Bear Grylls is new LR global ambassador

[Viggen]

Actually I'm betting some of us here, myself included, could do EVERYTHING he's done... Let alone the many tens of thousands or more people with the same level of athleticism and training/skills out there in the world.

Among the numerous comparable things I've done in and with my life I've also beta tested equipment/gear for Gerber through-out the years... the BG branded stuff is junk and what's not utter junk is just re-branded kit they make in some other form (like the Prodigy/LMFII) that's better for not having his name all over it and supporting a dangerous example setting fraud like "bear".

Hilarious. Okay. Go break three vertebrae in a few thousand foot fall, climb Everest, and get back to me. His salesmanship aside, you are insane for downgrading a person who has done so much to the point where he cannot be the nominal face of a company whose products are often referred to, and better known as, "Chelsea Tractors." Take what you have done, apply to be the face of LR, or Toyota, or a tier three Mahindra, and see how far that gets you. I, like many others, will line up to ask, "who the F is this guy and why do I care?"

Again, I am no fanboy but damn, you guys are insane. Constant bitching about the soft that LR has become with their visible face of the brand being the underfed, malnourished Posh Spice. Now, they choose someone who has actual outdoors/ adventure credentials and you are still bitching about it (because he has some rebranded Gerber stuff).

 

[Aspire]

Hmm, breaking three vertebrae is hardly an "achievement", nor is the fall that preceded it. Him surviving that would be more luck than skill. Climbing everest? Well, not sure that is such an achievement in and of itself either. With that said, as far as I know, he has military training, so in that respect he is definitely more disciplined than I am.
Or he is at least better at following orders.

 

[David Harris]

Hmm, breaking three vertebrae is hardly an "achievement", nor is the fall that preceded it. Him surviving that would be more luck than skill. Climbing everest? Well, not sure that is such an achievement in and of itself either. With that said, as far as I know, he has military training, so in that respect he is definitely more disciplined than I am.
Or he is at least better at following orders.

Not just military training. He was a member of the SAS, which is definitely something that only a special breed can do. Recovering from a back injury like that and then going on to climb Everest and all of the rest is the achievement. Gotta love the armchair play downs. . .

 

[Aspire]

Not just military training. He was a member of the SAS, which is definitely something that only a special breed can do.

Yes, I was halfway joking. On one hand, the utmost respect for what the SAS does, but on the other hand, as you say, it also takes a special breed to want to make a career out of following orders and push yourself because some idiot yells at you for a long time. So, on hand, no question they are tough, but on the other hand, submissive by nature.

Well, that's what I think, but the only part were I meant it 100 percent was that I don't care who endorses a particular car. I am not the type of person who worships celebrities or gives a flying ef about what they think of any given product. In fact, I am less likely to buy a product if a celebrity endorses it. To me, it's shouting "WE DON'T HAVE A GOOD PRODUCT, BUT PLEASE LET THIS IRRELEVANT CELEBRITY SWAY YOU ANYWAY!"

 

[JSBriggs]

Haven't seen the show....have heard the name. Scared, very scared.

But you DO know how to use Google don't you?

 

[4Rescue]

Hilarious. Okay. Go break three vertebrae in a few thousand foot fall, climb Everest, and get back to me. His salesmanship aside, you are insane for downgrading a person who has done so much to the point where he cannot be the nominal face of a company whose products are often referred to, and better known as, "Chelsea Tractors." Take what you have done, apply to be the face of LR, or Toyota, or a tier three Mahindra, and see how far that gets you. I, like many others, will line up to ask, "who the F is this guy and why do I care?"

Again, I am no fanboy but damn, you guys are insane. Constant bitching about the soft that LR has become with their visible face of the brand being the underfed, malnourished Posh Spice. Now, they choose someone who has actual outdoors/ adventure credentials and you are still bitching about it (because he has some rebranded Gerber stuff).

