# Survivorman



## Spider-Spazz (Jul 29, 2009)

Im watching Survivorman right now, and I just saw him eat 5 scorpions. The thing that got me was how he cooked them alive.
Personally I think he could do better and kill them before cooking them alive like that. I dont like survivorman anyways, but I just turned the tv on and it was there. I dont know the purpose of this thread, but I think he should put the animals out of pain before eating them.


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## ~Abyss~ (Jul 29, 2009)

They taste like lobster and are typically cooked like lobster...alive.


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## Endagr8 (Jul 29, 2009)

How often do we kill crustaceans or mollusks before we cook them?


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## alexi (Jul 29, 2009)

there are worse things than cooking a bug live.  That being said, survivor man is about a million times better than the more typical man versus wild.  I actually do like survivor man.  The guy is a little overly dramatic sometimes, but hey, ya gotta have fun with what you do.  Man versus Wild makes me want to write angry letters.


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## Warren Bautista (Jul 29, 2009)

Yeah, and Les is actually out in the wild BY HIMSELF, carrying ALL THE CAMERAS.
You should PM tabor about eating scorps, he has a vid on youtube of himself eating  C. excilicauda, I think he said he just dunked them in water to rub off the dirt. I mean, if I had an excess of scorps and I was hungry, I would eat them! lol.


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## Aztek (Jul 29, 2009)

Survivorman > ManvsWild


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## Irene B. Smithi (Jul 29, 2009)

I wonder how many on this board have eaten scorpion???  I would try it!!!  Do you mean he ate them ate them while they were walking around and then throw them in his mouth or he cooked them alive then ate them??
When I make seafood dishes, sometimes I have to cook them alive, not PETA friendly dishes, but they taste good


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## ~Abyss~ (Jul 29, 2009)

The OP said he cooked them. It's an experiance to try I think but wouldn't personally use one of MY scorpions.


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## Irene B. Smithi (Jul 29, 2009)

~Abyss~ said:


> The OP said he cooked them. It's an experiance to try I think but wouldn't personally use one of MY scorpions.


Sooo, are _C. Sculpt_ edible??  :drool: LOL
If I get stung by another one of those little monsters I may just break out the melted butter and indulge!!!


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## Aztek (Jul 29, 2009)

All scorpions are edible.... that I know of.


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## Raan_Jodus (Jul 30, 2009)

Les Stroud actually came to my paintball field for his son's birthday party.  Nice guy, he did mention eating the scorpions when my boss mentioned I collect some.  Which was fine by me, if you're out there, eat what you can.

Definitely like his show better than the other guy that just came on.  And apparently he'll be doing another show soon, but more educational than him just surviving.


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## Memento (Jul 31, 2009)

I've eaten live scorpions (though I don't know what species).  When I was 17, I did a school co-op with the entomology department of Agriculture Canada, and was invited to a conference/banquet on insect and arachnid food sources.

We ate a combination of traditional and modern dishes from around the world, and the scorpions were prepared in what was apparently traditional Chinese fashion.  They were swished in water to clean them off, then soaked in rice wine.  When the wine caused them to go catatonic, they were removed and served singly on small plates, still alive (but mostly immobile).

I actually got to try a lot of interesting things at that conference.  Among the dishes:  Fried centipede (you'd pull off the legs and eat the "meat" off them, like a drumstick - it was some species of Scolopendra), roast tarantula (served on a skewer), mealworm puffs, giant water bug salad, some kind of gigantic African grub, and even honeypot ants.


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## H. laoticus (Jul 31, 2009)

don't even wanna get started on Man vs Wild lol

that dude kills for tv ratings  
for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdY9iQeYxyQ

sorry for being off topic btw.


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## 16step (Jul 31, 2009)

Wow that video sucked, he didn't need to kill that snake, he has a crew around him ready to hand out a twinkie if he wants. Plus, who couldn't figure out you can kill a snake by hitting it with a stick...


