I always thought the ethos of wild camping was to leave the hillside so that nobody would know you'd ever been there.... I don't see it as "Bear Baiting" to point out that he failed dismally in that respect. Or that by doing so as prime-time entertainment he lends an unwarranted air of legitimacy to such an act.
Perhaps I'll go crap on his lawn... without burying it.... perhaps I should film it.... it might become a Youtube hit
I'm going to step away from this thread now because I can and will. What was meant to be a light hearted and enjoyable thread has become a soap box and I want no part of it.
Certainly is. But it will stop the millions of impressionables carrying wood onto the hills and starting fires leaving environmental scars almost as big as their gear carbon footprints
I've seen Ray Mears light plenty of fires and even chopping down a few trees to make a bed etc. I guess it's all right for Ray Mears but not for Bear Grylls.
Or who when Bear Grylls is concerned. I don't see anyone going to great lengths to establish the circumstances in this case, just the normal response when it involves Bear Grylls. It must be standing room only on the 'Criticise Bear Grylls' bandwagon.
Whether it's Bear, Ray or anyone else is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned. But this happens to be a thread about a Bear Grylls programme.
And it was him in this case who seemed to think nothing of starting a fire on a pristine, wild hillside. I posted a picture earlier (a still screen-captured from the programme on 4OD) which shows the impact.
Maybe he had permission. Maybe the production crew reinstated things (god knows how) afterwards. But that's irrelevant - none of that was visible to the audience. All they see is Bear pitching up, gathering his firewood, lighting his blaze, sitting by it uttering things of the "this is what it's all about" variety, and in the morning heading off to continue his adventure. As an example of wild camping it's crap, and irresponsible, and the fact that it's TV entertainment is no excuse.
Perhaps rather than resorting to ridiculous jibes about "Bear Bashing" and so on, someone would actually care to argue why they think what he did was ok?
I guess we can assume that all those who've decided to indulge in a bit of Bear Bashing have never seen Ray Mears on TV lighting fires and chopping down trees which is why they haven't started or more accurately jumped on a thread about Ray Mears to point out the error of his ways. I agree it isn't a very good example to set if it leads to others doing the same thing, that said it's hardly breaking new ground for a TV show about the 'Outdoors' to show someone lighting a fire, Ray Mears had been doing it for long enough.
Perhaps we should give the kids who actually prefer to watch programs about the outdoors rather than so called reality TV some credit, are they going to watch Bear Grylls or Ray Mears and think "I must get into outdoors pursuits just so I can light fires here there and everywhere" or are they going to see the bigger picture (unlike most who've commented on this thread) I wonder how many of those who pitched up along Loch Lomond wreaking havoc did so having been inspired to do so by watching Bear Grylls or Ray Mears.
