About this season
This show is series of re-edited short episodes from the Tracks (1994) and Country Tracks (1998) series. It introduces various outdoor skills, bushcraft and countryside cunning with survival expert Ray Mears.
Episodes (10)
1. Building a Makeshift Rucksack
Aired 10 September 2002 • 10 min
Ray dispenses knowledge on building a makeshift rucksack from natural materials such as nettle string, and advises on navigating in woods.
2. How to Harvest Food from a Hedgerow
Aired 12 September 2002 • 10 min
Ray demonstrates his skills as he dispenses knowledge on how to harvest free food from a hedgerow, including fungal 'chickens' and pignuts.
3. Lighting Fires Safely in the Wild
Aired 17 September 2002 • 10 min
Ray demonstrates essential skills for survival in the wild, including a reliable method of lighting fires safely and efficiently without the aid of matches or lighter fuel.
4. Natural First Aid Treatments
Aired 24 September 2002 • 10 min
Ray demonstrates his knowledge of natural first aid treatments, ranging from headache cures to bandages.
5. Fire Harden a Digging Stick
Aired 1 October 2002 • 10 min
Ray makes a sip well, fire-hardens a digging stick, makes a bushman ostrich omelette, and goes coke can fishing. Lindsay Cannon looks at caves in the Peak District.
6. Building Snow Holes in the Cairngorms
Aired 4 October 2002 • 10 min
Ray builds snow holes in the Cairngorms, while Lindsay Cannon goes sand yachting in Kidwelly.
7. How to Make Woodman's Tea
Aired 8 October 2002 • 10 min
Ray demonstrates his skills as he explains how to use the versatile birch tree to make a refreshing sugary drink called woodman's tea, and Lindsay Cannon enjoys a spot of mud-sliding.
8. How to Light a Life-Saving Fire
Aired 11 October 2002 • 10 min
Ray demonstrates how a stick, some moss and a bootlace can be used to light a life-saving fire, while Guy Lindley-Adams revisits his childhood with a walk along south-east England's chalk cliffs.
9. Building a Woodland Shelter
Aired 15 October 2002 • 10 min
Ray demonstrates his skills as he builds a woodland shelter complete with natural insulation and a bed made from a pile of twigs, and Lindsay Cannon goes 'island bagging' off the Scottish coast.
10. How to Cook Rabbit and Purify Water
Aired 29 October 2002 • 10 min
Ray demonstrates his skills by cooking fresh rabbit in an earth pit and purifying water with a filter made from charcoal and sphagnum moss.