Survivorman: Season 3

The originator of the survival shows. You can’t go wrong with Les Stroud!

Season Three of "Survivorman" was supposed to be the last. Les Stroud was physically worn out from producing, what is in my opinion, the most "real" reality-type show on television. Apparently, after reaching this decision in 2008, he has since changed his mind and is currently producing new episodes. I'm glad.Survivorman is the aforementioned Les Stroud; a Canadian outdoorsman who, in the past worked as a roadie for the band Rush and also for MTV Canada (!). The concept of his show is quite simple: He goes to an isolated location, hot or cold, and spends seven days there....surviving. Alone. Les travels to six locations/episodes for season three. The six episodes are contained on two discs:Disc 1Sierra NevadaLes goes hiking and gets "lost". A search party is sent looking for him as he deliberately wanders deeper into the woods, making it that more difficult for the search party to find him.Colorado RockiesLes sets out with two pack horses into the Rockies for a week. Having the horses with him is a blessing and curse: they provide him with companionship, but he has to take care of them as well as himself.Arctic TundraLes travels to Baffin Island in the Arctic Archipelago (between Northeast Canada and Greenland) and survives in the brutal cold and "eeriness" of 24 hour daylight.Disc 2Deep WoodsFor the first time ever on Surviviorman, Les isn't alone as he brings a hunting partner with him to the Boreal Forest in Canada.Australian OutbackLes has to "emergency land" his ultralight in the Australian Outback.Papua New Guinea (the series "finale")Near the end of the series finale, two men approach Les at his camp. One is carrying a machete (well, it is the finale, right?).Disc 1 also contains a bonus episode: "Surviving Urban Disasters", which is fine in its own right, but I believe I would have preferred a "Making of Season Three" instead.I honestly have to rate all six episodes with five stars each. Granted, I am a huge fan of the show but I cannot think of a single reason to rate any of them with even four and a half stars.All of these episodes stand out to me but the Arctic Tundra episode is my favorite (if I had to pick one) for its environment and visuals.Les also has his best success ever with obtaining food in this episode, too....which is another reason why I like the show so much: Les Stroud is upfront about everything he does. He scouts the location out before-hand; brings an emergency GPS phone with him in case of disaster; has an emergency camp nearby; and, except for a few items he carries with him (ranging from one match to a paper clip--or even a can of soda): he has to find his own food, build his own fires and make his own shelters. Alone. For seven days.If this makes what Les does sound too easy, try camping outside in your own backyard for a week....with full access to your refrigerator, to boot.I also appreciate that he is never gratuitous in any way with his actions. He spares us the gory details of cleaning and de-shelling a turtle, for example. Furthermore, unlike the crews featured on Deadliest Catch, he watches his language. Very rarely does he swear. Having kids of his own, he fully gets it that kids are watching his show, too, and behaves himself accordingly.A humorous example, however, of when Les does swear occurs during the first season (while he is gathering firewood) and all of a sudden he screams: "Holy s***! A rattlesnake!"But, you get my point. (And, once again, he spares us the cleaning and preparing for dinner of the rattlesnake).Discovery rates all Survivorman episodes TV-PG.I strongly encourage you to give this series a try. Thank you for reading.Five of Five"Survivorman Season Three"From the dvd case:Survivorman Season 3 is presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital/1.85:1 Widescreen Aspect Ratio/Approximately 258 minutes

SurvivorMan is the real world experience of Les Stroud recorded in seamless documentary form, and delivered to a public. It is not one of those “reality” TV shows that suffers from poor writers, and non- actors playing their roles in the lowest common denominator fashion that has become so popular on network TV. If you, yourself become stranded or lost, find yourself in a survival situation, and are suddenly thrust into a world that seems to have turned upside down on you, you most certainly will not be accompanied by a full camera crew, light and sound company, or prop managers. No one is going to yell cut, hand you a bottle of water and direct you to craft services for a hearty plate of food. That is the world of entertainment.Les Stroud as SurvivorMan knows the reality of surviving in the woods. He has been actually living his backwoods survival life style over the years and although he emerges into the modern world in between, he understands what anyone lost in the wilderness is likely to face. That is the man you want to learn from. That too is why he spends time on his shows teaching those of us who romanticize about the surviving in the wilderness from the comfort of our cozy homes with hints, tricks, and tips that might one day make a real difference in real survival situations.He is a showman, and he travels to exotic, out of the way places to ply his trade. But he also learns and integrates his new knowledge of each location into the show as he demonstrates each step of the way, how he, himself, is coping with the new environments and strives to survive. He does not hide the reality of what lack of food and water and the sheer psychological shock can do to any of us, even those who are strongminded and fit. Occasionally he will also carry with him survival items that are common and available for purchase to give us an on screen trial and review of how they perform but the impact simple tools or other items can have on someone when demoralized by simply struggling to survive. He also plans for each environment and utilizes items that might be commonly found by a survivor. His mastery of his field comes through as he shares some of the simple techniques he has learned, but seldom does he display the more difficult tasks that require years of practice to master. Showman or no, he keeps his audience in mind, and is always working to teach, entertain, and simply allow the watcher to experience that world as he does.As you might have picked up, I am a fan of Les Stroud. But I know the likelihood of my being stranded is reasonably small. Disaster is always a theoretical threat until it comes to you though. I like being prepared for possible events however, and not only does Les Stroud take you into the wilderness but he also has solid and practical advice that you can use in any unforeseen emergency. If you become more than a passive participant in the show, thinking how to apply his wisdom in situations that you are likely to face can make your life and that of your family better if bad things do happen.

Les continues to educate the outdoors-men with season 3 of his Discovery Channel hit. Every episode contains new information, techniques, and warnings going to show that Survivorman is a spring of bush knowledge. You will learn a great deal from these dvds especially after several times through them.Always level headed, Les shows how to stay safe and stay alive during a survival situation. Do not waste your money on what I like to call "Hollywood Bush Actors". I believe that there are a number of people in the game today that only harm those looking improve their skills. Many other programs that I have tried to give a chance to have shown people doing things that will greatly increase your risk of being rescued dead. If you are an avid hiker, bicyclist, hunter, fisherman, rock climber, camper or a plethora of other activities which I could like I strongly suggest you spend some time with Les Stround (or at least his dvds). The price on amazon is much better than buying it at Best Buy or on Discovery's website. Get your copy today and start feeling more comfortable with whatever may come your way.

The Survivoman Series is the best and closest, bearing in mind safety that has been produced.Les Stroud does it the hard and more realistic way. He carries all his equipment and films himself.Bear Grylls and Ray Meers are experts in their field also but Les Stroud's Survival techniques and scenarios are very close to the real thing.

This guy is great. If you loved the other episodes, this will be just as good.

This is an awesome season. I would definitely recommend this to any one else who like survivor man, great price.

We love everything that is "Lesstroud"....these were great episodes!

Love the show