Ray_Mears

Anyone else out there mainly uk I would say watch n like what this guy does I have learnt so many things and he shows you in the simple way how to survive. some links below

www.raymears.com...
en.wikipedia.org...

I was thinking about posting about him but you beat me to it. He has made so many tv programmes that must have covered some techniques useful for anyone trying to survive. I think i have seen all his shows, you can usualy catch them on UK TV documentary on sky tv or Uk TV Gold.

You could pick up some basic ideas from watchign him on tv but if your really serious go on one of his courses.

Yep... i gotta say it... im a big fan of Rays

He has an incredible wealth of knowledge and never seems to patronise the people he visits and learns from. For our American cousins who may be thinking "Ray who"? I recomend checking out the website and purchasing some of his video's.

He covers most survival situations in all enviroments from frozen wastelands, tropical jungles and sun baked deserts on all continents.

He also had a great episode called "aboriginal Britain" which demonstrated how to make a bow and arrow using nothing but flint tools... And the leg of deer he cooked on hot rocks in a cooking pit simply made my mouth water... Mmmmm

And to top it off he is also a very nice bloke

Ray to me is like the David Attenborough of survival. A fascinating man to watch and so much knowledge to be gained from him.

He's on UK TV documentary channel all day at the moment, and the +1 channel if you miss the one before.

My little girls, who are usualy a bit funny about seeing animals killed, were fascinated last night as they watched him skin, prepare and eat a deer. By the end of it they were asking if they could do it one day lol.

Unfortunately here the deer are still the property of the Crown (ancient forest law) and to kill one would bring great hassle to me if caught, however they could always try a rabbit sometime.

Funnily enough, me and my girls went out this afternoon into the woods for a walk. I had enough gear to look after us all if anything happened and they wanted to make a shelter like Ray did last night on tv.

We were about half a mile into the woods and they had just seen a few friends and thier parents walk past, with nothing but the dog and that was it. Within moments it poured from the heavens and we quickly knocked up a shelter with tarps, ponchos and trees.

Thier friends had long gone by then, but as we sat in our shelter, bone dry, eating steaming hot spagetti bolognese and all day breakfasts, sipping from a cup of hot tea and keeping warm from a small fire made from the stuff around us, we could'nt help wondering what state thier friends were in, having to walk at least a mile to the nearest car park or further to thier home.

My girls remembered some of the things they'd seen last night on Ray Mears Bushcraft and it was those little details that made things comfier for those couple of hours in the woods during crap weather.

Hardly a survival situation i know, but as we were leaving, the rain came down hard and the gales started again. In that situation the cold can set in too quick for comfort. We were warm enough to make it home warm, dry and with a hot meal in us, and if we had needed to stay there all night we could have done. Better than someone who had gone out with nothing and no knowledge

CX.

CX.

Good to hear that there are some fans out there and going of what cx posted sounds like those few little things came in handy thats what I like about him and what he does

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the link. I have bookmarked it for future reading and reference.

As some of you aptly stated I have never heard of him here in the States. Were on the television here I would most certainly watch him. I find this type of programming much better than most of what passes for news and information here Stateside.

Thanks again for the link.

Orangetom

I should have asked for a Ray Mears book for crimbo, Its never really crossed my mind until i have read alot of posts on here about survival.
I always try and watch the repeats on tv, even when they play it all day on one of them freeview channels if its one ive seen recently i will still watch it again!

I dont think ive seen him use a gun, maybe im wrong im not sure im not sure how many shows he has made.


I listen to Radio 2(yer sad i know!) and at christmas for charity they auction things 'money cant buy'.
I didnt get to hear it 2006 but i remember 2005 there was an auction to spend a weekend 1 on 1 with Ray and it went for about £40.000 if i remember rightly.
Im sure it was money well spent to meet him and learn his knowledge.(if £40.000 is spare change!)


If asked a question who would i want to be stranded on a desert island with, i think you know the answer! I would have to think hard not to choose lucy liu though

she may not help me survive though

I would have to think hard not to choose lucy liu though

HAHA!

For us Brits he has a new show on BB2 tonight (04 jan) called wild foods.

Should be interesting...



Oh... and i think i remember him using a gun on a trip to mongolia once... i might be wrong it was a long time ago i watched that one...


[edit on 4-1-2007 by undercoverchef]

Originally posted by undercoverchef


For us Brits he has a new show on BB2 tonight (04 jan) called wild foods.

Should be interesting...

Oh... and i think i remember him using a gun on a trip to mongolia once... i might be wrong it was a long time ago i watched that one...


