Sure, I remember a number of episodes with Mac tromping around in the forest. And he can be creative in any setting, but it handicaps him if there is nothing around him other than bare jungle or forest. No abandoned mining supplies. No hunting lodge. No man-made objects of any sort.
What, do you think he wouldn't have pockets? He brings his Swiss Army knife with him wherever he goes. More importantly, he brings his
brain with him wherever he goes. Give him some sticks, leaves, rocks, and mud and he can do something useful with them. Read the list of MacGyverisms I linked to above. There's plenty of low tech and natural resources there.
Besides, it's a spurious comparison. Since when has Indiana Jones been completely devoid of any man-made objects? Usually, at the very least, he has his whip and gun. A lot of the stuff he does, he does by stealing or co-opting the bad guys' vehicles, weapons, life rafts, etc., or by maneuvering the bad guys chasing him into shooting at/crashing into each other with their own weapons/vehicles. Most of the rest is just running for his life, and MacGyver can do that fine too.
Of course, at that point we may as well just settle things with a fistfight between Indy and Mac which is kind of boring.
Also out of character. As I said, I think they'd get along fine.
The way to settle things is by reference to the facts of what the respective characters have done, the specifics of the texts in which they appear, rather than just going by sentiment and fuzzy memories. That's what I've been trying to do -- assess the respective characters' capabilities by reference to the texts themselves, hopefully resulting in a reasonably unbiased and objective analysis. And I just don't see any evidence that Dr. Jones has any abilities MacGyver lacks beyond archaeological expertise and the willingness to employ lethal force -- whereas MacGyver has demonstrated knowledge and ability in many fields where Dr. Jones has never been tested. That's simply the result of the respective formats of their adventures.
MacGyver was a long-running weekly series about a hero who was specifically created to be able to tackle an eclectic range of problems, so naturally we've seen him in far more diverse situations,
including several episodes (and one post-series TV movie) that were intentional Indiana Jones pastiches, thereby making Indy's talent set (except for the shooting) a component of MacGyver's.
