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Best advice ever on why to do a youtube channel. Don't do it for the money, do it for something you love, and your people will find you.

Dehydration is very common in cold weather, drinking water is hard to do with all that gear on, hence the headaches.

When I retired, I wanted to still have something to occupy some of my time. My wife and I had been watching travel videos on KZfaq. I told her that I thought I could do that. There were things that we liked and some that we disliked. The most important decision that we made was, "What do we video, and what do we want it to look like." The advice you give is spot on. We are not in it for the money (even though that would be appreciated); we are in it for the experience. Thank you for the advice.

"I was watching KZfaq and found there was some stuff I like and some I didn't so I made a list..." I love this. I am considering starting a channel this year and that I think sums up my motivation. I don't really care if I get a bunch of subscribers. I just want to create something that I would love to watch. If people like it, great. If they don't, well I will have fun making the videos. Luckily I have a full time job so don't really need the income.

I worked in a foundry making fire hydrants in the late 70's and summer temps could easily reach 120* inside. I remember the old guys taught me to wear a jacket when working near the iron. They said "if it keeps the cold out, it will keep the heat out also". I don't know the science on that but I always did it. If you wore just a long or short sleeve shirt, when the iron would splash on you it would burn you quick. I went through several jackets but I don't have scars!

I've been in machining my entire working life and focus on that topic on my channel. Yet....the majority of My most popular videos are the interactions with the giant spiders that crawl out from under my machines. Millions of views. After the loyalty factor plays out, you never know what is going to light up your viewers, no matter how many subscribers you have.

I'm an electrician in Sask Canada where it gets -40. Its easy to dress warm, but the difficulty arises when you are going from cold to hot locations while also potentially working hard. The key is layers. In a typical -20 to - 30c day here's what I'd wear: Head: A good toque, neckwarmer (or a balaclava that coverts into a neckwarmer) Body: shirt, hoodie, winter jacket. One that can also zip up high to the bottom of your chin. Legs: work pants, long John's (or pajamas) Feet: extra thick tmax socks. (I too often have frozen feet so I'd throw in feet warmers) and nice thick boots. Sometimes even a redwing boot would suffice. Electricians work outside sometimes, but we're mostly inside. But yeah, when I go inside I can easily take off my toque, neckwarmer, big jacket, and work in a hoodie all day long.

The shop is looking so good in the background!

I have a small channel. My most viewed videos are the ones that i made because other videos werent explaining enough. So i went with an in depth guide approach. They did well for my size so this advice totally tracks for me

In 1975 I was in South Dakota just after a blizzard and was playing in the 20ft high snowplow mountains for HOURS. I was barely chilled. I went inside and looked at the thermometer and it was 40 below. That was when I figured out how much of a difference humidity makes in the cold. At home in VA, I wouldn't have lasted an hour at 20 ABOVE. Fun science lesson.

As a tiny KZfaqr (tiny as in less than 2k subscribers), I've decided to make my channel, to hopefully be interesting enough for people to watch, and for people to learn something new. I'm currently in college for sewing classes and a specialization (Millinery/hat making), that my teacher had said the one key thing: People in certain industries will gatekeep all the secrets, but then if that happens, the knowledge dies out. What I want to do is make videos in a way that will spread that knowledge so certain art forms don't become lost. There are old channels that I loved the videos from that did a lot of crafting that are no longer making content, and I feel we also need to fill that void in the maker space. My main focus is sewing, and a few other crafts that intersect, with the occasional nail polish video, but other makers out there, may have other focuses or passion projects they should share If people are afraid of being copied, unless it's 3d printing, no one is going to make something the exact same way. I hope this helps other makers out there. Adam, if you ever see this, I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy yours!