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## Galapoheros (Jul 31, 2009)

Orchid said:


> I wonder how many on this board have eaten scorpion???  I would try it!!!  Do you mean he ate them ate them while they were walking around and then throw them in his mouth or he cooked them alive then ate them??
> When I make seafood dishes, sometimes I have to cook them alive, not PETA friendly dishes, but they taste good


I have, it was a rip-off though.  Out of curiosity, I bought a can of scorp from ...I think it was Vietnam.  There were just a few dried scorp parts in there, it did taste a little like lobster.  But I can save other scorps by saying don't order a can of scorp from overseas, it's a rip-off.


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## Exo (Jul 31, 2009)

When I went to borneo, I ate both tarantula and scorpion. They were both cooked though, tasted kinda like shrimp. :}


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## Satellite Rob (Aug 1, 2009)

The United States and Europe are 2 places in the world that don't regularly 
eat insects.So what we find offensive.Other cultures think is normal.Just like 
eating a piece of chicken and if you were hungry or starving.You would eat 
insects too.


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## MorbidPh8 (Aug 1, 2009)

Wow no love for MVW? I actually like that show better.... With out the burden of doing all the camera work he can teach a lot more about survival. I do like survivor man, but it really more of a reality show. Now if they did a show together that would be sweet. O btw I saw the episode your talking about. Wasn't his scorpion trap the coolest? I might have to try that lol.


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## Irene B. Smithi (Aug 1, 2009)

MorbidPh8 said:


> Wow no love for MVW? I actually like that show better.... With out the burden of doing all the camera work he can teach a lot more about survival. I do like survivor man, but it really more of a reality show. Now if they did a show together that would be sweet. O btw I saw the episode your talking about. Wasn't his scorpion trap the coolest? I might have to try that lol.


Really, who watches that show to learn survival skills??  I watch it to see him eat bugs, truly, that's it!!  I think an even better pairing of co host would be Jeff Corwin and Bear whatever!!! or even Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre foods, now that would be a show, one out to save them, the other trying to munch away on them.  THAT would be a great show!!!


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## GideonSmith08 (Aug 2, 2009)

Orchid said:


> Really, who watches that show to learn survival skills??  I watch it to see him eat bugs, truly, that's it!!  I think an even better pairing of co host would be Jeff Corwin and Bear whatever!!! or even Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre foods, now that would be a show, one out to save them, the other trying to munch away on them.  THAT would be a great show!!!


Didn't Bear do an episode with Will Ferrell? I enjoyed that one.


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## Irene B. Smithi (Aug 3, 2009)

GideonSmith08 said:


> Didn't Bear do an episode with Will Ferrell? I enjoyed that one.


He did, and I missed it!!!  I'm sure that would have been hilarious!! 

My husband does not want me to eat this one    WHY??  But, sad he would try to locate some prepared scorpions and ants ... so forth and so on when he's back in the bay area...  I just really want to try them now with all this discussion...  See, I'm loving everything scorpions!!! (except when their uninvited in my house). lol


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## JDHuskey (Aug 3, 2009)

like someone else said America is one of the few countries where insects aren't eaten on a regular basis, they actually have a lot of protein.  Maybe I should check out my dubia bin next time I need a late night snack


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## alexi (Aug 3, 2009)

MorbidPh8 said:


> Wow no love for MVW? I actually like that show better.... With out the burden of doing all the camera work he can teach a lot more about survival. I do like survivor man, but it really more of a reality show. Now if they did a show together that would be sweet. O btw I saw the episode your talking about. Wasn't his scorpion trap the coolest? I might have to try that lol.


yeah survivorman is more of a reality show......... in the sense that its real, lol.  Sorry I couldn't help myself.  

In seriousness though, I don't think Bear is very good at teaching practical survival skills because he's always wading across feezing rivers and not saving energy and stuff.  Then he goes and eats an alligator or something.  To be honest, I haven't watched it that much so I could be wrong, but that's been my impression.


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## alexi (Aug 3, 2009)

JDHuskey said:


> like someone else said America is one of the few countries where insects aren't eaten on a regular basis, they actually have a lot of protein.  Maybe I should check out my dubia bin next time I need a late night snack


For some reason I always thought even places that eat bugs avoided cockroaches.  Actually I have no idea but I've never heard of anyone eating them.  I have heard of crickets and grasshoppers and scorpions and grubs though.


