Civilised…Stroud on grid
Former canoe instructor Les Stroud is almost finished production of his next program, Survivorman. off the grid. It will air in late November as a 90-minute special on Canadian Cable. If anyone has seen Les’ previous work, please comment below.
Les, who teaches survival but has often said he is afraid he might not be able to actually survive in the wild himself, took his family off for a year in Northern Ontario (we hope he remembered his cross country skis). They built a home on 160+ acres of bush forest near Huntsville that’s, you guessed it, off the grid. Solar power, rainwater harvesting etc. Should be pretty interesting.
Les is a talented jungle-rock musician is also launching his recording career on the back of the interest in his survival techniques stirred up by the series Survivorman. Its an incredible show of one man surviving all alone in some of the harshest conditions for 7 days without a camera crew. He has to not only survive but carry 50 pounds of camera equipment he uses to film the show. Don’t be fooled by the 30 minute abbreviated shows being aired on the US Discovery Channel, the good stuff is the meaty hour-long episodes available on The Science Channel.
The craziest episode was of him sleeping out in a southern bayou on about 200sq ft of ‘high ground’ surrounded by ‘gator-infested swamp. He dined on raw mystery meat. It’s the little survival tips that we love, like warming rocks by the fire to stick under your clothes while you sleep.
Living off the grid is not new for Les. The documentary �Snowshoes and Solitude� followed Stroud’s year in the wilderness reconstructing life in North America 500 years ago.
4 Responses
We really love your show..We wish everyday that we could leave here and raise our two children like that. We did it for a summer before we had kids and it was the best time of our lifes… Every chance we can get to do something like that we take it.. But times are hard and if you dont have to money to even think of starting that then it just becomes a dream.. Ya know best wishes to you and your family! Waiting to see what you come up with next…..
I watched this last night and I loved it. I am a city dweller w/ hopes of living off the grid myself.
The idea is great to build a house off the grid. The problem is that most of us have a house and have no clue how to get our existing house off the grid. People would relate more to a show that took an ordinary house and converted it to an eco-friendly home.
I like the show but let’s face it, hiring a helicopter to deliver materials is a luxury that normal people cannot afford. Hey Survivorman, get a portable sawmill and you will have all the lumber you want and have a show that realistically shows a life real people without a TV contract could afford. Great idea for a shoe though and I can appreciate your situation, I did the same here in Montana. Good luck.