Ray Mears

[Nat]

I feel a bit sorry for Ray TBH

No matter what he does some folk will always kick him in the balls for doing it.

He's got a job a lot of us would really like. Gets paid handsomely for doing what he loves and gets to be a bit of a personality...

Go the Mears....

Hear hear. He's a celeb, he's on telly, and he has a load of books. Of course he's going to get kicked in the balls the moment he does something wrong. Half of us can't even be arsed to do things in the back yard okenest:
Yes he got things wrong, but i believe the program was more about him getting out and trying.
I like the fella even when he gets things wrong.

 

[Paganwolf]

It beats the granny out of any of the other old drivel thats on the goggle box, good on you ray keep up the good work and keep making good TV !!!!

 

[Diamond Dave]

It was good....informative,well presented and good photography. I think we are spoilt as we only recently had "Big Cat Diaries" which was similar.......

 

[Twodogs]

No wonder Ray dont read the forums ..
I enjoyed it , the night camra work was magic I still cant go to the water hole at night and feel safe after that .......
As for detailed tracking skills most folks would just turn over channels .It was very similer in style to the originel Survival telly programme .
Nice work Ray .
Twodogs

 

[Simon1]

My wife and I thought it was very good, I don't think he confesses to know everything, but people assume he does!!!!
As he is home grown, I for one have enjoyed most of his work and and have had the opportunity to try some of his shown skills out in the woods myself.

I think he is a good example for all, and gets people out and about into the woods so I say good on him!!!!!

 

[durulz]

Why is it called 'Survival'?
Wouldn't 'Tracking' be a more accurate title?
Actually, wouldn't 'Light Weight Dumbed-Down Sub-David Attenborough' be even more accurate?

 

[drewdunnrespect]

not watched it yet but by all the responses sounds like i am going to enjoy it

 

[EdS]

Why is it called 'Survival'?
Wouldn't 'Tracking' be a more accurate title?
Actually, wouldn't 'Light Weight Dumbed-Down Sub-David Attenborough' be even more accurate?

Why Survival - because it is a new serires of the classic ITV wild life series called Survival. Their challenge to BBC David Attenbrough stuff. It was well know for no "stars" but cutting edge camera work. The film was the star:

http://www.itv.com/classictvshows/documentary/survival/default.html

Nothing to with bushcraft type survival but a look endangered species fighting for survival.

 

[durulz]

not watched it yet but by all the responses sounds like i am going to enjoy it

Well, you're going to be disappointed then.
Think about it - prime time Sunday evening ITV slot.
That tells you about as much as you need to know about the quality and level it is pitched at. It would have been just as suited to CBBC.
No real insight. No real exploration of the tracker's craft. Just a few trite observations about leopards - as suits its intended audience (prime time ITV viewers).
That's all fine by and of itself, but it was just sandwich filler for the mind. Let's not pretend it's the latest greatest thing on TV. Because it's not. If you don't watch it you'll not miss it. Mind you, if you do watch it you'll miss it as well because there was no substance to it.

 

[mitch66]

hi all, he get's my vote, i think they all do a good job and give us nice thing's to watch on the tv. how meany people are on this forum now becourse of ray? me for 1 always been intrested but becourse of his efforts, i am out there doing it. 10/10 ray

 

[wattsy]

Sorry but I just have to comment here, and though I feel it may not be my place, I still have to say a bit on this. I grew up on a trap line (in fact my parents had two) and it is important to have a really good understanding of the animals behaviour, biology, eco-system, tracks etc etc etc. I grew up with these things here in Canuck land I have fished, hunted, tanned hides, made moccasins, dried meat, made fish hooks from bone, processed the sinew for thread, cut the eyes for a variety of uses, did moose and caribou hair tufting, processed bladders for pots and bowls etc etc etc and used every part of the animals we either hunted or trapped, but when I got the Northern Bushcraft Book for my husband (he's done a few responses on the forum under Mahikan as well ) I was very disappointed in Ray's lack of knowledge in some fairly common things to do with signs and tracks. Especially the wolf scat, sorry but a few of us Canucks have had a hard belly laugh at his photos on the wolf scat, the "birch" and a few other things in his book that he totally got wrong.
I think (as I've said in a few other forums) that when he does his "stuff" in UK I'm absolutely mesmerized by him, but when I've seen him do the odd thing on this side of the pond I've found him to be lacking and somewhat uninformed.

