Ray Mears

[demographic]

This is the one I have

it's alright but to be honest I prefer The SAS survival handbook as they both cover a lot of the same ground but IMO Lofties book covers more of it.

Maybe it's something to do with the fact that I got The SAS survival handbook when I was younger and so it made a bigger impact but for me it's a better book.

 

[bushtuckerman]

I also got the SAS handbook when i was younger, there is no doubt that you would be laughing if you had it in yor rucksack if you went down in an aircraft or something, it has loads of useful colour diagrams of plants etc, and does cover a lot of emergency scenarios...but in terms of accuracy, his firelighting diagrams are a joke, unless anyone can explain how to successfully light a fire with a piece of dowl and a floor board and put sand in the notch just in case it wasn't hard enough already...if people have actually managed it then i'm a complete idiot for saying that, and i'd take it all back, but they're not the kind of thing i'd be happy to see if i had never lit fire by friction before, and was rather cold.

Well worth owning though.

 

[Razorstrop]

...but in terms of accuracy, his firelighting diagrams are a joke, unless anyone can explain how to successfully light a fire with a piece of dowl and a floor board and put sand in the notch just in case it wasn't hard enough already...if people have actually managed it then i'm a complete idiot for saying that, and i'd take it all back, but they're not the kind of thing i'd be happy to see if i had never lit fire by friction before, and was rather cold.

thing is you have to remember that is what he has been taught and one would assume been sucessful with. Its not your place or anyone elses to knock it until you have tried it his way with his teacher telling you how to do it.
Let he without sin cast the first stone and all that.
You might know an easier way or a better way and you may or may not decide to involve sand in the equation, thats the thing with bushcraft, everyone of us has our own way

Mr Strop

 

[ilovemybed]

I think it's a common curse of the instructional book; the illustrators are not usually as expert as the writer so there's usually a errors or compromises for the sake of simplicity, and sometimes the publishers just won't care if the diagram is wrong because people only find that out once the book has been sold!

 

[bushtuckerman]

That's a very good point about people having their own way, i was speaking from personal experience from struggling to light fire by friction using those diagrams, hence my emotive language . I think the point is, as ilovemybed has said, is that the diagram may still be inaccurate no matter what the intentions of the author were. my use of the word 'his' was simply in reference to the fact that the book has his name on the front.

You would assume he has been successful, but i would not assume he has been successful by following similar diagrams. In my comments i was inviting people to imagine how useful they would be, given that it is a survival manual.

 

[Stuart]

there is a lot of confusion regarding the books authored by Ray mears, much of this stems from the fact that they all have similar names and some of them have been republished several times under slightly different names.

thus far there are ten books that I am aware of which where published in the following order:

Survival Handbook: Practical Guide to Woodcraft and Woodlore
ISBN 0946609888 - Publisher: Oxf. Illustrated P - Release date: 1990

The Complete Outdoor Handbook
ISBN 0712648593 - Publisher: Rider - Release date: 1992

The Outdoor Survival Handbook: A Guide to the Resources & Material Available in the Wild & How to Use Them for Food, Shelter, Warmth, & Navigation
ISBN 0312093594 - Publisher: St. Martin's Press - Release date: 1993

Outdoor Survival Handbook: The Classic Indispensable Guide to Surviving the Outdoors
ISBN 0091878861 - Publisher: Ebury Press - Release date: 2001

Bushcraft: An Inspirational Guide to Surviving in the Wilderness
ISBN 0340792582 - Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton - Release date: 2002

The Real Heroes of Telemark: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Stop Hitler's Atomic Bomb
ISBN 0340830158 - Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd - Release date: 2003

Ray Mears' World of Survival: As Seen on TV
ISBN 000716369X - Publisher: Collins - Release date: 2003

Essential Bushcraft
ISBN 0340829710 - Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd - Release date: 2003

Bushcraft
ISBN 0340825162 - Publisher: Coronet Books - Release date: 2004

Bushcraft Survival
ISBN 0340834803 - Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd - Release date: 2005


Those marked in the same colors contain identical or near identical content
(some pictures may have been moved, removed or added with a different title and cover art in some cases it is simply a different format such as a large coffee table size or handbook size version of the same book)


the most difficult book to obtain is the first on the list in green (Survival Handbook: Practical Guide to Woodcraft and Woodlore ISBN 0946609888), all others are easily available

if you get one of the orange titles and one of the blue titles plus if you are determined the title marked in green, you will have all you require from Mr Mears offerings

other titles such as Ray Mears' World of Survival: As Seen on TV, and The Real Heroes of Telemark are more accompaniments to their corresponding TV series than serious instructional manuals

I hope this makes things a little clearer, please let me know if there is an error in the list so that I may correct it.

