Northern Wilderness, your thoughts?

[Siberianfury]

That said, I do wish at times though he would be a bit less overtly preachy about the whole 'noble savage skills' and 'value of the environment' stuff. At times he lays it on so thick I want to puke and it becomes counter productive.

I agree, im all for leaving a positve or neutral effect on the enviorment, but ray does lay it on a bit thick, so much so that he takes the fun out of it.
thats why i liked "bushcraft", it was such a diverse series, full of bushcraft skills and experments. i wish he could make more simlar series.
ATB
Josh

 

[JonathanD]

I agree, im all for leaving a positve or neutral effect on the enviorment, but ray does lay it on a bit thick, so much so that he takes the fun out of it.
thats why i liked "bushcraft", it was such a diverse series, full of bushcraft skills and experments. i wish he could make more simlar series.
ATB
Josh

I find this too, but afterall, we are the converted, so maybe we do it too

 

[rik_uk3]

i agree it would be a repeat, but then again i watch Ray because of the skills, not for him taking to somone else. the show had some great shots, but it just didnt captivate me.
dont get me wrong though i enjoyed it, the show beats that x factor Rubbish hands down any day, i just prefered his previous programes as i have more intrest in content rather than filler.

Good grief, did we watch the same show? It was full of content.

As to questions about the tent, this type are common in Canada, a fellow stove collector uses similar with his wife and very young children in the winter (and he makes his own woodburners)

 

[rik_uk3]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00nnltl/Ray_Mears_Northern_Wilderness_The_Forgotten_Forest/

 

[Matt Weir]

JD I completely agree with all your comments and responses

Beautfully shot and presented in Rays' usual relaxed, engaging & comprehensive style I think that this is some of his best work to date.

 

[andywinkk]

:You_Rock_ Very good as always me thinks, fantastic filiming aswell:You_Rock_

 

[BushEd]

I loved that program. Well shot, well scripted, great music. Beautiful wonderful place, 3 incredible people.

I think it was Bushcraft. Bushcraft isnt just about a set of skills, its about a way of mind, and its also really allowing to extract pleasure from the world. It is not for the skills that we go to the forest, but for the forest.

In this sense all of that was relevant and brilliant. The peace, solitude. The history. The understanding of it as an entity.

Can't wait for next week now

 

[JDO330]

After the lecture tour on Friday in Kent I was starting to wonder what this series would be like (I was expecting a history lesson) but must say it was excellent IMO. Roll on the next episode...

ATB, Jon.

 

[rik_uk3]

I found a proxy and just watched it.
Found it good, beautiful imagery etc.

However, it was lacking in the bushcraft department.

Go on veoh.com and type in ray mears, all his programmes are there and you can watch him light fires and build shelters to your hearts content Seen all that stuff before, youtube is full of persons doing it too; Ray goes beyond those basics now thankfully.

 

[Dodger]

Very good as always me thinks, fantastic filiming aswell

It's the same cameraman (Barrie Foster) he's worked with in the past.

 

[Dodger]

i was a bit dissapointed, i prefer it when he actualy demonstates bushcraft skills rather than just talking to people and duiscussing history. i appreicate why its important to him and other people but its of little interest to me.

I think that one of the reasons behind this is that a TV programme like this has to appeal to a wide enough audience for a broadcaster to be prepared to fund and schedule it. Ray could make an instructional video on 15 different methods of firelighting but I doubt it would be very popular beyond a relatively narrow group (i.e. us).

Besides, Ray mentioned during his lecture on Thursday that this was a series he had wanted to make for years and that he had an uphill struggle to convince the BBC to make a series about a bunch of unknown explorers, which implies that he has as much interest in those who pioneered bushcraft, as he does in practising the art itself.

 

[nodd]

Great stuff loved every minute of it I can not wait to see what the other episodes have in store.

 

[The Cumbrian]

I'll have to wait till I get home at Xmax and watch it on DVD then. I can't even watch it on tinterweb because all i've got is a mobile dongle that uses morse code to communicate with the outside world, and for some reason the computers at work won't let us play film off the net.

Cheers, Michael.

 

[TallMikeM]

another in the liked it camp here. Much better than walkabout (like others, that has little relevence to me) but it'll have to go a long way to beat wildfood.

 

[Tony]

I only watched half of it this morning on iplayer but i enjoyed it, as has been mentioned i like the skill side more but it was well worth watching and still educational. I think that Ray brings a lot to the world and i'm glad he's making things like this

 

[HeltorChasca]

And the man is human and has respect for others. He knows just when to take the mick out of someone using well timed cheek.

Laughed at the bit where they were cooking the wild rice with nothing more than splinters for an excuse for sticks. Eventually Ray caved in, laughed and offered to show the guest demonstrator how to make a carved spoon.

The man's even selling his bushcraft courses to his guests on air! Heh heh......hc

 

[tobes01]

Love it, really good stuff. This wasn't a documentary for us bushcraft nerds, it was mainstream viewing, and for that it was wonderful.

Btw, an article I saw said (could even have been here) said that Ray's somewhat 'robust' physique isn't his fault: he's just discovered he's had Lyme disease for the past 10 years which has left him unable to exercise properly.

So that bergen wasn't full of Big Macs after all

 

[Bootstrap Bob]

Good grief, did we watch the same show? It was full of content.

Exactly what I thought Rik. Ok so he wasn't demonstrating techniques quite so much but if you listen to what is being said by Ray and the others the content is there.

Go on veoh.com and type in ray mears, all his programmes are there and you can watch him light fires and build shelters to your hearts content Seen all that stuff before, youtube is full of persons doing it too; Ray goes beyond those basics now thankfully.

Once again, I agree. If you want to see all this just watch Ray's earlier programmes.

I for one am interested in the bits of information that you can't find in manuals. Talking to people who live in these environments (or learning from historical techniques) will give you little nuggets of information which are worth much more than knowing 5 ways to create a fire. (well to me anyway)
I'm sure anyone who has listened to Mors Kotchanski teach will agree - it's not the course content it's the bits in between that count

 

[John Fenna]

I enjoyed it and look forward to the rest of the series - it is just what I wanted so far!
I have ro admit I did not see all of it as I was busy in the fireplace some of the time, cooking up a large batch of charcloth....

 

[Simon1]

Liked the look of his fur hooded jacket! Does anyone know who made it I wonder???