I started watching the new show Man Woman Wild on Discovery Channel. The show features a couple: the man, Mykel Hawke is a trained survivalist who used to be in the Special Forces and his wife, Ruth who is a TV journalist. At each episode, they are featured in a remote part of the world, where they survive for a few days with minimal tools. Normally they carry a knife and they try to scavenge items they find around them. The second episode showed them in Botswana, in the African bush. They had a couple of water bottles, and a broken down jeep. They discussed the best way to survive in their situation would be to stay put and wait for help, rather than wander around and possibly get attacked by predators. They then scavenge what they can use from the broken down jeep and take care of the basic necessities such as water, food, fire, shelter and security. They do have a camera crew that follows them as they search for water, hunt for food etc. They describe their survival techniques along the way, such as boiling water for 10 minutes to make it safe to drink, they collect sage branches that they added to the fire to keep insects away and their decision to stay together for protection from predators.
I think the show has a good premise, following a husband and wife team as they try to survive in wild places. Because of his survival experience, Mykel provides most of the knowledge, but Ruth does show a lot of courage in dealing with the hardships of surviving in the wild. They seem to react as most normal couples would, with some disagreements and bickering along the way. This is the first survival show that I have seen that has a female involved, and it is fascinating to me as I can relate to some of her reactions. There was a scene in the show where they found a freshly killed antelope and she had to slice off the leg for food while her husband stood guard. She had to do it quickly before the lion who killed it came back, and she did seem very pressured during the ordeal. I know that situation would stress me out! She had some trouble getting the knife to cut properly at first, but in spite of the difficulty, she succeeds in cutting off the leg. Later in the show, they cook the meat over the fire, and save some of it tied to a tree. Unfortunately, some hyenas make off with the meat in the middle of the night, forcing them to hunt for more food the next day.
This show makes me think how I myself would react in such a predicament. Here are some thoughts on what I have seen so far:
– The couple is able to succeed to a large extent due to the husband’s survival expertise; without this knowledge, they would be in big trouble. Therefore, it is best to learn basic survival before you actually need it.
– You may be forced to deal with unpleasantness, such as snakes, insects, predators, so you might as well expect it. Being mentally prepared is important factor to survival.
– Survival activities such as hunting for food, searching for water or wood for the fire etc. are strenuous activities so you need to be in shape. I try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily but this seems like nothing compared to walking for miles collecting wood and dragging it back to make a fire.
– When in survival mode, it helps to “think outside the box” so you can figure out uses for things than they were originally intended for. They used parts of the jeep such as a drip pan to collect and boil water. I hope we can be just as resourceful if faced with a survival situation. I should have paid attention to those Macgyver episodes and absorbed some ideas!
– Teamwork is essential in any survival situation. In spite of some minor disagreements and arguing, the couple manages to work together and succeed in difficult situations.
The show illustrates that surviving in the wild without any of the conveniences we take for granted seems like hard work but it is doable with enough patience and determination and a whole lot of cooperation.
So far I like the show and will continue to see it.
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Bummer I wish we had cable. Then again I don’t miss paying for cable. Hopefully these and The Colony will end up on some of the TV viewing sites before too long.
I can see how a survival situation could definitely test a relationship. I hope me and my hubby could work together well. I think we could, especially knowing we had the kiddos to protect.
The first show I saw this week was the one you mention in your blog. I find a lot of merit in this show, and even put up a quick blog post myself around boiling water in the plastic bottle. I thought that was very outside the box and innovative. I certainly learned a couple of items from that show last week, and will continue to watch as well….
Actually, she had to give up cutting off the wildebeest leg, and the hubby finished it (wouldn’t come off easily). They show off her cleavage at each opportunity, I notice.
I watched this show for the first time last night. I did enjoy the episode which was filmed in Utah along the Colorado River. There were a few things that bothered me with this though. The couple left a burning fire, in windy conditions to move to the other side of the river. You just do not leave fires burning in this country. They turn into range fires that cannot be put out. The constant use of “ain’t”. Ain’t, ain’t a word. And, I hope that their efforts to kill a wild turkey were approved by Utah Fish and Game prior to chasing them around. Oh, and using tons of steel wool to start fires. Use only what is necessary to get the fire going, unless of course you know you are only going to be in the “wild” for a day or two.
Otherwise, an interesting show.
