Ray Mears Goes Walkabout - Your Views

[John Fenna]

RM failed to get a smoulder with the parabolic lighter, live on air on a chat show....using artificial light.....
Not much cop in cloudy Wales either IMHO!
Now - Flint and Steel on the other hand works where-ever you go Wales, Scotland OR Central Oz!

 

[andyn]

I was out in the woods....

...doesn't sound like I missed much.

EDIT...Watched it this morning and I was impressed. very good.

 

[Tiley]

I thought it wasn't too bad, I did like the parabolic mirror fire lighter, couldn't use it in Britain though not enough sunlight.

You could use it to collect rain water though!

 

[Sheng_ji]

Has anyone had sucess in the UK with the chocolate/cokecan trick??? I carry a big magnifying glass with me, for looking at insects primarily, but have on occasion used it to light tinder - works a treat on a hot summers day!

 

[Sheng_ji]

Has anyone had sucess in the UK with the chocolate/cokecan trick??? I carry a big magnifying glass with me, for looking at insects primarily, but have on occasion used it to light tinder - works a treat on a hot summers day!

 

[Muhandis]

I found the programme interesting, including the history. There is a great deal that can be learnt from the past, indeed many of the methods used in bushcraft can be traced back for several thousand years. Perhaps the old ideas can be rekindled to produce something useful; the folding cup shown perhaps updated.

imo a better programme than Wild Food

 

[drewdunnrespect]

ACE is the only word for me when discribing the first episode and what made it even better was that even Ray made mastakes and was happy to show it so at least we know he is human like the rest of us

 

[Beer Monster]

Having read the Sunday times tv listings, radio times and blurb about his book I was under the impression that this wasn't really a dedicated "bushcraft" program more of a documentary about Australia, its outdoors "personalities" (past and present), culture, history, wildlife and some of the extraordinary stories of exploration and survival involved with all of the above. Being Australia it will of course contain a bushcraft element but it's not really the main focus for the program - more of lifestyle that the people featured in the programs live and will therefore feature as such.

From the sounds of things the 4 programs are following different themes - John MacDouall Stuart and exploration of Australia, Les Hiddens and bushcraft of Australia, survival and then culture.

Those people who didn't enjoy the first one will probably like the second one as it involves Les Hiddens and will focus more on the bushcraft of Australia. I think they may enjoy the second one as its about the Torres Straits and I suspect will probably involve some sort of survival story but they should avoid the last episode as its about rock art . I enjoyed the first one and suspect I'll enjoy the rest - especially the rock art!

If some one hasn't seen the program yet then I'd advise them to watch it with no preconceived notions of a bushcraft program but rather a interesting documentary about Australia its history, culture and wildlife - but with a few bushcrafty tit bits thrown in !

If I recall correctly in his Radio 1 interview he said he is currently working on his biggest project to date and something that he has wanted to do for years ....... so maybe a British bushcraft program is in the pipeline .

Just my 2 pence .

 

[pibbleb]

I enjoyed it on the whole. I found that it adopted a slower more gental pace of delivery than some of his other shows which I personally enjoyed. It included some bushcraft along with some history and technical detail of our forefathers all fo which made for an interesting mix.

I felt that the show was perhaps geared towards a wider audience than the usual crowd that he will attract and I couldn't help but feel that perhaps he is being groomed by the BBC for bigger things perhaps another David Attenborough in the making!

Over all though I enjoyed the mix with enough time savour the bits of interest rather than watching him rush on to the next thing. Plus it kind of made up for my spending the day helping the kids tidy their room rather than being in the woods!

P

 

[Steve27752]

Just watched it and I thoroughly enjoyed it........................I can`t wait for the next episode.

 

[spamel]

The one bit that did surprise me was during his conversation with the historian at the well springs - the man was commenting that John McDouall Stuart did not take an aboriginal guide or used any aboriginal technqiues for finding water on his expedition - to which Ray responded to the effect of - "So he just came up with his own techniques for finding water - I can only admire that". Seems a bit at odds with his usual ethos of holding the highest stock in native wisdom. Just my thoughts.

