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Survivorman


survivorman

This reality series ceaselessly re-runs on the Discovery Channel, but is also available on DVD for those who are tv-less. The seven documentaries pit a dour Canadian survivalist against various extreme live-or-die situations. For instance our hero finds himself in a life raft adrift at sea, or stranded in the middle of the desert with a broken bike, or alive in a crashed plane in the arctic. In this show the survivalist is all alone with minimal gear (a competing survivor man has a film crew with him). This survivorman carries a multi-tool, a snack or two, and some odds and ends — and two complete sets of video cameras and tripods. With these he’ll film himself as he barely survives for one week eating bugs, starting fires with sticks, and finding his way to rescue. Backpacking the 55 pounds of camera gear and keeping the film going turns out to be almost as hard as keeping the fire going. Despite his constant whining about how hard everything is, the series is entertaining and slightly educational. He never slows down enough for you to learn exactly how to roast a snake, but you’ll pick up the survival principles he constantly harps on: don’t panic, keep warm, get water and look for food last. Just knowing that you really can start a fire by twirling sticks if you persevere for 20 minutes as he did might come in handy someday.

— KK

Survivorman
Les Stroud
2007, 405 min.
DVD, 2 discs, $13

Official website

Read more about the film at Wikipedia

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Posted August 21, 2007 at 9:09 pm | comments
| in category How to do it



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