I've had my channel for nearly 20 years now (which seems impossible). I started it because I was already doing the thing I enjoyed and figured I'd just start recording it, and thats worked plenty well for me all these years, until recently, when I got a notification from KZfaq saying my channel was now eligible to be monetized. I was pretty excited for a couple days, but then realized I hadnt actually posted anything for quite a long time, and thats when I started stressing out about it, suddenly felt like I _had_ to post something, _had_ to post whatever was going to get the most views, and it quickly sucked the fun out of the idea of doing KZfaq, or even doing the hobby itself. A few days later I got another message from KZfaq saying I _wasnt_ eligible, and it was like a load lifted from my shoulders. The idea of being monetized kind of jump-started me back into the hobby after a bit of break, so that was good, but I get comments from people saying they come to my channel to learn, and that turns out to be a much better incentive for me, I can focus on building what I want, or what my viewers would like to see, rather than pulling my hair out trying to figure out whats going to get the most views. KZfaq burnout is definitely a real thing, its more stressful than a regular job because its all up to you and the whims of the all mighty KZfaq algorithm, so for anyone wanting to start doing KZfaq, all I can suggest is dont look at it as a money maker, just do what you enjoy, and do it your own way, if youre doing something cool/unique/interesting, people will watch.

Having just started a channel myself last year to *force* myself to building the filming gear I needed (lights, softboxes, a slider) and learning about filmmaking, and forcing myself to learn by documenting/filming the things I make to be able to film the stuff I want to film (making and painting miniatures/tutorials for my roller skate shop/weird stuff) - I’ve found that just doing it opens up a whole new world of ideas, which is great - having no huge plans of making it big, just having fun means I can learn and have fun, so it’s a win/win :)

I work in a tile factory in the UK and I routinely wear a hooded jumper, a thick t-shirt and pair of workwear shorts. Just like weathering props, the key is layering! I get weird looks while stood at the bus stop, in the sleet and snow, but holy crap is it nice being a comfortable temperature when in work.

The plastic wrapped sortimo’s waiting to be used makes me so happy. Can’t wait to see the video when they get implemented!!

Re: rain on the West coast: Microclimates in California can be crazy. Average annual rainfall in San Francisco: 23 inches. Just 10 miles away over the Golden Gate Bridge in Kentfield: 48.6 inches. And most of that falls in 3 months (Nov. to Jan.).

There is another reason to have a YT channel, to show family and friends what you are doing. My family, immediate and cousins, along with friends, are spread all over the U.S. and the world. YT is how they can see what I am doing. Others can view too. Monetization is not a plan or desire.

Turnout gear is fantastic. One thing that you may not know about it, while it works well in high temps like a fire, steam comes right on through! Firefighters have to be careful about the type of spray pattern from nozzles when putting out a fire. Rapid increase in steam in a fire fight can scald you right through that gear.

I just started a new channel, first few videos just went up last week. Will it become my career? Probably not. However, I get to meet very cool new people, learn new skills, and there is something great about having even a few hundred people interested in my interviews.

We had a training burn that resulted in second degree burns for one of the the other firefighters when his sweat inside the jacket turned into steam and burned his entire back. During that same training burn I found out that bunker gear will catch fire when my pants lit up. A quick dousing from the hose and all was good.

Swiss Army Knife is still on the shelf - huzzah! Long ago The Scout Shop in Ottawa had the exact same unit - I remember staring at the display and wanting the absolute unit model, but now as an adult I subscribe to "less is more" and carry a Leatherman instead 😛

I've been thinking about starting a youtube channel, just because I have things stuck in my head and I want to get rid of them and move on to more ideas. I don't really care if people watch it, I just want to put it down somewhere so I can stop thinking about it.

This my first time to see your sorting systems. What a glorious wall of parts bins, I am so envious.

Your answer to the question that John, primitive technology asked, reminded me of why I liked watching Adam doing stuff in his cave. It is because of the how, what happened, if, oops, and whistle, and whistle and whistle. 😂 Within the last 3 years, I have been watching a lot of Infrastructure videos, and the recurring prop building, etc. because I see myself as an organized person, but I am not chaotically creative. Seeing someone opposite to me is very interesting and I like to watch and learn and I do not judge your choices because I know it not going to affect me because if it affect you then you will rebuild that thing - which you have.

I was issued Mickey Mouse boots when I was in the Army, but I was never in conditions where they were needed (thankfully). The "normal" frigid German winters has a lasting effect, though, and I don't do very well with cold any longer, to the point that carrying a gallon of milk hurts my fingers.

