| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Also on Backpacker.com
Backpacker Magazine – Online Exclusive
Bear Attack: Q&A with Bear Grylls
The star of "Man vs. Wild" talks gear, luxury items, and survival advice.
"Man vs. Wild" star Bear Grylls. (Ben Fullerton)
-
Tags:
- Survival |
Ramping up for a live stage tour in May, the star of Discovery Channel’s “Man vs. Wild” sat down with BACKPACKER's Anthony Cerretani to discuss what it takes to design durable gear, his favorite luxury item and the survival advice he gives his kids.
BP: You’ve gone from TV show star to complete brand. What’s been the biggest challenge?
BG: The main thing has been saying “no.” You can go out there and endorse all sorts of rubbish. For five years, all I did was say no to everything. Now the stuff I’ve done, I’ve tested. That’s why the range of all the survival packs and the knives have been so successful.
BP: Now that you’re developing gear — most recently, for the new Craghoppers apparel debuting at ORWM — are you more cognizant of how well it works? Does it change the survival experience for you?
BG: I’m never scared to be wrong, and I’m never scared to ruin or trash stuff. If I could have another slogan out there, it would be “It’s not about the gear.” Give yourself the best chance and get the best gear you can. But ultimately, the best tools are your ingenuity and your spirit. That’s what keeps people alive. I design good gear, good knives and good clothing so I don’t have to think about it. Hopefully, the gear and kit stands up to the job. And when it doesn’t, you change it and you refine it. Every time, you learn. I always say to the crew, complacency kills, and that stands as much for your kit as it does for your attitude.
BP: Is there one type of gear you wished functioned better for you while out there in the wilds?
BG: It’s hard to get good jungle clothing: stuff that’s quick-drying, isn’t going to rip, isn’t going to break. The jungle stuff [we’ve designed] I’m especially proud of. I use it in loads of different environments, but the extreme end of that is in the jungles.
BP: Is there anything that you always bring with you that’s not part of the standard survival kit?
BG: I always bring a laminated photo of my family tucked under the sole of my shoe, and I always have a satellite phone. Each night — I have three boys — I try to say goodnight to them before I go to bed wherever we are in the world. That’s a bit of a ritual for me. I’ve done it from some crazy summits and crazy storms, huddled down in snow caves. That’s my connection with home.
BP: When it comes to your kids, what’s the first survival skill you taught them?
BG: Always have a backup plan. The other day, I saw my eldest halfway up this tree, really high up this thing, hanging off by one hand. This branch is dead. I said, “Stop. What’s your backup plan?” He says, “Papa, you never have a backup plan.” I said, “I always have a backup plan.” That’s why I’m still doing this show so many years later.
BP: You seem very good at handling situations when they go awry. What’s your secret?
BG: I love it. That’s my zone. I love the quote, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” I love it when it starts to go wrong. You have to think fast and with ingenuity. And then you have to commit yourself. I love that the wild rewards commitment.
BP: How do you stay calm in those types of situations? Is it just a mental shift for you?
BG: I do it because of the alternative. Panic never helps you. I’ve learned from experience: You thrive when you keep calm in a crisis. Calm in the storm. I’m interested in team guys, expedition guys who, when it’s all going to rat shit can be nice, can be kind, can be calm. Nobody talks about nice and kind, but if you’re stuck in a tent with someone for three months, you don’t want the ego and the selfish person. You want the person who’s going to make you a cup of tea first.
BP: For someone who’s never been in a survival situation before, how can they process that fear?
BG: Don’t rush in. The instinct when something goes wrong is blind panic. Just stop. Step back. Breathe. Time spent in preparation is good time. Sometimes you need to make a split decision one way or the other. But if your life is going to depend on it, take an extra five seconds and look at it. Think things through.
BP: What’s next for you?
BG: I’m doing a live stage tour in of the U.S. in May. I’ll be telling all of the “Man vs. Wild” stories, behind the scenes, past expeditions, all the SAS stuff, all the military stuff. Lots of swinging from the rooftops, snakes and fire. So, a fun evening!
Subscribe to Backpacker magazine
Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter
Reader Rating:
Fall/Winter Gear Guide
261 reviews and camping tips
Boost Your Apps
Add powerful tools and exclusive maps to your BACKPACKER apps through our partnership with Trimble Outdoors.
Carry the Best Maps
With BACKPACKER PRO Maps, get life-list destinations and local trips on adventure-ready waterproof myTopo paper.
FREE Rocky Mountain Trip Planner
Sign up for a free Rocky Mountain National Park trip planning kit from our sister site MyRockyMountainPark.com.
Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 3 FREE GIFTS
Survival Skills 101 • Eat BetterThe Best Trails in America
YES! Please send me my FREE trial issues of Backpacker
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Free trial offer valid for US subscribers only.
Canadian subscriptions |
International subscriptions
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
READERS COMMENTS
'> i hate Bear Grylls.
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7304617.stm">bear grylls is a fake.</a>
Triple posting? My apologies! It wasn't intentional.
