I Blame Ray Mears - narrowly escaped widow maker

[GGTBod]

When a tree falls in the woods it definitely makes a noise, when the tree falls because of people foolishly harvesting birch bark from live trees to make containers there is only one TV personality to blame, it's time for a tongue in cheek Ray Mears rant recorded in the minutes just after a 70ft birch tree fell and crushed half of my camp crashing down right where i had just been sitting drinking my coffee only minutes earlier.


Enjoy my passion for the Adirondacks unleashed in the Adrenalin of a near life experience


If you need subtitles I will get them done tomorrow, i just finished editing and uploading and it is now 6 am and i need some sleep, until then have fun trying to get you're ears around my full and raw native tongue

[video=youtube;f4aIvX-51Zs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4aIvX-51Zs[/video]

 

[Dave]

Amusing but serious. And it is bad that people are so dumb that they do that to the birch.
Must be quite a rare occurence for it to hit a camp though. I've only ever seen a large beech branch come crashing down, right behind me, as I had just walked under it. I recall turning the air blue with colourful '***' language as well. Not quite as well as you though.
Not being married, technically it would be called an......errr........?

 

[GGTBod]

Just a stone killer doesn't care if you got a wife or ney, spread the video and maybe we can make everyone Birch Aware, save the birch trees people

 

[GGTBod]

I can laugh about it now but it got in my soul at the time and I had many a restless night after this every time the wind was up especially once the snow came down and all the branches were heavy laden

 

[bopdude]

Lucky escape mate and it takes something like it to bring it the fore, great video with a great point, pleased you're ok as well

 

[crosslandkelly]

Glad you were not hurt. Good video, and a seious point.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Glad you were okay. That really sux. Seeing damage to birch around camps really erks me. Mind you, in the US last September I saw far worse; Aspens with great dead wounds near the base where they had been used for target practice, and pines with half their trunks up to shoulder height chewed to hell by people throwing axes or knives at them.

I reckon 95%+ birch bark is taken for fire starting.

 

[Tiley]

Thank whoever you like that it was your tarp that got shredded and not you! Many thanks for posting the video - it's a really sobering but salutary lesson to all of us who use and enjoy the woods.

 

[GGTBod]

Glad you were okay. That really sux. Seeing damage to birch around camps really erks me. Mind you, in the US last September I saw far worse; Aspens with great dead wounds near the base where they had been used for target practice, and pines with half their trunks up to shoulder height chewed to hell by people throwing axes or knives at them.

I reckon 95%+ birch bark is taken for fire starting.

I think there is a helloava lot of that too but those times when you see a band 12-18 inches thick going right around the trunk where they have went deep into the cambium layer with a knife all of the way around the trunk was what i was seeing far too much for comfort.

There is a big old oak next to one of my favourite areas to get a little break from the city in and it has survived years of abuse from idiots with sharp things, it is a lovely big gnarly old tree twisting all over but the trunk is hammered, thankfully only on the side facing the camp clearing, lets just say i could write a whole lot more of the words from the video right now

 

[GGTBod]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, i wasn't sure if i was gonna get hell for this one or not from devout but courteous fans at the very least, I am still waiting for the internet trolls to pounce on the Youtube in defence of Ray

 

[Kepis]

Glad you are ok.

 

[Hammock_man]

That settles it, I am having a dyneema ridge line!

 

[GGTBod]

That settles it, I am having a dyneema ridge line!

My 550 paracord ridge line was what the tree snapped over, my knots had melted and fused with the heat caused by the weight and tension but the line did not break

 

[mousey]

That settles it, I am having a dyneema ridge line!

and a sheet steel tarp...

Lucky you'd moved, even if you were fully aware and saw it coming down on you, you maybe could have gotten out the way. But if it happened in the night when you were asleep :yikes:

That's added to my list of things to look out for when pitching my hammock.

Glad your ok.

 

[Hammock_man]

I have good tree huggers so the Dyneema will not be on the tree. You say the line did not break but it did seem to be on the "floor". Wonder how much of the energy it absorbed? Thanks for the response mind.

 

[GGTBod]

If you watch the video again you can see the bright green ridge line is still up, the tarp has torn away where the snapped tree went past the line on each side and you can see the tarp is not torn down at the end away from the fallen tree parts, it is still attached to the ridge line via the DD connection points at that end, i did not notice this at the time of shooting the video as i was kinda hyper, after noticing the ridge line was still up when attempting to salvage some of the tarp I CSI style investigated the path of destruction, the hole you see in the ground near the tarp was caused by the snapped end of a limb digging a hole after snapping on and passing the ridge line, the bright green living limbs which landed where my seat was were actually knocked out of a neighbouring tree during the fall and not from the fallen tree at all as they were pine bows, at the point of shooting the vid I had not even noticed this, the dead tree had no leaves and was a birch, the leaves where my seat is are clearly everygreen, when all you can hear in your ears is your heart beating a samba in your chest the brain is not all working normal for me anyway

 

[Leshy]

Glad your okay Bob!👍

 

[Hammock_man]

Looking more closely I see your points..... broken ankle... head wound, depending which end you sleep but survivable. Good point is you can put lunch on the fire waiting medics, enough wood !!!!!( Still going for Dyneema mind).
I for one, do not think your "anti" Ray rant is out of place. What can easy be done in the wilds of Canada by a few does not translate into being done by 1000's in the limited area most of us can get access to. ( and badly at that)

 

[Broch]

RM and all the others that follow!
I was asked by a well known instructor why I carried cotton wool in my fire-starting kit. When I told him I was not prepared to add to the damage being done by inadequate teaching he scoffed and said I may as well carry firelighters! He missed the point; I have lit fires for over 50 years, I don't need to prove I can do it using birch or any other natural material every time I go out.
I think there is a general imbalance with some of the BC teaching here in the UK - we should start by teaching how we look after the environment then teach how we use it.
Rant over
Cheers,
Broch

 

[Janne]

A 'real' fire is very nice. The work of it being started, the flames, the sound, the smell. A fire is a huge 'mood improver'. We all love it, do we not?

But in an area which sees a lot of people staying over this is usually detrimental to the environment.
What happened to GGT is a result of this. Thankfully he escaped unhurt. Had he been in his tent - at best compound fractures, at worst death.

This can of course also happen in a 'virgin' forest. To check the surrounding trees for life, dead branches is one of the most important 'to do' tasks before selecting space. Remember, a dead branch can move a distance from the tree by the wind.

Personally I have a mental list, about this:
1: open space no trees within falling distance.
2: level, dry ground
3: close to an area where I can perform my needs
4: easy walk from water if possible
5: fuel
6: away from wildlife tracks and paths

It is always a risk venturing into Nature, but we must minimize the risks.

The older I get the less fires I make. Being lazier I tend to use my Trangia more and more. Quick and easy.