My Tweeps

Throughout my 23 years in the military I have had the honor and privilege to work with some of the branches most skilled operators, from Army Special Forces, Navy Seals, Marine Expeditionary Units and Coast Guard Law Enforcement teams. I considered myself extremely fortunate to have had these experiences, but the lacking part for me was the specialized training they all went through that was not afforded to me. Don’t get me wrong, it was my choice. I chose my wife and kids over the long schools and even longer deployments. As much as I complained about being from home…….those guys were gone even longer. So the past couple years there have been a multitude of “survival” shows airing on TV to help me try to fill that void of self reliant training in the wilderness. So I chose the hosts of two of my most watched and realistic shows in my opinion, Bear Grylls and Mykel Hawke.

For my first tweep I chose Bear Grylls. Bear is a former British SAS Commando for three years and was injured during a free fall jump in Africa and thus ending his military career in 1996. After intensive military rehabilitation he went on to become one of the youngest people to climb Mt. Everest and even made it into the Guiness Book of World Records. He has authored 11 books, some fiction and others about survival. He is a family man with a wife and three sons. He is best known though for his survival show Man vs. Wild, known as Born Survivor in the UK. He has also done some smaller run shows such as Worst Case Scenario in which you see ways to survive in hypothetical settings within the suburban areas that you might encounter in your home or workplace. He has also done Escape to the Legion where he went through some serious training with the French Foreign Legion. This show was actually the one that catapulted his TV career into the spotlight. His latest show though, Man vs. Wild is the one that I enjoy and actually learn from the most. The premise of the show is that he is basically dropped off, sometimes parachuting in, to remote places throughout the world and is to survive until he reaches some sort of civilization or is rescued. He has survived in some of the worst places imaginable like the Moab and African Savannah deserts to the frigid regions of Alaska and the European Alps. To me the show stays real due to the fact that he has actually done shows in Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. His show demonstrates how to keep yourself alive in precarious situations if you are lost or stranded; even when it comes down to drinking your own piss(his signature survival tactic). He constantly keeps you on the edge of your seat and always keeps a positive attitude throughout it all….even when injured. For more about the Bear, check out his website at:http://beargrylls.com/

The second Tweep of choice was Mykel Hawke. He also has a survival show, but his has a twist to it. He survives with his wife Ruth on a show titled Man, Woman, Wild. Mykel is a former Army Special Forces survival expert and his wife Ruth is an Australian TV journalist. Mykel has published a book, titled Mykel Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual: Essential Strategies for Shelter and Water, Food and Fire, Tools and Medicine, Navigation and Signaling, Survival Psychology and Getting Out Alive! His real life experiences of training U.N. Peacekeepers in Africa, establishing a Combat Medic school In Azerbaijan and running search and rescue missions in the middle of the Columbian drug warzone.

 

 I enjoy watching his show, because unlike Bear’s, he demonstrates how to survive with someone else in tow or tandem. He shows, again in remote parts of the world, how to forage for two, making shelter for more than just yourself and motivating the person or persons with you to survive. He has authored several other survival books and is the host of One Man Army, a show that pits SOCOM operators and Law Enforcement Elite against each other in an urban type survival setting. For more about Mykel Hawke and his endeavors look at his http://www.mykelhawke.com/

Magazine Review

For my magazine I chose UTV Off-Road Magazine. We have owned a side by side RZR 4 for a while now and this is the most informative magazine I can find in our area. At first glance on the cover it clearly states “World’s best selling magazine for the off-road enthusiast”. Enthusiast is defined as someone that is deeply involved in something. This magazine statement clearly defines its readers as more than just a toy owner or a novice….your involved. Involved means that you are on the cutting edge, in the know or simply ahead of someone else that is a newbie. The cover also depicts the newest side by side, the RZR XP 4 900, which demonstrates that the magazine is also a credible source for information as they are the ones testing it out. The picture shows an extremely aggressive action shot of the vehicle being put to the test.

 

As for the inside of the magazine, there are a lot of advertisements that depict equipment and gear that will make the consumer better than the next guy out there. By being faster and having the newest gear you, as an owner, are one step ahead of the guy next to you on the trails.

 Or with the essential gear you will be the fastest up the hill, best handling around the corners and the best looking guy or gal in the big sandbox. If you purchase the right tools you may even be able to not only win a championship race, but be as frugal as can be.

I liked this ad for the Joyner Trooper due to the large red font and the caption ANYWHERE-ANYTIME-ANY TERRAIN. If you are to purchase the Joiner then you are able to get away from it all any time you want. It allows you to escape the hum drum life of work and boredom. You drive this machine and all the worries are gone and you have the freedom to do whatever you want.

I wanted to include this page from the magazine because it pulls at the heart strings of all Americans whether you are for the war or not. The entire article does not support or oppose the war, but it supports the wounded warriors that do.

I have also included the magazine’s website: http://www.utvoffroadmag.com/.

The website is slightly more fulfilling in the information it offers, but it has the same selling points that you will be the better rider for choosing their products and riding the vehicles that they propose.

            To summarize the advertising ploys perceived by myself in this magazine are that they show you what kind of rider you strive to be and that is the fastest and best looking rider out on the trails. The magazine gets it credibility from several sources to prove their selling point, such as: the use of nationally recognized and trophied riders, completely outfitted rigs that are all race ready and the use of dyno testing to show how much horsepower and torque you will gain by utilizing their advised products. The only real popular selling technique I didn’t see was sex. There were no scantily clad models or bikini wearing women strewn over any advertised vehicles. All in all, a good magazine with some good information that I will continue to subscribe to.