UKH

Just saw a trailer for the Bear Grylls’ show with Alex Honnold.

Is this like the end of the world?

Will fake and real collide and consume each other, releasing a vast     quantum energy burst, killing us all?

I dare-nae watch!

Best Grylls is an alpinist in his own right, held the record for youngest everest ascent, he’s paraglided over it, is a black belt, and an accomplished and record breaking paraglider and sky diver. It just so happens he has been involved in some TV shows where the reality is somewhat embellished but that doesn’t really make him a ‘fake’ 

Hopefully, Honnold with take The Bear soloing

FTFY

Well said. However much one might question and mock his accomplishments, he's actually done a lot more than a lot of us. 

There's definitely some TV show contrived faking; that's the nature of "entertainment" over "accuracy".

I'm not sure that walking/being fully supported up Everest on bottled oxygen really counts as alpinism though. Not how most of us would define it anyway.

Bear has carved himself a highly successful niche - and deserves credit for doing so, as well as justified criticism of some of the fakery.

b

Very true, I don't think many of us will have tried this, for example:

youtube.com/watch?v=TtIG4TuVnvg&

Nope

No he never did

No he didn't

Maybe

No he isn't

All the claims above, apart from the black belt thing (maybe), have been largely faked for the tv shows. He's simply dishonest for the sake of self-aggrandising. Surprised he hasn't claimed to have climbed Action Directe yet

You've got the wrong thread mate, "I want to believe !" is a couple down from this one.

Has he though? He's 45 and as far as I can discover, his only full time job has been as a 'media adventurer'. Given that he's been at this for a couple of decades now, his list of achievements is pretty lightweight stuff, reasonably attainable by anyone healthy, with time to spare and cash to splash.

It's a fair point that he's done more of this 'adventure stuff' than most on here (and far, far more than the likes of me), but then I'm pretty sure many on here have achieved far more than Bear in mundane real world stuff, while fitting a reasonably adventurous set of accomplishments into the odd free weekend (and without 100th of the self-aggrandising hoopla).

We've got doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers,social workers, nurses, successful business people, various flavours of scientist and academic, voluntary workers, carers, authors, photographers, highly accomplished athletes in a variety of fields and yes, even some pretty decent climbers on here. And that's just the more tangible stuff never mind things like personal qualities.

Bear has built himself a successful career as a TV personality and that's certainly not easy but just because it's in the public eye it doesn't trump the accomplishments of those out of the public eye.

You forgot the SAS steely-eyed dealer of death bit.

Why do you think it's any different from Jeremy Clarkson interviewing real drivers ?

To be fair mate, selection for 21 is absolutely nails by all accounts, I take my hat off to him, vast majority of people would fail! 

For all his faults, at least Clarkson hasn't claimed to be a"Master of Motor Racing"

vimeo.com/71280935

I don't. I take Bear just as seriously as I take Jeremy Clarkson.

I am "a black belt".  Twice actually, I got one when I was 16, fell out of the habit of training after I went to Uni, got another different one when I was 30-something.  I'm just a fat, middle-aged punter - getting a 'black belt' is not nearly as impressive as a lot of people think.  Seriously, for many people leading a VS in good style is a bigger achievement.

It never ceases to amaze me that there is anyone on here who doesn't seem to think the dishonest narcissist Grylls is an utter bellend.  You people need to chalk up your cams, hide your topropes and watch his "Masters of Movement" video again, look at it FFS! 

By way of contrast, have a look at some of the other Masters of Movement videos, equally breathless hyped-up little films but crucially in which people do genuinely impressive things.

Also by way of contrast, remembering that this joker is the Chief Scout (shame on you scouts), check out one of the Girl Guides' equivalents.  Anna MacNuff spent a chunk of last year running all around the UK, over 2000 miles, barefoot.  Along the way she went out of her way to meet, talk to and inspire as many girl guides as she possible could.  That is what an 'adventurer' and a role model for young people looks like.

Further to my post above...

Here is the antidote to the shite "Bear Grylls meets..." programmes on the telly, in which he and <insert celebrity name here> go off on an adventure together.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008n9l

Two pals set off to have a little adventure - there is no hype whatsoever as they survive a little mild danger, endure a bit of discomfort and (mostly) enjoy getting out there in each other's company.  Quite uplifting stuff, I think.  If you're appalled by Grylls but do watch telly, well worth a look imo.

What's his climbing CV.? I.e. what routes has he done?

So so much misinformation in this thread. Seems like everyone just wants to bash him just with what they have heard rather than looking into anything for real.

