend time in 'the services' too - but those who don't may not necessarily be prepared for doing without the little comforts their typical background usually brings.


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## jmayo (9 Apr 2008)

He has been shown up to be a bit of a phony. 
Whilst supposedly surving in the Sierra Nevada in California he actually stayed at a motel, The Pines Resort.
The raft he built on another show was prebuilt and then disassembled so that he could build it for the cameras.
He has no need to kill a squirrel to eat since he will probably be dining out on steak and chips with the crew at the local restaurant later.
Check out Youtube.com where his supposed remote volcanoe land actually is right by a  busy road.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cXtBTWk4Atw&feature=related

Watch Ray Mears at least the man isn't faking it.


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## rmelly (9 Apr 2008)

jmayo said:


> at least the man isn't faking it.


 
Did he fake climbing Everest or 'paramotoring' over the Himalayas?


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## jmayo (9 Apr 2008)

rmelly said:


> Did he fake climbing Everest or 'paramotoring' over the Himalayas?



No he didn't fake climbing Everest and he wrote a book about it that according to some sources is not great.
And before you throw is at me, he didn't fake his broken back either.

Just because he has done certain things legitimately does not mean he has not faked other stuff.

His shows have had fake segments that Discovery Channel are reviewing and removing.
His shows are misleading the viewer and are sensationism, everything is done to make it look as if he is dashing here there and everywhere, that he is surving without any outside help when in reality he is getting help.

The first thing people are told about survival in hostile terrain is not to leave your last known position.  Of course if no help arrives after numerous days then you may have to head out, but it is not your first option.
To Bear Gryllis it seems to be the first thing he does is start wandering around the place. 

The faked portions now detract from actual real footage.
 The guys reputation as a survival expert is ruined.


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## rmelly (9 Apr 2008)

I'm as aware of the controversies as you are, but don't think the faking or 'staging' takes from the entertainment value.



> not to leave your last known position.


 
I'm not sure I'd enjoy that programme much...




> that he is surving without any outside help when in reality he is getting help


 
I think the fact that he has a camera crew following him gave the secret away...

In reality the entire show and all shows of this type are highly staged & choreographed. E.g. if he want's to show how to get out of quickstand he has to jump in voluntarily. He doesn't just happen to he in the Sahara or some other remote location...


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## truthseeker (9 Apr 2008)

Of course the show is staged - its a TV show - there is disclaimer when it is aired that more or less tells you that its nor real - I dont think he ever tried to pretend it is real.

The whole point is that he is showing off his skills in locations that suit the purpose - but I never imagined for a minute he was alone in the wilderness - as rmelly says 'I think the fact he has a camera crew following him gives the secret away'!!!


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## pc7 (9 Apr 2008)

hey truthseeker love Bruce Parry, I think because watching deadliest climb it really is life or death, its not squirrel hunting! Some of the injuries you see and the climbers dying are real life scary stuff.  Bruce makes decisions for the climbers that I don't think I could.  
Skiing in Colorado one year some of my friends got altitude sickness and that was only 4000 metres and they were pretty ill. It was crazy the fittest of us got it the worst and had to have oxygen delivered to the apartment.
I appreciate Bear has done some amazing feats like everest and I watched the show where he used the motorised paraglider and enjoyed it, think its just the lost in the wildness side erks me!


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## elefantfresh (9 Apr 2008)

> as rmelly says 'I think the fact he has a camera crew following him gives the secret away'!!!


 
Theres this guy, i've no idea who his name is, and he does all that survival stuff on his own with his own cameras and no back up support. He's American I think - often wandering about in polar bear country etc - very good. No pretending there.

Ah ha! Google is my friend - he's Canadian - http://www.survivorman.ca/
This guy is a class act.


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## truthseeker (9 Apr 2008)

pc7 said:


> hey truthseeker love Bruce Parry, I think because watching deadliest climb it really is life or death, its not squirrel hunting! Some of the injuries you see and the climbers dying are real life scary stuff.  Bruce makes decisions for the climbers that I don't think I could.
> Skiing in Colorado one year some of my friends got altitude sickness and that was only 4000 metres and they were pretty ill. It was crazy the fittest of us got it the worst and had to have oxygen delivered to the apartment.
> I appreciate Bear has done some amazing feats like everest and I watched the show where he used the motorised paraglider and enjoyed it, think its just the lost in the wildness side erks me!



excellent - must watch that. i loved the Bruce Parry 'Tribe' series - really good stuff.

i agree - Bear can get annoying in the wilderness!!


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## BOXtheFOX (10 Apr 2008)

Sometimes you see him struggling up a mountain (with his cameraman looking down on him) or stuck in a swamp (again his cameraman avoids the pitholes) so if I am ever caught out in the wilderness I would prefer to have his cameraman/woman with me.


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## pc7 (10 Apr 2008)

sorry guy in charge of everest deadliest climb is russell brice  amazing show. last year a climber who had lost both his legs below the knee from frost bite climbed it on prosetic limbs, now that was surviving!


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## Squire (10 Apr 2008)

Yeah, I watched some of that Deadliest Climb. What amazed me most was they pratically had to queue up to reach the summit as it was so busy. I mean they have ladders erected to climb over the tricky bit for Gods sake.

Most of the guys on the climbs were literally carried up by their sherpas.

One obnoxious American broke his hand on the way up, didn't tell Russell, carried on and made it up and down. He was a very lucky guy to make it and he could have taken his sherpa with him if he fell. Amazingly stupid but some achievement all the same.

I can't help feeling that it somehow devalues Hillary's achievement when you hear of so many people summiting.


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## Pique318 (10 Apr 2008)

Squire said:


> I can't help feeling that it somehow devalues Hillary's achievement when you hear of so many people summiting.



AND Tensing Norgay....who seems to have been completely forgotten by the media after Hillarys death this year


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## gianni (10 Apr 2008)

elefantfresh said:


> Theres this guy, i've no idea who his name is, and he does all that survival stuff on his own with his own cameras and no back up support. He's American I think - often wandering about in polar bear country etc - very good. No pretending there.
> 
> Ah ha! Google is my friend - he's Canadian - http://www.survivorman.ca/
> This guy is a class act.


 
Timothy Treadwell also did something similar tracking the grizzly bears in Alaska... it didn't go so well - but compelling viewing nonetheless..


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## Squire (10 Apr 2008)

Pique318 said:


> AND Tensing Norgay....who seems to have been completely forgotten by the media after Hillarys death this year


 
Lol, that crossed my mind but I couldn't think of the guys name. So your point is proven I suppose.


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## truthseeker (10 Apr 2008)

gianni said:


> Timothy Treadwell also did something similar tracking the grizzly bears in Alaska... it didn't go so well - but compelling viewing nonetheless..


 
Brilliant documentary - there was something amiss with Timothy Treadwell, he seemed like he had some possible mental issues (did he have addiction problems, i cant remember) - but a great documentary nonetheless.


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## davidoco (14 Apr 2008)

pc7 said:


> It just bugs me I guess. How many of the people watching it are going to get lost in Siberia and use a piece of metal string from their back packs to make a noose to catch a squirrel. Which they will then use their knife to peel the bark from a tree, light a fire to cook said peeled squirrel on.


 
If something like Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hits earth, the RayBear fans will survive until the AmeriCANs arrive, whereas the FairCorrieEast fans will be well watching the credits.


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## davidoco (14 Apr 2008)

elefantfresh said:


> Ah ha! Google is my friend - he's Canadian - http://www.survivorman.ca/
> This guy is a class act.


 
Snapshot of his episodes - yeah that guy is something else.

*[broken link removed]*


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