A new survival show named Duel-Survival starring Dave Canterbury and Cody Lundin will be premiering June 11th at 10pm on Discovery Channel.

http://press.discovery.com/us/dsc/programs/dual-survival/

Experts agree there are some very basic - and universal - rules for surviving in the wild. Find shelter, find water, find food, find help. Beyond that, there's not much they agree on. Meet military-trained Dave Canterbury and naturalist Cody Lundin - trained survival experts featured in Discovery Channel's all-new 10-part series DUAL SURVIVAL. Together, Canterbury and Lundin take on some of the planet's most unforgiving terrain to demonstrate - in their own way - how the right skills and some creative thinking can keep you alive.

Has anyone watched this show? I'm hooked! There has been two episodes so far. If you missed them, I think you can watch them online at discovery channel's website. Here is a breakdown of the first four episodes (only two have aired so far):

SHIPWRECKED — Premieres Friday, June 11, at 10 pm E/P
In this survival scenario, hosts Cody and Dave find themselves on a deserted island off the coast of Nova Scotia — in the dead of winter with plummeting temperatures. Despite the freezing temperatures — and his partner's objections — Cody doesn't give in on his indigenous survival strategy, where he lives his life barefoot. Here, he's only wearing shorts and wool socks. The only items they have are those they're able to salvage from the life raft they used to reach the island: an emergency Mylar blanket, a plastic tarp, two knives and a single rescue flare. They must use these items and their arsenal of skills to find shelter, build a fire and find food and water, all in sub-zero conditions.

FAILED ASCENT — Premieres Friday, June 18 at 10 pm E/P
Next, our survival experts take on a mountaineer's worst nightmare. They are left stranded on top of a mountain in New Zealand with limited supplies that would be carried by a climber: rope, crampons, an ice axe and other climbing gear. Working together, they battle 8,000-foot glacial peaks, deadly crevasses and deep rocky canyons as they trek down the mountain on a course set by Canterbury, an experienced climber. To find food, Lundin uses his knowledge of local cultures to tap the dietary wisdom of New Zealand's indigenous Maori.

OUT OF AIR — Premieres Friday, June 25 at 10 pm E/P
Each year, an average of 20 people drown while cave diving. For this survival scenario, survival experts Cody and Dave are lost divers who are fortunate to find air, but they are deep inside a maze of caves in Belize. Equipped with only their dive gear — mask, fins, wetsuit, buoyancy compensator and flashlights — they must find their way out and to safety. The survival rules that work above ground, like following a river downstream, don't apply in the labyrinth of underground caves. Instead, they must make their way upstream in a trek that puts Cody's barefoot philosophy to the ultimate test. Once they emerge, the situation goes from bad to worse — they find themselves surrounded by dense jungle, a web of vines and thorn ravaged terrain... and snakes.

DESERT BREAKDOWN — Premieres Friday, July 9 at 10PM e/p
Cody and Dave head into Peru's infamous "Valley of the Volcanoes" to take on the ultimate lost-in-the-desert survival scenario — a broken down car miles from civilization, in the middle of an almost barren lava-scorched landscape. Here, Dave and Cody take on two roles to show how to survive this desolate location: Dave stays with the vehicle and signals for rescue while Cody heads out in search of water. But first, Dave and Cody strip the car for everything it's worth, salvaging the battery, headlights, electrical wiring, tires and seat cushions. They fight volcanic rock, heat exhaustion, altitude sickness,dehydration, rodents and a debilitating illness that literally brings Cody to his knees.

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Please don't take my avatar to seriously. I'm really not a bible thumping armageddon prophet.

Time to set my DVR. I knew this show was starting but forgot to watch. I'll be tuning in from now on. Hopefully there are reruns of the first two episodes.

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If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

I've been keeping up with it. I enjoy it, but I miss Les Stroud (I don't blame him for not producing Survivorman any longer). What I like about Dual Survival is the fact that Dave and Cody take 2 very different approaches to the same thing. It's nice to see different perspectives and opinions on things.

I’ve been watching and enjoying it. I’m surprised at how much I like Cody and enjoy his philosophy on life, not atypical tree hugger with all sorts of hang ups about killing to survive. Still wish he would put on a pair of boots though. The shorts are fine, but you gotta protect your feet man!

I’m a bulky guy like Cody myself, known to frequent the gym, I’d like to see what the guy does for a workout to pack on that much meat.

I've watched three of the four episodes so far (thanks of OnDemand Cable). I'm enjoying the series and taking for what it's worth. I have learned a few things and gotten some ideas from the show, but I also know in the back of my mind that much of what is filmed is staged. Nevertheless, I do enjoy watching the banter/bicker back and forth between the two of them, especially when Dave gets on Cody about his hippie earth loving ways. I wonder what it would be like to go without shoes for 20+ years. And I gotta say that Cody's tent cave with the mylar blanket was an education in physics. It's definitely worth continuing to watch.

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If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

There is another new show starting this week I think. _Man, Woman, Survival_

The desert survival episode didn't show two tricks I have heard of (but never tried). One is that you can sterilize water by putting it in plastic water bottles left in hot sun for 4 to 6 hours (solar sterilization):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4786216.stm


And the other is to have use a piece of plastic over an area you pee in and collect the evaporating water into a can on the underside, weighting the middle with a rock (solar still). Here's a link:


http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/dec/stories/water.html

I like the show okay, but of course it is a fantasy world...they have full camera crew and are never in any real danger. It's neat to watch and has some good advice, though. But I would skip the barefoot thing just about anywhere but maybe a nice temperate forest or grassland from spring thru fall lol. Even then you're asking for it, though. And with the solar sterilization in mind, I'd keep a good supply of those crushable plastic water bottles in case you run into a river like they did, you could fill them up, carry them with you with the sun shining on them and they'd be ready in several hours!

“The desert survival episode didn't show two tricks I have heard of (but never tried). One is that you can sterilize water by putting it in plastic water bottles left in hot sun for 4 to 6 hours (solar sterilization):”

Actually they did mention this when Cody scooped up a bunch of water in his large plastic bag. I’m reading Les Stroud’s book Survive and just read about the pee in the solar still buisness. Thanks for the links.

As for the show itself, I think it’s great! I don’t care about the crew being right there to learn this stuff. The pair of them are the real deal and only educate me. If people get to critical about a show or don’t watch it, what do you have in the end. Nothing. I’ll happily deal with having a crew on hand to have more shows of this kind.

I loved Les Stroud’s Survivor man, but it isn’t around anymore. I’ll take what I can get. Even Bear, though he get’s way out there on his show. Again, better than nothing.

BTW
Dave Canterbury has a good, active, Face book page. And great YouTube vids. Check out his sling-bow vids. Great great stuff