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Who is the best survilalist

Good Morning Garry you can't class Ed Stafford in the same light as Grills or any of those others. He's proved on numerous occasions that he can pretty much survive with nothing but his naked skin. Also he was the first person to walk the full length of the Amazon rain forest
I agree, Ed Stafford is up there, I just wasn't planning to list everybody - as a after thought I guess Eddy McGee also fits in the Lofty category for his time in the forces and as he's widely regarded as the grand of survival I think its fitting.

Point is TV experts (on or off a course or TV) do not have first had survival experience, if that there the case I'd include Tom Hanks for castaway!
 
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I've no personal experience of any of them directly other than what I've seen on tv so for what it's worth my opinion could be , well , worthless.I've seen a bit of Ed Stafford's naked thing ( or is that naked except for a blurry cotton wool blob over their nethers) and he seems alright. Bear Gyrils just seems too shouty and full of bluster. He might know what he's doing but I just don't like his style . In a similar vein anything historical with Mike Loades presenting it gets on my tits too. Ray Mears comes across to me having a sort of gentle rapport with the landscape he's in and doesn't need to run about shouting it seems to me.
Going off topic but the shouty thing reminds me of depictions of Death in films. In a lot he's got a booming shouty voice but in my opinion the best depiction is in Bergman' Seventh Seal . Ok so he speaks Swedish but it's a gentle quiet voice , a voice that doesn't need to be loud and dominating because it can't be argued with.
 
Of the brits Ray M is my favourite. Did have a copy of the SAS Survival Handbook knocking about somewhere, was that Lofty Wiseman? Not a bad read.
Can't stand BG.
 
Of the brits Ray M is my favourite. Did have a copy of the SAS Survival Handbook knocking about somewhere, was that Lofty Wiseman? Not a bad read.
Can't stand BG.
Read John Wiseman’s urban survival book and it will change your opinion of him, it was total bull. The section that included the use of a chainsaw was both ludicrous and possibly dangerous. The SAS survival guide is a regurgitation of other survival books and military manuals.
While Edward Grylls would be my last choice of survival instructor (some way behind Will Smith and Beyoncé) he has done quite a lot for the scouting movement and I must give him credit for that even though I think his TV shows are sensationalist and reckless.
 
I have John Hudson's book and it's more motivational speaker than survival.

As a military survival instructor I am sure he was very good but one thing I remember from military survival courses and later interaction with guys from St Morgan etc is that survival is taught to the military as a, we have to teach them something but we doubt it will be of much use, type thing. The same with survival kits, for a service person in a e&e situation the ability to make fire is pretty much useless unless it's a matter of life and death and out ways the risk of capture.

All that said the military have kept a lot of old knowledge alive and many bushcraft gurus regurgitate as gospel without having used it.

But I digress
 
What is survival ...... camping out in the wilderness for fun , military escaping and evading capture , living in a wild area as part of a TV show , becoming lost or injured in remote area , overcoming adverse conditions following bad fortune, travelling as a refugee , living in a war torn country ..... Its hard to define for sure .

Here are some examples that certainly fit the bill for me ...


My Grandfather was a prisoner of the Japanese during World War Two ...... he was captured at the fall of Singapore and repatriated to Manchester in 1948 - 6 years on the railway, nick named Snakey as he would catch snakes to eat , then make belts to barter with " friendly " Japanese guards for whatever he could get ..... That's survival
 
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What is survival ...... camping out in the wilderness for fun , military escaping and evading capture , living in a wild area as part of a TV show , becoming lost or injured in remote area , overcoming adverse conditions following bad fortune, travelling as a refugee , living in a war torn country ..... Its hard to define for sure .

Here are some examples that certainly fit the bill for me ...


My Grandfather was a prisoner of the Japanese during World War Two ...... he was captured at the fall of Singapore and repatriated to Manchester in 1948 - 6 years on the railway, nick named Snakey as he would catch snakes to eat , then make belts to barter with " friendly " Japanese guards for whatever he could get ..... That's survival
My grandfather was a spitfire pilot who got shot down and went on to fly again. I have his old wings and dog tags in a frame
 

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