After I watched all 5 seasons of “The Office“, I embarked on a “Man vs Wild” marathon. It’s somewhat of a realistic count of the adventures of Bear Grylls, who was once the youngest guy to scale Mt. Everest. For most of the episodes, he shows the viewers survival tactics in some of the world’s most remote areas. While there are some rumors that on some episodes, he spends part of his time off the camera in luxury hotels rather than in the wild as portrayed, the majority of his adventures are impressive. Aside from being able to eat anything raw (Yak eyes, puff adders, spiders) and able to build rafts from fig vines, Bear Grylls is well-versed–these abilities have enabled him to produce five seasons of adventures.

Aside from the instinctual thrill of watching this survivorman dive into waterfalls, I enjoy analyzing the science behind all of his tactics. On one episode, he explains the Dakota fire pit as a means to sustain a fire in a windy environment and mask your tracks. While I may never actually build one of those myself, it’s interesting to learn about fundamental skills. Bear Grylls also comments much on the nutritional value of the insects, creatures, and animals he manages to stuff in his mouth. Yes, snails have high protein content. So do snakes.  From a scientific standpoint, this point is fundamental since the aforementioned animals are highly muscular. And muscle is built from amino acids (roughly). Nonetheless, I find it amusing to hear these correct statements from someone who didn’t go through years of college. I’ve finished three seasons so far…two more to go.

misc life