People have been telling me I should start a KZfaq channel since at least 2012; when my wife (then girlfriend) and I were building our house. Recently, I've started recording and taking pictures while working on projects and posting them on IG; because it seemed more accessible than KZfaq. I've noticed that whenever I post a picture of a machine tool or something new I bought, there is WAY more interest than when I document a project. Maybe I'm not doing it right, but that is my (limited) experience...

-40 degrees is colder than hell. I have lived in Iowa for most of my life where it normally goes below zero at least a couple of times every winter but I have only seen -40 with the windchill factor added in and that was so cold I couldn't stand being outside for any amount of time.

Thanks for the insights ❤

Sweet, ONE thing that I have done that Adam has done is the temperature range, having grown up as a child in MN, and then working at a moving company in the midwest through college, to working in both the turbine building and reactor containment during Nuclear outages right after college, in KS and VA.

I have to try to save on heat. There's a very useful saying: Warm the body, not the room. Layers absolutely help. I have 2-3 shirts on & sometimes a denim vest under my hoodie. 2-3 pairs pants in some combination (sweatpants, thermals, jeans) & 2 pair socks plus leg warmers if needed, maybe also a hat. A trick I learned recently: Take a long scarf...not over your shoulders: around your back under the arms. (Don't twist it.) Cross it up over the chest, just as you'd cross your arms with hands on shoulders. Sometimes having the "top" length a little longer helps to hold it all in place. Wear under your jacket to help keep your torso warm. The table I sit at has a sort of heat curtain taped around the edge (on the underside) to hold the heat from a small heater or if I have a heating pad on my lap/abdomen. A towel over the legs (propped up...heat rises) helps a lot & is easily set aside to get up.

As someone that has grownup watching mythbusters while living in Alaska I appreciate the respect you put into describing our weather. Not many understand how harsh it is up here, and fewer still understand how close to home we really are, love ya and thanks for all the years of creativity 💜

When you talked about the notion of being surrounded in something that keeps you warm in odd weather, I just see you surrounded by all of your get-me-ups and feel the warmth around you. I’m not trying to gush, but, seriously I feel that warmth. I really do.

Hi Adam, I'm a volunteer firefighter in Australia, our turnout gear (or bunker gear in USA) has a couple of layers in it, and from how it was described to me, one of the layers is mesh-like, and as it heats up the mesh tightens to create a sealed layer, as to protect us from an 8 second flashover (from memory). I know for certain that our bunker gear has both Kevlar and Nomex in it as well as being treated with Proban. I would assume that US bunker and wildland gear would follow similar materials to our Aussie gear. Love these videos, from a long time Mythbusters fan. 🙂

Heated jacket are amazing for cold weather

I worked on a steam engine for a few years, and the uniform was the classic hickory stripe overalls and steel toe boots. While the front pockets were great for keeping notes and small tools, the long overalls did help with the heat. When you have a literal fire at your feet, you find out that insulation works the other way, too. Sure you are warmer than you would be while outside the cabin, but inside the cabin you are significantly cooler than if you are exposed to the 300+ degree steam pipes and the IR of the firebox.

You and John having dinner is such a thrilling mental picture.

Adding to the collection of why I started KZfaq replies: I spend a lot of time mucking with stuff in my garage or with tools or whatnot, and everyone would always ask me questions about it. What better way to share these points of view than to do it on KZfaq? But more so, it was a set of skills I didn't have. I didn't know how to film or edit videos, wasn't the best (and am still not the best) at conveying ideas verbally, was rather clinical and less creative in my pursuits, so KZfaq was a way to grow this skill set. Also, I have to give credit to a friend of mine, he was screwing around with shorts and said, just give it a try, nothing to lose. So those three factors are what drove me to do it. Also, it's been a little over 2 years now, I wish I had started sooner...but have gained nearly 5000 subs, the audience just keeps getting better, and am making a few bucks off it now which is neat.

Up here in Seattle, we've had a few of those atmospheric rivers this winter as well, and "it's raining like it means it out there" has been a common refrain. I grew up in Boston and haven't seen rain like this since I left home. It's delightfully sunny today though.

