Get Out Alive TV Show

I've been watching my way through Bear Gryll's newest TV show, Get Out Alive, a "reality" show of sorts, since it started at the beginning of the summer. As much as it's the one show I'm watching each week, I'm not enjoying it anywhere near as much as I did Man Vs. Wild.

The amazon.com blurb for Get Out Alive is as follows:

"Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls" is a larger-than-life adventure reality competition series hosted by world-renowned survivalist Bear Grylls. Grylls leads this non-stop extreme survival journey that tests 10 teams of two beyond their wildest imaginations as they venture into the unforgiving and dramatic landscape of New Zealand's South Island. Their mission is threefold: survive the wild, journey as a group and avoid elimination. Each week, Bear will send home another team. In the end, only one duo will remain -- the team that he believes has shown the most heart, courage, initiative and resolve in their quest to "get out alive" and claim a life-changing grand prize of $500,000.

The biggest things about Get Out Alive that I don't like are probably mostly due to the elimination format of typical reality TV shows, mostly the way each team sits there and tears apart the decisions made by all the other teams in the individual interviews.

There are times though, and I'm going to try to say this without giving away any spoilers for the show and the individual episodes, where I wonder if one of the entrance qualifications was to never have watched any survival oriented TV shows or read any books - mostly when it comes to the creation of shelters each night. I haven't done any of that myself, and I still find myself shaking my head at some of what they've come up with, just based on some of my reading and from watching Man Vs. Wild.

My third biggest gripe is that when Bear is demonstrating things for the various tasks, they're not very clearly done for the camera, such as the creation of the rope stretchers or the pulley-system last night. I'd like to have a clearer idea of how they were doing things like that, just for my own knowledge, and I found it nearly impossible to follow the way that was formatted on the TV. Maybe
 the book Living Wild, which I reviewed a couple of years ago, but I've forgotten. Right now, the book is also packed away, so I can't double-check it either.

Even with those complaints, I'm looking forward to next week's episode, which I understand to be the finale, and perhaps to any future seasons of Get Out Alive. I definitely have to say that the scenery is absolutely spectacular.

I have to hope though, that Bear is going to be doing something more like Man Vs. Wild again. If so, I'm definitely looking forward to it, although I will probably also watch any future seasons of Get Out Alive.

Mud, Sweat, And Tears - Bear Grylls

Mud, Sweat, And Tears
Bear Grylls
William Morrow Publishing
Copyright: May 2012
978-0062124197

The amazon.com product description:

Bear Grylls has always sought the ultimate in adventure. Growing up on a remote island off of Britain's windswept coast, he was taught by his father to sail and climb at an early age. Inevitably, it wasn't long before the young explorer was sneaking out to lead all-night climbing expeditions.

As a teenager at Eton College, Bear found his identity and purpose through both mountaineering and martial arts. These passions led him into the foothills of the mighty Himalayas and to a karate grandmaster's remote training camp in Japan, an experience that soon helped him earn a second-degree black belt. Returning home, he embarked upon the notoriously grueling selection course for the British Special Forces to join the elite Special Air Service unit 21 SAS—a journey that would push him to the very limits of physical and mental endurance.

Then, disaster. Bear broke his back in three places in a horrific free-fall parachuting accident in Africa. It was touch and go whether he would walk again, according to doctors. However, only eighteen months later, a twenty three-year-old Bear became one of the youngest climbers to scale Mount Everest, the world's highest summit. But these were just the beginning of his many extraordinary adventures. . . .

Known and admired by millions as the star of Man vs. Wild, Bear Grylls has survived where few would dare to go. Now, for the first time, Bear tells the story of his action-packed life. Gripping, moving, and wildly exhilarating, Mud, Sweat, and Tears is a must-read for adrenaline junkies and armchair explorers alike.

This is the first of Bear Gryll's books that I've not enjoyed absolutely. Parts were really good - the parts about his youth and his family especially, but also the section on his testing, training and time in the SAS, but most of the book was focused on Bear's Everest expedition. O.K., now you've got to be saying that I'm nuts. I'm complaining about most of the book being about such an unusual and life-changing event. Why?

Simply put: it felt like duplication. The book Facing Up, which came out a few years ago was entirely about Bear's Everest expedition, so it's like I'd already read about half of Mud, Sweat, And Tears.

For the rest of the book, as I said, parts were great, but I guess I was just expecting something different. I wanted to know more about Man Vs. Wild, the T.V. show, as well as some of Bear's other adventures - some of which were shown in the photographic inserts. But those were barely mentioned in the text.

Still, it was well-written and engaging. As I said, I enjoyed learning more about Bear's family - both as a kid and now his family and children. I guess Mud, Sweat, and Tears just had a set of expectations around it that it didn't meet for me. Not my favourite, but still, I'm glad I read it.

