Les Stroud vs. Bear Grylls: The Ultimate Survivor

By Justin Schultz

Les Stroud vs. Bear Grylls: The Ultimate Survivor

Survival themed reality television shows don’t only feature contestants trying to win money on major networks. Survivor debuted on NBC ten years ago, however in recent years cable networks have presented unique shows based on survival. Man vs. Wild and Survivorman are two survival based reality shows on the Discovery Channel’s primetime lineup. Both shows feature a host attempting to survive extreme scenarios where they are stranded in the forest, desert, jungle, and arctic. Their primary goal is to rough the terrain and make it to safety, not win fabulous prizes.

Man vs. Wild is hosted by the colorful Bear Grylls, a former member of the United Kingdom Special Forces. Survivorman is hosted by Les Stroud, a Canadian filmmaker and survival expert. The theme of both shows are quite similar, but they have different style of production and carry different tones. Stroud claims to record the segments for his shows alone. This means that Stroud has to set up and take down all of his cameras while moving along trails in extreme elements. In contrast, Grylls has a crew to assist in recording and emergency situations.

Both shows have had their share of memorable moments. On Man vs. Wild, Grylls has wrapped his head in a urine soaked shirt to avoid dehydration in the desert, and drank water drained from elephant dung. While survivorman Stroud has lived off the land which has included eating a wide array of insects. Each show has developed a cult followings with devoted fans. Debates have raged on the internet as to which show is better than the other. Our panel of experts are ready to settle this argument for once and all, and determine who is the true survivor of reality television.

Round One – Opening Theme

The music for Man vs. Wild’s opening is an intense orchestration with Gryll’s explaining the object of the show while a montage is shown of some of his most exciting experiences.

“The opening theme for Bear Grylls’ Man vs. Wild is much better produced. It has better music, not that weird music that goes on during the Survivorman opening credits,” said Nick Carrara, a musician and former Marine.

Survivorman’s theme features a montage of Stroud’s accomplishments, but the music gives the feel of an Amazonian adventure.

“Survivorman has the better introduction,” said Brian Drost, a former Marine specialist, “The music is cool and it’s not interrupted by a pointless narrator.”

Winner: Man vs. Wild narrowly wins in this category. The action in the clips are tough to ignore.




Round Two – Host

Bear Grylls is a former special ops who once survived a free fall with a torn parachute. “Bear Grylls is just more exciting and a better host,” Carrara said, “He has military experience, but that doesn’t hinder his ability as a host. He’s very outgoing, you can tell he loves what he does.”

“How can’t you like a guy with a British accent?” said Will Scheifley, an experienced camping and hiking enthusiast, “He’s over the top and makes television fun.”

Stroud is a bit more reserved than Grylls, which may be as a result of years of living in isolation in a cabin that he built himself with no tools or metal.

“Survivorman puts a twist on things, he’s a Canadian, he seems approachable,” said Droste, “Bear Grylls seems like he does what he can to hurt himself to gain media attention. Grylls is a shameless self promoter.”


Winner: Bear Grylls takes this one home. While Stroud knows his stuff and shares a plethora of information, Grylls personality is perfect for cable TV.



Round Three – Scenarios


Les Stroud faced the fierce arctic with his arm in a sling. He was able to create a shelter and hunt rabbits until he was rescued. Grylls has survived dry deserts by ingesting his own urine. Both men put themselves in the face of danger each episode. “The scenarios that Bear Gyrlls make more sense,” Carrara said, “one time, Survivorman kayaked into deep Alaska and stayed there for like seven days, why couldn't he just kayak back?”

“Grylls shows you what to do in certain situations and actually puts himself in danger,“ Carrara said, “to demonstrate, Bear jumps into a frozen lake and confronts animals, where Survivorman does to, but more subtle things.”

“Survivorman is in situations where he is constantly in danger. He doesn’t have a crew on hand to help him out if he gets hurt ,” Drost said “Bear Grylls has a crew with him and is well taken care of. He goes to resorts in between filming of the scenes.”

Drost’s accusation was addressed a number of times in the media in 2006.

“There is a disclaimer at the beginning of Man vs. Wild that explains the situations Bear faces may not be real or they might be altered. Stroud faces the wild on his own, with no assistance, that’s why the nickname Survivorman is so fitting.” said Drost.

Winner: Stroud hasn’t faced the controversy that Grylls has regarding possible cheating, thus he wins this category. By re-enacting real life scenarios with limited mobility because of a simulated broken bone. Don’t think Stroud is worthy of this award? You try catching food with only one arm.




Round Four – Production

Man vs. Wild has a production crew that follows Grylls and assist him when necessary. Stroud is left alone in the wild with nothing but some video cameras and his trusty harmonica (which on one occasion was forged into a knife).

“Grylls has better production because he has a crew,” Carrara said, “Survivorman films everything himself so its not as good of quality and he has to take the extra time to set that stuff up.”

The production of Man vs. Wild has captured many exciting shots and scenes including Grylls belaying out of planes and jumping off cliff.

“It's weird how the camera guy can follow him so close,” Scheifley said, “it’s amazing, it looks like a movie.”

While Man vs. Wild has a glossy look, Survivorman takes a grittier approach that is quite noticeable.

“Stroud has to set up cameras on his own,” said Drost, “that alone means he has to set it up, do whatever he was doing, like forging a river, then come back across the river to retrieve the cameras, and then finally cross the river to continue on his way.”


Winner: The obvious choice would be Grylls. However, Stroud works alone and has to retrace his steps, therefore Survivorman’s gritty production wins.




Round Five – Gross-Out Moments

Both Stroud and Grylls have had their share of moments that make viewers stomachs squirm. Surviving in the wild means both men must rely on an uncanny diet.

“I think that this category is a draw,” Drost said, “they both eat some disgusting things, but I think Stroud eats weird stuff out of necessity.”

Carrara thinks Grylls is the master of gross-out moments.

“Grylls is way better with gross stuff,” Carrara said, “especially eating testicles and goat guts and stuff. Survivorman only eats a few cooked insects, that’s about as gross as he gets.”

But could Grylls diet be a pathway to more cable TV career options.

“The one thing is, it seems like Bear Grylls eats gross things for shock value,” Drost said, “like he’s trying to be Johnny Knoxville and break into acting.”

There seems to be an agreement on this idea.

“He eats gross things and seems to enjoy it a bit too much,” Scheifley said, “I think he’s about the shock factor.”


Winner: Even if he is only doing it for the camera, Grylls wins this category. He’s found some unappealing food sources and dives right in. No food is too gross for Grylls to munch on.




The Final Result-
Bear Grylls narrowly edges out Stroud in the fight for the ultimate survivor. His charm, entrance theme, montages, and ability to eat disgusting things has won over our panel of judges. Congratulations Bear, you are the king of survival-based reality TV.