Read his Wikipedia page atleast before you post.

Yes, and the other way around. I also recommend folk take a look at his Wikipedia page, seems more balanced than this thread:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Grylls

You've just won UKC! 

Have you ever been to a scout event hosted by or involving BG??

A ridiculous comparison. Clarkson on cars adopts a transparently entertaining comic persona, whereas Grylls pretends that he should be taken seriously

OMG how have I managed to miss that absolute gem? That's the most entertaining climbing-ish video I've seen for ages. Literally every scene in it is a travesty!

For anyone who, like me, hasn't encountered this before now, here's a link:

youtube.com/watch?v=5t0mJ63Y8WM&

Enjoy!

Even so, Clarkson expects to be taken seriously as a motor critic.  Clarkson and Grylls are, in reality, both primarily TV entertainers. 

I have so many questions!

I'm looking forward to the bit where Bear stands, heels together,  shoulders, spine and outstretched palms pressed flat onto the wall behind him, crucified on this calvary of his own ambition. The thousand yard stare silently speaks a million words. He tries to maintain his composure and psyche, eroding at this place of temporary sanctuary like a sandcastle in the first licks of the returning tide. Knowing full well that he is committed, retreat and rescue impossible, the only course of action to continue. The outcome unknown. His prehistoric bird brain imploring him to take one step forward, a single step which must be resisted. A single step away from oblivion. A single step away from the hotel mini bar.

..... a step which he will trip over (and later make a large insurance claim) and cry that but for it there would have been another world class achievement.

No, have you?  Is he a warm and wonderful human being in the real world, when he's not on the telly playing the role of action hero and massive narcissistic bellend?

I did see the second half of his live show, this one: youtube.com/watch?v=jGKQQ-gx6E0&  (Happily not as a result of having bought a ticket.)  

I agree with the youtube comments there, I thought it was probably the biggest pile of self-indulgent wank I'd ever seen.  (And I once spent 6 weeks of my life mixing the sound for a panto starring Cannon & Ball!)

Unfortunately it doesn't mention how much my BMC insurance went up due to his 2008 claim.

Have you, I haven't. I have been involved in Scouting on and off for more than 35 years. I've talked with a few Chief Scouts in the past, but never met Grylls. My take from a purely Scouting perspective is that he isn't good for Scouting. His other activities, including his commercial activities, send very much the wrong messages.

As a small example, we teach Scout how to use knives safely, including keeping on the right side of the law with a knife. The Scout Association publish guidance, which you can google if you want. It doesn't take the Scouts long to work out that the Bear Grylls Gerber knife that they assume must be perfect for Scouting, could very easily get them a criminal record.

I have absolutely no idea!  For a while there it was as ubiquitous on here as the "Dan Osman Speed Clambing a Cliff!" video was.  (The UKC equivalent of 'Rick-rolling'.)

You must have been off somewhere having an adventure without the blessing (and curse) of internet access at the time.  I feel privileged to have been the one to finally inflict this on you. 

Who wrote his wikipedia page?

Bear Grylls is a massive bell end.

He's just the latest in a long line of privileged as f*ck professional "explorer and adventurer" types that there always seems to be a market for. 

I know he has a list of accomplishments but given the funding, opportunity and support that he has are any of them really that astounding?

All of his Alpine achievements are totally mundane apart from his relative youth for a couple of them.  I feel this might be different if it wasn't for the fact that most budding alpinists in their early 20's don't have the financial means to fund Himalayan expeditions.

I know he was in the SAS (reserves) but then so have a lot of people.

Despite all this, the reason I find him so unpleasant is he's such a f*cking god-queen-and country Eton educated establishment boy scout.  Just not my cup of tea at all.

And I don't even drink tea.

Perhaps Bear can teach him how to hide a top rope while pretending to lead?

At 1:42

youtube.com/watch?v=5t0mJ63Y8WM&

Yes I have. He was excellent in front of the couple of hundred young adults in the 18-25 age group- including my daughter- who was getting her Queen Scout ( in case you do not know it, its the next one up from a Gold Dof E- far tougter) at Windsor Castle. Held the place in the palm of his hand all the way through the whole day ( not just 15 minutes of fame).Fantastic speech, went out of his way for everyone , he could not do enough for the  young adults.

Although I am no big fan, I get why the the Scout Association  use him ( and why he uses them). And if he gets young people active and involved in the community then that is fine by me.

https://xtools.wmflabs.org/articleinfo/en.wikipedia.org/Bear_Grylls

Any the wiser?

