Bear Grylls V Ray Mears

[Dizzy]

They've both been on tv during the last week doing similar type survival shows but have to say ray wins it for me...if I was going to be stranded in some remote wilderness I would much prefer to rely on ray to keep me alive(although after a couple of days of Bear running around like a child with ADHD screaming and biting the head of anything that moves I might be tempted to kill and eat him ).

Who would you prefer to be stranded with and am I being too harsh on poor old Bear?

[thomseddon]

hahaha me and my friends have been having this exact same dicussion over the last week, and i think it is really summed up in that my parents choose ray and my mates choose bear!!

lol i fully respect ray but i mean is he going to make the call, that if your self made raft fails you should strip and jump into some sub zero Canadian lake? i don't think so! (and im not sure i would like to see that anyway!!) or would ray cut open a camel, drain its semi digested juices and then take shelter in its caucus? no i think mr grylls wins for me!

if anything the comedy value would keep your spirits high!

[Dizzy]

Now don't get me wrong, I do have respect for Bear after all he's climbed Everest and it must have took some guts to fly over on that homemade thingy but everytime he's on I want to give him a couple of valium and tell him to calm down .And ewwww I'd rather not sleep inside a camel carcass but then thats probably because I'm a girl!!I'm sure Ray could have knocked me up a nice homemade shelter out of some twigs and stuff!

[ogy]

Hahahaha top description of bear....love it

I've had this conversation loads of times and it all boils down to the fact if you want true grit survival then bears the man, he can knock up a shelter in minimum time and just eats anything to survive, you'd be out of the crap a lot quicker with bear.

However if you wanted to eat bloody well and spend all day constructing a hut that would give my 3 bedroom semi a run for it's money then ray is the man. It would take you ages to to find civilisation with Ray but man you'd do it in style

Still killing mesen laughing at that description of Bear 

[thomseddon]

i thought it really summed up old ray when he wanted to make some dinner, he spent well over an hour making a chopping board, and then carving a nice floral design into it?!?!?!

its not survival its more like outdoor 5 star luxury!!!


Sorry the quality of the ray pic isn't great but i had to screen-shot it off youtube!!!

[ogy]

 

Brilliant,

That raft bear made was pants, the sail did naff all did it hahaha
I once saw Ray whittle away an oar and theres bear with his manky driftwood, Love it

[Mr Sam]

It seems that we have all had this conversation. Myself and my friends all agree that with Ray you'll walk out of bush in style. And that with Bear you would come out carrying him after he brakes his leg while falling over.

[tonyk]

Rick is far more educational in that you could actually apply his stuff whereas Bear is more of an entertainer.I did enjoy his recent  Everest documentary and it must have took a lot of bottle going up there in that flimsy "aircraft".But he has faked some of his shows and that is the reason I would prefer to be stranded with Rick.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-470155/How-Bear-Grylls-Born-Survivor-roughed--hotels.html

[kevc]

Everyone's already pretty much said this but i think it comes down to what you want to do. Ray just walks into the woods and survives quite comfortably, making proper canoe's and paddle's, shelters, cooking proper meals etc. Where as Bear goes into more extreme situations and survives as best he can so he can get back to safety. I do believe Ray actually trains the SAS where i imagine Bear learned a lot of his survival skills so you could see it that Bear is just taking a different angle on the outdoor survival aspect. And you have to hand it to Bear he is about a million times harder than Ray after watching some of his solo rock climbing, abseiling and lake swimming antics. All that aside big Ray is the only man who can live in a forest for a few weeks and still come out fat

[Ian s]

I don't have a telly but people keep talking to me about this Bear guy. Usually about how his exploits are staged, and more in the realm of entertainment than adventure skills. What's the story? Is he a fake? does it matter? It's only a thing on the box!

Ian
www.mountainfreedom.co.uk

[kevc]

I think he does stage a lot of his show, but thats not to say he doesnt still do some pretty crazy stuff like jumping into frozen lakes to demonstrate a technique in how to get out, or climbing up sheer rock faces with no ropes, abseiling down into crevasses and climbing out, skinning and gutting a camel then getting inside ...

apparently what he 'fakes' is sleeping rough and instead stays in hotels after a days filming, which to me doesn't take away from the fact this guy is fairly dedicated to showing survival techniques, granted he'll be getting paid a mint for it.

He was in the SAS before, which i think on its own shows he's pretty hardcore, but broke his back when a parachutte jump went wrong, then after recovering became Britain's youngest person to climb everest i believe it was.

[timus]

I think Grills makes his money as a motivational speaker? I know he was in the TA where he was a medic taught survival skills to the SAS. The criticism of his shows came because he would fake a lot of the situations he supposedly found himself in. In fact the show was suspended while parts were given a voice over track where he made it clear that he a, want in real danger, b, was actually staying down the road in the Hilton or both. That said, he is a sight tougher than me so he has my respect

As for Ray, well the man is a god isn't he!

[Jeebs]

i have discussed this myself with friends and Ray wins every time.
For one - i've watched a 'making of' with bear grylls and he gets flown back to a hotel at night. im not saying ray doesnt - just were led to believe bear camps out in the wild - which he rarely does!

also i've grown up watching ray. he's ace 

[Skinny Walker]

But Rays shorts are absolutely unforgivable!!

[Dazza]

For me it's also Ray every time (even considering his shorts).  Bear, well he's called Bear for one thing and whilst I don't doubt his credentials for a second, he doesn't fill me with confidence because of his style of programme I guess.

In a military style situation as in survive on the minimum and get out asap then yes Bear probably has the edge technique wise, in a more general 'you have to survive and it may be weeks' I'd deifinitely vote for Ray. So overall I'm for Ray.

One other thing, Craghoppers now have a Bear Grylls range sold in Debenhams of all places. Not to criticise CH's gear (I use it myself and it is good) but that says something surely.