Ed Stafford: First Man Out

Stumbled across 'Ed Stafford: First Man Out' and have binge watched all of his shows since - that's how much this show entertained me.

Ed is a survival expert pitted against an opponent with their own set of survival skills, in a race that lasts days across various landscapes including; deserts, mangroves, jungles, mountains and more.

As these are survival races made for TV, expect some very close finishes for our entertainment.

Adding a race element to a survival documentary is an interesting spin on this genre.

It's well worth a watch, even if it's to take a break from Ed's more serious survival shows.

I enjoy watching Ed and the others for their skills and the overall race but Ed's need to chew like a cow on camera can wear on you after an episode or two...I don't know why so many "bushcraft" and "survival" shows feel the need to include the scenes where the participants chomp food with their mouths open right into the mic, when they have hours of video to pick from. This burned me out with Survivorman and is already burning me out on this show. I don't judge if that's how you eat but to the editors, maybe cut that clip or at least kill the sound. Those of us with misophonia would greatly appreciate it.

Ed is an amazing host for these kind of survival shows..but this show is so staged that it literally take away any sense of urgency and believability. I've seen sitcom's that felt less scripted, and that's sad because the subject maker is really interesting..but without the "reality" aspect, they're just isn't any substance whatsoever!

And you're to blame, too ! To lower as much those standards you used to hold dear. Killing a goat with a stone in China...at 20 m...LOL. Even the colour of flesh of that supposed fresh killed animal is hilarious and unbelievable stupid to be delivered to us as a real fact. You're shows are now like those sham Geronimo circus in 1890s.

The series is fun. Ed "battles" another survivor expert with a different set of skills and a different personality each time. One of the other reviewers has got it wrong by saying that Ed wins every time - he doesn't.

If you take it with a pinch of salt, have fun watching with someone else and betting who will win, you will enjoy it. If you are unrealistically expecting an unedited life or death survivor experience, of course you will be disappointed.

Having said that, it is always unclear exactly what is going on, how many days the two competitors took to get out, how far each competitor really is from each other and the speed with which they travel as they supposedly race "neck and neck" for the finish line. Some "wins" seem strange - especially episode two when the person way ahead somehow manages to lose. This isn't really explained and as we have no clue as to the real distances and times, we just think, "Huh!"

There are some daft things as others say: both seem to travel for almost two days across a desert without water; I'm not sure that I believed that certain animals were actually caught; someone was sunburnt on day two but not day three; I didn't believe all the supposed crocodiles lurking everywhere and they only seem to sleep two or three times in this "less than a week" they are expected to take to reach the finish.

I guess, if it suffers it is because there are not enough survivor skills/bushcraft shown to be interesting and not enough of real racing to be the focus either.