When they were small, I sometimes had to tell my children little porky pies to get them out on a walk and make it seem more exciting, is that the same?

Looks like it is being edited most days, suggests it is being carefully looked after.

As there is a shortage of adults helping the 600,000 plus  UK  young people who are involved, then I am sure you want to put your name forward to help out, then you can help with the porkys.

My speciality!

Done my bit, enjoying my retirement

Phew! Thank f*ck we've got the annual (and obligatory, and fully deserved) BG knocking thread out of the way for 2020,.

Incidentally, even reading has wiki page you can't help but wondering how banal some of his 'records' are - Jet skiing round the UK, longest indoor 'free fall' (by a few seconds...)  … correct me if I am wrong but that basically involves being very little distance off the ground and held up by a giant hair dryer. And can anybody possibly make sense of this: "In 2005, alongside the balloonist and mountaineer David Hempleman-Adams and Lieutenant Commander Alan Veal, leader of the Royal Navy Freefall Parachute Display Team, Grylls created a world record for the highest open-air formal dinner party, which they did under a hot-air balloon at 7,600 metres (25,000 ft), dressed in full mess dress and oxygen masks.[33] To train for the event, he made over 200 parachute jumps." WTF?

He certainly annoys a hell of a lot of the adult volunteers in my experience.

I was working a job which involved a zip wire during the build up to London 2012. Bear's people (he really does have people) were talked through the procedure - timings, kit etc. 'Bear won't be wearing a harness or helmet' speak his people. 'Then Bear isn't going on the zip' says the boss. Compromise sought. Hasty redraft of the contract equals Bear can go without helmet. Bear will be wearing a harness but it can be rerouted through his outfit. All to make him look like he was just holding on to the trolley. All about that image. 

I didn't get to meet him but by all accounts he's good with the small talk. I suspect in the same way the Queen has to be. 

Sounds great, it's a shame we never see that Bear Grylls on the telly eh?

Yep, fair enough.  Everything about his on-screen persona makes my flesh creep, but it's hard to argue with that.

Hopefully the young people in question won't follow his example of refusing to ever wear a helmet for any activity because it doesn't look cool, or his example of killing and pretending to eat any unfortunate wee creature he can get his hands on.

Hm..  I'm not entirely I should post the link, it's very distasteful, but I will..
With regard to wildlife, the "bat tennis" thing was perhaps the most egregious example of what I'm on about there.  This upsetting little snippet of video went out as part of one of his telly programmes, intended to entertain and pretending also to educate an impressionable audience - lets hope he didn't get any young people 'active and involved' in doing this kind of thing for a bit of a laugh eh?  youtube.com/watch?v=84HE0MHGbKw&

Queen's Scout isn’t the next one up from DofE Gold, it’s the next one up from the Chief Scout’s Diamond Award. DofE is a completely different awards programme.

When I was doing my Queen’s Scout 25+ years ago, we always thought we were better than those doing Gold, but in reality they very similar and have become more so over time. I deliver the former, although my current group are only 14/15 so currently doing the Chief Scout’s Platinum Award, some of them alongside DofE Bronze.

What a complete  c u n t .

It's a joint effort between his wife and his mum, but don't worry, his publicist fact checks it to make sure it's all above board.

Grates with some, others just like the fact that the young people enjoy him.Like anything in a voluntary organisation.

Bear Grylls is an inspiration to many. Same as Brave Dave. Both great entertainers .

Over many years climbing I've known a handful of guys who were ex-SAS. They never ever advertised it. But then they'd seen active service in the real thing. 

Thanks for your (pants of) perspective

Thanks for the hat tip, and for being so kind as to not point out I spelled her name wrong.  Oops.
https://www.annamcnuff.com/about/

I'm grateful he has his faith to help him deal with the "99% untrue" claims his shows are faked https://www.christiantoday.com/article/bear-grylls-my-faith-helps-me-cope-w...

 Yup that clip is gross. Looks there like he is far more interested in having a laugh by hurting and killing things than he is in showcasing any “survival” skills. Regardless of the rest of his career, certainly the man in that video is not someone I would want as a role model for my children. 

I really wonder why Honnold chose to become involved with this numpty in the first place? (But then I wondered the same thing about Obama.)

Honnold has serious credentials, and he doesn't need the money. So why this game show crap? Very disappointing. He ought to have words with his agent.