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## Aztek (Aug 3, 2009)

alexi said:


> For some reason I always thought even places that eat bugs avoided cockroaches.  Actually I have no idea but I've never heard of anyone eating them.  I have heard of crickets and grasshoppers and scorpions and grubs though.


Cockroaches are some of the most consumed bugs out there.


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## joshuai (Aug 3, 2009)

I saw a tv show on animal planet where some brit eats hissers and had his teeth pointed to crack them


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## alexi (Aug 3, 2009)

Aztek said:


> Cockroaches are some of the most consumed bugs out there.


Huh.  I did not know that thanks.


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## samatwwe (Aug 3, 2009)

alexi said:


> there are worse things than cooking a bug live.  That being said, survivor man is about a million times better than the more typical man versus wild.  I actually do like survivor man.  The guy is a little overly dramatic sometimes, but hey, ya gotta have fun with what you do.  Man versus Wild makes me want to write angry letters.


agreed 100% and I like the fact that survivor man is acually ALONE and man vs. wild has a whole camera crew.


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## Aztek (Aug 3, 2009)

samatwwe said:


> agreed 100% and I like the fact that survivor man is acually ALONE and man vs. wild has a whole camera crew.


Survivorman imo shows situations that are most likely to happen.
Shows the simpler things that help out in the long run.

The other dude just goes crazy killin, slicin and dicin, anything in his path killing crocs, boas with sticks and stones,  jumping off cliffs, jumping into freezing water...


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## clam1991 (Aug 3, 2009)

Aztek said:


> Survivorman imo shows situations that are most likely to happen.
> Shows the simpler things that help out in the long run.
> 
> The other dude just goes crazy killin, slicin and dicin, anything in his path killing crocs, boas with sticks and stones,  jumping off cliffs, jumping into freezing water...


not to mention the one episode where he killed a very beautiful monitor
and i think he only ate a small part of it:?


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## H. laoticus (Aug 3, 2009)

clam1991 said:


> not to mention the one episode where he killed a very beautiful monitor
> and i think he only ate a small part of it:?


yup...that's what he does
kills something and then eats a tiny bit, definitely unnecessary
They could show us how to kill and cook the animal using 3D tech
or with a freaking puppet doll or something 
Either way, he could've just asked his camera crew for a hot dog too


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## alexi (Aug 3, 2009)

to make a hot dog they have to kill a very beautiful pig (or something haha)  lol


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## Treynok (Aug 3, 2009)

lol, depending on the hot dog... they have to kill several different animals to make one :drool: 

lol, sorry for going Off-Topic.


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## Exo (Aug 3, 2009)

H. Laoticus said:


> yup...that's what he does
> kills something and then eats a tiny bit, definitely unnecessary
> They could show us how to kill and cook the animal using 3D tech
> or with a freaking puppet doll or something
> Either way, he could've just asked his camera crew for a hot dog too


That would defeat the purpose of the show. The point is in the wild there are no hot dogs, he has to pretend that the camera crew (and whatever they're eating) isn't there.


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## alexi (Aug 3, 2009)

Exo said:


> That would defeat the purpose of the show. The point is in the wild there are no hot dogs, he has to pretend that the camera crew (and whatever they're eating) isn't there.



Your right of course, but it was a joke.  However.....
if they weren't there I think he would die because he's always getting all wet and cold, and he spends all his time hunting for wierd exotic sources of food instead of just eating bugs and plants that are all over the place.


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## Exo (Aug 3, 2009)

alexi said:


> Your right of course, but it was a joke.  However.....
> if they weren't there I think he would die because he's always getting all wet and cold, and he spends all his time hunting for wierd exotic sources of food instead of just eating bugs and plants that are all over the place.


That's true, he often gets wet in cold climates, a very stupid thing to do.  

I'm not sure if his crew helps him when he does, though.


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## H. laoticus (Aug 3, 2009)

the main point is it's unnecessary.  In survivorman, the guy actually has to survive and kill to do so.  He's doing it out of necessity.  
In Man vs Wild, he kills animals...not even eating the whole thing.  He kills it, eats a little, and moves on to kill w/e else.  It's a rampage of death.  
Like I said, it wouldn't be a bad idea to use computer graphics to show how you could go about killing a certain animal.  This won't be the same of course, but it will spare a creature's life.  
Btw, heard Bear slept in a hotel once when he was supposed to sleep out in the wild. 
more like Man destroys Wild.


