Dual Survival

The Odd Couple meets Man versus Wild. This was my favorite of all the man v. Nature shows popping up in the late 2000s and early 2010s. A middle-aged alpha male veteran and no-nonsense hippie (both of whom have extensive survival skills) must put their differences aside and learn to coexist in harsh environments. Both of these guys were a pleasure to watch, even when they were in vehement disagreement.

I really love this show, you get to know a lot of useful information that can help you not only in a "survival" situation, but also in everyday situations (camping in the woods, hiking etc.).

What makes this show awesome, is that you don't have only one person showing you how to survive in different environments, but two experts - one, that has military training and most people can relate to (at least in his way of thinking) and second, who is a minimalist, has experience in primitive survival techniques and is walking around almost half naked (in shorts and barefoot, no matter of the environment), which most people with me along, can't / couldn't understand. With this combination you can see how each of them manages different situations, different techniques of surviving etc. and who knows, one day even someone among us could find him self in a "survival" situation half naked.

Also I really like that they don't always agree or have different views of situations and that makes them special. You can see how each of them deals with a different situation and also how they help each other.

So if you like survival shows, like Man vs. Wild with B.G., you will definitely like this show!

I'm slightly surprised to be the first reviewer for what I consider one of the better reality shows on the air, but I am glad that I caught this show by accident. Dual Survivior is basically about a military guy(Dave Canterbury)and an ex hippie who used to live in a commune(Cody Lundin)who are placed in situations where their expertise in survival is required. Dave does more of the physical stuff like hunt, while Cody, who walks barefoot mostly, uses his knowledge of the land to create current remedies for the situation at hand. It's an interesting combination of brawn vs. brains, even though Dave is also very wise when facing survival and is a great hunter. He and Cody sometimes have differing opinions on how to best gauge their predicament, but it all works out in the end. I'm normally not a fan of reality shows, but Dual Survivor works for me because of the characters and their surroundings.

This is a great show with a lot of significant information. Because of this TV show I have researched and thought about survival issues. The so-called experts that dig on this show are a joke. Of course there are cameramen shooting...it's a TV show! Did you think you can have a satellite camera overhead in the great sky above? One reviewer was upset over some bamboo in Hawaii. Really dude? How much endangered bamboo did Joe actually use? He killed a pig...great TV and something you do to survive. It isn't like there is a community inhabiting the sacred island killing pigs daily.

One clown said Matt must be gay because he was too laid back or passive. This is the attitude of ignorance we get from the tough, macho survival real men out there. A man has a sensitivity and intelligence that threatens or is different than you and you judge and condemn? Matt was brilliant and demonstrated self-control and a way to think outside of the military box. Guess what...there are many levels of intelligences! This would mean a viewer has to learn and be the very person they criticize--someone who can adapt, think, and God-forbid, have cognitive skills not possessed from how you problem-solve.

This TV show offers a great template for survival skills. You want to go deeper, than Google and research or read a book. Do you have to "overlook" a few things? Of course...so what. Producers have to edit for entertainment or there is no show. Don't blame the "actors" for the editing...it's called TV and you have about 42 minutes to tell a story per episode.

The real morons of this show are Discovery. Cody shares they did NO vetting of his background ever. The show was more concerned with personalities than skills. His mission was to present expertise in a survival experience. The show itself needs drama. For example, the premise is based on a three day survival. The need for food is not a core priority so killing animals was against the grain of Cody's mindset.

A military guy does not think that way. Discovery screwed up with Dave and Joe's credible background checks. That is on the producers of the show! Cody was by far the most skilled of them all. The show was built around his knowledge the first season until it strayed to more drama-based episodes.

All of the hosts are good, Dave blew it by skewing his background (ego issues) but was a solid character and knew his stuff--good guy who made a mistake. Joe seemed to try too hard, but was also good at what he did. If you want contrast (and all these shows do) then pairing up the naturalist (per se) with the military guy gives you this entertainment factor. But I will add, who has been on an "adventure" be it planned or unscheduled that has not had contrast of opinion to the "what" or "how"? Some might call this marriage! This show demonstrates there are different methods to solving problems and making crucial decisions and that compromise is always part of the journey to success.

My advise to the producers is to bring back Cody and Dave for a few reunion shows IF they will come back. Evidently, there was some bad blood for Cody.

These two guys are good together. You start off laughing at Cody, but then you come to respect what a bad ass he is in his own right. There are elements of humor throughout most episodes that are genuinely funny due to the unusual pairing. I've watched lots of survival shows and this one seems to have something the others are missing- an entertainment factor that doesn't require fake scenarios put in only for TV purposes. The guys provide entertainment and they really teach you how to survive along the way.

The locations are standard survival fare, but each of the guys has a different background which means one of them will usually be taking the lead and the other will be learning new tricks.

All in all, I would say this is my favorite survival show. Even my kids find it entertaining.