Ray Mears on YouTube

[Stevie777]

Sorry, was testing the site before i found the Test page.

 

[Adze]

The trouble with being self-taught with woods stuff, is that something will eventually come along which has killed lots of people before you, and not knowing that, you have to survive and re-learn the knowledge in order to pass it on.

Absolutely! This traverses every field, I believe. Fortunately for modern man most of the fields no longer exact such a price and kill you on your fledgling attempt should it go awry. However, the basic lesson is the same, it is far easier and safer to learn from someone who has been there and done it than to experiment in a field where lessons have already been learned.

 

[pysen78]

If that is an unpolished version of Ray's tutorials, then his current teaching skills must be incredible.

His physique means nothing, the fact that he was chosen to impart his skills to military instructors must mean that he's well known and respected beyond our seemingly small world.

Many people in the UK (including me before I went to work in Sweden), assume that the average Scandinavian has the skills to get by in the wilderness. While this was probably the case 40 years ago, when I told the 20 and 30 somethings in my office that I was going walking and camping on unmarked (or for that matter , marked) trails, in winter, they were horrified.

Cheers, Michael.

What he said!

I enjoyed this video a lot. I did my conscript time in the army '98-'99 and can relate to the knowledge base of the people in the room with Ray. They were most likely not conscripts but cadets, but still.
Rays presenting technique of that time maybe has a tint of "vaccumcleaner salesman" to it, but that doesn't take anything away from what he's actually teaching. Granted Lars Fält is very good too. I've read some of his works, and have friends who've been on courses by him, but I believe the people in that room took pleasure in what Ray was teaching.

I agree with that many if not most swedes of my generation are weaned off from life in nature, much like city folk elsewhere. To find those who actually practice any daily bushcraft (aside from the new hobby-esque side of it) you have to look in the countryside where people still farm the land and forests. But the shift is fast. I only have to go one generation back to find it. My dad who seems as city-born as anyone, grew up in the northern parts of sweden, without proper plumbing, wiped his **** with moss and newspaper

 

[OldJimbo]

What he said!

I enjoyed this video a lot. I did my conscript time in the army '98-'99 and can relate to the knowledge base of the people in the room with Ray. They were most likely not conscripts but cadets, but still.
Rays presenting technique of that time maybe has a tint of "vaccumcleaner salesman" to it, but that doesn't take anything away from what he's actually teaching. Granted Lars Fält is very good too. I've read some of his works, and have friends who've been on courses by him, but I believe the people in that room took pleasure in what Ray was teaching.

I agree with that many if not most swedes of my generation are weaned off from life in nature, much like city folk elsewhere. To find those who actually practice any daily bushcraft (aside from the new hobby-esque side of it) you have to look in the countryside where people still farm the land and forests. But the shift is fast. I only have to go one generation back to find it. My dad who seems as city-born as anyone, grew up in the northern parts of sweden, without proper plumbing, wiped his **** with moss and newspaper

If anyone gets enjoyment from the videos, then I'm happy I found them and posted the link!

I remember the first time I was old and responsible enough to cut out those squares of newspaper with a knife in bulk! I started very young, cutting them one at a time with scissors, to keep me busy... The dangerous part was impaling them on the spike. There are jokes and sayings from around the world on this, and those will long outlive us older people since everyone understands toilet paper.

I do believe, though, that the values which make older people who they are will be lost. I'm very frugal because of my early yearly years and in spite of the fact that I haven't needed to be for decades. My grandkids were puzzled as to how a person could shop wisely for toilet paper, and then on the same day commit thousands for their education. As it happened I had great success in both. I actually enjoy frugal since I learned from the best: so when I make pasta, it's not about being frugal but my Sicilian friend's now deceased mom is back with me, as she was when she taught me. So it's not just work. All of my frugallity is like that - pretty good.

 

[superc0ntra]

Very interesting, thanks for the link

 

[vestlenning]

woodsorrel,

ref your signature: "The best backpacks are named for mountain ranges. Steer clear of those named for landfills."

None of the Norwegian backpacks are named after landfills, is this common in the US?