9:40 That impression is the closest thing to his voice the vast majority of people are going to get

Have you ever done a video about what it takes for you to do a video? I don't mean a full exposition - just an attribution. I'm in awe of you and your channel and sometimes forget to speed it up, because I savour your presenting style. I can't help believing that it's just because of you, and you're the only one there. Is there a team?

I love to create, and I love to make videos, so that’s the reason I create KZfaq channels, it’s just so much fun!

John Plant as in Primitive Technology? Wow I love his channel, so lucky to have met him

the fire gear so good

Hehe Listening to you with cold feet right now as I work on concrete slab all day outside in Canada, although it's warmish today at -4°C, after 3 hours on the concrete I often need to start my heated battery powered sole which have changed my life. Despite using different fancy boots, yet to try some that make it past the 3 hours mark when finally feeling that cold. Curious to try the kind you mentioned....

On the point of turnout gear, in rural areas you'll see a LOT of farmers and locals in the winter wearing old firefighting coats cause, while those things have an expiration date for their fire resistance, they DON'T have an expiration date for their warmth, breathability, or waterproofing. Usually a volunteer fire department will sell all their old gear every few years if you know the right person, and that's the most durable, warmest, and most usable cold-weather clothing you can get for 20 bucks, bar none. Still pretty fire resistant post-expiration too, and that Nomex fabric's so tough that just cutting it goes through boxcutter blades like they're goin outta style.

Love the new space layout, but that Victorinox display you spent so much loving effort on restoring is asking "please plug me in!"

Edit: To answer Adam's question, my channel's long term goal is to help me in my goals to build equity and power for disabled people. I want a network of people who can help me make things happen, from building wheelchairs to disrupting the insurance industry. I started a youtube channel recently and in an effort to build an audience I've done more low-entry stuff, but I really want to develop more of a community like Adam has here. This channel has always had such a rich comment section. I often talk like Adam does with my friends and family but just cannot get there on my youtube channel, something about turning the camera on turns me into a poorly spoken person. I do stand up comedy, I'm not NERVOUS, it's hard to explain. I get too caught up in overthinking the sentence I'm on. Working on doing more talking head stuff that I can be proud of--like an interview with a friend about disclosing disability on job applications.

i just started my channel and it's all a bit scary but making and sharing it's always exciting!😅

As a finn, Layers. Lots of layers. Do not let yourself sweat. That'll freeze you up. You loose fast majority of your body heat from your head. So headwear is priority even thought cold is often first felt in fingers / toes.

I say to anyone who asks about KZfaq and starting a channel, just have a go. I started mine 10 years ago and enjoy it still to this day. Who knew fixing vintage toys would have as large an audience as it does!

This had originally a different title about making a youtube channel or something, but apparently it got changed to the "stayed comfortable filming in harsh climates on mythbusters" before I was able to look the video. I was so confused wtf was going on, but after looking long enough and read people commenting about their youtube channel experiences, I realized title was changed. Weird.

The challenge that I see in making some KZfaq videos is coming up with good enough quality of video and audio and the big one, editing. I have watched videos about the process and at some point I will most likely just jump in and see what I can do. After all, I don't have to post it if I get done and go "meh....." I don't see me making a living but "some" extra cash would be nice.

Great video sir

Well, I want to comment on two things. First of all harsh conditions, I think the harshest condition I ever worked at was being a janitor out of U-Haul. To paraphrase a line from Ghostbusters I have seen poop that would turn you white. As for you two channels, yes, I started my channel about 6 months before COVID hit. My channel is had some ups and downs and honestly trying to find your audiences very difficult in some cases. But if you're truly passionate about what you do and stick to it, it could be quite enjoyable.

My secret for cold weather is a hot beverage. Choose any kind you prefer, just make sure it's nice and hot; but not too hot of course.

I live in a climate with a 150 degree F spread. Cold is easy. Stay dry. You can buy into as much cold gear hype as you want, but if you're damp, you're going to be miserable. Cover exposed skin as much as possible, especially if it's windy and keep the snow out of gear (tall boots, pant legs over your boots. If snow gets in, it's going to melt, and you're going to have a crappy day. Heat is more my struggle. But we have more cold temps than hot so I can deal with that.

