Bear Grylls was the host of a well-liked TV present, Man vs. Wild, and likewise Worst-Case State of affairs.
No matter what you consider the fact TV present format (trace: I hate it!), Bear Grylls deserves credit score for bringing the topic of survival to the mainstream’s consideration.
If it weren’t for him, many individuals most likely wouldn’t know survival fundamentals like that it’s a must to filter water within the wild.
However for all the superb survival recommendation that Bear Grylls provides, he additionally provides out quite a lot of horrible recommendation.
Listed below are absolutely the worst items of Bear Grylls survival recommendation.
1. Drink Urine
That is maybe one of many worst survival ideas that’s continuously repeated.
Whereas it may be okay to drink your urine one or two occasions in a extreme dehydration state of affairs, it’s a very dangerous concept.
Urine is a technique that your physique passes out waste. The extra dehydrated you might be, the extra concentrated the waste in your urine will probably be. By ingesting the waste-filled urine, you might be forcing your physique to course of it once more.
And guess what your physique must course of waste? Yep – water.
Learn Extra: The Reality about Consuming Urine for Survival
2. Throw Your Meals At a Bear
Bear Grylls encounters bears a couple of occasions on his present. In a number of conditions, he provides some actually dangerous survival recommendation.
On this video, Grylls sees a black bear. First off, he makes the silly mistake of staying round to stare at and movie the bear.
He might have slowly backed away and been utterly protected (black bears aren’t as aggressive as brown bears). Then Grylls provides the even dumber survival recommendation of throwing your backpack of meals on the bear. The concept is that the bear will go take a look at the meals and lose curiosity in you.
Throwing meals at a bear is a horrible concept. Other than educating bears to come back to folks for meals, it would piss off the bear, and it might come to assault you out of self-defense (you began it, in any case!).
3. Run from a Grizzly
For somebody named Bear, Bear Grylls has some horrible recommendation about bears.
In a single present, he encounters a grizzly bear. Once more, Grylls sticks round to movie the bear as a substitute of slowly backing away earlier than he’s seen. Grizzly bears don’t prefer to have their footage taken!
Grizzly bears (aka brown bears) are extra aggressive than black bears! You do NOT need to encounter one in all these within the wild. However for those who see a grizzly, don’t observe Bear Grylls’s recommendation. He says to again away slowly after which begin working—dangerous recommendation!
That is what you need to actually do for those who see a grizzly and it sees you:
Speak to the bear in a low, calm voice. Slowly elevate your palms within the air to make your self seem larger. When you’ve got kids with you, deliver them near you so that you seem like one large animal. You don’t need to seem like prey or a straightforward goal.
Slowly begin strolling backward.
By no means run! This can make you seem like prey, and the bear will chase after you. Since grizzlies can run at 34 mph, it isn’t doubtless you’ll win the race.
If the bear begins attacking you, you’ll be able to attempt enjoying lifeless. However be aware that you simply don’t need to play lifeless with black bears—they are going to see you as a free lunch!
4. Pull Leeches Off Your Physique
I’ve swam with leeches quite a few occasions and had them on my physique extra occasions than I can rely. So, once I watched Bear Grylls pull leeches off his physique, I bought offended.
When you’ve got a leech in your physique, do NOT simply rip it off!
Pulling a leech off your physique might go away a part of its tooth within the wound, resulting in a nasty an infection. Nonetheless, be aware that people strategies of eradicating leeches—reminiscent of placing salt on them or burning them with a match—aren’t excellent both. The leech might regurgitate its abdomen contents into the wound and trigger an infection.
As a substitute, to take away a leech, you need to discover one thing flat (your fingernail will work). Beginning with the top, work it beneath the leech. It’s going to break the suction, and the leech will safely come off.
5. Eat Uncooked Sport
In a minimum of one episode, Bear Grylls has caught an animal and bitten proper into the lifeless animal. This would possibly make for good TV, however it’s dangerous survival recommendation.
Uncooked meat can comprise all types of micro organism and parasites. Consuming uncooked meat in a survival state of affairs is virtually a loss of life sentence since you might find yourself with diarrhea after which extreme dehydration.
The one cause indigenous teams just like the Eskimos can eat uncooked fish is that salt water and chilly temperatures kill micro organism and parasites. So don’t danger it.
Both cook dinner your sport or discover one other supply of survival meals – like consuming bugs for survival.
6. Swing Your Manner Throughout Streams, Ravines, Waterfalls…
In numerous episodes, Bear Grylls comes throughout one thing like a raging river. His response is at all times one thing alongside the traces of,
It could take an excessive amount of time to go round. Let’s go over it!
In a single episode, he lashes poles to his palms and makes use of them to vault down a mountain!
In actual survival conditions, you don’t get to scout out the terrain beforehand (as Bear Grylls does), nor do you get to do a re-shoot in case your first try doesn’t work out, nor will you will have a digicam crew able to whisk you away to a hospital.
So, for those who ever encounter an impediment like an enormous ravine, spend the additional few hours mountain climbing rigorously round it as a substitute of breaking bones.
7. A River Is a Good Type of Transportation
In a single episode, Bear Grylls’s Grylls’s recommendation is to make a raft and use it to go down a raging river. In one other episode, he recommends physique browsing down a raging river in a canyon (sure, physique browsing!!!).
In lots of different episodes, he does different silly issues with rivers.
For instance, in a single episode, he walks by means of a river in a canyon and comes throughout a chunk of timber. His response is, “I suppose I must swim beneath it!”
Getting moist is among the worst issues you are able to do in a survival state of affairs! Except you will have a plan on learn how to get dry later, this might imply hypothermia and loss of life.
So don’t observe silly survival recommendation from Bear Grylls. In the event you encounter a raging river, spend some additional time mountain climbing to a protected crossing spot somewhat than making an attempt to swim your approach by means of it.
8. Take Dangers
This brings me to the most important cause I don’t like Grylls and his survival recommendation: he continuously takes dangers.
Whether or not pole vaulting throughout a canyon or swimming throughout a raging river, these stunts are harmful.
In the event you break a bone whereas within the wild, you received’t have a complete digicam crew to fly you out. In the event you aren’t positive what’s protected to do, don’t do it!
Taking part in it protected is the best possible survival recommendation.
What do you consider Bear Grylls — good leisure or a conveyor of dangerously awful recommendation?