I Blame Ray Mears - narrowly escaped widow maker

[Robson Valley]

GGTBod: So glad you dodged that bullet. Birch is very sweet (sugary) wood and easily rotted after such an insult.
Almost rare anymore to see that here. If birch is cut, the whole tree is used.
Pounded spruce and pine twigs are good tinder and far more abundant anyway.

Even here, it's dangerous to go into the broad-leaf forest on a windy day.
Big dead cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) branch killed a friend of mine, nobody heard it coming.

 

[santaman2000]

Glad you're ok.

 

[GGTBod]

Thanks again everyone it clearly hits a nerve with a lot of us, now to visit YouTube and see if I have been assaulted

 

[C_Claycomb]

Thread moved to Fair game.

The (understandable) choice of language used in the video isn't exactly "family friendly". Its a good video and a good lesson, so we don't want to remove it, as we might have if the same language had been used for most other subjects. Fair Game carries a bit of a warning already that it can carry information, images or video that may not be appropriate for kids/school/places of work, so seemed like this was the best we can put it.

Cheers.

 

[Fraxinus]

I was not going to reply to this thread, however, I took a look at some of Mr Mears books and videos and can find nowhere in their content him advocating ring barking trees, quite the opposite in fact.
What morons do to trees, none of us has any control over, just like how I told an apprentice to stop playing "air drums" while using woodworking machinery only to have him stuff his hand in a planer a few days later! I'd hate to be in court for telling him what not to do.
What we can do is ensure that what we do negates mishaps. You chose that spot. Did you see that dead standing prior to pitching camp or after it fell?
Don't get me wrong, I am relieved that you escaped any harm but really feel that putting blame on just one person out of the whole bushcrafting world is a bit trite and not what I expected from one of your posts.

Rob.

 

[Hammock_man]

Sorry, sir, I feel you are being way too harsh. You are entitled your say by all means but thinking of the circumstances, I understand the "hot off the press" rant.

 

[GGTBod]

Here is a quote from elsewhere online from someone who first said I was unfair in my judgement

. Greetings,

I had to Google it up for the bark container. Indeed RM has videos about it and I am pretty sure that lazy, ignorant people (to say the least) after watching it went right ahead and debarked the trees to their convenience and satisfaction without any consideration. It's the supermarket logic of seeing what you like and reaching out to the shelves to get it. Weekend warriors who bring their own twisted attitudes and behaviours to the outdoors

 

[GGTBod]

I don't think the majority people doing this are educating themselves reading books, it is see on TV want from TV how is easiest to get what I see on tv

 

[Fraxinus]

Sorry, sir, I feel you are being way too harsh. You are entitled your say by all means but thinking of the circumstances, I understand the "hot off the press" rant.

"hot off the press" rant's have led to some very expensive lawsuits. Unless GGTBod can prove Mr Mears is wholly responsible he could be up on both slander and libel suits given both formats this accusation has been made, if his legal team get the inkling to do so.
I do not think my previous post harsh, I tried to give it some balance and did not make a knee jerk reply to either the post or online video.
When things go wrong it is human nature to want to apportion blame somewhere and in these times of 'where there is blame there is a claim' it seems much easier to do.
Blaming Mr Mears for that close call is what I would term "harsh".
Just take a look on the tube at what is put out as 'gospel' or some of the 'reality survival' programmes that are fed to every tv screen and computer screen around the globe. Most of it has anything to do with Bushcraft in it's truest sense. Live comfortably in the wilds, take what you need from it but without destroying it for others.

BTW. I have never met Ray Mears or been to one of his speaking engagements (even when he was in our city) but I have over the years watched his programmes with interest and been gifted some of his books by family due to my interests. If that makes me a 'rayite' or 'Mears wannabe' or other such epithet then people need to go back to the school playground and renew their old bully games, they just don't work these days.

Rob.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Well its a rare occasion indeed when its Ray Mears and not Bear Grylls in the frame for blame!