Looking at his wiki page:

“Edward Michael Grylls OBE (born 7 June 1974), better known as Bear Grylls, is a British former SAS serviceman, survival instructor, and honorary lieutenant-colonel, and, outside his military career, an adventurer, writer, television presenter and businessman.”

The first thing it mentions is his military career. Looking at the timeline he passes selection in 1994, which makes him 20 ish. Kudos to him for that, it's not easy and it needs mental toughness. However for a fit 20 year who doesn't have to fit his training in around trivial stuff like working for a living it's not insurmountable, and it's nothing like as gruelling as regular selection.

He then does 3 years, which is the minimum time (I think) that TA recruits sign up for. (I also note the wiki page states he was injured in a parachute accident). According to his wiki page he was 'posted' twice to North Africa (Adventure training, exercise?). No mention of any operational service, (23 SAS were certainly in the Former Yugoslavia during his military career, and I'm sure as a member of 21 he'd have had plenty of opportunities to get a tour in if he was so inclined). So in a nutshell, young lad joins TA and has fun running about doing shooty stuff for a couple of years. Absolutely nothing wrong with that and good on him, but given there must be a few thousand members / former members of the TA who have actual operational service under their belts, (and a good few killed and injured doing so), the whole “Ex Special Forces” persona just reeks of being a self-publicising Walter Mitty.

As for the honorary Lt-Colonel in the RM Reserve, (and also honorary Lieutenant Commander in the RN Reserve), they're erm.. honorary. Carol Vorderman is an honorary Group Captain in the Air Cadets, but she doesn't hint she was flying Tornados over Iraq when flogging equity release schemes.

I second this. There are many others far more suited to being a role model than Edward. The video invokes the impression of a little boy who would burn ants with a magnifying glass or pull the legs off spiders.

By contrast, someone like Steve Backshall is a fantastic role model to kids (to my knowledge), who would simply describe these sorts of 'survival' techniques (or maybe would be doing something more applicable).

All the blown up, self aggrandising crap aside, the cruelty to animals is simply something that shouldn't be accepted as ok.

I'm sure many have seen it, but it always makes me laugh, so I'll leave this here....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m....

From what I've seen Bear actually seems a bit of a legend, with some impressive adventures under his belt and great business marketing. 

What I absolutely can't stand is how he fronts himself as an example to children (Scouts), but in his shows basically advises that the way to survive is to take the most dangerous route possible, throw yourself off cliffs, wander down underground flooded tunnel systems, drink your own pee in the desert etc. If anyone actually followed his 'advice' they would be dead half way into day 1. 

Sounds like you've fallen for his "business marketing".

Damn autocorrect, you meant bellend didn't you?

OMFG.

That video alone should end any discussion about BG's credibility as a climber.

Despite him being the worst survival advisor on the planet, I'm not too proud to recognise when someone has experienced more amazing things than most twice his age could hope for. All the snobs and climbing 'purists' on here would give their right nut to travel the world and get to play in the most wild and beautiful environments with some of the most remarkable people on the planet. I'm BG's biggest detractor for what he creates but I'm not bitter enough to admit his resume is a wishlist. 

Nah. I've managed to travel around the world and see some wild and beautiful environments without resorting to fraud and fabrication. I just had to work and save up, just like most punters. As to meeting slebs? I really couldn't give a toss and I certainly won't be relinquishing my right nut for the chance to share grilled camel anus with Mel B.

Sourer than concentrated lemon juice. 

Wrong again. Happy, content and feeling inordinately lucky to live my life as it is (99% of the time at any rate).

It's pretty far from a wish list for me anyway. Jet skiing round the UK and a dinner party in a balloon don't really hold much allure for me. Nor for that matter does a guided ascent of Everest.

I'll certainly admit to a bit of jealousy at the opportunities Bear has had but definitely not at how he's used those opportunities.

Musing upon this, here's an amazing thing that many of us on here will have done that I see little evidence of in Bear's public persona: Engaged in a thoughtful and sustained relationship with the places we visit and developed a deep and abiding respect, connection and even love for them.

That wont sell many knives but it wont kill any bats either.

Ignoring the rest of the stuff he does, his hypocrisy annoys me, he supposedly campaigns for and raises money for climate change charities but then decided to attend the scout jamboree by helicopter.

Yes!

And about this, combined with the post above about jet-skiing around the UK..

I do some sea kayaking, and very occasionally find myself sharing space with jet skis.  I also ride a motorbike and fully understand the appeal of razzing around with an engine on land, so while you can never be entirely sure until you've tried it I'm pretty sure I know exactly what jet-skiers get out of their hobby and that's fine. 

