Polar bear or 10 men?

55 Comments

So I've been in a longstanding argument about this for about 3 years.

The question is whether 10 men or a polar bear would win in a fight to the death.

Since it's been three years going, there have been some clarifications.

This is all taking place in a forest of temperate climate.

The men are average in build and all speak the same language.

The polar bear is neither starving nor a mother protecting her cubs.

The men and polar bear both do not know the surrounding area.

The men are dressed in normal street type clothes, not tuxedos and not suits of armor. They also have no weapons on them when they are dropped into the situation.

The starting positions are 100 yards apart initially with the men in a group.

I may be forgetting some so ask if you have any questions.

10 men 44
Polar bear 46
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Comments ( 55 )
  • howaminotmyself
    11 years ago

    Why would you put a polar bear in a temperate forest? That isn't really fair to the bear.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Putting ten men into the arctic isn't really fair either.

      It's neutral ground for both parties.

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    I feel dumber for having read this?

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  • myownopinions
    11 years ago

    I think the 10 men would win. Granted, not all of the men might survive, but at least they'd win the match...

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    10 men easily if they don't hesitate. Native Americans killed brown bears single handed.

    Lot's of animals aren't as big as you think. I saw a lion in the zoo and I was like "the fuck, that's a lion?, give me a billy club right now and I'll bash it's brains in". The tigers were fucking big and scary though.

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    • myweirdself16
      11 years ago

      Just because the lion isn't that big doesn't mean it couldn't maul you to death.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        Yeah no shit. It was just so disappointing.

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        • myweirdself16
          11 years ago

          Don't "no shit sherlock me".

          Have you ever seen when a lion stands up and places its paws on a full-grown man's shoulders and rubs its muzzle against him? If lions walked on two feet that shit would be insane.

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          • [Old Memory]
            11 years ago

            Yeah no shit.

            Seriously, that's all one can think in response to this.

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    Ten men would win, definitely. I think even just five men would win. Humans have grown smarter. Strength isn't their only weapon.

    Numerous ways to kill it.
    You could blind it for one by pushing their eyes in. If that person dies, get all but two men to distract it. Once it is distracted, break the bones of the dead member and take out their bones. The break from the bone will make a sharp edge, and you would be supplied with weapons. From then on, it'll be easy.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Well that's a lot more brutal than I thought this was going to go.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        You'd have to be brutal to take down a polar bear.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          Touché.

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    • wigsplitz
      11 years ago

      You've clearly never seen a bear in action! Do you realize how big they are and how strong they are?

      Which one of the 10 men is going to go try to push it's eyes in (lol)? (which won't work anyway) If you're that close to a bear, you're dead. You won't have a chance to even find it's eye let alone damage it.

      They'd be better off outright killing a man and dismembering him and using his blood for bait but using the bones is sorta iffy. They could try but again there's no human that's going to win a close quarter combat match with a bear. It just doesn't happen. Fighting a bear is never "easy", it's suicide. You'd have to employ some kind of a trap here to win.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        Yes, but being strong and big still wouldn't work against being struck or stabbed in the propper areas. Single handed, without bones, etc, maybe the bear would win, I'm not sure, I still think it's possible for the men to.

        How would digging yopur fingers in to eyes not blind a bear...? Lol.
        That's why I mentioned the bone thing. The man can be used to try a tactic, and if he fails, a better one is available, the bones. So killing him without putting him at risk would be a waste of an oppurtunity. Yes he would most likely die, but there is a chance he could damage the bear for the rest of the team before dying.

        I disagree. A man by himself will probably die with just hand to hand, but not nine. You have sharp edges, people are distracting it, and all you need is to quickly stab both eyes. Once that happens, it will most likely panic and start using up all of its energy. Once that happens, hitting it would be easier.

        I'm not saying that none of the other men would die in this, just incase you think I am implying that.

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        • wigsplitz
          11 years ago

          Do you know how large of a firearm you need to stop a bear? It's just not possible for a man to have enough force to stab through the hide, fat and muscle of a bear to do enough damage in a fight scenario. This is why this is not a method anyone uses in bear hunting. It just doesn't work! If it worked then people would do it (or would have done it in the past), don't you think? Bear hunting involves either sophisticated weapons, good traps or amazing trickery...usually a combination of those things.

          You wouldn't be able to get to the bear's eyes. If you're that close, the bear is already mauling you. You just don't have the bearings to do it when you're being attacked by a bear. At that point all you're doing is panicking and being tossed around like a ragdoll. Their eyes are very small in relation to their head. Even if you did find an eye you wouldn't be able to hold on and press because men just aren't strong enough compared to bears. No man of normal intelligence is even going to attempt that because it's just so stupid. Can you seriously see a guy volunteering for that mission?