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Amazon seem to be selling the large format "Bushcraft" book for between £60 and £80 quid!!! Thats amazing for a book that was only released in 2004. I think it may now be out of print.

 

[Ratel10mm]

That's the one Demographic! Although the ISBN no. on mine doesn't match up with Stuart's list - but that's probably because it's a different publisher to the first edition.
My sister gave mne a copy of Bushcraft Survival, which although as Stuart says is an accompanyment to the BBC series, is a very good read for relaxation & inspirational purposes.

 

[Tutchi]

Used Stuart's ISBN and Googled. There are 4 of the Origional up for grabs. Cheapest is in UK for £125 and the dearest one is over £200. Not a bad investment for £14.95

Tutchi

 

[vance]

i completely agree i bought the same book when i was younger and now i know more about fire by friction i also think the info he gives about fire by friction is very basic.ray mears essential bushcraft is good on the subject

I also got the SAS handbook when i was younger, there is no doubt that you would be laughing if you had it in yor rucksack if you went down in an aircraft or something, it has loads of useful colour diagrams of plants etc, and does cover a lot of emergency scenarios...but in terms of accuracy, his firelighting diagrams are a joke, unless anyone can explain how to successfully light a fire with a piece of dowl and a floor board and put sand in the notch just in case it wasn't hard enough already...if people have actually managed it then i'm a complete idiot for saying that, and i'd take it all back, but they're not the kind of thing i'd be happy to see if i had never lit fire by friction before, and was rather cold.

Well worth owning though.

 

[Bhod]

Used Stuart's ISBN and Googled. There are 4 of the Origional up for grabs. Cheapest is in UK for £125 and the dearest one is over £200. Not a bad investment for £14.95

Fools and their money

 

[Mikey P]

yeah, if you've got a copy i'll give you swallows and amazons in return

If it's a first edition Ransome original...you might have a deal! Great book which first got me into camping and sailing - real kid's adventure stuff. Anyway, I'm getting all moist-eyed and reminiscing now.

As for the Ray Mears book, I have a hardback copy, with a green cover and some colour photos on it. I can't check it as I don't have it here with me but I seem to remember it was printed in 1992? I picked it up years ago in a bookshop because it looked interesting, I read a couple of page (as you do) and bought it. Little did I know...

Anyway, I don't really care what it's worth as I find it the most readable and useful book Ray Mears has written and so I'm not planning to sell it. I still go back to and enjoy reading this one - and I can't really say that so much about the later books he's produced. Don't get me wrong, I do like them but for sheer amount of undiluted, useful information, get a copy/reprint/version of the first book.

However, please, please, please don't pay silly money for an original - think of what else you could get for bushcraft for 125 quid!

 

[Voivode]

However, please, please, please don't pay silly money for an original - think of what else you could get for bushcraft for 125 quid!

QFT. I'm a book-hoarder by nature and I can't help but buy ~$100 worth of books every month or so, and a reasonable portion of that is on outdoors related writings. I can tell you, as I'm sure Stuart can attest, that bushcraft books all start to look the same after a while. Nessmuk, Mears, Graves, Angiers and Kochanski all say more or less the same thing. When you spend that kind of money for a book like that, you aren't paying for a better book with better information; you're paying for the rarity of the printing. That's not money well spent if you're just looking for good info. Kochanski and Nessmuk cover the basics; the rest is practice and specialized readings.

 

[Mikey P]

I can tell you, as I'm sure Stuart can attest, that bushcraft books all start to look the same after a while. Nessmuk, Mears, Graves, Angiers and Kochanski all say more or less the same thing.

Actually, I hadn't really thought about that but it's true. I am not in the same league as Stuart or some others on this site but I still have quite a few outdoor/bushcraft books and many of them are very 'samey'.

Interestingly, there are only a few I go back to again and again: Bushcraft (Kochanski), Nessmuk, Graves, Survival Handbook (Ray Mears), Food for Free (Richard Mabey), a Collins guide to Wild Plants, and a couple of books on Australian bushfood.

Sadly, the rest are mainly for show...

I'm really hoping the 'Wild Food' book out in September is a bit 'different'.