They probably mostly think kayaking is boring, crawling along at 4 or 5 knots, but they're missing out on *so* much.  Getting right in among the rocks, playing with the features, the waves and the moving water that they just smash through under power and barely notice, the encounters with wildlife, bird, cetaceans and seals, as you glide around almost silently.  The times when you might not make it to where you want to go, so you change the plan or somehow get there anyway.  Then they head back to the pub and the Premier Inn in the evening while the paddlers are setting up their wild camp on the beach or some uninhabited island..

I know several people who have paddled around the UK, Ireland and other places.  I envy them.  (I don't think I will ever have the fortitude to take on an expedition like that myself.)  I feel almost nothing regarding the jet-ski thing, it must be quite uncomfortable at times and seems faintly impressive in it's way but at the same time completely pointless, like being the world champion trainspotter or something.

There are lots of people on the telly I envy, people doing wildlife documentaries, travel programmes, you name it.  People doing amazing things and also fairly ordinary things, but never this complete fud.

The guys in the charming little Scottish films I linked to above are having very accessible adventures.  Most of us can do that, I've done it often and will again, but I still envy them getting the fire going in the bothy after a good day on the hill with a pal while I'm sitting on the sofa at home on a school night watching them on the telly.

• > Best Grylls is an alpinist in his own right, held the record for youngest everest ascent, he’s paraglided over it, is a black belt, and an accomplished and record breaking paraglider and sky diver. It just so happens he has been involved in some TV shows where the reality is somewhat embellished but that doesn’t really make him a ‘fake’ 

  Oh yes it does!

I've a friend who is an ex-paratrooper.  2 Tours in Iraq.  Literally will not talk about it.

One for the haters:

https://mobile.twitter.com/jonnohopkins/status/1020957376625639424?lang=en

As others have said Bear Grylls did some pretty incredible things before he went totally batsh*t crazy with the TV stuff. 

He may fare better than many of us expect....

Like what?

He got reasonably fit, shouldn't be that outstanding for a 20 year old, passed ta selection then twisted his sock parachuting. 

I think a number of folk here who are out on the hills 2-3 days a week, year after year, might be surprised how close to selection level fitness they are, without even trying. They probably accrue more time in harsh environments than any London ta sas member. 

He came to a scout event here the same way. Turned up, jogged around a couple of fields joining in the odd activity, got sent down an aerial runway by me, then f'ed off again.  Yes, he does enthuse nippers about the outdoors, but then they get all disappointed when it's not as he makes it out to be.

The trailer is immense. Calling for a tight toprope while dogging on gear up what looks to be about a severe grade climb. Had to make Alex climb it with a bow and arrow on his back and in approach shoes so he didn't jog up it. I call in to question any climbing pedigree he apparently has with that performance. 

Carol Vorderman is 'one of us', she was denied the opportunity to fly Tornados and has got a brain.

Yeah, but what's he done on grit?

Are you saying you can't learn a lot from Bear's survival shows?  Shortly after I spent about £100 on brand new skins for my skis, I was in a pub and Bear was on the pub TV, slogging through the  wilderness in thigh-deep snow.  He stumbled across a pair of abandoned skis (as you do), and in order to create some friction so he could tour on them, he peed on the bottoms of the skis.  Off he went, skinning away.  My God, I thought, why does anyone spend £100 on skins when you can just pee on your skis??

As a horse person, I got an immense amount of enjoyment out of this mindblowing example of horsemanship.  youtube.com/watch?v=TXlkobz3ZwE&

Followed by wrestling a garter snake...

If you're after a Bear Grylls video to watch, then this is probably the one:

youtube.com/watch?v=kTlsqZ214Mw&

The wording is quite interesting, he 'created' the record rather than set it.

BG soloing masterclass: youtube.com/watch?v=-Hs8_Tu4sgg&

Absolute bomber cam at 0:16.

It's quite the soloing system he has, isn't it? At the end of the route, he's able simply to pull the rope in, and carry on. Thousands of climbers would like to know the secret ...

Same secret as when he was with Stephen Fry and they decided to abseil down a 900m cliff by taking about 15m of rope and tying one end round something at the top.

Ah but that's the magic 15m of black rope he carries around himself in coils on every trip. A great magician never gives the secret away. 

his dad was a conservative politician... Where do you think he gets his lying from?

People tend to remember disgraced Conservative politician Neil ‘cash for questions’ Hamilton, but forget disgraced Conservative politician Sir Michael ‘cash for questions’ Grylls.