          To aim for the eye is a tiny target, it would be damn near impossible to hit it with a firearm even. It would really be a waste of their time and far too risky to try to hit it's eyes.

          If you've never hit a large animal I don't think you understand how weak people are as compared to the animal. A man hitting or stabbing a bear is like a mosquito bite to it. The men would have to devise a trap since they don't have sophisticated enough weapons and try to kill it once it's trapped otherwise they're just going to die if they try to fight it like you're thinking.

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          • [Old Memory]
            11 years ago

            http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/25068/man_armed_with_knife_kills_hungry_bear/

            One man, with a small blade.

            Refuted.

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            • wigsplitz
              11 years ago

              Did you read the details?

              He had a knife. These men don't.

              He was an avid hunter and outdoorsman.

              The bear was only 200 pounds, which is a very small bear.

              "The bear was in poor shape, suffering from a severed tongue and broken jaw,
              the conservation officer said. Its stomach was empty and the bear had little
              fat on it."

              The OP didn't say how large the polar bear is but going on the average size it's going to be a lot larger than 200 pounds and presumably in good health. The average adult male polar bear is 900 to 1500 pounds. When I said impossible, I meant it assuming it was a mature adult bear in good health that's not confined, I mean I just don't think it's remotely possible with no 'real' weapon especially.

              Additionally, this man had no choice but to fight the bear because it came out of nowhere and attacked him. These 10 men have the luxury of knowing beforehand that there's a bear they are supposed to kill and can make a smarter plan. Trying to engage in a physical fight with the bear as your first plan is the worst move these men could make.

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    • SuperBenzid
      11 years ago

      I think eight men should beat two of the party to death and then they would have four femurs to use as clubs and could use the other bones as daggers.

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  • dirtybirdy
    11 years ago

    Hmm, I'm going with the polar bear. Partially because its my favorite animal and i want it to win, and also because there's a good chance that at least half the men would shit their pants at the sight of it. Depending on the 'weapons' that they would be able to make for themselves, they may not do much good. I'd like to see the bears mega paws swat each one of their heads off then stomp the carcasses and defecate in their neck holes :)

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  • dappled
    11 years ago

    This is the sort of question me and my friends debate all the time. Your question needs more modification still, though. What I think you are getting at is ten men one polar bear and nothing else. But you specified a forest. The men would climb trees giving them a great defensive position and time to formulate a plan.

    Take the trees out of the occasion and put everyone in sub-arctic tundra with clothes to not be affected by temperature and you have a real match on your hands. I think the polar bear could be scared off by the size of the group of the men but if it came to a fight where the bear charged the men and separated them, I have ultimate respect for polar bears. Big, strong and clever.

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago

      I doubt 10 average men with no tools, no food, no special training, and no way to store water could survive in a temperate forest long enough to come up with a plausible plan to kill a polar bear.

      Also, I seriously doubt that they could get into the treetops in the first place. I used to climb a lot of trees when I was less ill, which sometimes prompted other adults to try to climb trees. And that's how I learned that the average adult is embarrassingly bad at climbing trees. Add to that the fact that you don't usually find the best climbing trees in forests of any appreciable density, and those guys are dead.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      It was situated within the forest so that the men could fashion some sort of primitive weaponry and possibly escape into the trees.

      I agree that if this was situated in the Arctic, the men would lose. This was just one of the stipulations that came up in the course of debate. It gives no huge advantage to either party.

      I'm not sure what kind of compromise there could be between an actual forest and the tundra. Any ideas?

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        I'm still disturbed I said occasion instead of equation and yet occasion kind of worked in the sentence. My brain is decomposing gracefully! Although I'm actually worried about myself. I'm starting to fail quite a lot.

        If forest was meant then I'm going to say men win. Although an unknown variable is whether polar bears climb. Some bears do, some bears don't. Some bears will, some bears won't. Some polar bears need a lot of lovin' and some polar bears don't.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          It's okay. I think I read occasion as equation anyways.

          There seems to be some debate on whether or not polar bears can actaully climb trees on the Internet. Yahoo Answers says both yes and no. Other random sites say both as well, and the Wikipedia article that's 10 pages long never even mentions the word "tree."

          So...maybe

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          • dappled
            11 years ago

            You're my favourite kind of IIN user. Whoever you may be.

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  • myweirdself16
    11 years ago

    I want the polar bear to win, but realistically I'd say the men would somehow win.

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  • Terence_the_viking
    11 years ago

    Depends on the 10 men. If they are fearless the men would win. if they are mousy and pansy the polar would win.

