RIP To A Legend, Luke From Outdoor Boys Just Retired From YouTube To Focus On His Family After Gaining 12 MILLION Subscribers Past 18 Months

Devlin5/17/2025 6:38 PM

While every ptarmigan in Alaska rejoices, White Boy Summer is officially CANCELED. And White Boy Winter will never happen again. One of America's last great exports and content creators has hung up his outdoor cape for good it seems.

Farewell to Father Nature, Luke Nichols. Goodnight, sweet honey butter prince.

If you're reading this thinking, why the hell is everyone so worked up about Mormon Ned Flanders saying goodbye, I get it. It was only a few months ago I felt the same way coming home to my roommate randomly binging videos of this good man. At first I was shocked to see how many millions of subscribers he had, this many people want to watch some goofy dude just sit in an igloo?

But it wasn't long before I saw the light. Despite not giving a single fuck about the outdoors, there was something so relatable and enjoyable about watching this guy do his thing. His passion for the survivalist genre clearly bled through, and the content itself was enthralling even without that. Who knows how many times he should have died just chilling solo in a self made snow hut or camping alone on subzero tundras.

Legendary stuff. And that's coming from a bonafide Eagle Scout, so you know it counts.

Pretty soon, Luke became our #1 pregame playlist. Perfect videos for an active watch or casual background noise, and a lot of pure beauty in his simplicity. This is just a dude who loves being a dude outdoors, who taught himself everything, and was willing to share his knowledge for free.

A dude who is L-I-V-I-N-G. (And able to successfully escape from his wife & kids whenever he wanted)

Luke used to be a lawyer in Washington DC but a moved his family to Alaska a few years ago and decided to start filming/editing the nature adventures he was having anyway. He definitely didn't expect them to go as viral as they did.

Truthfully I never really prioritized the videos with his full family but it was obviously a big part of his channel too. So it makes sense why he would want to take a step back and actually focus on their well-being moving forward. Can't imagine what it's like being an average everyday dude who's only worried about his kids & honey butter batches, only to accidentally become THIS famous. These silly videos he posted gave him more views than the Pope in the past year.

His channel gained 12 MILLION subscribers during the last 18 months with 2.8 BILLION views on his channel, and he estimates his family has been seen over 4 billion times when counting all the places his content was stolen & posted. That is A LOT of weirdos peering at your family and trying to shake your hand in diners. Not great!

So while I'm devastated at this news, I also totally get it. Huge props to Luke for stepping away at the top of his game and focusing on what matters most. He's basically Biege Barry Sanders. Can't hate on this move at all.

The good news is he said there will still be a video dump on his channel at the end of this year, and he'll be helping his son Tommy improve his YouTube channel too. Maybe we can get Brandon F. Walker to do a 1 time crossover event with him… I'd definitely watch the 2 whitest guys alive teach their Tommys how to be a MAN via fishing by a creek and sleeping under the stars.

But until then, the Outdoor Boys archive will have to do. There's still plenty of #content to watch & enjoy, so let's just appreciate the man for what he's already gifted us. I'll embed some of my favorites below and if you want to laugh through tears just search Outdoor Boys on Twitter and you'll see how the community is taking it. Not well of course, but the memes are incredible.

Thank YOU for all the good times Sir Luke.

See you in Valhalla. Salut mi familia. Rest in YT Premium.