- Photo:
Les Stroud Is A True Survivorman And He Has Serious Beef With Bear Grylls
Stroud Has Warned People Not To Trust Survival Tips From Grylls
- Photo:
- fredsharples
- Foter
During a Reddit AMA, user YlleJumper asked Stroud what his opinion of Bear Grylls was. While many people in the entertainment industry tend to hold back when it comes to criticizing their peers, Stroud put Grylls on blast.
Stroud constantly refers to Grylls as an actor and TV host rather than a survival instructor, and says that some of his "tips" might actually worsen a survival scenario. His advice is to take everything you see on Man vs. Wild with a grain of salt and treat the program as a reality show rather than an educational one.
- Photo:
- Photo:
While you'd might think that a guy who goes by the nickname "survivorman" would have spent his entire training for survival situations, that simply isn't the case. Stroud didn't start studying survivalism until he was in college, where he took courses from expert survivalists Gino Ferri and David Arama.
Many of his skills are self-taught, and he credits much of his growth to a year he and his wife spent alone in the rugged wilderness of Northern Ontario. They managed to survive without the use of matches or metal on what is probably the most badass honeymoon ever.
- Photo:
- Kalei Brooks, Alaska National Guard
- Wikimedia Commons
Unlike Stroud, Bear Grylls has an extensive background when it comes to survival training. He joined the cub scouts at a young age and has always had a love for climbing and sailing.
Grylls eventually became an elite member of the UK Special Forces Reserve, where he underwent rigorous training in field survivalism. He also received rigorous combat training while serving with the 21st Regiment.
More Bear Grylls
- Dig Deeper...13 Facts About Bear Grylls's Show That Prove It's Faked
- #205 of 227 onThe Most Trustworthy Celebrities In The World
- #101 of 152 onThe Best Hot Ones Guests Ever
- Photo:
Bear Grylls Has Been Outed Numerous Times For Faking His Shows
- Photo:
- Jamie Gray
- Wikimedia Commons
It may seem ridiculous that a former special forces trooper and professional survival expert would ever be accused of faking survival situations, but that's exactly what happened when rumors started to surface questioning the authenticity of Bear Grylls's show.
As it turns out, many of the survival situations on Man vs. Wild were completely fabricated by the film crew. While claiming to be taking on nature, Grylls would regularly return to camp at nightfall to sleep in a comfortable bed.
- Photo:
On Survivorman, Stroud Really Does Survive All On His Own
- Photo:
There's no doubt about it, Les Stroud is a man of conviction. He is widely considered to be the only person in television history to shoot and star in a show with absolutely zero outside help. He sets up the camera, gathers his own food, determines potential survival scenarios to reproduce, and hosts the show without anyone to help him.
Sorry Bear, But You Really Shouldn't Be Drinking Your Own Pee
- Photo:
- Kalei Brooks, Alaska National Guard
- Wikimedia Commons
One of the more outlandish things to come out of Man vs. Wild is Bear Grylls's obsession with drinking his own urine. The man has done this on his show on multiple occasions and pushes the move as a genuine survival strategy.
This is not recommended in cases of dehydration, as the salts in urine can actually make matters worse. On top of that, urine is full of toxins expelled from your body that can potentially build up in the kidneys.
Bear Grylls should not be drinking his own pee in survival situations, but the television host seemingly enjoys it. He even went so far as to drink Michelle Rodriguez's pee while filming a special episode of his show.
- Photo:
Stroud Is A Bigfoot Believer Who's Claimed To Have Some Spooky Experiences
- Photo:
One of the stranger Stroud facts is that he is an avid Bigfoot believer. He bases these beliefs on actual experiences he's had in the wilderness that he just couldn't explain. Stroud has even gone as far as to film an entire special season of Survivorman in which he searched for Bigfoot, but (spoiler alert) he did not discover the elusive ape.
'Survivorman' Introduced The World To Real Survival Television
- Photo:
Only a few years after the premiere of the reality game show Survivor, Les Stroud wanted to make a genuine survival show that truly depicted what it would be like to be trapped in the wilderness.
He pitched the show to a network in Canada and it was a hit. Eventually the show was picked up by the Discovery Channel, and the rest is history. Survivorman was one of the first survival programs on television, and it would inspire a wave of similarly themed programming.
Even With Their Differences, Stroud Still Respects Grylls's Influence On Survivalism
- Photo:
Judging by some of his comments, it sounds like Les Stroud doesn't think very highly of Bear Grylls or any reality show host who pretends to handle a survival situations. While he did tear into Grylls pretty hard during his AMA, the comments weren't all bad.
He did give credit to Bear Grylls for inspiring a lot of people to get into survivalism and learn more about the lifestyle. Stroud also warned people that survivalism is not something that should be treated as recreation, but rather should be viewed as an emergency skill like CPR.