There are any number of on-line Bushcraft Experts making films of their 'engagement' with a woodland near you and I can't say they are all positive.

K

 

[GGTBod]

I'm a big Ray Mears fan mate, i could take a photo right from my seat and in easy focus would be at least 3 ray books and if i got out my seat more ray books, he has some really great ones, my ranty judgement was based on that i and most dumb asses city folks like me had never ever heard of a birch bark container until ray showed us on his shows on tv, now maybe it was editing constraints etc but in these shows the wisdom of safely harvesting the bark is omitted, devoid, not there.

I'd love to get sued off ray mears hahaha i'd milk that shizzle until the cows came home, i aint got diddly squat to sue for so that would be comical, any any fine or bollox like that would just get ignored, like in the past, 2 years of avoided correspondence and no contact and the statue of limitations squashes that fine, done it before twice in my life, so bring it on i'd love the free publicity but really folks don't forget this is a tongue in cheek rant and i just decided to share my footage i recorded after a near escape, emotion and adrenaline were racing and i eventually decided to share the footage for the fun of my ranty geordie sweary ramble and to share the message to save the birch trees

 

[GGTBod]

I'm sure ray can take a one on the chin for the birch trees

 

[GGTBod]

Ohh and by the way i tagged Ray in it on Facebook lol

 

[daveO]

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

I think the youtube subtitles are better

 

[GGTBod]

hahahahahahahahahahahaha quality stuff Technology -0 Geordies -1


when i get a chance i plan to add plain English subtitles like on the rest of my vids where i waffle on a bit

 

[Robson Valley]

Remember that the birch building societies of aboriginal eastern North America are not using the birch species that you have in the UK & Europe (Betula pendula.)
of the 10 or 12 species of birch native to Canada, the only one of serious value is B. papyrifera, the paper birch.

The constructions of spoons, bowls, pouches and cups are illustrated in Plates 136, 137, 138 and 139 with 19 pages of useful text, beginning on p308.
"Wildwood Wisdom" by Ellsworth Jaeger. 1945 and reprinted. ISBN: 978-0-936070-12-4.

Whoever strip-ringed the birch tree had no understanding of this.
In any case, the bark is so durable that the wood rots away from the inside, invisibly so.

 

[Bishop]

Yes, it's all Ray Mears fault. The amazing vistas, encounters with wildlife, great food sometimes, cuts, scrapes, insect bites, blisters, borderline hypothermia and the occasional near death experience. Learning new skills from the global tribe of amazing people, the joy of mastering techniques that had you close to biting your fingers off in frustration. The weird looks from people on the bus, children shouting "Mommy his rabbit's dead!" Yes, I blame Ray Mears and thank him for every minute of it.

 

[Herbalist1]

Ha ha, love the t-shirt, so want one

 

[GGTBod]

Yes, it's all Ray Mears fault. The amazing vistas, encounters with wildlife, great food sometimes, cuts, scrapes, insect bites, blisters, borderline hypothermia and the occasional near death experience. Learning new skills from the global tribe of amazing people, the joy of mastering techniques that had you close to biting your fingers off in frustration. The weird looks from people on the bus, children shouting "Mommy his rabbit's dead!" Yes, I blame Ray Mears and thank him for every minute of it.

That's a lot of credit to give to someone for stuff you got out there and done, I don't give ray credit for nothing like that he just made some good tv and wrote some good books often about other peoples adventures. I was well on the tv adventurer vibe before Ray come along, he just joined in with a new young chubby face in my late teens, does anyone remember The Country life and Out of Town with Jack Hargreaves? I used to be made to watch this with me grandad when i was proper little

[video=youtube;ongGufIn_40]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ongGufIn_40&list=PLI42 pisae_e5rZ1oiHESz1CAm8IatiJzZ[/video]

 

[Bishop]

Jack Hargreaves, Oh How! I remember him
[video=youtube_share;zS1-aoUNBbE]https://youtu.be/zS1-aoUNBbE[/video]