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## MorganD (Aug 3, 2009)

I feel like I have to throw my 2 cents in here...the man vs wild guy is a joke. Everyone who said he would crash and burn if he was in the real deal is probably right.

He should hangout with Les for a while...then think about seeing a shrink for doing all the things he does but doesn't need to do.

And Les, when he did the scorpion thing, his traps were pretty cool I'll admitt, gave me some ideas that's for sure haha. But for those who didn't see it, he just cut their stingers off (sorry not a scorp guy, don't flame me with the scientifics haha) then made a bit of a shishkabob on some stiff grass..threw em on the fire and viola.


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## MorbidPh8 (Aug 5, 2009)

Ehh Im still for MvW and here is why.  

Yea its a wiki but so what.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Grylls

"He is one of the youngest Britons to climb Mount Everest."

"He earned a second dan black belt in Shotokan karate as a teenager. He now practices Yoga and Ninjutsu. "

"After leaving school, Grylls considered joining the Indian Army[16] and spent a few months hiking in the Himalayan mountains of Sikkim and West Bengal, Assam. From 1994 to 1997, after passing United Kingdom Special Forces Selection (unconfirmed), he served in the part-time United Kingdom Special Forces Reserve, with 21 Regiment Special Air Service, 21 SAS(R), as a trooper, survival instructor and Patrol Medic."

"In 2004, Grylls was awarded the honorary rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Stroud

"Les Stroud (born October 20, 1961 in Mimico, Ontario[1][2][3]) is a Canadian musician, film maker, and survival expert best known as the creator, writer, producer, director, and host of the television program Survivorman."

"After graduating from Mimico High School in 1980,[5] Stroud went on to complete the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.[6] Stroud worked for several years at the Toronto-based music video channel MuchMusic, and as a songwriter for his band New Regime before a Temagami canoe trip sparked a career change.[1] During this time he also worked as garbage collector for the City of Toronto.[3]"

Sorry but the truth is Bear is far more experienced. Bear could do more, and has done more. Lee is a filmmaker who likes to hike... In fact Lee no longer shoots SM because he can't handle it any more.  You guys are gonna hate me! lol 

One more thing when Bear find a scorp. He cuts off the stinger and eats it alive. When Lee finds a scorp he stabs them with a stick and cooks them alive. lol


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## Aztek (Aug 5, 2009)

That's the problem.
MvsW is trained and experienced, shows thign not everyone should do, and does things at the extreme end of the scale.

SvM is an average dude that does simpler things to help you out in a real situation.

I doubt any one of us will even use any of the stuff they show us


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## alexi (Aug 5, 2009)

well most of the stuff you posted bear having done has nothing to do with wilderness survival:

Ninjitsu/Yoga/Karate doesn't help you find food or stay warm its about fighting.  

Climbing everest is no longer that much of an accomplishment in terms of being good at survival.  There are so many people climbing it all the time and anyone with money can go on a guided expedition.

Honorary ranks are honorary because they have no training or direct experience.  Its a celebrity thing.

The stuff about being a survival instructor and being in the army I'll have to say your right about that.  But the rest of that stuff doesn't make him more experienced.  But really it doesn't matter what experience he's bringing to the table because the show just doesn't really help that much in terms of educating people about survival.  


The fact of the matter is the shows speak for themselves.  I don't know either bear or les personally, so I have no way of saying which one is ACTUALLY better at surviving, but survivor man is much more realistic.  And yeah, Les quit the show because he was sick of almost getting killed all the time and spending all that time in solitude.  Bear doesn't have to worry about that because he's not actually "surviving" (well he is but you know what I mean).


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## H. laoticus (Aug 5, 2009)

I'm sure a lot of why survivorman quit was because of the intense loneliness he experienced and endured every time he went out. He talked about that in his shows, saying that could be the worse thing.  
lol all those achievements by Bear are for show

and this from Wiki:
Stroud has extensive experience with survival and primitive living skills, initially training with experts Gino Ferri and David Arama.[9][10] He went on to study with many others including John "Prairie Wolf" McPherson.[11]

that's what I'm talking about, direct experience in survival skills (you failed to add this very important fact about Stroud from wiki lol)
If any normal person did any of the extreme things Bear did, they'd probably die.


