Survivorman and son...

BOSS1

BOSS1

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OK, I like Stroud. And I get it...spend some time with junior, get him some exposure, maybe teach him a few things, show the pros and con's of another person along for the scenario, etc...

But it definitely changes the feel for the show. I think I kinda prefer Les being solo.

BOSS
 
I only saw one so far where they were kayaking and landed on the beach. It is too early for me to tell so far but I think it can turn into being a good thing. Actually the thing that I was kind of surprised about is that Les's son being, well Les's son, didn't know more and I mean a lot more by now. Anyone else think this? :confused: I figured his kid could do a friction fire one handed and blind folded growing up with Survivor dad.
 
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Barbarossa said:
I only saw one so far where they were kayaking and landed on the beach. It is too early for me to tell so far but I think it can turn into being a good thing. Actually the thing that I was kind of surprised about is that Les's son being, well Les's son, didn't know more and I mean a lot more by now. Anyone else think this? :confused::roll eyes: I figured his kid could do a friction fire one handed and blind folded growing up with Survivor dad.
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I pretty much said the same thing. But then again I love the outdoors and my son would rather play Xbox all the time if I let him. Took him out a bunch and just never got into it.
 
Different focuses, different times. I seem to recall that in an interview that his son follows more on the music side of things. And since they live in a suburb I'm not surprised he doesn't have the same level of skill. I have the episode, haven't watched it yet though.
 
SubaruSTi said:
surprised his son even talks to him since he cheated on his mother...
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Most parents in that situation naturally don't discuss it with their children, and how is this relevant to the subject of teaching your kids woodcraft?--KV
 
I liked this season of survivorman. It was good to have the kid with him. the bigfoot episodes where the best bigfoot show ever to be on TV. all in all I would like to see more survivorman and son episodes
 
My dad is a doctor..........anyone need any medical advice or minor surgery :)
Most kids don't follow in dads footsteps. I think it skips a generation, Im more like my grandfather
 
c.t.smith said:
My dad is a doctor..........anyone need any medical advice or minor surgery :)
Most kids don't follow in dads footsteps. I think it skips a generation, Im more like my grandfather
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First, as a father with a son around the same age, I can understand a few things. I've been in the military over 26 years and although it's been my career and livelihood, I always avoid bringing work home or running my family like a military unit. I never forced my son to have a buzz cut or play Army (he did some of that on his own). Even at age 15, he's on the fence about enlisting or ROTC after he graduates high school, but that will be his decision not from my influence.

So, after seeing an interview with Les, he took the same approach and didn't bring work home or push his hobby onto his kids. Although I understand it, I don't agree from the hobby side. I do love the outdoors and many of our vacations have revolved around camping, hiking and backpacking. Both our kids have plenty of experiences and outdoors knowledge; whether they continue with those hobbies is up to them all we could can do as parents is expose them to as many (positive) experiences as possible.

My son does have his own hobbies such as guitar (plays in a church youth group band) and soccer (I was more into football). He also loves shooting and minimalist camping; heck, he even likes to backpack barefoot. I don't rib him too much, I just enjoy the opportunities we get together as we will only have a few more years before he's consumed with life and starting a career on his own.

My wife and I both enjoyed the last couple "Survivorman and Son" episodes. I would much prefer having my son in a situation like that with me. He's pretty darned skilled and resilient; a hard worker and understands how to prioritize in adversity. Much of his hiking and backpacking is barefoot (which help him slow down for his old man and mom:D), and he's learned a few hard lessons about where to set up his tarp, importance of ground (or hammock) insulation, why doing backpack checklists and inspections saves some agony on the trail and a whole host of basic first aid and a few other bushcraft-related skills.

Now, I must say my wife is a Bear Grylls fan as well, not so much from his TV shows, but from his book/biography. Bear avoided sharing his hobby with his three boys as well and that hasn't worked since they enjoy much of the same activities. I could see Bear doing a show "Bear and Boys", but his risky antics would most likely be curbed significantly. What I enjoy seeing from Les' show is allowing his son to make some decisions, exercising his cognitive abilities and experiencing the consequences from some choices.

I still like Les' solo shows "better" but for different reasons. For this chapter in his life, I'm enjoying the show with his son because I can relate very easily to the value of sharing your hobbies (especially outdoor hobbies) with your kids.

ROCK6
 
I just saw a couple of episodes from the newest Survivorman season, and have to say I stopped watching. Les really tuned down the informational content, and the scenarios he's in just look like him hanging out and camping for a week. There's more informational videos on YouTube with more enthusiastic people. I had big respect for Les, but this just seems like a money grab to me personally.
 
Which episodes? He has openly said that part of him "coming out of retirement" was that there was cash on the table for more episodes. I can't fault him for that. His other career is music, no chance of making a living there!

I just watched the And Son episodes, and really enjoyed them. More from the psychology of survival aspect. I've been in situations where people stopped thinking for themselves because someone "better" than them was in charge. I've also had to be mindful of others in slightly tough situations, but not to that degree, by far. It also put into perspective some of my Dad's frustrations with his teaching of survival skills to me, as I didn't practice them as much as I could have when I had all the time in the world to do so. Now I wish I had done it much more when I was 16.
 
It doesn't surprise me that Les's son doesn't know more about the bush; his fathers been in the bush filming most of his son's life.

I think the father and son recipe will make for a good T.V. I don't think it's going to go good for his son though. The bush is hard on most men that don't know what they're doing and, well, even on some knowledgable bushman. I think age is a benefit in staying calm, cool, realizing your situation and using your resources to get out of the hole your in. His son's youth may prove to be a great weakness.

I noticed that Les chose to talk to the camera (instead of to his son directly) about his son's lack of enthusiasm to make serious choices. If Les and his son don't develope a much wider range of communication, I can envision many episodes of Les being ignored by his son as well as heated, hunger driven tiffs between the two of them occurring.
 
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I don't know how many episodes have aired yet, but I really liked the Bigfoot episode. I think Les truly believes that Bigfoot lives.
 
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