Survival Shows

The hosts of the two discovery shows Survivorman and Man Vs. Wild, Les Stroud and Bear Grylls respectively, are often compared in their ways of doing things. Their survival techniques, their TV shows, the places they choose to survive in, the way they speak, and everything else is compared about the two hosts and shows.

Maybe it’s because everyone has their own preference, or maybe it’s because the two do such different things, or maybe it’s simply because the survival tv shows are so similar that they get compared constantly. Whatever the reason, these two hosts both have very similar tv shows with typically a shared audience, and I will compare the two, their similarities and their differences here.

The story-telling of the show. Both Les Stroud and Bear Grylls tell stories of other survivors who have survived the areas they are visiting, as well as how they did it.

Les carries his own cameras. This is one of the biggest aspects of the show that separates these two men. On Survivorman, Les carries all his own camera equipment, which causes him to exert more energy than Bear does, and it also means he often has to trek down the side of a mountain twice—once to set up the cameras and then once again while they are rolling to film his descent. It also means that he is lugging around a lot of extra weight that Bear Grylls doesn’t have to contend with on Man Vs. Wild. While you wouldn’t have to do this in the wild, it definitely says something positive for the host that is willing to do this for the viewers.

Their approach to survival methods. Each of the two men do things differently, and this is especially true since Les often has more things than Bear does to work with. On Survivorman, Les begins with all the items that would likely be with a person if they were stranded in a certain way, such as a biker or mountain climber getting lost. This allows usage of items that you may not actually have access to. Similarly, though, Bear almost always has a flint with him, something you may not have with you if you were ever to be stranded.

They do a lot of the same things, but in different ways. When stranded on an island in each show, both hosts stressed the importance of coconuts and everything they can do for you. However, on Man Vs. Wild, Bear Grylls shimmied his way up a tree and threw coconuts down, while Lew threw rocks at his to get them to fall in Survivorman. Personally, I thought Bear’s method worked a little quicker and gave the information you would need for climbing a tree like this.

Les Stroud is truly alone. While it seems as if Bear Grylls is alone, we all know he has camera operators with him, and even though they leave at night, they know exactly where to find Bear the next morning. Les is truly alone, no one knows where he is, and that makes the situation a lot more dangerous and difficult for the host, which is much more respectable.

There have been no reports of Les faking anything. (Other than the one we reported on!) There have, however, been reports that Bear Grylls has slept in motels during harsh weather, but the show left us believing he actually slept in the wild. While it is understandable that sometimes harsh conditions call for a change in plans (for example, on the episode of Survivorman where Les is stranded in a life raft in the ocean, his crew comes and rescues him to wait out a thunderstorm on a big boat), to lead us to believe that Bear Grylls never has to do this is dishonest.

Bear Grylls puts himself in more dangerous situations. He jumped in quicksand, hopped into a frozen lake, and swam across a river filled with alligators, all to show us how to escape these situations if we were to get in them. This has excellent educational and entertainment value for the most part, and it’s understandable that Les can’t do this same thing (intentionally putting himself in dangerous situations) because he doesn’t have a crew right there with him. If Bear gets in over his head, there are people around to rescue him, which enables him to teach lessons through demonstration. I have always been pleased with these, except for the episode where he jumps into a frozen lake. His technique and what he taught was wonderful, but there were handholds created in the ice in advance that one would not normally have, making it impossible to actually climb out the way he did.

As you can see, there are many differences between these two men and the way they present their survival tv shows. Your preference may be Les because you like that he carries his own cameras, or you may like the knowledge that Bear Grylls imparts, but they are both very strong survivors who have a lot to teach us.