Outdoor Boys' Luke Nichols makes rare appearance at graduation to give advice to students that no professor would
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: George Mason University
The creator behind adventure Youtube channel 'Outdoor Boys' spoke to graduates at a university in Virginia, issuing advice about the one survival skill for they will need for life.
The Outdoor Boys channel, created by former attorney Luke Nichols, soared to fame in 2023, gaining approximately 12 million new subscribers who adored his camping, adventure, and fishing content.
Amid an algorithm that rewards fast-paced clicks, endless scrolling, and short attention spans, the Outdoor Boys, prior to his retirement in 2025, offered slower, simpler content, centred around family, nature, and genuine adventure.
And while law graduates at the George Mason University in Virginia might not have an obvious connection to the former YouTuber, Nichols, who previously owned a successful law firm, shared the one piece of advice that their professor wouldn't have.
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"You need to be ready to survive the storms, and the best survival advice I can give you is very pragmatic," he said.
Nichols advised students to simply 'save some money'.
He added: "Money is power. Money is flexibility. When change happens, those people who can afford to adapt can prosper and take advantage of those opportunities.
"And those who cannot afford to be flexible get crushed."
Users in the comments praised the former YouTuber for sharing the sensible advice, as one said: "When a survivalist tells you to save because bad things will happen, you listen."
As another added: "This is a message for everyone not just law students."
Continuing his speech, Nichols added: "I cannot say I earned everything I have. All I can say is I did not waste the opportunities gifted to me.
"I can tell you that your odds of success are much, much greater if you spend less than you make and you save money aggressively."
He advised students to save up as 'much' as they can as 'quick' as they can, 'because some amazingly wonderful opportunities are coming your way'.
Wishing them luck, he concluded: "To be ready to take advantage of those and to survive the storms, you're going to have to have something in reserve.
"And I know you can do it."
Having largely stepped away from regular content creation, Nichols is now prioritizing time his family, privacy, and community work.
He has, however, helped his young son Tom to launch his own YouTube channel, which is called Outdoor Tom.