Ray Mears - How to Light a Fire, Bushcraft Survival

[@Beesa10]

Ray's the best at explaining and demonstrating bushcraft. UK legend.

[@johnredcorn2476]

He also presented the survival and escape/evasion videos we were shown in basic training 07

[@danicaroberts4983]

He's a UK legend. Brought up watching this guy. Some of my favourite memories, me and my gdad watching him. Thankyou for all you do!

[@gdawgsuper758]

Bang on mate…. Absolutely a legend he is the main dude when it comes to survival tactics for us brits… Not that fako bear grylls

[@RickyRayFitz]

I 100% agree with you, The Aussie’ have Crocodile Dundee, we have Ray Mears 😝 🔥 🌳

[@kevinmessiah872]

@@RickyRayFitz the aussies have got the barefoot bushman. If you've not seen him, stop go watch. :)

[@bergeracvandamme]

The original and best bushcraft and survival personality. I'll never tire of watching him.

[@samuelstevens9743]

He’s very. But he’s preceded by a few yet.

[@bobafetting6373]

Lofty Wiseman predates Ray on TV, but Ray is certainly the person who made these skills and adventures seem accessible. And a million times more than that fraud Grills.

[@martinriley106]

I remember doing a weekend course of his in 2007. A birthday present from my Wife and I met him on his return to work after his Wife had sadly passed away the year before. A really nice and humble man, but with a wealth of knowledge. He is a great British asset that deserves greater recognition than he has ever got so far.

[@jamiejudd8018]

Double true👌🔥

[@pauldavies9360]

Ray gives of a very calm relaxing vibe to presenting his skills, Exactly what you want in this environment

[@hypercriticalbrit]

I was introduced to bushcraft by Ray Mears on his shows, I’ve been to one of his courses (genuinely a really nice guy and really patient) and I’ve practiced bushcraft for years now directly because of him. Even with all that, I thoroughly enjoy watching all of his content because of how calming he is.

[@matthewkent4313]

Where did you do the course mate?sounds class

[@PleaseDontCry2]

This video is legendary! So many little tips sprinkled in here like gold nuggets in a Mountain stream. Refreshing and the nugs are oh so valuable. God bless 🙏

[@anthonyrigley4402]

The 1st time in watched RAY Watson Tracks he was cooking an egg in stagnam moss after that I never missed any thing. Thank you for all the work you have put into the shows

[@wildernessfieldjournal8211]

Thanks for the video Ray. I consider your videos to be the gold standard for bushcraft. I have learned a great deal from your teachings over the years. Thank you for all your great work.

[@BushCraftBums]

Gotta love Ray Mears! I've mad my fires methodically for years without fail in all sorts of conditions after reading about the steps in one of bushcraft books. Thanks for everything Mr. Mears! The Force is Strong with you!

[@brianthesnail3815]

Ray describes the joy of fire so well. It is remarkably hard to light a fire even with a match or lighter if it is poorly prepared but in an extreme circumstance in the dark or cold the success of lighting a fire lifts the spirits and provides a space to rest and think, melt snow, purify water, warm food and make your plan of what to do next.

[@experience_nature_bushcraft]

You are the Best Outdoor and Bushcraft Teacher on YT. I learned a Lot from You!

[@BookOfHuntsman]

You should get out more. He's like Mary Poppins.

[@experience_nature_bushcraft]

Huntsman Bushcraft first contact and you are boring me, only troling arround.

[@BookOfHuntsman]

Sit your tubby wannabe ass down son before you give yourself a heart attack.

[@experience_nature_bushcraft]

Huntsman Bushcraft 😙

[@TheGreatGodPan]

This inbred hick seems like a delightful character. Maybe you should actually go outside and leave your trailer park seeing as you seem so bored of the outdoors you're abusing people on youtube.

[@bushcraftcountryskills552]

Immensely informational video! Thanks a lot Woodlore for uploading this. Ray is an incredibly good teacher and I would say that even though I have been watching KZbin videos for many years and from many different people, some of whom are really skilled, 99% of what I have learned about Bushcraft I have learned from watching Ray Mears. And I have never learned anything significant from all the other hundreds of videos I have seen by other people. Sometimes one might think that he is going over some pretty basic topics that we all know anyway but actually those videos touch on the finer details as well, like for example if you look closely when Ray is scraping the birch bark he is not holding the knife at 90° to the bark, which would produce dust, but he is slightly angling the knife so that it makes fine thin shavings rather than a pile of dust. And then also when he has lit the birch bark and it wants to curl up he bends the bark in the opposite direction so that it stops curling. Those are very small details but they really make the difference when you go out and try them out yourself.