I liked a few of his shows at first, finding them entertaining and informative. His show about joining the French Foreign Legion was quite good, but I always wondered about the advice being given in the survival situations and how it really applied to reality.
Well, then I saw the Montana episode. It happened to be located in a place I'm from and have to say that it was the most ludicrous advice I've ever seen. I guarantee that anyone from there would never try the stupid bullshit he did in that show. Maybe the producers made him do it, but the truth is that it destroyed his credibility utterly. Just watch it on YouTube....utterly idiotic actions that are more likely to get you killed than save you. Only a sellout would have done that, not someone who took his reputation seriously. Go look at Ray Mears if you want serious. Bear Grylls, you seriously jumped the shark on that one and destroyed your credibility. When I see his name on merchandise, it tells me that it's poor quality, and likely to fail. I would never guy gear with this guy's name on it, I'd hate to be associated with his idiotic advice. In particular on that show...there were three actions likely to get his ass killed. First...the railroad trestle. STUPID. Just follow it on the ground. It's a wide valley that comes to level within a mile. Second, the canoe...walk around the friggin lake rather than drown. Plus, Montanans are pretty big on DIY. I've never seen a canoe abandoned. Someone would have taken that home and fixed that little hole with fiberglass patches! Sail it across cold water? Brilliant! Canyon Ferry Dam and lake isn't that big--walk around it and live. Third....the deer antler on a rope.....beyond stupid. Walk around that SMALL canyon. God....
I liked a few of his shows at first, finding them entertaining and informative. His show about joining the French Foreign Legion was quite good, but I always wondered about the advice being given in the survival situations and how it really applied to reality.
Well, then I saw the Montana episode. It happened to be located in a place I'm from and have to say that it was the most ludicrous advice I've ever seen. I guarantee that anyone from there would never try the stupid bullshit he did in that show. Maybe the producers made him do it, but the truth is that it destroyed his credibility utterly. Just watch it on YouTube....utterly idiotic actions that are more likely to get you killed than save you. Only a sellout would have done that, not someone who took his reputation seriously. Go look at Ray Mears if you want serious. Bear Grylls, you seriously jumped the shark on that one and destroyed your credibility. When I see his name on merchandise, it tells me that it's poor quality, and likely to fail. I would never guy gear with this guy's name on it, I'd hate to be associated with his idiotic advice. In particular on that show...there were three actions likely to get his ass killed. First...the railroad trestle. STUPID. Just follow it on the ground. It's a wide valley that comes to level within a mile. Second, the canoe...walk around the friggin lake rather than drown. Plus, Montanans are pretty big on DIY. I've never seen a canoe abandoned. Someone would have taken that home and fixed that little hole with fiberglass patches! Sail it across cold water? Brilliant! Canyon Ferry Dam and lake isn't that big--walk around it and live. Third....the deer antler on a rope.....beyond stupid. Walk around that SMALL canyon. God....
I liked a few of his shows at first, finding them entertaining and informative. His show about joining the French Foreign Legion was quite good, but I always wondered about the advice being given in the survival situations and how it really applied to reality.
Well, then I saw the Montana episode. It happened to be located in a place I'm from and have to say that it was the most ludicrous advice I've ever seen. I guarantee that anyone from there would never try the stupid bullshit he did in that show. Maybe the producers made him do it, but the truth is that it destroyed his credibility utterly. Just watch it on YouTube....utterly idiotic actions that are more likely to get you killed than save you. Only a sellout would have done that, not someone who took his reputation seriously. Go look at Ray Mears if you want serious. Bear Grylls, you seriously jumped the shark on that one and destroyed your credibility. When I see his name on merchandise, it tells me that it's poor quality, and likely to fail. I would never guy gear with this guy's name on it, I'd hate to be associated with his idiotic advice. In particular on that show...there were three actions likely to get his ass killed. First...the railroad trestle. STUPID. Just follow it on the ground. It's a wide valley that comes to level within a mile. Second, the canoe...walk around the friggin lake rather than drown. Plus, Montanans are pretty big on DIY. I've never seen a canoe abandoned. Someone would have taken that home and fixed that little hole with fiberglass patches! Sail it across cold water? Brilliant! Canyon Ferry Dam and lake isn't that big--walk around it and live. Third....the deer antler on a rope.....beyond stupid. Walk around that SMALL canyon. God....
I liked a few of his shows at first, finding them entertaining and informative. His show about joining the French Foreign Legion was quite good, but I always wondered about the advice being given in the survival situations and how it really applied to reality.
Well, then I saw the Montana episode. It happened to be located in a place I'm from and have to say that it was the most ludicrous advice I've ever seen. I guarantee that anyone from there would never try the stupid bullshit he did in that show. Maybe the producers made him do it, but the truth is that it destroyed his credibility utterly. Just watch it on YouTube....utterly idiotic actions that are more likely to get you killed than save you. Only a sellout would have done that, not someone who took his reputation seriously. Go look at Ray Mears if you want serious. Bear Grylls, you seriously jumped the shark on that one and destroyed your credibility. When I see his name on merchandise, it tells me that it's poor quality, and likely to fail. I would never guy gear with this guy's name on it, I'd hate to be associated with his idiotic advice. In particular on that show...there were three actions likely to get his ass killed. First...the railroad trestle. STUPID. Just follow it on the ground. It's a wide valley that comes to level within a mile. Second, the canoe...walk around the friggin lake rather than drown. Plus, Montanans are pretty big on DIY. I've never seen a canoe abandoned. Someone would have taken that home and fixed that little hole with fiberglass patches! Sail it across cold water? Brilliant! Canyon Ferry Dam and lake isn't that big--walk around it and live. Third....the deer antler on a rope.....beyond stupid. Walk around that SMALL canyon. God....
