The Bush Tucker Man

[Daisjun]

After playing through BTW with all the recent updates, I've become a lot more interested in bush craft and survival (this coming from a 25 year old who spends 95% of his time sitting in front of a computer screen). I've heard people mention the likes of Bear Grylls, Les Stroud and Ray Mears in the forums, but one that never gets mentioned (mainly because I don't think the show got a run outside of Aus, but correct me if I'm wrong) is Les Hiddins, more colloquially known as the Bush Tucker Man.

It's quite an old show now, I remember watching it about 20 years ago, the production values aren't great, but it has a very down to earth style and it's impossible not to like Les. There's no drama or flashy stunts, it's just Les showing his comprehensive knowledge of the Aus outback and of survival. Most of the episodes are available on YouTube which is also great, check it out if you're into that kinda thing and even if you're not, you're bound to find it interesting:



On a side note, I did a search on the forums and no post has ever mentioned the word 'tucker'. We need more Aussies on this forum!

[Wafflewaffle]

Thats not in australia! Where are all the kangaroos? Thats like telling me you live in Canada and you dont need to fight a Moose to get home everyday.

[magikeh]

Thats not in australia! Where are all the kangaroos? Thats like telling me you live in Canada and you dont need to fight a Moose to get home everyday.

Telling you man, the investment for a beaver is great, those two buck teeth aren't just good for cuttin wood! :D

[tedium]

do yourself a favor, watch Les Stroud's 'Survivorman.' he's the legitimate bear grills... each episode he gets dropped off somewhere all by himself, with generally no food or water and only situational/circumstancial supplies. oh, and 25kg's of camera equipment, because he films it all himself. it's a kick ass show and as far as i'm concerned it sets the benchmark in educational survival shows. everything else i've seen was just camping. and i've seen a few late night aussie outdoor tv shows, alongside a few bush experts. i've only ever seen one put themselves in the firing line and survive time and time again (at times pulling out via emergency beacon because it was just too dangerous). les stroud, survivorman... get on it

[Gilberreke]

do yourself a favor, watch Les Stroud's 'Survivorman.' he's the legitimate bear grills... each episode he gets dropped off somewhere all by himself, with generally no food or water and only situational/circumstancial supplies. oh, and 25kg's of camera equipment, because he films it all himself. it's a kick ass show and as far as i'm concerned it sets the benchmark in educational survival shows. everything else i've seen was just camping. and i've seen a few late night aussie outdoor tv shows, alongside a few bush experts. i've only ever seen one put themselves in the firing line and survive time and time again (at times pulling out via emergency beacon because it was just too dangerous). les stroud, survivorman... get on it

Meh, I like Bear Grylls better. I know how much of the show is staged, I just like the format way better.

[Ribky]

Meh, I like Bear Grylls better. I know how much of the show is staged, I just like the format way better.

Well of course the format is better, he has a camera crew and goes back to his hotel every night :) Les Stroud is too tired for that fancy-shmancy showmanship because he needs to actually put effort into surviving.

Seriously though, I will agree that Bear puts on a much more intriguing show. But that's all it is for him, and I've seen him do stuff, as well as recommend doing stuff, that would not help you survive and would in fact, probably kill you. I know he knows how to survive, and they are both the real deal, but Les Stroud is far better at actually teaching you valuable information about survival rather than showing off how well they handle the great outdoors and showing you how to survive on a gamble like Bear Grylls.

Les Stroud = reliable survival advice
Bear Grylls = fun television

[Gilberreke]

they are both the real deal

Yeah, I agree with what you say of course :). That's the thing, when I watch TV (I have no TV actually, but Youtube), I want to watch a fun TV show, it's not like I'll actually go hiking in dangerous terrain.

But yeah, important to remember they are both the real deal. Often I see people saying that Les is "better at surviving", which is simply not true of course. These are both highly trained professionals, top of their field.

[tedium]

i disagree that they are both the real deal. i think if you asked bear grills to actually survive for seven days and make things interesting, he would either kill himself by accident, or be so unbelievably boring you'd kill yourself. what les does isn't just survive and start seeking his way back to society, he manages his situation so that he could survive past the seven days, and potentially survive a long time. half the things bear does would kill a quarter of the people that tried to replicate them. les taught me how to make a fire in more than ten different situations.

in part i'm biased. i watch these shows for the educational content. i find that fun and even exciting at times. i do enjoy action but when i want it in survival format i watch zombie movies like dawn of the dead, or even contagion, or i play fast paced games like mirrors edge.

another example is a semi-reality tv show called "the colony" where a select group of 'experts' are put into a compound in a 'catastrophic disaster' type scenario. the first season was generic 'america collapses into anarchy' i think... that or nuclear war or something. fun show.

[Gilberreke]

i disagree that they are both the real deal. i think if you asked bear grills to actually survive for seven days and make things interesting, he would either kill himself by accident, or be so unbelievably boring you'd kill yourself.

That's simply not true and such an ignorant statement that I'm not even going to take the 5 seconds it takes to google up a few pieces of evidence to refute it.

[Ribky]

i disagree that they are both the real deal. i think if you asked bear grills to actually survive for seven days and make things interesting, he would either kill himself by accident, or be so unbelievably boring you'd kill yourself.

That's simply not true and such an ignorant statement that I'm not even going to take the 5 seconds it takes to google up a few pieces of evidence to refute it.

Yeah... typing the letters SAS should pretty much seal the deal as evidence that Grylls is in fact, the real deal.

And I am pretty much in agreement with your previous statements Gil... but I am far less of a "fun" TV watcher :D I grew up watching Bob Ross and Julia Childs because they taught me stuff (those are just two off the top of my head, and I do enjoy painting, cooking, and long walks on the beach), so the more educational format of Les Stroud appeals to me more. One of those to each their own kind of deals I guess.