Didn't Hamilton go on to do some dodgy stuff on TV?  Looks like Grylls left that legacy to his son.

He retired in disgrace in 1997, unlike Hamilton who stood as a candidate in disgrace in the 1997 election and was famously defeated by Martin Bell standing as an independent, after Labour and Lib Dem’s withdrew there candidates.

Black rope!  Has anyone ever even seen a black rope?

'unlike Hamilton who stood as a candidate in disgrace in the 1997 election'... but nonetheless remains UKIP Leader in Wales to this day. You couldn't make it up.

As a matter of fact, I always thought his wife seemed to have rather more about her than the average Tory politician's wife, you wouldn't want to cross her.

Low stretch rope is very readily available in black, it's popular with military types for abseiling etc. 
(And perhaps even more popular with pretend military types.)

I'm lost for words...

No one else?

I may have to try that with a bottle of Scotch in each end to forget that as quickly as possible:-0

Cheers

Toby

Yeah I wondered if the military would be the only market for black ropes, you always see them being used when they abseil out of helicopters in films...

Why on earth anyone would use it to go climbing I have no idea, you'd think Bear would be able to afford some nice bouncy brightly coloured rope by now?

Black ropes are mainly for the theatre/stage rigging market, so that like in this particular exmple, they can't be seen by spectators (unless you are as bad at setting the shot as you are at faking it)

Christine had as much political experience as Neil. She started her career as Gerald Nabarro’s private secretary.

There is a bit of that, but probably not so much as you might think. 

Rigging in the theatre is generally hidden behind masking anyway (flats and drapes of black wool serge), traditionally theatrical ropes always used to be hemp and many of the modern equivalents still look like hemp.  Flying bars on counterweight sets hang on 6mm ish steel ropes. 

In stage rigging generally, live music and such, surprisingly little hangs on fibre ropes.  Its much more about steel ropes and chain hoists.  The only ropes you'll see used routinely are the odd cable pick here and there and sometimes a couple of fast-fold projection screens.  When there is a fibre rope, much of the time it'll be a chunky solid-braid (what the Americans call a "derby rope") rather than anything resembling a climbing/abseiling rope.

Black "tactical" gear - harnesses, descenders and such, is often marketed as being for 'stage' as well as military use, but to be honest stage riggers buying it are just making a fashion choice.  Until a few years ago most harnesses in that world were Petzl yellow, now they're more often Edelrid green.

He has both in the 'Masters of Movement' video.
The poorly hidden toprope is black, while he tows a short length of nice jazzy climbing rope behind him to pretend to be leading.  (Which he describes as soloing - I'm not sure what we're supposed to think is on the other end of the jazzy rope if it's not a belayer though.)

Funny how lives intersect. 1) My first political experiences were attending hustings in our local constituency where Nabarro was the MP. I was 9 (or maybe 11) at the time! 2) Christine did Politics at York Uni, as I did a couple of years later. That gives her a definite plus point - she did well to come out still a Tory. York was definitive History Man territory.

Many years ago Alpine Sports briefly marketed a black rope which they called 'the Black Whip'. Rumour had it that it was extra susceptible to UV and failed so was withdrawn. We can but hope...

Relevant, if you have a spare 65 minutes:

https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS83M...

I don't. Can you provide a brief synopsis? Thanks.

That's very enlightening, thanks: I well remember Neil Hamilton, but had forgotten Michael Grylls.

Lying, venality, fraud, dissimulation, trickery and phoniness: all of these are evidently family traits within the Grylls family. What a delightful lot.

This has been a revealing thread.

Andy Kirkpatrick rambles for 65 minutes in a reasonably amusing way, occasionally referencing Bear Grylls

Was that the one advertised in the mags coiled around an otherwise naked young lady.

Would have been similar period as the Javelin fleece adverts of repute.

As a matter of fact no it wasn't. The adverts you're thinking of were  Edelrid and I'm pretty sure the rope was wrapped around Leo Dickenson's wife. I don't apologise for remembering with such clarity - I was only 16 or 17  at the time, it was nearest we had to seeing naked ladies  in those days.

Ditto, I just remembered (hopefully correctly 😁) that the rope was black. You'll probably now tell me it was some other shade of grey.

Can't remember. I wasn't looking at the rope.

Neilh> Have you ever been to a scout event hosted by or involving BG??

No, but I know several scout leaders who have. The general opinion is that he dashes in, keeps people waiting, bigs it up for the photo-ops and leaves as soon as he can get away with it. Engagement with scouts on an individual level is apparently minimal.