Thanks for mentioning John Plant; he wrote a book detailing many of his techniques and if you like his channel, I highly recommend it!

Adam, "Firefighter" is the correct term for those that fight fire. Thanks!

I got a few old school woollen turnout costs when our volunteer fire brigades upgraded to nomex etc. They are fantastic jackets for cold weather camping. Keep your back warm around the camp fire and inherently fire resistant. Victoria, Australia winter camping though. Mostly positive temperatures, sometimes -5 at night.

After 32 years living in San Francisco, I've lived in central Portugal for 3 yrs. The intense rain here is a marvel for a San Franciscan.

I agree about the feet in cold weather. Definitely can handle almost anything if those keep toasty

I love Primitive Technologies.

Regarding feet and comfort. All nerves in your body have a terminus in your feet. Therefore the comfort of your feet is indicative of overall comfort.

The hardware store makes an amazing backdrop for these streams/videos. It looks so nice and like Adam is in a professional shop, because he kinda is

Love the advice :)

Great boot info! Bunny Boots!!

11:10 On what to do for a KZfaq Channel....If it resonates with you, it most likely will resonate with someone else and even if it's not their cup of tea, yet are open minded, they might even derive something from it.

Loved the content (as usual) but I noticed what appears to be a huge stack of Sortimo boxes still in the cellophane. Is this another shop infrastructure video waiting in the wings?

I live in the UK 🇬🇧. The KZfaq channel I am a researcher for is in the US 🇺🇸. I am on call 24/7...And I get panicked calls at 2 am...Your researchers must have the easiest work load😂❤

I also suggest the Bunny Boots. I have pair of the Black Bunny's, they are only good to -20 but that's good enough for my life here in Michigan. I believe the White Bunny Boots are good to -40.

Nearly 20 year old channel here (someone else said the same below)… it’s gone through multiple failed reboots, including barely chugging along right now (leaning heavily on Shorts as a crutch) because of work and kids. I have dreams and high hopes for it, and take pride in being one of the OG’s… just disappointed in lack of time to work on it. But when I post something, I enjoy it. For profit? It’s a cold, heartless game… KZfaq… you have to really be in a niche, slave away at it, and with minimal chance of moderate success if you’re in it for a career. I wish I could but just don’t have the time or resources. Instead, I’ll eventually start putting out episodes for ME, not for money. Another noteworthy thing… you can bust your butt editing a 15 minute video for 2 weeks and upload it, and it gets only 14 views. Meanwhile upload a Short with no editing or effort, and it gets thousands. I worked my tail off on a pizza recipe video and it still hasn’t hit 500 views… but a 15 second Short I uploaded with no editing of the front of a building got 10,000 VIEWS! Great right? Wrong. You won’t get the 4000 hours watch time to get monetized with Shorts. SMH. Again, just gotta do it for yourself only.

I have been watching KZfaq since its inception. Starting a channel from scratch is only possible in one of two scenarios: timing and already being successful. Timing means that what you are doing is underserved on KZfaq at the moment, so you could observe what this may be and start doing that, or you just get lucky and the thing you picked is underserved. One area that is hugely underserved on KZfaq is independent journalism regarding politics. I mean going to events, attending speeches, and providing context to help people understand what is going on. If a channel like that got big enough, it could maybe even start pulling interviews with people in office. But right now, the major news networks hold a monopoly over this aspect, and quite frankly, it's annoying how much they twist things. Anyways, rant over. The second scenario is if you are already successful. Adam falls into this category, but I don't just mean TV successful. It could be anything. For example, if you run a successful car detailing business, film it and put it on KZfaq. You are doing it anyways, and if you are consistent, eventually it will start to gain traction.

👍👍 Superb

As a martial artist one of the things I discovered was that the heavier weight gi was cooler than the really light weight ones. Part of it deals with not sticking to the skin, by maintaining some space between you and the material. This allows for air flow which keeps you cool. And it doesn't immediately transfer the heat of the sun directly to your body. Counter intuitive, but it certainly was true!

Anytime someone says "40 below" it brings me back to "The Rodeo Song". Look it up...

I'm on the east coast watching this and it's been raining all day.