I think he admired the way that he found his own way without needing local help, even though local help would have made life easier. Many people had tried before him and didn't come to the conclusions he did with regards to the water supply required for such an effort. In that respect, the guy was pretty inventive and quite switched on.

I thought it wasn't too bad, I did like the parabolic mirror fire lighter, couldn't use it in Britain though not enough sunlight.

The parabolic mirror is a great party trick, but I have no idea why a man who can make fire just about anywhere in the workld with bits of twig he finds around him needs to carry a gimmick other than to show off a bit of kit that he can stock on his website. A mirror can break, why not just carry a lighter if you're gonna use a mechanism? Twenty disposable lighters stowed in billy kits, housewife kits and around the land rover will keep him lighting fores for years. I just didn't see the point in it!

 

[Bushcraftsman]

I enjoyed it! although was a little slow in some places. still... I'm going to watch the other episodes

 

[Wallenstein]

The one bit that did surprise me was during his conversation with the historian at the well springs - the man was commenting that John McDouall Stuart did not take an aboriginal guide or used any aboriginal technqiues for finding water on his expedition - to which Ray responded to the effect of - "So he just came up with his own techniques for finding water - I can only admire that". Seems a bit at odds with his usual ethos of holding the highest stock in native wisdom. Just my thoughts.

That's been my only complaint with Ray's previous programmes... the apparently unquestioning certainy that indigenous lifestyles are by definition better than those in the West.

I enjoyed the programme - pointing out that the exploration was driven by profit from mining and ranching, rather than any particularly noble desire to understand the country, puts it into perspective... people will come up with all sorts of ingenious ideas when there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

 

[Matt Weir]

A quick note to say if anyone missed it then it's on again today at 19:00 on BBC 2.

 

[scottishwolf]

Speculation that its a Fallkniven U2.

http://www.heinnie.com/product.asp?s=nmdl8g445283&strParents=92,139&CAT_ID=139&P_ID=962

Far too large to be the Falky U2, i've handled one of these and they are tiny little things. It looks to me like the Falky Model P folder. As it had a black and silver handle.

 

[Alex Roddie]

I liked it, but I preferred Wild Food and Tracks. More applicable to us in the UK I feel.

(Although I did get some good tips from the program last night, particularly the transpiration bag--I think that might be applicable to the rather arid coastal Suffolk landscape, with its lack of waterways!)

 

[bigjackbrass]

A very enjoyable programme, I thought, and I didn't mind that skills were playing second fiddle to the history and landscape. He can't keep making the same shows over again and I think that previous series have demonstrated a good range of topics and varying degrees of emphasis on certain elements.

As to it being Australia rather than the UK... well, I'm not likely to be going to the depths of the ocean soon, either, but that doesn't stop good documentaries on the subject being absolutely enthralling

 

[myheadsashed]

I enjoyed it reminded me alot of Les Hiddins series 'Stories of Survival'

 

[fred gordon]

I liked it.I'm not convinced it was meant to be a bushcraft programme. It was about an early Australian explorer. It just happened to be made by Ray Mears.

More importantly though, who is up to the challange of producing some of those flint/saltpeter fire lighters? Any takers in the metal working world out there?

 

[Fin]

Very good episode, I really enjoyed it.

Nice to see him using 'Bulldog' type billy cans instead of those overpriced Zebra things

You just couldn't resist it

Ray, is always good telly in the same way that any born enthusiast and educator is.

This isn't a pure Bushcraft prog - more a history of one man's exploration, with a nod to us kit junkies as well as the off-roaders. I thought it a nice touch that, whilst he's espousing his admiration for Stuart (the mastering of a difficult environment with little or no prior knowledge or education), he also brought in the impact of his achievements on the true masters of that environment - the aborigines.

I'll watch the second one.