Facing The Frozen Ocean - Bear Grylls

Facing The Frozen Ocean
Bear Grylls
Pan Macmillan
Copyright: 2005
9780330427074

The amazon.com product description:

Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2004, this is the compelling account of the most recent adventure of the bestselling author of "Facing Up". It started out as a carefully calculated attempt to complete the first unassisted crossing of the frozen north Atlantic in an open rigid inflatable boat, but it became a terrifying battle against storm-force winds, crashing waves and icebergs as large as cathedrals. Starting from the remote north Canadian coastline, Grylls and his crew crossed the infamous Labrador Sea, pushed on through ice-strewn waters to Greenland and then found themselves isolated in a perfect storm 400 miles from Iceland.

I've been enjoying Bear Gryll's show, Man Vs. Wild for a good part of the last year, and branched out into his books now too. Previously, I reviewed his book Living Wild, one of the survival guides he's written. Facing the Frozen Ocean is somewhat different from that previous book though, as this time he's recounting one of his adventures.

What an adventure - trying to cross the northern  Atlantic ocean in an open, rigid inflatable boat. There were times when I read this book that I was wondering how they were going to survive, it was that grim. And the conditions they were living under? Yikes. And yet, for all of the dire situations, Facing The Frozen Ocean is filled with moments to make you laugh.

Bear writes with personality and vividness, and the book is also full of the recollections of the other members of the team, and Bear's wife along with other people, chronicling their experiences during this trip as well.

This was definitely a book I couldn't put down! I started reading it on Monday, and ended up finishing it last night. I just had to know how they were going to survive.

Topping off the vivid words are two inserts of colour photos which really bring home the scale of what these men were trying to do and how they were living for those days - not to mention the kinds of weather they went through.

I can't wait until I can read Facing Up, Bear's other book on his experience climbing Mount Everest. From what I'm hearing, that one's just as good as this one, if not better.

Teaser Tuseday - November 29

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

There had been many days where the expedition seemed unlikely to get off the ground, but now we were here on the docks. The next time I would see her would be in a very different harbour, thousands of miles away and further north, on the remote Nova Scotia coastline.

Facing The Frozen Ocean by Bear Grylls,  page 74

Living Wild - Bear Grylls

Living Wild: The Ultimate Guide to Scouting and Fieldcraft
Bear Grylls
Channel 4 Books
Copyright: June 2010
978-1905026654

The amazon.com product description:

The complete guide to living in the wild from the ultimate survival expert.

In this essential guide to living wild, Bear Grylls reveals the secrets of his years of fieldcraft experience. This is the information you really need to know about living in the field from the man who has passed 21 SAS selection, climbed Everest and survived in some of the most inhospitable regions on Earth. In his inimitable style, Bear has thrown out everything that's boring about scouting and fieldcraft and concentrated only on what's exciting, inspirational and a little bit edgy.

It's all here, from mastering the art of making the perfect campfire and constructing the best camp, to navigating safely through all terrains in all weathers -- with or without a map. The only other thing you'll need is this book!

This was honestly a surprise to me in how much I enjoyed reading Living Wild. A book on survival - it seems to be the kind of book you'd read out of order as things interest you (or as needed - such as before you go camping, the sections on cooking and shelter, for example, or on fire-building), but I found it to be both an interesting and fun read from cover to cover. To be honest, I was inspired by watching Man Vs Wild on TV. And, a lot of the Bear Grylls style from the show has come through in his writing in the book. Including some of the humor.

I'll admit that I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to hiking/camping, especially the latter, so a lot of the material in Living Wild was new to me, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's stuff in here that's of interest to more experienced outdoors people too. Bear Grylls has included chapters on:

• Gear
• Tools (knives etc.)
• Campcraft
• Fires
• Cooking (and there's a recipe or two here that I'd like to try)
• Pathfinding
• First Aid
• And more

There's stuff in here I'd like to try next time I'm out camping, or even just out hiking (such as navigating by compass. I did a bit of that as a kid in the Girl Guides/Pathfinders, but I've completely forgotten everything about it). Not only the compass tricks, but building a fire properly so you don't need firestarting logs, and even how to make your own cords out of found materials. That I really want to try given that one of my hobbies is spinning, and the techniques seem to be somewhat similar. In each section, Bear also includes little tips and safety warnings too. Each chapter ends with a 'campfire tale', a real life anecdote all of which illustrate a point made in the chapter in question.

Living Wild is lavishly illustrated too, with either line drawings/diagrams (for things like how to make your own washstand or chair in the outdoors) or full colour photographs, all demonstrating the various techniques that Bear discusses within the book.

All of it adds up to a book that makes me want to get out there and do some more hiking and camping (although not getting lost) this summer and for the rest of the year too. Reading Living Wild, along with watching Man Vs Wild, has also made me a bit more safety conscious when I'm hiking too - probably a good thing, even on the shorter walks I've enjoyed doing.

Definitely a book I'll recommend to anyone who likes the outdoors.