[@pnyarrow]

Thanks once again for explaining and showing the basics. Really enjoyed seeing this again. ATB. Nigel

[@Ichinin]

This is the go-to video for fire making, makes it extremely easy to use a firesteel and birchbark. Have tried it as presented in this video, worked like a charm.

[@ltippers7029]

Ray is such a fantastically clear instructor! well done sir!

[@Mark-nm1oj]

You sir upload some very clear no nonsense videos! I like it a lot, one can learn more from your short videos then from other people's videos because they talk to much

[@hi-q2261]

Ray I know this is an old video and you probably won't get this message but this is incredibly useful stuff they should teach these things in schools

[@jamiejudd8018]

Brilliant stuff been watching him for years A great bloke👌👍🔥

[@twobyfour]

There is simply no better explanation of this method of fire-lighting on YT. Ray....the original and best.

[@ZorellUnderhood]

Nobody does it better than Ray.

[@cumorahwatson1967]

What a skull to have👍 truly a life saver! Thanks for sharing.

[@susanp.collins7834]

Ray, I carry a little 1kg paper flour bag in my fire kit. I flatten it out, tuck the sides and gusset in neatly and then I IRON it. Then I FOLD it and iron it some more. By the time I'm finished its a tiny little thing that takes up no space but it folds out beautifully for collecting tinder. And your tinder won't sweat because the bag is paper. And if you have to put it down anywhere it will stand up and not fall over because it has a gusset. And when you have enough tinder you put the whole thing down and set fire to it. A little Vaseline or candle wax or whatevers going, smeared on the bag will help too.

[@markbenn1907]

Hello sir! Forgot to thank you this technique really helped me out and got my first fire going! THANKS YOU!

[@68thBC]

Please more vids. Love these

[@jefferyjohneverett]

Been watching him for years he's an excellent wealth of resources for the beginning Boy Scout up to the expert outdoors man!

[@DerangedSurvival]

excellent knowledge as always.

[@aktrapper6126]

Very well demonstrated.

[@Caintuckee64]

*One more thing, not often stated... fire is a companion, giving us comfort on another level.*

[@samuelmoulds7904]

i just bought a guitar from ray today 😂

[@halethewhale]

Bet that was a bit random did you know it was him before you went?

[@connergiven89]

Did this video strike a chord with you, then??

[@festival3051]

@@connergiven89 get out conner 🤣

[@greywindLOSP]

Brilliant, thank you Sir!

[@Godzzbinzz]

I can see Ray mears videos being blessed by the KZbin algorithm soon

[@AllWeatherFirestarters]

I just subscribed and liked! Great content and channel. Any chance of maybe doing a product review on our New Firestarters?

[@danandoliver3613]

Loved Ray for years....but also check out mcq bushcraft archive...same vibe.

[@TS50ER]

Just got back from my first Arsonists Anonymous meeting. I was nervous about going, but they gave me a very warm welcome.

[@elyanae9588]

Always loved Ray. His bushkraft series was the best. He teaches how to survive in the wild. Unlike that Bear grylls idiot who only shows you how to die in the wild. Bear; there's a HUGE gap here, let's jump it! And risk our lives/breaking bones. Ray; there's a huge gap here; let's find an easier way, and survive.

[@susanp.collins7834]

Oh my! What a LOVELY voice!

[@louel9272]

What type of Ferro Rod was that? Works real good

[@krismargett]

I mean, it was barely even one strike of the ferrorod and 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. Absolute hero

[@mountainbearoutdoors]

thanks for everything Ray I owe my love of the outdoors to you, best wishes from mountain bear outdoors UK

[@xionix4]

That's basically the human equivalent of bird nest building. Well done.

[@Eviction76]

Combat and survival handbook 101..fire is life

[@SweetChicagoGator]

Nice easy instruction ! 💟

[@seanmcdonald5859]

"All, of this is of course heavily dependent upon you HAVING a magic firestick" said the troop leader as he stared intensely at young Billy. "VERY important that you BRING. A. FIRESTICK. BILLY."

[@jasonbullock2816]

Love the way he talks

[@CALEBEWINNER777]

show!!! Very good, is essential. Alan - Brasil.

[@Montblanc1986]

These videos are old is Ray still doing Bushcraft?

[@finbarn4833]

Great job Ray.

