I have to confess something. While writing, I often have the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel on in the background. If you are unfamiliar with the channel, the "Outdoor Boys" are Luke Nichols and his young sons, Tom, Nate, and Jake. Mom Becca is also frequently featured, despite not being a "boy." Luke worked as an attorney before he became a YouTube star, a more staid career choice.
His videos are quite a change from the politics that we often see.
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His videos involve his wilderness adventures and travels on his own or with his family: everything from fishing for king crab and building shelters in the Arctic, to traveling to Taiwan with the family and fishing for shrimp.
His family is endearing. The channel has been a window into the family as the boys have grown older in the past few years. Luke has passed along his skills and the fun to them, teaching them how to fish, hunt, and be good human beings. The wholesome nature of the videos is appealing.
It's gained Nichols millions of fans and subscribers to his channel. He has almost 15 million subscribers, with about 12 million in the past 18 months. Each of his videos over the last few years has millions of views, and he's made more than a thousand videos over the years. If there's a pinnacle of success in the field, Nichols has certainly reached it. Those numbers translate to making a ton of money.
That's why his announcement on Saturday that he was no longer going to be doing videos on his channel for the foreseeable future was surprising to many. His reasoning was something you rarely see from people in that position: putting what's best for the family first.
He explained how his work on the channel has provided wonderful memories, but even good things can be taken too far. He's worried about how his continued success may be interfering with the family's ability to act normally, when his videos have now gotten billions of hits, and so many people now know him. He confessed how the attention they are getting is a bit overwhelming. He said he wants to spend time helping others instead, including helping one son with his channel, "Outdoor Tom." Luke still has some projects he has been working on, but he said if he finishes them, he'll put them all out at the end of the year. He ended the video with shots of the family over the years on some of their adventures, and then thanked people for watching in his typical gracious way.
That's rare insight, especially with the temptation of all that money, to put it aside for the family. I don't think he was particularly interested in money to begin with, with this, apart from making enough to support the family. But, of course, the numbers have gone far beyond that. But it's still a big thing to do, when that's what he's been doing for so many years, having achieved so much.
But it's typical of him. His family has always come first, and he seems like a wonderful husband and father. Everyone should have that kind of a relationship with their family; the world would be a better place.
I want to thank him for the enjoyment I've gotten from his channel. I admit to salivating when he cooks king crab and garlic butter over an open fire. I now regularly make honey butter fry bread using his basic recipe, and have also used the basic dough for so many things including pizza. I know things about his family that one usually only knows about one's own family--like Becca likes mochi and Tom is fond of World War II history. So thank you to Luke for letting me get to know your family over these years. It's been a lot of fun, I will miss it. If any of you readers want hours of fun to watch, check out their channel; it's a blast. You'll have a good time.
It is so nice to watch a "YouTube star" who loves his wife and children, and has contributed so much with his content: from teaching how to construct a bushcraft shelter to showing how to build a happy life.
— Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) May 17, 2025
