Man vs. Wild

Man vs. Wild is a television show on Discovery Channel where an ex British Soldier named Bear Grylls teaches different survival techniques to use under various scenarios which usually begin with one being stranded in what they believe to be miles from any form of civilization.

The tips and tricks taught in the program are meant to educate the average person about ways to survive while stranded in the wilderness and the fastest ways to find your way back to civilization. These include ways to gather and hunt for food, find and filter drinking water, keep your exterior dry, use various flora for medical purposes, and avoid dangerous predators and unforeseen pitfalls.

The show almost always puts Grylls in what can only be described as worst-case scenarios where he must go to extremes in order to survive. Situations are introduced where Grylls has run completely out of water and must urinate into a snakeskin and drink his own urine to get what remaining water there is within it to hydrate his system. There are also episodes where Grylls shows the audience the safest possible way to pass through places normally inhabited by highly dangerous animals, such as an african river inhabited by deadly hippos.

The show also depicts the easiest ways to detect signs of civilization in your surroundings such as getting to high ground in order to be able to scout the area and how to interpret where vehicles are going by the direction of their tire or ski tracks. Though less often and less prominent in Man vs. Wild, Grylls will occasionally depict ways to signal for help in such a way that you could attract attention and get your message across in the most efficient way.

Many ways to hunt and gather food are shown in areas all over the world. Ways to make hunting tools out of simple items you can find anywhere like tree branches, vines, and stones are some of the more common techniques used and shown by Grylls. Instructions on which types of plants and fruit are safe and what benefits they can provide you with are presented in comparison to which types of plants and fruit can be harmful or even deadly to a human in order to warn and educate the audience as to avoid disaster should you ever have to forage for your own nourishment.