[@cameronknox7567]

It was nice to have a refresher, as well as a second corroborating opinion on the fire starter. Granted, I generally prefer a Ferro rod over a fire steel, but that’s just me. Shrug Then again, as I prefer it because you should only have to strike a Ferro rod three times, which makes it easier as I literally cannot see the sparks, although with that being said when you strike a spark it should light said fire if you’ve done it correctly, I guess that is not as large a point as it otherwise would be.

[@mouldybread7773]

They say fire is the natures TV. When in survival mode, you can light a fire and tune in on some porn to pass the time. Ray Mears approves

[@SensaiMan]

50 below! Really, not sure I would want to be out in the woods in that temperature.

[@kaltonian]

Thank You Ray,

[@peterbennpan7288]

Alot of people don't rate Ray mears can someone explain why?..... I think he's good and used to watch his Bushcraft programs when on TV but I'm a novice when it comes to bushcraft

[@TheTrailhawk]

The same basics as you would build fire here in the tropics. I teach these here in the Philippines. I don't watch KZbin bushcraft and survival stuff but Woodlore is the exception.

[@takeitoutside6049]

There is just something about having the knowledge to make a primitive fire that makes you want to take it outside. Thanks for demonstrating common sense, fire safety....people need to remember to take the time and not be careless with their fires.

[@shotgunismymiddlename3331]

This man is the Gordon Ramsey of Bushcraft

[@yourmom1302]

Without the constant cussing

[@harishsharma2974]

@@yourmom1302 Jamie oliver?

[@poisonousbadge126]

@@harishsharma2974 yes he is the Jamie Oliver of Bushcraft

[@thewanderingteahouse5259]

Bob Ross of bushcraft.

[@JJ-ef7lb]

More of Sir David Attenborough for me. I’m sure Ray isn’t bothered about it, but Sir Ray Mears is quite fitting.

[@ritagein490]

I love you, Ray!!! 😍😘

[@vulcanfeline]

one criticism: please teach people that they don't need that big a fire. you could cook a meal with, at most, half that material. where i live, in the boreal forest, most of the trees are jack pine and the bark off dead trees is the best outdoor cooking material. i could cook a meal with about 10 square inches of butt bark

[@TheGreatGodPan]

He actually does (maybe the amount of kindling here seems excessive, though), in his classic Outdoor Survival Handbook (which I revisited recently and plan to use to finally get the hang of firelighting soon) he emphasises that you should build up a fire with varying thickness of kindling and sticks, and stresses you'll never need a large fire or large logs of wood unless you're setting up a permanent camp to last several days. I agree though, not enough people in the field stress this, and it's probably where a lot of novices (like me) go wrong in needlessly wasting big chunks of wood that also only end up suffocating the fire anyway. Start small, it makes life easier and it's all you're likely to need anyway :)

[@mouldybread7773]

Also, you do not need a lot of food either. You can recycle

[@mouldybread7773]

steppenwolf here is one :-* for you salty boy.

[@breakfast917]

I always wondered why no one advocates those little jelly fuel capsules they use for filling Zippo lighters. Those will get you a blaze in the pissing down rain and I would think essential in any survival kit

[@ThomasLaang]

Great, but why the low quality?

[@Inexpressable]

Because it was probably filmed in 2005 or something

[@PhantomMark]

Why does it feel like you disappeared from TV almost overnight Ray ??

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Here in Australia, fire-lighting is so simple.

[@robertmelia3780]

Wonderful. 🔥🔥🔥

[@gco40gray82]

Beast! Exactly how I build my fires. I always use a wood platform.

[@neerajsoman]

Try to do this in the tropics in 90 % humidity, soggy kindling, and intermittent rain. That magnesium strip lighter is totally useless in those conditions - matches barely work.

[@stephentrudgeon2646]

This guy is no1 when it comes to survival, other poor imitations are available on itv!

[@pedrokozla]

absolute legend;

[@bryanmower2703]

never would I dream of questioning Ray but I hold my blade still against the kindling and pull the ferro rod back towards me

[@s.t.d.r.a.s.h.3703]

WE LOVE YOU BROTHER RAY & WERE PRAYING FOR YOU ALWAYS THAT GOD ALMIGHTY KEEPS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY SAFE ALWAYS [CAPS=HIGHLIGHTING] not yelling.

[@wallybazoum]

So cavemen had those metal alloy things and knives to start their fires !. Might just as well use a Zippo.

[@iseeolly9959]

A master.