[edit on 4-1-2007 by undercoverchef]

Will make sure im in for that , Got the Tv times in the kitchen but too lazy to read whats on!

I suppose in places in Mongolia its a bit desolate so a gun is needed sometimes.

i noticed his prog on tonight aswell, will make a point of watching it.

I remember watching one of his shows where he is stalking deer, i seem to remember they stalked up to it and shot it. So i beleive he does use guns.

What makes him differnt is that aswell as the gun he can make his own traps, and even a bow and arrow.

He's a great guy, that's for sure.

I enjoy watching his programs because he's so in tune with nature, it's amazing watching him make things and show people how to survive off the world.

So who watched the first episode of ray on his new show? seems to be pretty good just hope he's should be intresing as to what food we can eat and such in our own backyard.

Yeah i see it... it was cool... Them grubs he dug out of the roots looked tasty Mmmmm hehe i think its the build up to next weeks episode, which will be based on British aboriginal past, so that should be more relevant to us brits

You folks get to me with this Ray Mears programming. Apparently it is not yet popular here in the states.

It sounds like a very intresting program.

The closest thing we have to this is a fellow by the name of Bear Grylls. Obvoiusly a pen or stage name. The program is called "Man vs. Wild"

I have been tuning into it since reading this thread.

There was a section showing him building a fire in the jungle with the olde bow and stick combination using para cord and dry tinder.

Unless you listened carefully ...you got the impression he did it in about three minutes..insects loudly buzzing in the background. It actually took him about an hour but he did it. If you have nothing else it will have to do.
Intresting technique however.

Will be keeping the name Ray Mears in the back of my mind for future reference.

Thanks,
Orangetom

I think if you ever saw ray on tv he would wipe he floor with Bear Grylls if it took that long tio lite a fire ray does it in like 30 seconds flat. Try downloading some of his tv shows of the net am sure there knocking about someplace.

By the way I dont want to be getting into who better than who all have our opinons also we can't get that programme over here well I Don't have sky so but his show looks intresting from what I read anyway. maybe they should do a joint tv show or somthihg that would be great.

\i enjoyed the first episode of "Wild Foods", but i'm looking forwards to having a look at bushcraft in our country.

Hopefully he'll have a more interesting partner for the rest of the series, whilst that professor obviously knew his stuff about plants and the likes, he was about as watchable as my old teacher!

What i like about Ray Mears is that he is'nt full of it like some survival/bushcraft presenters. If you look around the net there is mention of other well known survivalists (ex SAS one in particular) who had a few words to say about Ray and his methods. I think though it's a case of the green eyed monster emerging because Ray seems to be enjoying a major increase in public interest, even though he's been at it for decades now.

I could'nt care less if the guy looks like an chubby boy scout or not, he appears to be as nice as they come and more importantly, as knowlegdeable as they come.

CX.

Hopefully he'll have a more interesting partner for the rest of the series, whilst that professor obviously knew his stuff about plants and the likes, he was about as watchable as my old teacher!

Yeah he was a bit of an old fart but i guess thats the difference between Ray and some of the other "survival" shows... Ray is all about knowledge... some of the others just seem to be a jackass version of survival

"I am now gonna climb down this mountain using my bootlaces as a roop while i gut a lion with my teeth and wrestle a moutain goat" hehe...

Who was the SAS guy that was who had words to say about Ray? id be interested to look up this sour puss

I think with Ray Mears it is not just about survival... its more about bushcraft... there is a difference

In one epidose he trains some army recruites how to survive etc so Id say there quite a few sas have high reguards for him no doubt he's had work with them at some point.

i have a couple of ray mears books, i really cant recommend them enough, anybody who likes walking around in forrests or any kind of trekking should really own them.

Outdoor Survival Handbook:
Ess ential Bushcraft

both of which are good but i often think the SAS SURVIVAL HANDBOOK is much better, allthough the pictures of the planets ect in the ray mears books are far superior, but not as good as a specialist wildlife book for whatever country/continent you live on


[edit on 9-1-2007 by The Blade Runner]

Originally posted by undercoverchef

Who was the SAS guy that was who had words to say about Ray? id be interested to look up this sour puss

It was Lofty Wiseman in a magazine article (cant find it though, i'll try and dig it out), however having looked into this a little, it would apppear that Mr Wiseman has a bit of a chip on his shoulder (SAS thing so i hear), then again i don't know the guy so can't really comment for sure.

Maybe it's just a case of sour grapes, can't understand why though, Lofty and Ray are both great at what they do in thier own right and it's not as though they were the first people on the earth to know about survival techniques is it?

CX.