Rugged Dude Carson is a Canadian outdoor entertainer and author. He is best known for the television series Officially Rugged with RD and for promoting 'ruggedtivity'. He has led training seminars and published books related to the rugged lifestyle.
His legal name is Rugged Dude Carson. He says the name appears on his driver's licence, social insurance card and passport. It also appears on his firearms registration. In 2002, Carson legally changed his first name to 'Rugged Dude' on the advice of a marketing agency.
He defines 'rugged' in terms of outdoor work and tools. 'Rugged means anything to do with fishing, hunting, power tools, hunting dogs, chainsaws, and warm, steaming gut piles,' he says. He uses 'RD' as a short form in public.
Rugged Dude has built a public persona around a set uniform. When making public appearances, he wears a plaid shirt, a baseball cap and muddy boots. He also carries hunting or fishing gear. This persona targets both experienced hunters and new anglers. Carson describes the concept as partly comic. “While I do live that lifestyle, it's all really a joke,” he says. He also links humour to accessibility. “A lot of people are intimidated by fishing rods, shotguns, and chainsaws, but if it’s going to be fun, people can kind of get into it.”
The television project began life as a VHS tape. Carson filmed it with friends using a second-hand camera. The tape circulated in a small number of specialist shops. Carson says the tape later reached television executives. “It was like when the Beverly Hillbillies first arrived in Beverly Hills,” he says.
Carson hosted and produced Officially Rugged with RD for eight seasons. He says the show was distributed to 60 million households worldwide. Each episode mixed hunting and fishing with staged feats and comedy sketches. He lists buck hunting, bass fishing, arm wrestling, drum solos, and dogs with cartoon thought bubbles as examples of the show's content. He presents the show as a response to 'dry instructional' wilderness content.
The series ran for more than 160 episodes. Rugged Dude says the audience included a fan club of 'rugged dudes' and 'rugged dudettes'. He also mentions young 'Rudlettes' with Barbie-themed tackle boxes. The show ended in 2009. Carson attributes this to production problems and injury. He fell twenty feet from a ladder and used a wheelchair for eight months.
He also reports distributor bankruptcy and financial errors by a management firm. He says that sponsor pressure for product placement also became an issue. He describes this pressure as "very unrugged".
After leaving Thunder Bay, Ontario, Rugged Dude moved to rural Nova Scotia about two years later. He lives on a 90-acre property with beaver ponds and a tree stand. He says the move was linked to film work in Halifax.
Photo credit: signalhfx.ca
His legal name is Rugged Dude Carson. He says the name appears on his driver's licence, social insurance card and passport. It also appears on his firearms registration. In 2002, Carson legally changed his first name to 'Rugged Dude' on the advice of a marketing agency.
He defines 'rugged' in terms of outdoor work and tools. 'Rugged means anything to do with fishing, hunting, power tools, hunting dogs, chainsaws, and warm, steaming gut piles,' he says. He uses 'RD' as a short form in public.
Rugged Dude has built a public persona around a set uniform. When making public appearances, he wears a plaid shirt, a baseball cap and muddy boots. He also carries hunting or fishing gear. This persona targets both experienced hunters and new anglers. Carson describes the concept as partly comic. “While I do live that lifestyle, it's all really a joke,” he says. He also links humour to accessibility. “A lot of people are intimidated by fishing rods, shotguns, and chainsaws, but if it’s going to be fun, people can kind of get into it.”
The television project began life as a VHS tape. Carson filmed it with friends using a second-hand camera. The tape circulated in a small number of specialist shops. Carson says the tape later reached television executives. “It was like when the Beverly Hillbillies first arrived in Beverly Hills,” he says.
Carson hosted and produced Officially Rugged with RD for eight seasons. He says the show was distributed to 60 million households worldwide. Each episode mixed hunting and fishing with staged feats and comedy sketches. He lists buck hunting, bass fishing, arm wrestling, drum solos, and dogs with cartoon thought bubbles as examples of the show's content. He presents the show as a response to 'dry instructional' wilderness content.
The series ran for more than 160 episodes. Rugged Dude says the audience included a fan club of 'rugged dudes' and 'rugged dudettes'. He also mentions young 'Rudlettes' with Barbie-themed tackle boxes. The show ended in 2009. Carson attributes this to production problems and injury. He fell twenty feet from a ladder and used a wheelchair for eight months.
He also reports distributor bankruptcy and financial errors by a management firm. He says that sponsor pressure for product placement also became an issue. He describes this pressure as "very unrugged".
After leaving Thunder Bay, Ontario, Rugged Dude moved to rural Nova Scotia about two years later. He lives on a 90-acre property with beaver ponds and a tree stand. He says the move was linked to film work in Halifax.
Photo credit: signalhfx.ca
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