Sounds like a good show and tell. Turnout gear science.

that mountain of sortimo is just a dream for me

Heres another question to go along with that. What is the best software to use for livestreaming and how do you find someone willing to help setup all the programing?

I love how he talks about pulling labels off stuff with a giant Swiss Army Knife in the background XD BTW is the motion mech of that thing broken, or just not turned on?

“Stray dope” on the boots I want to wear… hmmm I love unique terms like that were did you pick that up?❤

From my perspective a yt channel should feature stuff you're already doing and would continue to do with or without the camera

Ive been debating for a long time, i have a lot of ideas, but my time is being taken up by me wanting to make a step into law enforcement

Ive spent so much time listening to Tested content that all these stories are repeats for me lol. Its like “Ok Dad tell us your War Stories again.” I jest of course i love it all.

KZfaq IS hard work. BUT at least there are multiple platforms to upload videos to with the possibility of monetization. Take advantage of all of them.

Yeah, gotta make the channel for what you love. I've had to start a second channel because I had way too wide array of content, but both are really channels for me and if anyone wants to tag along, then join me. I recognize I'm not everyone's cup of tea.

I (re)started my youtube channel for a project in university. I wanted weapoonz but youtube banned most of these creative showcases. I started making these projects every weekend on my juniors days but I feared of getting more bullied that I already was. Thanks for letting me know that even incompetence is now an asset not just a liability.

As far as adverse weather goes, while I was in the Army stationed in South Korea we had to do a weapons qualification. It was February and the range was up in the mountains not too far from the DMZ. It was -40 and we had to do multiple weapons that day. Pistol, rifle, machine gun, grenade, and grenade launcher. Not a fun experience. For heat, Ft Irwin in August in MOPP gear and EOD bomb suit with the temperature around 120°f. We have a phrase in the military "Embrace the suck" and all it comes down to is that we learn to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. It's a mindset. One of my senior NCOs put it this way "It's mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

well there you go! your next video Adam should be you going to where they make the firefighter clothes and ask them about the science involved! that would be very interesting 😀

My biggest issue is I want to cover a lot of different things, make different types of content, and idk if I should do it all under one name (not this account lol) or split it up. I also am worried about getting all the info I want in a video, and whether to try and do long videos full of info or break it up into shorter ones. I guess I could still do a long one down the road after I’ve done a bunch of shorts.

Ive been really hoping adam and destin from smarter every day could get together for some sort of experiment or project please consider this!!

Has Adam explained the Oranges boxes in a video yet?

Now imagine fighting fire at -40C. The gear freezes stiff. Trucks freeze. Its miserable But. Everyone remains in high spirits and everyone works hard.

Besides, the kids, at the dance, are #1 - young, and the temps don’t bother them as much, and #2 - they are used to (have grown up in) that kind of weather. When I lived in Canada, in my early 20’s, I was wearing flip flops in hip-deep snow. My feet were warm, so I was warm!

I love your work and especially your support of the maker movement but as a former firefighter/medic would like to point out that there are many awesome women in the profession. Maybe call us firefighters instead of firemen. By the way, my first set of bunker gear was linked with asbestos fabric.

Regarding having a successful YT channel, it's important to remember that Adam already had millions of dedicated followers from his many years on Mythbusters. That is, in Adam's parlance, a "non-trivial" advantage to building YT viewership for his own content. Notice how often he STILL references MB on his Tested content - because the people who watched MB are still his core audience. Yes, be authentic; yes, do it to fill a content need you think there's an audience for; yes, build your knowledge base of what else is out there so you have an idea of what works and what doesn't work for you... But know that getting eyeballs and, more importantly, KEEPING eyeballs is no mean feat and takes a lot of effort. Adam had years of high-profile public exposure BEFORE he started on YT, so he had a good head start.

Naturally, Adam regretted wearing the miniskirt in Alaska.

I never thought I would have bested Adam Savage on anything, but I've worked on a hazardous wasted incinerator where the ambient temp was 160degF. It was so damn hot that my necklace left a burn ring around my neck.

On the other hand, I've tried Snapple for the first time because of some bottles with the labels still on.