Yeah??? No problem, I had a posterior Disckectomy/reconstruction after I crushed a CERVICAL vertebrae while serving in the US Marines. 6 weeks after the surgery, and 3 days after having the staples out... with a some-what "experimental" spacer in place in my neck between C5-C6 I was on the Middle fork Salmon and oaring a 16' Gear Cat loaded to the gills down a river that was surging over 9+ ft. on the very upper gauge (@ Boundry Creek below Dagger Falls... anything over 6' is considered "flood stages"). 2 weeks after that trip ended I was packing the PCT from CAN down to Nor Cal with another friend and I spent the last 6 days solo as he had an injury and had to pull out at a way point. I'm a Wilderness EMS (WMI Alum)/SAR and Tech rescue specialist, I'm a FF/Medic, I played soccer for 15 years from age 5 on to 19, near 365 days a year including being a US Olympic Team alternate in High-school. I grew up with the rise of DH/FR mountain biking here in OR and raced DH/4x here in the NW for years (and have rag-dolled down the side of Mt. hood a few times after missing a landing/breaking a frame/parts). I've worked as a Wildland FF/sawyer and been a Ranch-hand on a large Cattle Station in Australia where I taught REAL "Bushcraft"/orienteering/Survival skills, and spent weeks on end doing self-supported bush explorations with my boss and again, fought Wild-Fires. I've been climbing since I was very young and I've operated at 10,000ft and above more then enough to know I'm not susceptible to HAPE or HACE and IF I were a rich man I might consider trying Everest (although if you knew anything about the History of Everest you'd know that it's not always the "extreme athletes" who successfully accomplish it and you might be shocked to learn of some of the folks who have and those who've died trying... Everest is a roll of the dice in a lot of respects). I'm far from "one in a million" and neither is BG. And me, I don't WANT to be "the Face" of anything or any brand...

I also never said ANYTHING about LR being "soft" so go check your reading comprehension... I said I thought it was SAD, that a historical company like LR was going to get into business with what I consider to be a truly dangerous/terrible TV personality.

I'm not saying BG isn't an athletic guy... he clearly IS, but this "mythical status" people like you throw at him is RIDICULOUS. He's a man, and there are MANY other men like him in this world. I knew plenty in the Marines and the sheer factor of numerical odds says that there are likely people closer then you think who might surprise you with what you regard as "amazing skills/experiences"... BG is also a VERY bad example to follow IMO and with as impressionable as some viewer are, I feel like what he represents (regardless of any "warning" at the begining of his show) is dangerous and reckless...

Seriously, how are your whingy posts any "better" or "more mature" then anything???

...To me, it's shouting "WE DON'T HAVE A GOOD PRODUCT, BUT PLEASE LET THIS IRRELEVANT CELEBRITY SWAY YOU ANYWAY!"

Yeah, exactly. I don't feel like LR NEEDED anybody (least of all BG) to "hock their products"... They're LR for crying out loud. At best BG will get a few TV watching dentists who like to play "outdoorsman" to wander in, more likely he will alienate others and cast a questionable shadow on their current choice of marketing tactics and possibly even scare some away from their products.

 

[2025 deleted member]

Well said.

Not just military training. He was a member of the SAS, which is definitely something that only a special breed can do. Recovering from a back injury like that and then going on to climb Everest and all of the rest is the achievement. Gotta love the armchair play downs. . .

 

[Viggen]

Lots of words

I too have compressed and fractured vertebrae. I, however, will never discount another mans achievements in some wayward measuring contest. Especially any man, or woman, who has accomplishments as prodigious as this one. Accusations of poor reading comprehension coming from someone who quotes words I have never said are, well, ironic to say the least.

