Kevin Phong

Prof. Thomas
UWRT 1103
Annotated Bibliography #1: Les Stroud

Popularly known as Survivorman, Canadian survival expert Les Stroud is the jack of
all trades when it comes to possessing the knowledge of how to survive out in the wilderness. As
far as common sense goes, enduring a situation in which you put into extreme conditions can
take a large toll upon both the mind and body. Les, with his uncanny sense for adventure,
willingly documents himself in these environments which he compiles into his TV series
Survivorman in order to both entertain and inform his viewers about the experience of truly
being in a survival situation. The primary reason for his celebrity success is mainly due to the
method in which Les produces his show, causing a more direct connection with his viewers. He
is dropped off in a remote location and is expected to rendezvous with his crew at an extraction
point nearly a week later. From there, Les goes on about his journeys carrying all of the

equipment necessary to film his travels alone. Interestingly enough, Les also reenacts disaster
scenarios which limits his physical condition as well as the gear he is provided with. For
example, he has reenacted plane crashes in the mountains, being stranded in a car with no gas in
the desert, etc.
As much as he loves what he does, Les does stress his stance on how being put in these
situations can cause the mind and body into problematic states. That being said, Les represents a
small population of the world that knows how to handle these types of situations. On the other
hand, the mass majority is more than likely not capable of handling these harsh environments.
Achieved through more than 15 years of experience with the skill of survival, Les is one of few
whose minds are hard-wired to stay calm and proceed with logical and methodical actions.
Mother Nature is notorious for her raw prowess in overruling all else and can even cause one of
the best to withdraw despite all of his experience. In an episode in which he was in the Kalahari
desert, he recalls, ... it came close to calling in my rescue crew as I got close to having heat
stroke. It was 61 degrees Celsius. (142 degrees Fahrenheit). Every year, hundreds of lives are
lost to the wild due to the lack of knowledge of how to deal with it. Les Stroud has and continues
to do his best at trying to prevent this from happening.

Citations

Tourtellotte, Bob. "Living in the Wild Takes Toll on TV's Survivorman." Reuters. Thomson
Reuters, 06 Nov. 2008. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
Bergeson, Laine. "Wild Thing: Les Stroud." Experience Life. Lifetime Fitness, June 2013. Web.
23 Mar. 2016.
O'Donnell, Michael H. "Surviving with Humor 'Survivorman' Les Stroud Keeps Local Crowd
Laughing with His Stories." Idaho State Journal. Pioneer News Group, 9 Apr. 2015. Web.
25 Mar. 2016.