I just caught the Colorado River episode as well. I agree, they should not have left that fire burning; likely they have a cleaning crew that took care of that, but they should have done it themselves. Family noticed they kept using way too much steel wool, way more than they needed. Thanks for stopping by!
Sorry but this show was horrible (alaska episode). When they are not calorie counting they are complaining about how difficult they have it – but what about the cameraman and crew following you around? huh. And then they “throw in the towel” – and get coffee and cupcakes instantly. And just hours after they are talking of dying out there – c’mon people….
This is true, the Alaska episode was not one of the stellar ones, as they had to give up and get picked up.
I feel like Mykel is trying to hard for the camera. His misplacement of the word “ain’t” is difficult to listen too. Also his tone with Ruth is very condescending. It would be a better show without him being so creepy.
Ain’t is what people in that are from the south use as slang. No need to get snippy, when he speaks to her like that if she’s offended she would say something. Let the woman speak for herself. He’s not creepy neither, I like the way the play with each other, it’s funny.
this has got to be one of the most ridiculous survival shows.
HE seems TOTALLY out of place, and she always seems to want to display MORE testosterone than HE has.,
IT appears all they do is bicker and her constant and endless jabber was enough to make me turn off the show after about 10 min..I cant believe they take up a prime time place when there are shows like SURVIVORMAN ” and Bear Gryllis and DUAL SURVIVAL which are truly great shows yet have been put on differnt hours.
Is the network so afraid they might offend the feminists so that have to have something in with a woman to appease them..???
this is defiantly TWO THUMBS DOWN!!!!!!!!
I have to admit, the show started out promising but I was disappointed the couple of episodes they gave up; when she got dehydrated and got outside help, and when they both had to get picked up from the Sonoran desert. Survivorman is my all-time favorite, followed by Dual Survival. Thanks for the comment.
this show is crap……… no one cares about these two idiots… and they are uninteresting….. plus hard to see they are in danger when they have a camera crew following them………… just another boring survival show….
This is the worst survival show I have ever seen. I grew up in Northern Alberta and made my spending money via of a trap line in the winter time and hunting beavers in the spring. Mykel may have some theoretical knowledge but his practical skills are zero. He does not have any common sense and he is full of himself. He goes for elaborate silly survival ideas when more simple, practical thinks would work. Discovery channel should drop these yo-yos as quick as possible.
My girlfriend and I watched this last show last night. They were in Tasmania. We weren’t sure if this show was suppose to be real or was a comedy? I would never follow these idiots into a forest, jungle or desert even if I was paid to!
Just a few things that really sucked about the show:
– their voices!
– Tasmania is not some dangerous place where no one lives! It would be easy to survive. Just walk for at least an hour and you will find people!
– they stayed in the same place the whole 4 days!
– took them hours to get a fire started? Bear would have it done first time!
– they used a deflated raft to build a shelter. The shelter was so terrible!
– they had no idea really how to get fresh water. They built some distill which they got a cup of water from. They could have walked a bit and asked the house up the road!
The list goes on!
This show is great for a laugh, don’t think you could take it seriously at all.
I like the couple and the way they interact. I think the show is entertaining and gives some good advice and interesting examples of various survival techniques. A “true” survival show would be Survivorman (and by the way-he carried a sat phone for any potential emergency). Man vs Wild is the stupidest show of all time. If you don’t think so, watch the episode in the “wilds” of Alabama.
I want to know about the camera crew! Come on, I do like the show and just want to know, what do they do, and how do THEY survive all this… on some other reality shows, like “them swamp people or gold hunters,” they have shown the hazzards that the TV crew too faces on these treks.
So why not give us a view of what these guys crew goes through following them around? As bad as it seems for Mykel and Ruth, I’m sure the crew is having it pretty rough as well.
Let us see that! It’d be more believable too to know that the crew is suffering right along with them. 😀
Note: where can I post this for the show to see, too?
The show has a website, that would be the most likely place the producers would see your suggestion.
Why is Man vs Wild even in the same category as Survivorman? Grills is a showman, not a survivalist. As for the Man, Woman Wild there are some real irritating parts, especially the terms of endearments throughout the show, gets really sickening after awhile. I know she’s hot, but please no more, I can’t take anymore. I prefer this show over MvsW, just too many stories of Grills camping in motels during the show, seems so dishonest. Anyone know why there is no season 3 of MWW.