Ray Mears Survival ITV

[hertsboy]

I was gutted as I just missed it --- but then I saw it was set in Namibia! I'm never going to be in a survival or bushcraft situation there!!!! So now I;m not gutted anymore.

Sorry to see Ray going over to become the new David Attenborough. Admire both men, buy I'd like Ray to concentrate on bushcrafting. Selfish of me I know.

But he has every right to do what he wants, and good luck to him! He has my admiration and respect.

 

[Mikey P]

Oh Good Lord!

Did none of you read the programme description? This was never meant to be a bushcraft programme, so it's unsurprising that it's 'bushcraft light'.

It's a wildlife show, that used to run on ITV until about 10 years ago. So, it's all about ... er ... wildlife, which was ... um ... pretty much what we saw.

Jeez...

Just so no one's caught out next week, here's the programme description from ITV:http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/survival/?intcmp=780217_123_2

 

[The Joker]

Hmmmmmmmmmm not sure about it at all!

 

[MartinK9]

Oh Good Lord!

Did none of you read the programme description? This was never meant to be a bushcraft programme, so it's unsurprising that it's 'bushcraft light'.

It's a wildlife show, that used to run on ITV until about 10 years ago. So, it's all about ... er ... wildlife, which was ... um ... pretty much what we saw.

Jeez...

http://www.raymears.com/blog/survival-with-ray-mears-episode-1-leopards/41/

Yep, I think the title gave it away for me

 

[rik_uk3]

Bushcraft light? YES, its a wildlife documentary, if you need to see him lighting fires etc go buy his DVD's,,,he's done all that before

I enjoyed it, Ray has moved on nicely.

 

[kiltedpict]

I echo rik_uk3

KP

 

[jungle_re]

Badly cut and staged I'd expected better. Still better than most tv detritus if only for the great camera shots

 

[MartinK9]

Is it repeated?
I missed it :-(

It's on ITV Player for the next 44 days

http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=138707

 

[Siberianfury]

the show was ok i suppose........ i realy REALY liked his shorts.

 

[CLEM]

Didn't think that much of it meself.

 

[Siberianfury]

i think he needs to carry on doing what he is renown for, "bushcraft" hes branching out a bit and i dont think it works. i know others will say "ohh, hes done it all before" but i dissagree, with bushcraft you cant be an expert, your always learning and experiencing new things, ive never seen him go into any supreem detail of a subject, he only just scratches the surface with most things.

 

[johnboy]

i think he needs to carry on doing what he is renown for, "bushcraft" hes branching out a bit and i dont think it works. i know others will say "ohh, hes done it all before" but i dissagree, with bushcraft you cant be an expert, your always learning and experiencing new things, ive never seen him go into any supreem detail of a subject, he only just scratches the surface with most things.

The problem with making a Bushcraft programme with a good level of detail and a more indepth focus. Is that most of the audience (the folk who pay the licence fee or watch the adverts during the programme and hence fund the programme)would find it dull and boring. Hence stuff is kept at a superficial level as that keeps the majority of the audience happy are dyed in the wool bushcrafters the target audience of the programme?...

Is there room for a specialist video of techniques? Well possibly but the cost of production would be high and a lot of the stuff is already out there on YT or other media outlets..

 

[tytek]

It's on ITV Player for the next 44 days

http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=138707

Nice one

 

[rik_uk3]

i think he needs to carry on doing what he is renown for, "bushcraft" hes branching out a bit and i dont think it works. i know others will say "ohh, hes done it all before" but i dissagree, with bushcraft you cant be an expert, your always learning and experiencing new things, ive never seen him go into any supreem detail of a subject, he only just scratches the surface with most things.

He has done it all Josh, and last nights programme had nothing to do with Bushcraft, it was never meant to, the man is moving on and I suggest you and some others here do the same; anyway I thought you had a bushcraft youtube channel now to teach the newbies bushcraft technique and your own bushcraft forum I thought I saw you plugging on BCL?

 

[Andy2112]

I enjoyed it. Good to see him back on tv. Better than the usual rubbish on there.

 

[jojo]

Well, for most of us here, Bushcraft is a hobby. For Mr Mears, it's his job, and I would think he has seen the writing on the wall, that there are only so many ways of presenting "bushcraft" to the TV audiences. And he is doing what many people who want to stay in the public eye do: diversify and re-launch yourself, the alternative being to disappear completely. Maybe he should go on I'm a celebrity, get me out of here! Could be interesting...

 

[Andy2112]

Maybe he should go on I'm a celebrity, get me out of here! Could be interesting...

Good one, but he'd enjoy eating the bugs and things, lol

 

[preacherman]

I would have called the show Ray Mears Tracking rather than survival but I did enjoy it. Tracking is a huge part of bushcraft if you are to truly try and live off the land. Regardless of the fact that it was shot in Namibia he showed how to diffrentiate between Hyena (dog) and Leopard (cat) tracks. They described how they could tell what happened at the mating area by looking at the tracks. He mentioned the unusual gait pattern of Giraffes and also the danger signs of a cranky elephant with their ears.

The film also showed a leopard approaching for a kill which showed gait and movement very well and while trying to catch up with the large male we got to hear about how the cats move during the night and day and feeding habits, all very important if you need to track to hunt.

You could not possibly fit in a tracking course into an hour long show so he could not be very specific and also as someone said earlier this show has to appeal to a wide audience. I reckon over the three shows he will show more tracking techniques and animal behaviors that combined would give a very good basic grounding in tracking for people interested enough to want to learn. As rick says there is always YouTube for anyone wanting to learn about lighting fires etc.

On another point this is the first Ray Mears thread I have seen where nobody really mentions his kit. Ray Mears should be applauded in this case for not having the product placement kit he sells on the show. Normally he gets criticised for having expensive kit on display. I did not see any labels but then again I might have missed them because I was interested in the show itself.

Andrew

 

[wattsy]

it was never meant to be a bushcraft program its always been a wildlife documentary, with ray using tracking skills to get close to the animals.
i forget who it was who said 'tracking from a moving landrover, i don't think so' but when you consider the vast distances involved in tracking in africa vehicles are often the only way to go. watch it again and you'll realise that he's driving slowly, in the morning or evening when the sun is low so the tracks on the road stand out more.
its only natural for ray to want to do different things i'd like to know how many people here have just one hobby?

 

[Prawnster]

Andrew (Preacherman) has got it spot on for me.

If tracking isn't bushcraft then what is? The man is showing us how to read what we see in the bush so we can understand animal activity. That can be used for hunting, finding water, evading dangerous animals or simply for fun. I learnt loads because the same principles apply where ever we are in the world.

So inspired am I that I've just ordered a tracking field guide and hope to learn lots more practising the art myself.

Would I be so enthused to learn more if Ray had shown me how to light a fire again?

I doubt it very much.