I don't want to have a go at the fellow, because he is very passionate about what he's doing and I think that is a great thing, but sometimes he has bitten off more than he can chew and seems to be trying to be an expert at everything... I wish he'd focus more on his expertise in UK (rather than trying to impress with a broader based knowledge he hasn't got) and even the other areas of the world where he seems to thrive. I'd actually be inspired to watch his shows then...

I spent my life around bears as well as wolves (not a day that I've not been around bears growing up) and many of his "facts" about bears he's gotten wrong, my husband and I track and get incredibly close to bears (both grizzlies and blacks plus timber wolves and grey wolves) on a very regular basis and have a bit of experience around that.

It is sad, but I hope whoever Ray used as a mentor or teacher had correct information to pass onto him.

Sorry.. rant over

Mahikan

care to cite examples?
all this criticism is a bit of a joke to be honest all i'm seeing is a load of people bitter at a bloke who's got a more enjoyable job than them so when one of his successful ty programs come on they pan it.
you moan that there's not enough detail on the programs without thinking 'hang on, maybe not everyone watching this is an avid bushcrafter, perhaps they don't know as much as we do'.
i happened to enjoy it its a new take on wildlife programs imo combining modern radio tracking methods with traditional methods of picking up spoor. its not all out bushcraft no, but if anyone else thinks they could track leopards better feel free to crack on and make a video

rant over

 

[durulz]

all this criticism is a bit of a joke to be honest all i'm seeing is a load of people bitter at a bloke who's got a more enjoyable job than them so when one of his successful ty programs come on they pan it.
you moan that there's not enough detail on the programs without thinking 'hang on, maybe not everyone watching this is an avid bushcrafter, perhaps they don't know as much as we do'.
i happened to enjoy it its a new take on wildlife programs imo combining modern radio tracking methods with traditional methods of picking up spoor. its not all out bushcraft no, but if anyone else thinks they could track leopards better feel free to crack on and make a video

rant over

I'm not panning it. I neither hated it nor liked it. It was too insubstantial to form an opinion on.
I don't moan there's not enough 'bushcraft' on TV either. I neither read bushcraft books nor watch bushcraft TV programmes.
Of course everyone's not an avid bushcrafter. Nothing wrong with that. But just because it's got Ray Mears in it, why should I be expected to watch it? As you allude to - the programme's aimed at the low-brow end of the market who just want something easy and unchallenging to watch. And there's nothing wrong with that! But don't expect me (or anyone else) to laud it as the greatest Tv triumph and exploration of wildlife. Because (by your definition!) it's clearly aimed at those who aren't really interested, have no real insight and just want something easy on the intellect until the next programme starts.
And there's nothing wrong with that either.
Why, just because it's got Ray in it, have I got to come over all funny and claim it was a great programme? Which it demonstrably wasn't. Although, let me emphasise, neither was it bad. And that was just it's true failing - light-weight and insubstantial with nothing new or original said or done.

As an interesting anecdotal aside, I had a friend who worked in a mental hospital. The TVs in the common room were permanently locked on either ITV or BBC1. This was because the output of those channels was considered suitably anodyne and sedative and wouldn't provoke or stimulate the residents. That's how Ray has become.

Truly, I neither like nor dislike Ray. He's just not relevant to me anymore. That's all. It's no big deal.

 

[EdS]

As I said its not a bushcraft programme - ITV have dug out and slightly tweeked an old and well respected wild life documentary and got Ray to "present" it as TV these day they needs a star got get people to watch anything. When was the last time you saw a documentary or any non fiction TV thing with out a celeb fronting it, rather than an unknown.

