Kevin's Watch

I love the show. Far better than Survivorman.

But... apparently there's some controversy. Now, I didn't expect complete authenticity. He's obviously briefed by area experts. He does talk to the camera quite a bit, and it does show a lot of far away shots and all that. I even suspected that quite a few situations were staged for effect. But I am a little disappointed to learn that he might quite possibly be holed up all nice and comfy during the days he's out there.

Not that it will stop me from watching, but that does bump Survivorman up a notch or two.

I've never quite trusted that guy... it seems the camera man following him down the pathless jungle hillside would have a more difficult time than he did.

And talking about hunger when he knows the guys brought food for themselves...please.
I watched three shows and kept thinking, 'yeah, right!'

Survivorman is a much better and authentic show, imo.

Mantracker is better than both.

More authentic, certainly. But most of the time watching that show I wonder how he manages to stay alive. Nothing the poor guy ever tries works out. If it wasn't for grubs and tubers...

Syl wrote:More authentic, certainly. But most of the time watching that show I wonder how he manages to stay alive. Nothing the poor guy ever tries works out. If it wasn't for grubs and tubers...

I find that Les' (Survivorman) mishaps and blunders add to the charm of the show. Imagine how hard it must be to stage all those shots, then go back and collect your camera gear. Survivorman is one of my favorite shows and I am psyched about the new episodes.

Sunbaneglasses wrote:

Syl wrote:More authentic, certainly. But most of the time watching that show I wonder how he manages to stay alive. Nothing the poor guy ever tries works out. If it wasn't for grubs and tubers...

I find that Les' (Survivorman) mishaps and blunders add to the charm of the show. Imagine how hard it must be to stage all those shots, then go back and collect your camera gear. Survivorman is one of my favorite shows and I am psyched about the new episodes.

Exactly. To both posts.

His failures are as real as the (fewer) victories. You almost hear his belly rumbling with the night vision camera on. I wonder if he just freakin'
screams sometimes when the camera is off, then turned on when he composes himself! He sure seems even keeled, more so than I guess he really is. Or I would be.

Dromond wrote: His failures are as real as the (fewer) victories. You almost hear his belly rumbling with the night vision camera on. I wonder if he just freakin'
screams sometimes when the camera is off, then turned on when he composes himself! He sure seems even keeled, more so than I guess he really is. Or I would be.

I can certainly vouch for the screaming thing. There's been a few times when my bowdrill set was completely soaked, and I was soaked, and I was hungry and the only thing I could was just yell. Then I found a nice dry tree and curled up underneath. Sometimes a good guttural scream makes everything else better.

As for the comparison? I pick Survivorman. There are just a few things that Bear Grills does that, I concede, could work. But there are ALWAYS better ways of doing things. For instance; drinking your own urine. For gods sake, drink out of dirty hole first. There's a reason why your pissing it out of your system. Unless there is NO other water, and no HOPE of any other water, avoid it like hell.

And then, I just find Les Stroud a much more likable fellow. He seems more like the chill hippy rather than the psyched up jock type like Grills.

Balon wrote:

Dromond wrote: His failures are as real as the (fewer) victories. You almost hear his belly rumbling with the night vision camera on. I wonder if he just freakin'
screams sometimes when the camera is off, then turned on when he composes himself! He sure seems even keeled, more so than I guess he really is. Or I would be.

I can certainly vouch for the screaming thing. There's been a few times when my bowdrill set was completely soaked, and I was soaked, and I was hungry and the only thing I could was just yell. Then I found a nice dry tree and curled up underneath. Sometimes a good guttural scream makes everything else better.

As for the comparison? I pick Survivorman. There are just a few things that Bear Grills does that, I concede, could work. But there are ALWAYS better ways of doing things. For instance; drinking your own urine. For gods sake, drink out of dirty hole first. There's a reason why your pissing it out of your system. Unless there is NO other water, and no HOPE of any other water, avoid it like hell.

And then, I just find Les Stroud a much more likable fellow. He seems more like the chill hippy rather than the psyched up jock type like Grills.

While I know there is a reason it's being passed out of my system, in some areas, unless you can boil or chlorinate the water, you're going to pick up some very nasty things that would lay you low before your kidneys would shut down.

Emotional Leper wrote: While I know there is a reason it's being passed out of my system, in some areas, unless you can boil or chlorinate the water, you're going to pick up some very nasty things that would lay you low before your kidneys would shut down.

Yes, and so when I'm camping I always make sure to boil it. Even when your in a survival situation like these guy's portray, try our best to boil, or if that's not possible, then filter it.

I love this show-back in the days when I had access to tv. Imo the question is not whether he is doing the things in the show but whether he could potentially do them if required or has done those things for real before ....Well, the bloke is ex spec forces, has climbed everest and was something to do with the French foriegn Legion. He's plenty tough enough.

Of course, if you had the means to boil it, you might be fortunate enough to have some means of collecting the steam, in which case, I think you could boil the urine and drip the collected steam. Same for Salt Water. Of course, if you've got gear like that with you, and you're in a situation where you need to do such a thing, you're probably in a bad spot of luck.

--So has any one elese SEEN Mantracker?

Basically, there is a guy (the Mantracker) and a guide for whatever are they are in.

There are two people (that don't previously know eachother) that have to work together to get from one end of theri course to the other...its usually fifty miles or so...they get a bit of a head start...and Mantracker doesn't know where they begin or where they are supposed to end.
MT has a horse...the prey do not...the advantage goes back and forth..I've only seen him lose once.

drew wrote:--So has any one elese SEEN Mantracker?

Basically, there is a guy (the Mantracker) and a guide for whatever are they are in.

There are two people (that don't previously know eachother) that have to work together to get from one end of theri course to the other...its usually fifty miles or so...they get a bit of a head start...and Mantracker doesn't know where they begin or where they are supposed to end.
MT has a horse...the prey do not...the advantage goes back and forth..I've only seen him lose once.

It does sound pretty cool. How long has it been on? And do you suppose I could catch it in Washington?

I watched Mantracker only once, about a year ago... it was the one where he failed, the two girls hitching a ride. I didn't care for the fact he knew the land so well, and his 'prey' were totally unfamiliar with it.

I never surfed past it again, didn't know it was still on.

I got a chuckle stumbling across this...

www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/32385

HAHAHA.

That's why I prefer Suvivorman.