We'll collect your wilderness survival questions and choose the best for Les to answer. We'll post his responses here, so check back often. Please put "question" in the subject line of your message.
Please note: Les will not respond privately. All Q and A will be posted here.
Q: What is the easiest and/or hardest environment you have ever had to survive in?
A: Surviving in the Arctic was a rough go. I asked the Inuit elder, Sam Omik, when the toughest time to survive up there was and he said, "right now." I was too early for the return of birds and other easily caught game, and it was too late in the season to make a good igloo because the snow had experienced some melting.
The wide-open expanse in the Arctic was helpful; I have always felt that one of the toughest places to survive is the boreal forest — it's thick, there aren't many wild edibles, and what does grow only lasts for six weeks. Also, the bugs can be ferocious and the cold can quickly kill you.
I think survival gets easier as you get closer to the equator simply because there is an abundance of wild, edible plants.
Q: Have you ever contacted any unfriendly people during filming of any of the shows?
A: I have never run into anyone unfriendly while out there. It's funny though, I think I would be more worried about running into unfriendly people in certain mountain ranges than I would about bears or cougars. I've heard that there are a lot of escaped convicts living up in the mountains — but maybe that's just urban legend!
Q: Have you ever really injured yourself when filming?
A: Injuries while filming Survivorman are a regular occurrence for me, but nothing too serious. The worst was when I contracted a parasite. It wreaked havoc with my insides — in particular my mouth — for the better part of a year. I tried to cure it homeopathically, but in the end I had to give in and use the "kill-everything-in-your-system" kind of drug. This would make the second time I've been hit hard by a nasty parasite from the wilds.
Q: I've watched several episodes of your show and I've noticed that you always carry the same "multi-tool." What type is it? Which items do you use that a good-sized, fold-up knife does not have? Which feature, besides the blade, is the most useful to you and why?
A: My favorite multi-tool is the Leatherman Wave. Other than the multi-tool, an ax is an amazing item to have. Don't forget to keep a sharpening file with it and learn how to sharpen — it makes a big difference. A bandana is always useful and, of course, a fool-proof way to start a fire is essential.
There is no question that having a multi-tool or fold-up knife with a saw blade is a fantastic advantage. That little saw blade makes fashioning tools and traps a lot easier.
Q: I'm a Boy Scout leader and we do a lot of wilderness survival activities. Are there any videos available to buy and use at Scout meetings? We've used some, but none would be as good as what I've seen on your show.
A: Check out my two Web sites: www.survivorman.ca, and especially www.lesstroudonline.com for available videos and books.
Q: I was wondering how long a break you take between shows? I would think that after a week of being out in the open and surviving on next to nothing that you would need some time to regain weight and strength.
A: I usually take about five weeks to edit one show and prepare for another, but honestly, that pace is hard on me. New installments of Survivorman will have to go a little easier on my schedule if I'm going to live through it!!
Q: What texts or references do you consider to be absolutely indispensable to prepare a person for survival in austere conditions such as those in Survivorman? Additionally, what items should one have on hand at all times?
A: The Psychology of Wilderness Survival, Gino F. Ferri
Wilderness Living and Primitive Skills, John and Geri McPherson
Bushcraft, Mors Kochanski
Outdoor Survival Skills, Larry Dean Olsen
The Art of Survival, Cord Christian, Troebst (out of print)
Any of the Peterson Field Guides (wild edibles, etc.)
I would always keep with me a surefire way to make a fire (so to speak).
Q: What did you do with rabbit snares? Did you take them apart or leave them there?
A: In all cases at all times and in all locations, I take great care to remove any and all evidence of my presence there. I operate on a "leave-no-trace" philosophy as much as possible at all times. The bike in Utah, the snowmobile in the Arctic, the dirt bike in Arizona — all were cleared out and removed at the end of my week.
Q: Where did you study or learn your survival skills? And do you have a survival course that you teach to the public?
A: I first started by taking every and any survival course I could find, including at Humber College in Ontario and Prairie Wolf in Kansas. Then I went out as often as I could for practice, either on my own or with friends.
I'm not teaching courses any longer (I did for years), but I will likely open up a few again in the future when my schedule allows.
Q: Just admiring Les' harmonica skills, wondering what harmonica he uses. Wouldn't mind having one of those myself while I'm in the midst of the wilderness on my camping adventures.
A: I always use a Hohner Special 20.
Les answers more questions.
Q: Just wondering if Les is planning to do any extended episodes where he will try to last longer then a week? I think a show where he has to catch food and build a good shelter to last him more then a week would be a really interesting addition to the already kick-butt show.
A: Thanks! In fact I am now discussing the possibility of stretching the timeline of the survival ordeals so that we can show so much more.
Q: What's it like emotionally when you're out there for the show? Even though you know folks will come looking for you in seven days, do you ever panic?
