Ray Mears: A real survival expert

Most of us have heard of, if not seen TV’s survival experts Cody Lundin, Les Stroud and of course the notorious and some would say dangerous to imitate Bear Grylls. Each have their quirks and enfasis, but each try to make survival interesting. But probably the best guy out there (on TV) to actually teach you survival would be Ray Mears.

Ray Mears grew up in England teaching himself bushcraft. he didn’t have a lot of money so he improvised, learning how to venture into the outdoors and make the most of your surroundings. He ended up starting his own survival school in 1983 and has produced with the BBC many different bushcraft and survival programs where he demonstrates survival and traditional skills from around the world. If you want to see a couple clips, take a look at this Ray Mears youtube playlist. You can read Ray Mears’ bio here. 

If those clips from the BBC above wet your whistle for some real instructionals on survival skills, take a look at Ray Mears’ DVDs on his website. They ship worldwide. I really like the fact that he combines bushcraft and survival with history. I would consider the Northern Wilderness DVD series a great instructional tool about the formation of Canada.

Probably my favourite quote from Ray Mears is: “Without a doubt, the hardest thing of all in a survival situation is to cook without the benefit of seasonings and flavourings.” And that is said with a straight face and total sincerity. Yes, survival is that easy for him.

Take a look at the following clip on building a survival shelter: