Bushcraft: An Inspirational Guide to Surviving in the Wilderness [Paperback]

Ray Mears (Author), Raymond Mears (Author), Ben McNutt (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

Popular survival expert Ray Mears presents a richly illustrated compendium of practical skills and wisdom, relevant not only to wilderness survival, but also urban life. The book contains step-by-step guides to a wide range of survival techniques, as well as accounts of Ray's own experiences and his bushcraft philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“If Ray Mears isn’t a Great Living Englishman, then goodness me, who is?” -- The Times Magazine

“Ray Mears is a bushman first and foremost and really can survive in any extreme environment.” -- GQ

From the Publisher

Ray Mears is well known to millions of British and American television viewers through his acclaimed series “Tracks,” “Ray Mears World of Survival,” and “Ray Mears Extreme Survival.” Now, in Bushcraft, he has created a superbly illustrated compendium of survival skills and wisdom from around the world. With step–by–step instruction and fascinating accounts, this book—by the real “Survivor”—will be prized by wilderness travelers and armchair explorers everywhere.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340792582
• ISBN-13: 978-0340792582
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,507,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to Nature with Ray Mears, December 9, 2002

By 

Marcus Becker (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bushcraft: An Inspirational Guide to Surviving in the Wilderness (Paperback)

British survival expert Ray Mears' newest book "Bushcraft" will give you good advice for when you wonder out in the wilderness. It covers all basic survival skills, from where to find food and water to how to make shelters and fire, and it does this for all kinds of environments, from the desert to the arctic. Although Mears himself looks like your average English office clerk, his knowledge of nature and survival, partly learned from hunter-gatherers like Australian Aboriginals and African Kung San bushmen, is truly impressive. Through a number of survival courses I did myself, I found out that the techniques described in Bushcraft work well, but they often do require quite some practice to master.
The book is filled with attractive colour photographs from Mears' trips to remote locations like Alaska and the Honduran rainforest, also covered in his BBC television survival series. You have to realize though, that because of the book's weight and dimensions, it's not really a practical field guide for in your rucksack but more a book that you would comfortably read at home.
And it almost looks like Mears was in a hurry to finish the book, because the last chapter, about finding food, ends rather abruptly and contains very little information on hunting and trapping while Mears acknowledges that these are fundamental bushcraft skills. Finally, a note to foreign readers, you might need a dictionary for translating the English plant, tree and animal names.

4.0 out of 5 stars Usful, informative in a nice but heavy body, November 16, 2004

By 

Szekffy Tamas (Budapest, - Hungary) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bushcraft: An Inspirational Guide to Surviving in the Wilderness (Paperback)

I have Ray's The Outdoor Survival Handbook, which is far more suitable as a real handbook. On the other hand, nobody promised that Bushcraft will be the same, or even similar. It's seriously big for field use. You have to read and learn in your home, practice in the backyard and use the knowledge on the field. Anyway, because it have far more informative illustrations and more verbose text, it's far easier to get a complete knowlege about basic surviving techniques, meanwhile the handbook may have a pocket in your backpack.
It was quiet frustrating to get it after almost three months of waiting with the unquestionable evidences of its origin. Shame on Amazon to simply buy the item in a nearby bookshop.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, dont get lost without it!, June 27, 2002

By 

"jonaselm" (Hagerstown MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bushcraft: An Inspirational Guide to Surviving in the Wilderness (Paperback)

This is a great book. After seeing Ray Mears on the Travel Channel, I had to get this book! It has great pictures and illustrations... a must-buy!