Dual Survival (Discovery Channel)

DUAL SURVIVAL pits two veteran outdoorsmen against some of the most hostile climates on the planet. In this engaging reality series Dave Canterbury and Cody Lundin find themselves stranded -- in a snowy forest, a scorching desert, an enormous mountain -- and must fend for themselves. The men explain the basics of survival as they go about creating a shelter, building fire, foraging for food, and trying to signal for rescue. While it’s obviously a manufactured scenario, they don’t seem to get any help and their common-sense approach to making it through a life-or-death situation is educational.

The congenial hosts have very different approaches to wilderness living, and sometimes butt heads. Canterbury is a former Army sniper, with a straightforward, old-school style. Lundin is something of a free-spirited hippie who hasn’t worn shoes in two decades (but he does deign to put on wool socks when he ventures out into the snow). Canterbury sometimes has little patience for Lundin’s ideas -- use a plastic sheet to screen the entrance to their shelter and block the heat from the fire? Outlandish!

But Lundin’s skills are based on hard science; he explains why the sheet will create a greenhouse effect and trap the heat, and Canterbury is quick to admit that the shelter is the warmest he’s ever had. Despite, or perhaps because of, their differences, the men work well together. Their confidence and common-sense decisions make survival seem easy. It’s fun to watch, and these basic tips might someday save a viewer’s life.