A: Usually on about day three or four I just want to quit and go home to see my family. Sleeping on the snow or under a rock is not fun. But my passion for making the film and for primitive and modern survival skills keeps me going past the midweek loneliness hump.
Although I'm supposed to have a safety net in place and the ability to call in the rescue team at any time, it doesn't always work — as in the case of lost-at-sea, or the canyonlands, or the swamp, or Costa Rica. In all these places I found through random testing that my emergency radio/phone set-up did not work, leaving me utterly alone and exposed.
I never panicked — that would be foolish — but I felt very alone and became very cautious at those times, thinking, "If I'm attacked by a shark right now, there's nothing anyone can do for me." Those were the moments where I felt, "Oops, maybe I've taken this too far this time!"
Q: Do you think regular people should try to replicate your techniques if they get into trouble in the wilderness?
A: I think regular people should try to survive with any means they can. I'm just regular people, not a survival guru. I show only a handful of techniques for survival and, yes, they should help. Hopefully folks are paying attention when I point out the WRONG thing to do as well!
Q: The show often ends happily with you getting retrieved. Have there ever been instances where you experienced some lingering effects of your journey, even after you returned to civilization? For instance, finding out you had contracted some disease from insect bites or bad water?
A: I carried a bad parasite in my system for a year after the swamp show.
Q: Are you vegetarian? You've made comments on the show that you don't enjoy taking away life, and only kill because it is absolutely necessary for survival. It sounds like you either don't like eating meat, or you just don't like the process of killing.
A: I eat little meat, but when I do, I prefer wild meat — moose, dear etc. I hardly ever eat cow or pig. Personally no, I don't like the process of killing. But every time I start up my car, use plastic, use my cell phone or go to a movie — hell, just live in this modern world, I am killing and damaging the environment and all that lives in it. But as Bill Mason said, "We can't go back to living in teepees."
For the longest time I took flack from hunters who thought, "He can't be real, he doesn't kill anything." They missed the point that sometimes you may HAVE to eat a snail or a leech to survive and it's good to show that at least it’s possible. Besides, the likelihood of an inexperienced person catching actual "game" without a rifle or bow and arrow is pretty low, so knowing you can at least eat snails is encouraging.
When I showed catching a rabbit in northern Ontario, all the hunters loved me and the animal rights people hated me. But the fact is I’m showing survival, and it just happens that with very little experience you can actually catch a rabbit in the wintertime fairly easily … and … survive! I want to remain sensitive to my love of all things wild and free, but I know that to truly show survival, sooner or later I have to catch and kill something to eat. You can't be a vegetarian in northern Ontario in the winter.
Dr. David Suzuki once said, "We all lead lives of conflict." And so I realize it’s "just a TV show," but it is a show about survival, and if I pull too many punches (i.e., eat only leaves), people won’t get the real deal.
Q: Do you carry any kind of beacon when you're out in the wilderness? I don't see it as something that would assist in your survival, it would just be a safety measure. Or perhaps you don't carry one because the knowledge alone of having one would diminish your spirit for getting the heck out of wherever you were?
A: I have a wife and kids I want to come back to, and I'm not willing to risk life or limb for my "art." So yes, I carry an emergency satellite phone, but unfortunately it has proven to work only half the time, which has been disconcerting.
Q: How does Les shoot the video? Does he climb down the mountain, set up the camera, climb back up the mountain and film his descent? I would love to see a behind-the-scenes look at how the show is filmed.
A: I run all my own cameras. Being alone for this venture is, in fact, the whole point. I do have a camera crew with me for the first day to film my departure, but after that it's just me with anywhere from three to five cameras — which means five cameras to set up and tear down, five lenses to clean, five tapes to put in, five cameras to unclog etc.
Often to get a good long shot I will climb a cliff or tree and set up the camera, run into position, get the shot, run back, climb again, check it out, only to discover that I chopped my head off or came in from the wrong position and then I have to do it all over again. A simple six-second shot may take an hour to produce.
Q: Where were you when you decided to try living this way? How did you learn what to do before you went out into the wilderness, or is that how you started?
A: I initially took course after course in survival anywhere I could find one. Then I began numerous forays into the wilderness on my own or with friends to practice survival methods. I spent a year living in the bush with my wife, Sue, as if it were 500 years ago; no metal, no matches, no plastic, no nylon etc.
Before each Survivorman week, I spend a few days on location with a local expert. I can transfer the survival basics to anywhere, but I can't know what is poisonous or what I can eat in Costa Rica when I have never been there before.
Q: After the hurricane hit New Orleans, the world saw a lot of people trying to survive in a ruined urban setting. What kinds of skills should most people have to survive in that type of environment?
A: It's more a mind-set — the will to live, the will to go on and to do what is necessary to survive. That said, a good understanding of dealing with fire is importan — and not necessarily a skill many have mastered. In the case of New Orleans, the knowledge of how to purify water would be an excellent skill to draw upon — i.e., how to acquire fresh water from salt water.