Seems NOTHING they, LR, do will ever make a difference. Quality and reliability has gone up since Tata ownership yet people bash Tata ownership. Clinging to antiquated farm implement ideals will not allow a company to continue. Bottom line is this is not a pissing contest. He has outdoors credentials and genuine, notable achievements. He is what LR wants out of their spokesperson. I imagine that this means that, unlike the current face (stick figure woman), there might be more outdoors advertising/ branding/ messaging happening. Is that so bad? The most difficult thing I have seen an LR product do of late is splash through a puddle and scale some stairs following a dog and chasing skirt...

 

[The Rover Shop]

I too have broken my neck in a motorcycle accident in Australia and had cervical fusion done when it was in its infancy (nearly 30 years ago).. Survived being in prison while my neck was broken before they figured out that it was broken and had to re break it.. Since then I have run with bulls and dove with great whites.. Ridden motorcycles all over the world and driven land rovers all over as well.. I own 3 camel trophy vehicles and build vehicles for long distance travels around the world, recently spent a year in my camel trophy defender doing 28,000 miles.. And am currently prepping for the rest of the world from Africa to Siberia in a defender 130... I don't think the current land rovers we get here are even a shadow of what they were initially, but there lies the fault in most peoples arguments... We don't get the good land rovers here any more.... Never really did... Land rover catered to the market here in the USA.. And that didn't really pan out as needing the defender... They would never have been considered for military or federal contracts in the army or police forces like they are in other countries.. Air bag regulations is what killed the defender here.. The us government required airbags to be installed in a vehicle which was specifically designed to be as electronics and trouble free as possible... Imagine 4 wheeling and hitting a pothole at speed and having the airbag go off... But before that the USA government requiring the roll cages on the defender 90's and the 110's made it very difficult to build to suit the red tape here... And I am sure that is why the numbers were crunched and 110's weren't released here after 93... I have worked for and on land rovers for 30 odd years and now own one of the biggest independant land rover shops around.. The land rovers we get here are far from the iconic 4 wheel drive vehicle they used to be.. But I love the newer ones.. They make me enough money to buy my real land rover 4 wheel drives.. Defenders and range rover classics, and sometimes the disco 1's.. My wife drives a disco2 and even that is still a pretty capable 4 wheel drive but I would be hesitant to go anywhere real serious in it.. Bear Grylls is an entertainer who has some pretty serious skills, but I am sure his shows don't get to showcase what he can really do, I bet he has better skills and survival knowledge that probably 97% of the people out there... All I can say (as with most people on here but won't admit it).. I wish I had his knowledge and skill sets.. Not saying it's the be all to end all.. But definitely more than I have now..you don't have to give up what you know in order to gain more.. I don't idolize him but I do respect him..

 

[roverandom]

I think there may be a little confusion about exactly what it takes to be a member of the SAS.

For a start you can't just walk into a recruitment office and join up.

 

[Bigunit]

Quien es mas Macho? What a pointless thread.

 

[Viggen]

I too have broken my neck in a motorcycle accident in Australia and had cervical fusion done when it was in its infancy (nearly 30 years ago).. Survived being in prison while my neck was broken before they figured out that it was broken and had to re break it.. Since then I have run with bulls and dove with great whites..

Batman, is that you? Did you have to climb out of the pit first? :coffeedrink:

 

[Abeer]

You guys all missed the easiest joke of all time.

Of course Bear is the new spokesman for Land Rover because when your rig breaks down in the middle of nowhere, you need his survival skills.

 

[Aspire]

I thought a modern Land Rover wasn't able to get you to the middle of nowhere.

It needs to be old, spilling oil, rattle like a maladjusted tractor and be oh, so uncomfortable. You also have to be able to pick the engine apart, recut the pistons and cylinders with hand tools, and have to be as uncomfortable as possible. Or something like that, according to some.

 

[Aspire]

I think there may be a little confusion about exactly what it takes to be a member of the SAS.

For a start you can't just walk into a recruitment office and join up.

Well, "For a start", you can't walk into an office cubicle and just start working. It takes something a bit more than just showing up to get a(ny) job.