Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5591 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-03-24
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 381 minutes

Special Features
English

Synopsis
Ray Mears has spent his life developing a brand of survival skills he calls Wilderness Bushcraft--a philosophy that humans should live closer to nature, as the Bushmen do.
His journeys have taken him to the farthest corners of the earth, encountering indigenous peoples who embody his philosophy and live in tune with their natural environment. This volume collects the first and second series of his television series Extreme Survival, in which he demonstrates his wilderness skills and shares amazing tales of survival from some of the world's most menacing environments.

Customer Reviews

Ray Mears' Extreme Survival Series 1 & 2
This DVD set is the complete series 1 and 2 of Ray Mears' Extreme Survival, a well filmed and informative survival/camp craft series. Mears has also written several books on the subject, and really knows what he is talking about; this is clear throughout these 2 series, as everything he discusses and recommends is demonstrated by Mears in an interesting but practical way, and across the two discs he covers a lot of material. In each episode, he travels to a specific environment, such as the Australian outback, deserts, and mountains. Aside from the wealth of survival tips and techniques, these episodes also feature beautiful photography of the places he visits, and would be of particular interest to someone considering a trip to one of these environments, although there is a lot here even for the casual camper also.

My only real criticism of this DVD set is the lack of additional features; I felt that this is the sort of series that would benefit greatly from photo galleries and interviews, for example, though the two discs do have a menu with specific hints and tips from the series viewable separately.This lack of extra content is a minor problem, though, considering the quality of the episodes, and anyone with an interest in outdoor survival will find they can be watched again and again.

This is what I call quality TV at its best!
I love this series not only because of the fantastic places he visits and how to survive in the wilderness, but also how he brings out an enormous awareness and respect for the environment - to take as much as you need to support your existence and nothing more. One of the things which rubbed off on to me is his emphasis on having a positive mental attitude at all times. That alone has made these worth watching and a great source of joy as a prized part of my private DVD collection.

Excellent outdoor fun
Ray Mears presents his own unique style of survival show; plenty of hints and tips about living in the outdoors, wherever you are, mixed in with some interesting stories about people who have survived - or not - in those environments.

These series have particularly appealed to me because it's not all about building igloos and making fires - though it's never less than fascinating to see how proficient he is at getting a fire going wherever he is - Ray also demonstrates a particular knowledge of, and respect for the natural environment, the people who have learned to live there, and the human aspect of the survival stories he recounts.

An excellent example of how to appreciate our natural habitats in the right way; with the additional benefit of teaching a few skills that just might come in handy one day.