jwoody

"You don't need equipment, you need knowledge to survive in the wild"

Let's get one thing straight from the start: Ray Mears doesn't just survive in the wild - he lives in it.

I've been a big fan of Ray since he first appeared on TV with his country trails show a few years ago but last night's program was perhaps the greatest thing ever broadcast on any TV in the history of the world. The show was so unbelievably good that I feel compelled to share my feelings with people who never have and maybe, never will see it for themselves.

The program starts with Ray recreating a bow and arrow based on an 8000 year old one found in an archaeological excavation, using only flint tools, pine sap and muscle tendons from a deer. As usual, he makes it look easy "snap a couple of straight branches, melt a bit of sap on the fire which I lit with horse hoof fungus, and stick your flint in the end. Chew this plant to make glue, stick a feather on the other end and there you have it - a perfect arrow." Fucking amazing. He's not done yet though. Ray goes on to demonstrate how to skin a deer with a piece of flint and cook a perfect venison steak in a stone oven - with a freshly picked seafood starter of winkles and limpet.

He rounds off the show with some cave painting and a little bit of his own personal philosophy and I am is inspired, for a couple of hours at least, to leave my posessions behind and go back to the forest... where we belong.