ITV thinking - The BBC get good figure with wild life stuff. About time we did more some, what can we dig up. We know Survival - that used to do well. OK we got the programme, but it didn't have a star. We need a celeb to front it or today's viewer will ignore it. How is well know for outdoorsy/wildlife stuff. Mr Attenbrough, no that a no goer. Chris Packham - nope, contracted to BBC for wild life stuff as is Simon King. Lets think --- Ray Mears. Excellent, well know, a bit of star and not contracted to the BBC for wild life stuff. Job done

It days of old the programme itself was the star.

Oh and I missed it.

 

[Andy2112]

My thumbs up to his new show, refreshingly different watching.

 

[wattsy]

I'm not panning it. I neither hated it nor liked it. It was too insubstantial to form an opinion on.
I don't moan there's not enough 'bushcraft' on TV either. I neither read bushcraft books nor watch bushcraft TV programmes.
Of course everyone's not an avid bushcrafter. Nothing wrong with that. But just because it's got Ray Mears in it, why should I be expected to watch it? As you allude to - the programme's aimed at the low-brow end of the market who just want something easy and unchallenging to watch. And there's nothing wrong with that! But don't expect me (or anyone else) to laud it as the greatest Tv triumph and exploration of wildlife. Because (by your definition!) it's clearly aimed at those who aren't really interested, have no real insight and just want something easy on the intellect until the next programme starts.
And there's nothing wrong with that either.
Why, just because it's got Ray in it, have I got to come over all funny and claim it was a great programme? Which it demonstrably wasn't. Although, let me emphasise, neither was it bad. And that was just it's true failing - light-weight and insubstantial with nothing new or original said or done.

As an interesting anecdotal aside, I had a friend who worked in a mental hospital. The TVs in the common room were permanently locked on either ITV or BBC1. This was because the output of those channels was considered suitably anodyne and sedative and wouldn't provoke or stimulate the residents. That's how Ray has become.

Truly, I neither like nor dislike Ray. He's just not relevant to me anymore. That's all. It's no big deal.

actually reading through your posts you are panning it. calling it 'dumbed-down attenborough' and a 'disappointment' can hardly be called positive can they.
also, your not 'expected' to watch anything, whether its got ray in it or not its your choice. the fact that you watched it means you chose to watch it, nobody held you at gunpoint and made you watch it did they?
your essentially slagging it off just because it had ray mears in it

 

[durulz]

your essentially slagging it off just because it had ray mears in it

No I'm not. I'm slagging it off because it was superficial and low-brow. It just happened to have Ray in it as well.
It wasn't poor because of Ray, it was poor in spite of Ray.
Show me one thing I said in criticism of Ray - all I did was just criticise the programme. If you think I am just criticising it because of Ray then you are mistaken.
But your logic is also flawed. You think people who criticise Ray are just jealous. Last time I used that kind of reasoning I recall I was in the upper school yard ('You're just jealous!'). Here's a terrible thought for you - sometimes people criticise things (be they TV programmes, books, films, music or...get this...'heroes') because they are, well, poor.
Learning how to criticise one's heroes and see flaws in them is an important part of psychological development.

 

[wicca]

Ray's biggest fault is that he is successful..

 

[Asa Samuel]

It's a wildlife programme, you wanna watch bushcraft? Get off your a*se and go do some instead of worrying what's on tv.

 

[Big Geordie]

I saw most of it and enjoyed it. It wasn't highly technical, it was very pleasant. I imagine that Ray is enjoying a little personal development in moving himself forward in this series. most of us will have become bored with him repeatedly teaching locals to make fire. okenest:

Play nice! He isn't a professor, he's a decent guy making a living with skills we all wish we had.
Atb
G

 

[Klenchblaize]

But the "Wardrobe Department" have still to get his shorts/pants size right!