This Week On Boy Vs. Wild
By Wyatt Earp | June 23, 2009
Chalk up another virtual save for Bear Grylls, the host of the Discovery Channel’s “Man Vs. Wild.” A 9-year old Utah boy used techniques he saw on the show to survive in the wilderness and leave clues for rescuers enroute to his location.
Imagine the tragic consequences if the boy spent his time watching “Jon and Kate Plus 8.” The poor kid would be bickering with a bitchy female badger and wasting time moving downed trees from pillar to post.
SALT LAKE CITY – When he realized he’d been separated from his family on a weekend hike in a northern Utah forest, 9-year-old Grayson Wynne’s thoughts turned to television.
Grayson watches “Man vs. Wild” on the Discovery Channel every week with his brothers and his dad. On the show, host and adventurer Bear Grylls strands himself in the wilderness and then shows viewers how to survive the sticky situations.
That’s where Grayson says he learned to leave clues behind to help searchers find him.
Thank God he didn’t have to resort to drinking his own urine!
On Saturday, when he was scared and alone in the Ashley National Forest, Grayson started tearing up his yellow rain slicker, despite the intermittent downpours, and tying pieces to trees.
Grayson created a small shelter overnight under a fallen tree. The next day, he decided to follow a creek in hopes of finding help.
“I (thought I) might find the lake, that there might be somebody at the lake,” he said.
And as viewers of the program already know, if you follow a river or stream, you should eventually find civilization.
Grayson, who will start fourth grade in the fall, also left a couple of clues for searchers that he didn’t mean to.
When Grayson heard a helicopter overhead, he ran into a meadow and waved the last piece of his jacket. But two searchers on horseback saw him first.
Fantastic! It’s why I spend all of my time watching the Discovery Channel: you can actually feel yourself getting smarter.
Topics: Coolness! | 7 Comments »
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Other than the fact that Grylls is a poseur… He is in the “field” with a full team to protect his ass…
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Mr. Earp: My youngest son (12) loves the Discovery Channel. As much as I don’t want him to get lost in the wilderness, it’s a bit of a relief to think that he might actually survive if he would.
I’ve never watched that plus 8 show. I heard of it and it just sounds stupid. Why do I want to watch another family when I have my own to live?
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 pm
He’d have been better off if they watched survivorman. That’s a show that actually teaches you something, man vs. wild is just a retarded stunt show where after the shoot they all go back to the hotel and have a few brews while enjoying room service.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:33 am
Good for the kid. Glad he kept his cool and they found him. My survival tip..you are in the woods freezing, your matches are gone but you have your trusty zippo. You make your fire and..flick flick flick..no fluid. Now ignoring the friction fire bow you could make if your fingers weren’t frozen you simply take the lighter apart, pull out a piece of the packing that holds the lighter fluid,
stick it in the striker area and flick..flame. Works every time. Another approach would be to unload your pistol or revolver, remove a bullet from the brass, in a manly way with your teeth of course, stuff in a small piece of cloth so the powder doesn’t fall out, manually reload the round, point it close to the small kindling in your fire pyre and fire. Or better yet get on the radio and request extraction:) LOL
June 24th, 2009 at 10:59 am
If he would have watched Oprah he’d have a book deal.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I spent some time in South America back in my younger days and I can assure you that following a river or stream does not always lead to civilization.
Sometimes it leads away from civilization and deeper into the rain forest. If you’re unarmed, unprepared and don’t have a whole production team complete with air conditioned tents and the rest of life’s necessities, you just might not make it.
Oprah’s got about as much a chance of survival as Bear Grylls. This kid got lucky. Do you feel lucky punk?
Joe
June 24th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Old NFO – I still like the show. It’s entertaining, but Les Stroud (Survivorman) is really hardcore.
Pamela – 1. Don’t call me Mr. Earp. I’m kind of an idiot for that sort of respect. 2. I agree entirely. No matter which show you watch, Man vs. Wild or Survivorman, they teach some pretty important things.
Bob – I watch them both. Les Stroud is kickass, and he plays the harmonica, to boot!
Jon – I usually just utilize my Pocket Napalm.
Doghouse – And cankles!
Joe – Me, no? I don’t even go into the woods to pee, let alone to “explore.”