Les Stroud vs. Bear Grylls
From my experience the Bear Grylls reality TV show Man vs. Wild is more entertaining than the Les Stroud television show Survivorman.
While I enjoy both shows about surviving alone in the wild, Bear is a little more engaging than Les.
When you compare the two I think you have to give Les an edge in dedication because he is filming everything himself and is truly alone. But this also can take away some of the drama from the viewers. Les must do many things twice, such as climb a hill or walk across a landscape so he can set up the camera. This means he can only do stationary camera positioning and can’t follow his actions.
Bear has a crew which films him, but not help him so the shots can be more exciting. Even though you always know he could be getting help from the crew you suspend your belief and assume he doesn’t. For some reason Bear seems to catch more food than Les and he certainly eats and drinks more disgusting things than Les does, which is always fun to watch.
To prove my loyalty to Bear I even created a Bear Grylls Squidoolens all about him.
If you like nature shows and seeing something unscripted (reality tv) then you can’t go wrong with either show, but I think Bear will draw the larger crowd due to his personality on the show.
12 Responses to “Les Stroud vs. Bear Grylls”
By Chipper T on Sep 4, 2007 | Reply
I too am (was?) a fan of Bear. Until I started reading that he sometimes travels back with the crew and sleeps in a hotel and he eats along side them as well. Used to love the show, now eh- I could take it or leave it.
Here is another example of how as viewers we are duped into thinking one thing when in reality it is something else.
By Shell on Sep 4, 2007 | Reply
Great post, Chip. I am still a big fan. I mean, he drank his own urine and he drank from elephant dung. Got to give him props for that.
By Heres Mickey on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
I like Bear better because he teaches more about plants and what not to eat. I don’t like how Les Stroud does all the shots himself because you know its staged. He doesn’t really use nature to solve his problems either. He uses a knife and a bike. They are both cappable of surviving but i think Bear is more capable of surviving with nothing.
By Rich Santoro on Sep 30, 2007 | Reply
Well, for one… Les and his wife spent a year in the Canadian bush with nothing (supplies, materials, nothing…) They built a shelter using fallen logs, mud, branches, etc.
So can Les survive in the wild??? Yes… Bear makes stuff up that will get you in trouble (like drinking water from elephant dung… then suggesting on Conan O’brien, during an interview, that elephant dung is sterile… sure, whatever). I believe that he has survival skills, and knows what he is doing… and is physically fit at a world class level… but he is not an all encompassing survival expert as portrayed.
However, his show is for entertainment purposes only… He has consultants to give him info on his environment, get him materials, and to set up and plan shots. His advice is not always sound, and is sometimes outright critically dangerous.
Overall, the production quality for MvW is far better, because it is a professional film crew, set up shots, and he is always well groomed. If you like all of that, great… The show should be called, “Bear Does a One Man Fear Factor Knock Off”
By Reingold on Oct 1, 2007 | Reply
I like Bear but he is nasty! Bear will eat and attempt to get water from every disgusting, vile thing that he can find. He must have all of the harmless type parasites in him by now. He just ate a frog raw and whole then squeezed water out of elephant dung right into his mouth. He’s sick! Les cleans and cooks his food and boils his water!
By doom_particles on Oct 19, 2007 | Reply
bear is indeed intertaining. however, les stroud is actually doing exactly what he claims: filming a survival show almost entirely alone. bear goes not only to the extreme as far as survival goes, but is just downright wrong in much of his advice. to follow les strouds advice may save your life. to follow bear’s advice is to commit the most pathetic suide ever. bear may be an entirely competant individual, but his show goes beyond his scope. the only thing that saves bear from the recent “alligations” is that they have re-edited, and done an entirely new voiceover to his show. bear may be a badass, but les stroud actually knows what hes doing. the survivorman is indeed a role model. bear is not a man i’d encourage anyone to follow. not because of his sheer unsafe badassery, but because of the fact that he was rad enough to say he didnt like what discovery was making him do, but wouldnt refuse to do it. les stroud took the same idea and refused to change it. bear may be an increadible man, but les stroud is worthy of far more accolades than mr. grylls
By Gomez on Dec 25, 2007 | Reply
I like survivor man. He shows what you can do when you come riding on a bike that brakes down. What do you do? you take that knife and that bike. And you survive all by your self. and thats it
By timmy francis on Feb 27, 2008 | Reply
Survivorman Les stroud, the show is great. i have learned alot about surviving in the wild, if i ever experienced that situation i would never forget your teachings and advice. I especially love the thing in the desert about the needle and thread, it really interested me. Maybe you could survive for more than a week in a situation. The wild is dangerous and your better than Bear grills.
By aubrey on Mar 23, 2008 | Reply
I like Bear Grills by far. I read his book, “The Kid Who Climbed Mt. Everest.” He inspired me to be the hike I am today. Anyone who can climb Mt Everest TWICE and live to tell about it, is my hero. I like Les, but he whines too much. Hey there’s mosquitoes in the woods man, get over it or get out of the woods. I look at Bear Grills experience and I can overlook Hollywood reality. I still learn a lot from his show!
By Barrett B. on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Les and Bear both have entertaining shows; however, Les is most definitely a more experienced (better) woodsman. Bear is good TV, but following some of his advice or actions could get an inexperienced person in even more trouble. He is a great athlete though and I would love to climb with him. Nonetheless, Les is the practical survivalist. His techniques are not risky and are proven…right on TV. They would both probably do well in an actual survival situation (no beacons or TV crew), but Bear may be too hyper and impatient and make a bad decision that would get him hurt. For example, his idea of wrangling a wild horse…anybody who has experience with unbroken horses knows…yeah right! The natives did do it, but they also spent great amounts of time conditioning those horses; you cannot just walk up to a wild horse and ride it!?! Not to mention jumping into a 40 degree class III river in 50 degree temps, just before dark…DANGEROUS (for a couple reasons). Anyway, they are both cool people, but if I was to be in a survival situation with anybody, it would be Les; he is calm, knowledgeable, and practical.
By Limo Hire on May 15, 2008 | Reply
I agree with Barrett.
By Anonymous on Jun 15, 2008 | Reply
Same here. More experienced vote from me too!