Survival TV shows: chime in on what you like.

[BoneJj]

Okay so I'm slowly getting back into the whole survival camping and general out doorsy type stuff that I used to really enjoy when I was younger. I'm slowly building up my gear again, working on replacing all my old camping pots and other gear that have not stood the test of time at my mothers house in the garage.

In the mean time to refresh old knowledge and maybe learn a few more tricks I've been watching a lot of the Survival TV shows that have been popping up on TV the last few years now. They have all pretty much hit NETFLIX now and so I'm able to watch a lot of them there.

So far on the list of shows to watch are:
Dual Survivor
Man, Woman, Wild
Survivor man
Man vs. Wild

Most of these are on the discovery network.


I'll have to say that they order I have them in above seems to be best to worst as far as actually showing you methods to survive. I'll have to admit as crazy as the 2 guys in Dual Survivor are I've seen more techniques and demonstration in the first 2 episodes that I have in most of the other shows.
I also rather like the couple on man, woman, wild. They are comical and do show and demonstrate a lot of good info, most of it I'm rather familiar with but I do like the info they show and they always stress knowing and reading up on the environments you will be entering, I can't stress that one enough...
Survivor man is a good one, he shows some good stuff as well but I have concerns about his methods, he's a little unskilled IMO.

I would like to like Bear Grylls more but I think he's too much of a gimmick and the products that they have made with Gerber and him are not that great. The blades just aren't up to par, granted I kind of like the survival kits that he's gotten them to produce as for the beginner, it's a good start but it would be nice if they had a more quality line of blades.

I know my next blades are more than likely going to be ka-bar (US made blade thanks). I also would highly encourage anyone purchasing a blade to stay away from serrations. They just don't serve a good enough purpose and limit the utility of the knife, hence a lot of my beef with the Gerber bear grylls line.

Ka-Bar is one of my favorites but I know there are better out there as well. I also really like american made products as well and ka-bar has some nice ones.

Anyway, chime in on the TV series's and your favorite knife brands and other survival type gear.

 

[leprecaun jon]

my best friend an i are doing the same thing lol.... man women wild.... the first episode is stupid and the only episode i have watched so far...bear grylls ( man vs wild) is fun to watch but but he doesn't really survive the show is more theatrical than helpful, survivor man is the one i like the most but i learned a lot off yourube users. theres this like 13 year old boy i think his user name is 1godsmarine... he does some really cool survival stuff and builds an awesome debris shelter...

 

[JSP]

Survivorman is my favorite by far. More realistic survival skills. Enjoy watching him have to come back for his cameras

 

[BoneJj]

my best friend an i are doing the same thing lol.... man women wild.... the first episode is stupid and the only episode i have watched so far...bear grylls ( man vs wild) is fun to watch but but he doesn't really survive the show is more theatrical than helpful, survivor man is the one i like the most but i learned a lot off yourube users. theres this like 13 year old boy i think his user name is 1godsmarine... he does some really cool survival stuff and builds an awesome debris shelter...

idk, I personally like the man woman wild series, good content and info in that one at times. and yeah, I completely agree that bear grylls is just for the hype and there just isn't that much sustenance to his show.

and I think you mean this kid:
TheGods1marine's Channel - YouTube

He's a pretty smart kid and does rather decent with his videos, I have to give him points for that. A little corny but he's a kid so it's all good. The kind of stuff he does in his videos is pretty much what I used to do as a kid myself.

Survivorman is my favorite by far. More realistic survival skills. Enjoy watching him have to come back for his cameras

The problem I have with Survivorman is that he constantly shows poor judgement in how he starts out and progresses in his shows, IMO. I watch them now just to see what kind of mistakes he's gong to make next. He seems to make very little effort for a few key things at times.

 

[Rookasaki]

Dual Survival is awesome!

 

[Spunky99]

Man vs Wild and Survivor man are pretty cool....

I had a Gerber Magnum Hunter when I was in the service but the ex stole it so I bought another one.....

 

[BoneJj]

Dual Survival is awesome!

I agree, I'm just about done with the first season already and I'll have to say. the amount of information in that show and also entertainment far surpases most of the other shows. Granted cody's nasal voice gets on my nerves a bit but he's definitely a smart guy and both of them have a passion for sharing techniques and general knowledge.

Man vs Wild and Survivor man are pretty cool....

I had a Gerber Magnum Hunter when I was in the service but the ex stole it so I bought another one.....

Man vs Wild to me is more of a theatrical show, to much oriented to the "crazy" side of things and not nearly as informative as I think it should be. I got to admit though, the guy has created a hell of a market for his name. It's just too bad that it's all for sub par gear, IMO...

and
Isn't that a blade from the 70's? I don't think they even produce that anymore.

I don't know that I would want to trust such an old blade while out in the woods, I mean it might be fine for taking care of a kill but I don't know that I would trust it for doing hard work for something like building a shelter and so on. I'd want a blade that's much stronger and can take a beating. A blade from then I would have a hard time trusting for heavy duty work and would be more prone to just putting that on a shelf and letting people see it and admire an old blade.

 

[Rookasaki]

It's a very good show. It's funny they have a Army veteran with a Hippy! Cody is a pretty cool dude. Odd at times but cool.

