My original title for this post was “Les is More”, but I knew that betsywhim would beat me to death with a lukewarm bottle of white wine if I used it.
The faithful gathered at Columbia Sportswear last night, and soon it was standing room only. Looking around, it was clear that these were practical folks. They wore sensible shoes. They carried multi-tools on their belts, and folding knives in their pockets. They wore fleece. And they were there to see their hero: Survivorman.
Les Stroud signs a boonie hat for a young fan
In case you’ve somehow missed the show, which now airs on The Discovery Channel, “Survivorman” has a simple premise: Survival expert Les Stroud is dropped into some inhospitable location with a bare minimum of supplies and three cameras. He then has to survive, on his own, for seven days. What’s more, he documents the entire week himself. He’s truly alone, with no camera crew or support staff. Unlike some survival shows, Survivorman isn’t about teams, challenges, or immunity. It’s about staying alive. It’s about Les demonstrating the techniques, and more importantly the attitude, that will keep you alive when everything goes wrong and you find yourself stranded out in the wilderness.
Les is clearly touring to support his book, “Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive”, as well as his new series “Survive This”, but his talk didn’t feel like any sort of promotion. Les is affable, likeable, and genuine, and if he seemed to want to convince us of anything, it was that he’d been working toward the show that become “Survivorman” for most of his life, first as a musician, then as a filmmaker, and finally as a guide and survival instructor. As for his competition on television, he refused to say much of anything, although hoots and derisive snorts erupted from the audience whenever the name Bear Grylls was mentioned.
After his talk, Les took questions from the audience, which ranged from “What have you eaten that you would never eat again?” (Answer: The turtle he ate in a Georgia swamp that gave him an internal parasite that took a year to get rid of) to “What environment is the hardest to survive in?” (Answer: Anywhere frigid, because you have to work constantly to keep from freezing). Finally, he graciously signed autographs for the crowd, taking a moment to shake each hand and ask a question or two. Yes, he really is as nice as he appears on camera.
My favorite moment was when Les gave an example of his experiences with Survivorman affecting his parenting: “You’re not starving. You haven’t eaten in three hours. You’re hungry, but you’re not starving. Trust me.”
{ 1 comment }
Very nicely done. (And I’m happy to save the weapon for a later date if needed…!)
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