Ray Mears

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Cover of the Outdoor Survival Handbook by Ray Mears
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Cover of the Outdoor Survival Handbook by Ray Mears

Ray Mears (born 1964) is a British author and TV presenter on the subject of bushcraft and survival techniques. He grew up in Lewisham, Southern England, and started tracking foxes at a young age. It was his Judo teacher Michael Hutchinson who won 5 gold medals in the commonwealth games before he became an instructor who gave him the idea to learn survival skills. He has been teaching survival skills since 1983, when he founded the "Woodlore" School of Wilderness Bushcraft. His Outdoor Survival Handbook was published in 1990, and his first TV appearance was in 1993 in the BBC2 series Tracks.

His presentation style is often praised as authoritative but relaxed and friendly. His love of his subject and his sense of communion with nature are evident in his programmes, as in his respect for indigenous cultures and the natural world.

Mears commented upon Steve Irwin's death in September 2006 that it was due to the 'gladiatorial' nature of 'voyeuristic reality TV'.

In Taunton, Somerset, Mears has become something of a cult hero with the slang term 'Ray Mears Bud' meaning 'Same here my good friend'. This rhyming slang is reminiscent of Cockney Rhyming Slang. However, the exuberant London-based dialect does not yet have a Ray Mears-related phrase. Recently, in Kent it is becoming more common to hear "Ray" as the rhyming slang for beer, (Ray Mears - beers) as in "a couple of Rays at the end of the day".

Contents

[edit] TV programmes

  • Tracks (BBC2)
  • Ray Mears' World of Survival (BBC and Discovery Civilization Channel. Also one of his books.)
  • The Essential Guide to Rocks (BBC Education)
  • Ray Mears' Ultimate Survival Guide (BBC)
  • Ray Mears' Extreme Survival (Edited and released from Ultimate Survival Guide BBC series by Discovery Travel Channel with a few new episodes. Series 1, 2 and 3)
  • Trips Money Can't Buy (With actor Ewan McGregor)
  • Bushcraft (2005)
  • Real Heroes of Telemark (2005)
  • The Disco and Weatherman Show (2006)BBC Education Channel

[edit] Books

  • The Outdoor Survival Handbook (1990)
  • Essential Bushcraft (2003)
  • The Real Heroes of Telemark: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Stop Hitler's Atomic Bomb (2003)
  • Ray Mears' World of Survival (2004)
  • Ray Mears' Bushcraft Survival (2005)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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