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## alexi (Aug 5, 2009)

H. Laoticus said:


> If any normal person did any of the extreme things Bear did, they'd probably die.


So would he, if he didn't have help.


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## MorbidPh8 (Aug 5, 2009)

alexi said:


> So would he, if he didn't have help.


This is so bull. Bear has more skills and more experience but yet the Hollywood wannabe film maker has what it takes. LOL Bear is also a way better host and TV personality. Bear gets crap for killing something and not eating it. Duh he does eat it! The crew does not help him there. Besides I'm sure all the animals he has hunted has been fully legal as well. Meaning he has every right to go kill an animal for food. I'm sorry every time I see a shot of Lee walking away from the camera. I'm thinking how he just put it there for the show. Oh but what about how Lee has to hike to place the camera. Hike back to where he started and then walk back? Yea that's dumb he could of fit a lot more info in if he didn't have to waste time on the perfect shot. SM has it moments but really should be on MTV with Road Rules and the Real World. That's what I mean about SM being a reality show. *Not* that's it based on reality but, lets see where we can stick Lee. See how Lee does and show his feelings. Bear on the other hand was a military trained survivalist. He had to train soldiers. Soldiers that would need it more than some tourists  Lee taught about what he knew about survival. The part about marital arts not helping survival... That's way off of course MA would help you tons when all bets are off. MA would help you to keep your mind focused. Also to help control your body, to help with hunger and thirst. Not to mention the strength and agility it would give you.. Sorry Bear would outlast Lee any time any place. Besides that SM intro music that Lee wrote sucks. Why do they always have to play it randomly in the show. Oh well that's the last I'm going to say on the matter.


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## alexi (Aug 5, 2009)

I don't think anything you just said has any substance whatsoever.  MA would help you surivive?  maybe if the alternative was being a fat out of shape idiot.  As for being flexible and strong - that's just simple being in shape!  MA does not let you live off of less food and water! - its just another form of exercise.  don't me wrong I love karate, but its not magic.  I know other people were complaining about him killing pretty lizards, but I NEVER said he didn't have the right to kill something to eat it.  My complaint is that he goes around finding weird exotic things to kill because its "cool," when he could get the same nutrition from simple veggies and insects that would be a lot easier to find and drain him of less energy to subdue.  My point is that he does crazy stuff for thrill value that would actually lessen your chances for survival if you were really out there stuck.  I mentioned crossing rivers in cold weather earlier.  I cannot emphasize the importance of that enough.  Getting that wet in cold weather drains you of energy faster than anything, and in a survival situation could be a death sentence if you don't get food soon.  You need a real good reason to do stuff like that, and he plays it down because it makes a good show.

edit:  also, lee putting the camera up and doing the camera work himself doesn't lessen the time for teaching survival skills, since on the show we don't actually have to watch him go back and set it up.  It puts an adden burden on himself, but how does that cut into our time watching the show?  If there's something to learn he still shows it, a scene of him walking doesn't reduce anything.


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## Aztek (Aug 5, 2009)

Suit yourself.
Go jump off a cliff.


I'll go set scorpion traps.


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## H. laoticus (Aug 6, 2009)

lol stop pickin on the film maker thing...did you even read what I posted?

from Wiki:
Stroud has extensive experience with survival and primitive living skills, initially training with experts Gino Ferri and David Arama.[9][10] He went on to study with many others including John "Prairie Wolf" McPherson.[11]

and guess what, he didn't need any military crap or MA training! As proof, we see him survive, literally survive on His own and by Himself while carrying loads of camera gear! 
He also shows respect for all the creatures he has to kill out of necessity and he's also very in tune with nature. 
Bear on the other hand thrashes into the jungle, chopping down stuff, killing w/e he finds.  Did that large snake really have to die for him to eat 2 bites out of it?  Is a normal person really going to jump in a swamp w/ a croc and wrestle it? 

Btw, if a simple film maker can survive on his own like that, im impressed! (shows again how we don't need MA or military training  )


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