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
you can find many cheap and fashion stuff
30¡ª39 USD jordan air max oakland raiders;
20USD Ed Hardy AF JUICY POLO Bikini
30USD Handbags (Coach lv fendi d&g) $30
12USD T shirts (Polo ,edhardy,lacoste) $12
30USD Jean(True Religion,edhardy,co ogi) $30
12USD Sunglasses (Oakey,coach,gucci,Armaini) $12
12USD New era cap $9
16USD Bikini (Ed hardy,polo) $16
DELIVERY TO YOU DOOR TO DOOR
we can offer NFL,NHL,MLB,NBA jerser,the NFL jersey 18usd each,
the NHL jersey 38USD each.
MLB jersey 18usd each,NAB jersey 18usd each.
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.salesmonsterbeats.com/ ===
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
you can find many cheap and fashion stuff
30¡ª39 USD jordan air max oakland raiders;
20USD Ed Hardy AF JUICY POLO Bikini
30USD Handbags (Coach lv fendi d&g) $30
12USD T shirts (Polo ,edhardy,lacoste) $12
30USD Jean(True Religion,edhardy,co ogi) $30
12USD Sunglasses (Oakey,coach,gucci,Armaini) $12
12USD New era cap $9
16USD Bikini (Ed hardy,polo) $16
DELIVERY TO YOU DOOR TO DOOR
we can offer NFL,NHL,MLB,NBA jerser,the NFL jersey 18usd each,
the NHL jersey 38USD each.
MLB jersey 18usd each,NAB jersey 18usd each.
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.salesmonsterbeats.com/ ===
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
you can find many cheap and fashion stuff
30¡ª39 USD jordan air max oakland raiders;
20USD Ed Hardy AF JUICY POLO Bikini
30USD Handbags (Coach lv fendi d&g) $30
12USD T shirts (Polo ,edhardy,lacoste) $12
30USD Jean(True Religion,edhardy,co ogi) $30
12USD Sunglasses (Oakey,coach,gucci,Armaini) $12
12USD New era cap $9
16USD Bikini (Ed hardy,polo) $16
DELIVERY TO YOU DOOR TO DOOR
we can offer NFL,NHL,MLB,NBA jerser,the NFL jersey 18usd each,
the NHL jersey 38USD each.
MLB jersey 18usd each,NAB jersey 18usd each.
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.salesmonsterbeats.com/ ===
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
you can find many cheap and fashion stuff
30¡ª39 USD jordan air max oakland raiders;
20USD Ed Hardy AF JUICY POLO Bikini
30USD Handbags (Coach lv fendi d&g) $30
12USD T shirts (Polo ,edhardy,lacoste) $12
30USD Jean(True Religion,edhardy,co ogi) $30
12USD Sunglasses (Oakey,coach,gucci,Armaini) $12
12USD New era cap $9
16USD Bikini (Ed hardy,polo) $16
DELIVERY TO YOU DOOR TO DOOR
we can offer NFL,NHL,MLB,NBA jerser,the NFL jersey 18usd each,
the NHL jersey 38USD each.
MLB jersey 18usd each,NAB jersey 18usd each.
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.clothes8.us/ ======
====== http://www.salesmonsterbeats.com/ ===
I was disappointed with the headline. Thought he would talk about something worthwile instead of himself.
I bought some of his stretch pants and they were absolute rubbish...they fell apart at the seams after day 1.
He has sold out....and im sick of all these ex-sas wanka's.......
Bear and swan lake,too real.
He's my idol because BG's very brave
Give me Les Stroud any day over this charlatan.
I'm a big fan of ray mears, maybe not as 'exciting' as bear grylls but a good teacher. There are good understandings in man v wild, as are there in dual survival. There are great teachers all over the world, some of my best knowledge has come from local people with local knowledge.! With everything in life, 'Absorb what's useful and discard the rest'..!!
I've trekked in remote places in countries worldwide and when it comes to 'survival' or life threatening situations I only have one thing to say....... 'Never give up'.....!!!!!!!
I respect and like Mr. Grylls, his skills and abilities but am concerned that people may try to emulate him. Grappling hooks and crossing unknown water over deadfall and/or strainers is for special forces in life and death last resort situations and not for his target audience. I have faith the youngsters know better.
I do not trust in this guy, I think he is a bluff.
Bottom line: Bear is getting paid to do what he loves. I respect him for that if nothing else. You don't like it? Don't watch the show, or start your own.
ADD A COMMENT