 

[Spunky99]

You really have to hold one of these bad boys in your hand before you make up your mind about them. The build quality far exceeds any picture you see. I'm confident this knife will perform as well as any new knife including any KBAR. With my first one, I made shelters out of trees and used it as a hatchet, prybar etc. I carried it in the field for 2 years as an ARMY Recon/Jungle Expert and it was the most sought after knife among the other Men. They let me carry it even tho it was non-military due to it's quality.
The handle is solid aluminum casted over the blade and it will not seperate. The coating is some industrial stuff that retains the grip even with blood and entrails all over it. The blade is thicker than it looks and the blade retains it's edge even after being abused horribly. Believe me....I abused the crap outta the first one and it looked almost new after 26 years.

Man vs Wild is definitely more entertaining than instructional...ya....and I like crazy....

I agree, I'm just about done with the first season already and I'll have to say. the amount of information in that show and also entertainment far surpases most of the other shows. Granted cody's nasal voice gets on my nerves a bit but he's definitely a smart guy and both of them have a passion for sharing techniques and general knowledge.


Man vs Wild to me is more of a theatrical show, to much oriented to the "crazy" side of things and not nearly as informative as I think it should be. I got to admit though, the guy has created a hell of a market for his name. It's just too bad that it's all for sub par gear, IMO...

and
Isn't that a blade from the 70's? I don't think they even produce that anymore.

I don't know that I would want to trust such an old blade while out in the woods, I mean it might be fine for taking care of a kill but I don't know that I would trust it for doing hard work for something like building a shelter and so on. I'd want a blade that's much stronger and can take a beating. A blade from then I would have a hard time trusting for heavy duty work and would be more prone to just putting that on a shelf and letting people see it and admire an old blade.

 

[BoneJj]

You really have to hold one of these bad boys in your hand before you make up your mind about them. The build quality far exceeds any picture you see. I'm confident this knife will perform as well as any new knife including any KBAR. With my first one, I made shelters out of trees and used it as a hatchet, prybar etc. I carried it in the field for 2 years as an ARMY Recon/Jungle Expert and it was the most sought after knife among the other Men. They let me carry it even tho it was non-military due to it's quality.
The handle is solid aluminum casted over the blade and it will not seperate. The coating is some industrial stuff that retains the grip even with blood and entrails all over it. The blade is thicker than it looks and the blade retains it's edge even after being abused horribly. Believe me....I abused the crap outta the first one and it looked almost new after 26 years.

Man vs Wild is definitely more entertaining than instructional...ya....and I like crazy....

wow, cast aluminum handle, that's interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of a handle being done like that before. I'm curious to know what kind of steel the blade is made from and if it's coated with anything as well.

I'm hoping to get a kabar bk2, bk7 or a Leather Handled Tanto and also a kukri machete. The kukri machete that I got my father for Christmas has been a hell of a work horse, he has taken it up to Georgia a few times now and is actually there this weekend with it. He's been using it to clear up the property he bought up there and it's just cutting through everything. He showed me some video of it taking down a bunch of the trees that are on the property up there. It has a few chips out of the cutting edge now but that's because he hit some rocks a few times when going through a few trees, lol. The kukri is 1085 high carbon steel blade. I would personally like a lower carbon blade for it but I haven't found any similar style blades that are better quality, the kukri shape is just what I really like and it's so natural for me to use.

As for the bk2, bk7 or a Leather Handled Tanto debate, I'm at a toss up, I like the bk2 shape but the blade is a little short for my taste. At only 5 1/4 inches that just seems short to me. The bk7 and tanto are both 7 inch blades, which is great but the bk7 has that sharp drop point and I'm not sure if I'm a fan of that part too much, makes for a weaker tip and might not be as good in times you need to baton, though it is 1095 cro-van. The curved edge of the bk7 is nice for gutting as well. For the Tanto it has a nice 7" blade and a nice flat back side of the blade so it'll have more strength in the tip/end of the blade but the sharp corner at the end would make for not so great cutting and skinning, so then I'd have to carry another blade with me. Also, I'm not much of a fan of the guard between the handle and the blade on this one either, yes it's supposed to be for "knife fight aka hand to hand" but I have no need for that kind of stuff, I'm not active duty anymore and don't need to worry about it, I just need to cut wood and animals up... lol. It makes it so you can't put a thumb on the back of the blade...

All 3 blades are 1095 cro-van, so they are both really strong and that's why they are top on my list. It's just a rather hard decision between them and I don't know of any other models that really interest me right now.

The bk5 (becker magnum) is a nice one but IDK, it's 8" which is getting into the too long territory and IDK about that backward angle of the blade.

So yeah, the BK2 just needs a 7 inch blade and I'd be putting it on my credit card tonight... lol.

 

[Spunky99]

The Gerber Magnum Hunter has a blade made from M-2 High Speed Steel with hard chrome plating. Rockwell c60-62. The handle is covered in Armorhide. The current one I have is different from any other I've ever seen. It has the back of the blade machined with teeth. I don't know if this was a mistake or what. It might be the tang machining to hold the handle on that they accidentally did too far up the back of the blade? It doesn't look like it extends down into the handle tho....

There is a Eddie Bauer version with the teeth but mine doesn't have the logo. They even have one with the teeth all the way along the entire back of the blade on the website.
ƒI[ƒ‹ƒhƒK[ƒo[@OLD Gerber