[@SirAreve]

Sits next to fire while it burns 3 times his height. Secretly he's thinking "I could just burn this fking forest to the ground cause I'm ray fking mears"

[@TS-xj5mt]

So simple yet I've seen many a experienced bush-crafter screw it up.

[@zoehancock]

I've just discovered why my forest school colleague insists on huge amounts of kindling which she then putts into a cross. It's very wasteful: you don't need nearly that much and it depletes resources. Admittedly you will succeed in a fire even with no skill., so I guess it's good for beginners, but you should learn to use less as you develop your skills.

[@drummingearth5326]

Shurrup

[@hemana3859]

Ray look like hes praying at the altar of the one true god, fire! Lol. Love Ray.

[@samsworldofrations6996]

Great skills 👍

[@chimpdongs]

Most important use - scaring off spoopers.

[@zeros_knives_and_bushcraft.]

A master conducting a symphony.

[@zeros_knives_and_bushcraft.]

steppenwolf I respect those teachers as well. Apparently paying a kind remark ruffles your feathers. I wouldn't consider myself a "fanboy". But I can recognise when someone is more skilled than my self.

[@dennislockhart8627]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 WE HAVE FIRE

[@rogerdennison4148]

I would love it if he started singing ''I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter''

[@drummingearth5326]

Crack ed

[@TheSaneHatter]

Screw that: he needs to start playing Jim Morrison. ;-)

[@jamiejudd8018]

And let’s not forget Australia’s bush tucker man Les Hidddins👍

[@chewy5563]

Why has this post got less than 100,000 views

[@evildead1949]

I went on a survival weekend in the uk, and we were all surprised that basically every sentence the expert spoke was followed by “...but be careful because you might get into trouble, or someone might call the police...” it was really sad. You can’t practice these skills anymore

[@manofkentcatapultsgunsando5069]

I'll give you a tip , carry half a dozen disposable lighters

[@LaBamba13]

Fire lighters and a lighter 🔥 👌 🙌

[@manofkentcatapultsgunsando5069]

@@LaBamba13 you know mate,🍺

[@ipaales7552]

Ray is a god 🙌 🙏 fact..

[@mr.d7079]

Huh?! Wait.... no batonning?!!🤔🤣🤣🤣

[@gasser5001]

Welp, 3rd video... guess I have to subscribe and comment for the alg.

[@chrishenry571]

3:37 a what now? Also, close to the point? Huh, learn a new view every day...

[@keithandjeanbrazil4316]

Birtch bark has oil in it???!!!

[@ReasonAboveEverything]

Yes bitch bark contains oils.

[@paulkelly7896]

imagine if he had of been in the armed services, it would of been a completely different story

[@ID-pw8zb]

His eyesight denied him entry to the Royal Marines which was a goal of his. In hindsight it was a blessing cos we wouldn’t have known of his brilliance.

[@beardednortherner64]

I'd have Mears on my survival team over Bear Grylls any day. Mears actually teaches you things whereas with Grylls, everything "death!" "You break a sweat out here, it's game over unless you drink your piss".

[@ReasonAboveEverything]

I have been into bushcraft over a decade now and that whole time people have played the pick a side game with Ray and Grylls.

[@pappy374]

@@ReasonAboveEverything My street had a burst pipe last week, so the water was off for a couple of hours. I had to drink my own piss.

[@thefivepoints]

Right but what if you haven't got a 'fire flash'? Show us how to make fire just from using stuff in the forest.

[@DrCrabfingers]

He does on another video...it is hard going. And even then you need a knife. Trying to create hot sawdust from friction between two bits of wood is hard work!! Take away his knife and he'll need to find some flint...and so it goes on. This is why anybody from the early humans carried with them an essential kit of fire starting flints, dry leather or dry fungus etc.. A lighter and some pieces of inner tube are today's equivalent I guess. Anyone going into the wilderness will take a tools to survive.

[@glbwoodsbum2567]

A Master

[@stinknugget6446]

I wanna see Ray Winston making a fire

[@gorillanogin]

If this isn't taught n schools then what are we doing

[@Yansonik]

Separate the bundle of kindling into two, because everybody needs a friend. And remember, don't worry if you don't succeed the first time and die of hypothermia. Bushcraft is all about happy accidents!

[@NB-xq4qt]

must be good.....obviously avoids any calorie deficit in his hunting

[@rorus9530]

Bit lame at the end to start the fire with something he bought.

[@hare1729]

Meanwhile back at the cushty hotel

[@royalbloodedledgend]

Top gear brought me here

[@us24575]

Fire flash lol. Silly. Firesteel.