IF YOU'VE ever wondered how you might cope when faced with seemingly impossible odds, then some of the stories Ray Mears shared last night would certainly inspire you.

Although he looks more like a university lecturer than an extreme adventurer (and at times it did feel like an historical seminar), the packed theatre was a testament to his wide appeal.

And as Ray points out, you can’t tell who is the most likely to succeed in adversity, as we all have a capacity for endurance if our motives for survival are strong enough.

Through a series of four stories, Ray explores what makes a survivor starting the first half with an ill-fated expedition in North America in 1903 by Leonidas Hubbard before moving on to the story of how one man in a bomber plane crew of ten survived in the Australian outback when their plane crashed and then Jim Bradley, a British soldier captured by the Japanese who was forced to work on the Burma railway.

In the second half there was a brief Q&A and a few survival tips from Ray, followed by the amazing story of Violette Szabo, an undercover agent for the Special Operations Executive who always tried to help others despite her own desperate situation.

I was disappointed that we didn’t get to hear more of Ray’s own personal tales of endurance.

But these tales of torture and survival, escape and recapture, were perfect illustrations of the indomitable power of the human spirit.

Nicky Findley