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  • pussinboots
    11 years ago

    I hope Polar Bear is victorious!

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    • Severus'sDaughter19
      11 years ago

      Me too. Go Polar Bear!

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    what are they going to do scare it to death?

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  • Anonymous Post Author
    11 years ago

    Extraordinarily relevent links
    WARNING! FIRST IS A BIT NSFW! Girl has leg being chomped by polar bear. It's not very graphic, but you have been warned.

    One for the bear's side of the argument
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wGbCNDw-m0

    And one for the men's side
    http://www.epicwin.net/2011/01/guy-kills-bear-with-bare-hands.html

    There was another that I can no longer find anymore. I'm entirely unsure if this was a dream, urban legend, or actually real. Anyways, a man supposedly also killed an actual polar bear solo with his bear hands by...effectively punching the inside of the bear's throat. It was going for a bite and he volunteered his arm and the bear choked to death.

    Anyway, I have no link for that one so feel free to doubt that one.

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  • 1000yrVampireKing
    11 years ago

    Why are you trying to kill a bear? I think fish are less of a hazard catching.

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  • dom180
    11 years ago

    The people would need to be incredibly well-organised and individual members of the group would have to be willing to sacrifice themselves to increase the chance of survival for the remaining members. What even counts as a "win" for the men? Does it still count if only one man survives, and the rest all die? That would still leave the bear with a much more impressive kill ratio of 9:1. I think there's a case to be made that the bear won if that was the outcome, even if it did die. There's no question that if the men lost 90% of their "troops" they have not won. Maybe nobody wins; that's the most common outcome of two sides in well-matched combat.

    I think if the men got multiple attempts (regenerating after their loss each time), they would kill the bear at least once in the first 10 "replays". I think it would be hugely unlikely - bordering on impossible - that they'd make it in the very first attempt though, without any practice or experience to base their tactics on. They'd be shooting in the dark, and they'd probably get massacred.

    Conversely, while the determination of the men is a factor the determination of the bear is also a factor. Remember, the bear is in an alien environment and, as it is not hungry, has no desire to kill the men. In fact, the men have no desire to kill the bear either unless the bear attacks them. Would they even attack each other?

    There are too many uncontrollable parameters. One likely death is that the men, scrambling to safety in a tree, will break the branch and fall to their deaths out of pure chance and break their necks with the bear having nothing to do with it. The fight would probably not be an epic one.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      It's a simple fight to the death. Whoever is alive at the end wins. Maybe not a good win, but a win nonetheless.

      The reason for the two attacking each other is simple. Neither of them can leave until one of them is dead. I forgot to mention that part. However, the bear, being a bear, probably won't understand that concept all that well.

      By the way, I like the way you think. I never considered the falling out of the trees scenario. Never occurred to me for some reason.

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  • Darkoil
    11 years ago

    The ten men would win. Humans are not particularly hard to kill but we have an unbelievable ability to kill and it is pretty much why we have become the dominant species on the planet.

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    • bemah
      11 years ago

      That's only when they have weapons, without them, people are useless scared little shits. I hope the polar bear wins.

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  • Faceless
    11 years ago

    Pretty sure the polar bear would slaughter them all.

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  • dodongos
    11 years ago

    What fighting techniques do the men know?

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      They're ten average men. Take that however you will.

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  • dodongos
    11 years ago

    This sounds intense...

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  • Retard73
    11 years ago

    one of the men would saccahrifice him self and while de beer is eting him all de other men would hit and shoke the beer to de deth

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  • fullhouse
    11 years ago

    With no weapons there's no chance in hell..

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Have you ever been poked in the eye with a stick? It's pretty dang effective.

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      • fullhouse
        11 years ago

        Last time I checked you said no weapons.. By the way, would you go first to poke the bear? :-P

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          They were sent in with no weapons. They and the bear are allowed to pick things up if they want to.

          And I don't think I can answer that without being in the situation.

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  • SangoNyappy
    11 years ago

    If it's just fight then bear would win. However 10 men could easily set up a simple trap from stuff they can collect in the forest and catch the bear.

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    • wigsplitz
      11 years ago

      "Easily" set up a "simple trap" that would contain a bear that you'd then be trying to kill? Just out of curiosity, can you outline this "easy" plan?

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      • Anonymous Post Author
        11 years ago

        I wouldn't look to confine the bear, simply set traps for it.

        If the men run away initially, they can set up a very simple but effective baited trap.

        Have one man lure the bear towards the others, who will lie in wait with pointed sticks dug into the ground. The bear, being massive, will then be inpaled upon the makeshift spears by its own momentum.

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        • wigsplitz
          11 years ago

          How are they going to safely gather and sharpen the sticks? How are they going to anchor them in the ground well enough? To kill a bear the sticks would have to be of a minimum diameter and strength and secure enough so that they wouldn't just sink into the ground but also won't fall aside. You'd have to have them at just the right height too. I mean, it's possible, but it's not easy especially when you're also evading a fucking bear! Plus, the plan would have to go exactly right or else at least some of the men are going to be very vulnerable! What if the bear comes in from the side, or approaches slowly or whatever else may happen? What if the sticks fail?

          I've been thinking about this question for a while! I can think of some tricks and traps but everything I think of seems to be quite difficult given the circumstances and/or maybe not quite enough to get a bear. The best idea I can come up with would be to create or find within the landscape some sort of a bottleneck type trap, lure the bear in somehow and be able to shut off the exit. But this too is a lot of work and exploring so would they be able to do it with the bear lurking, I'm not sure.

          I'm going to keep thinking about it. But I'm leaning towards the bear. The men may even evade the bear for a while but survival itself (food,water,shelter) and having the energy, morale and focus to keep fighting the bear, who will have little or no problem surviving, is probably going to be their downfall if nothing else. It's going to take them at least a little while to observe the bear to get a feel for how it moves and thinks so that they can think up the best traps since the 'average man' doesn't typically know anything about hunting or bears.

          I wonder if the trap depicted on Bärenjäger would be doable?

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          • Anonymous Post Author
            11 years ago

            First of all say thank you for actually putting thought into this. Most people simply go with their gut reaction.

            The stick idea may very well fail. That was just meant as an example, but I'll try to address the concerns anyway.

            They can gather the sticks for one simple reason: Polar bears aren't hunters in the sense that humans are. They don't kill simply for the sake of killing and so a bear that isn't all that hungry won't give chase to ten humans it has no interest in eating.

            I agree that some of the men in this situation are going to be VERY vulnerable and some will likely die. On the other hand, bears may be fairly intelligent creatures, but they are not accustomed to really fighting anything else for survival, especially not animals in packs, like these humans.

            Due to this, the humans have a very easy element of surprise.

            "What if the bear comes in from the side, or approaches slowly or whatever else may happen?"

            I would suggest throwing a rock at the bear and then running like mad with it chasing you. Maybe not the wisest suggestion, but it may work.

            Also, thank you for actually bringing up the morale and sustenance issues. I doubt food and water would be an issue. I doubt this would take longer than a day or two. Morale is tricky and I think it depends on how these men got into the situation in the first place. If it was a Hunger Games style situation, I think it would be fine but in the case of just a random happening, it would be a large problem.

            Finally, what is this Bärenjäger? Google says it's some kind of drink that means "bear trap".

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            • wigsplitz
              11 years ago

              Bärenjäger is a honey liquor and on the label it has a picture of a man trapping a bear.

              I live in an area that has a bear population, so I know a little bit about them...not a lot, I'm no expert by any means but I do know some things. They are extremely smart, very fast and they're killing machines. They're quite unpredictable too. Bears do frequently charge and attack for no (apparent) reason. You should never run from a bear, that guarantees you'll get chased and hurt or killed. Bears can outrun humans easily. They can also be shot several times and not be taken down, so killing one without a gun is just....WOW. I don't think most people here understand how hard it is to kill a bear even in the BEST of circumstances. I mean, clubbing or stabbing it isn't going to do anything besides piss it off. A pissed off or slightly injured bear is an even greater threat.

              All that factored in, this is why I'm pretty positive the men would HAVE to trap the bear in order to kill it.

              If the men started out trying to assault the bear, it's not going to work and they're going to witness fellow men getting savagely killed. What will this do to the remaining men? They might learn something but they also might become too afraid to do anything. Or they might get vengeful and stupid, or maybe vengeful and smart. It's hard to say. Another man sure as hell won't walk up near the bear again though!!

              "humans have a very easy element of surprise"

              I think the bear has the advantage here, for the most part. Since average men don't typically know anything about bears, trapping or hunting they have to learn quickly, if they can. Everything the bear does (or doesn't do) is essentially a surprise. The men may think they came up with an ingenious idea only to find it *surprise* doesn't work on bears. Everything they do will be trial and error. And take a LOT of energy which requires extra food and water. Oh, and a lot of risk too.

              I'm sure the bear could win in a day or 2 but for the men to win I think it would take a whole lot longer.

              I really think the bear would win in the end, all things considered. If it was me out there, I'd stick with the bottleneck trap idea, that's the best I can think of at the moment. But I'm not a man so I can't go fight the bear. Boo.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      That's my argument in this all the time. Man's best weapon is his mind. You can't really put him in a situation like this and expect him not to use it.

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