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#prepper #bushcraft #survival
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0:00
big changes are coming to the prepared
0:02
wander Channel you're going to want to
0:04
stick around for this video because I'm
0:05
going to discuss
0:07
[Music]
0:13
it so if you follow this Channel and
0:16
you're a subscriber I want to first of
0:17
all say thank you so much for the
0:19
support I appreciate it if you're new to
0:22
this Channel and you're wondering what
0:23
the heck is going on well stick around
0:25
because I'm going to be discussing the
0:27
State of Affairs for the prepared WI
0:30
Channel now um I've been doing this
0:33
channel for about 8 years now um I have
0:36
close to 75,000 subscribers which in the
0:39
world of YouTube is really not that big
0:42
um but my goal has always been 100,000
0:45
subscribers and I just haven't quite got
0:47
there yet which has been a little
0:49
disconcerning but um the past few months
0:53
have been extremely difficult for me um
0:56
shooting video I just have not um had
0:58
time and I really haven't been able to
1:01
put my heart into it um there's been
1:03
many times where I just didn't want to
1:04
do it um but I knew that people were
1:07
expecting it and of course it's very
1:10
easy to get caught up into things of you
1:12
know having subscribers having views and
1:16
succeeding and I just wanted to keep
1:18
doing it so I kept driving and and
1:21
putting content up but as this year is
1:25
closing down and the holidays are coming
1:27
up and it's going to you know start
1:29
getting even more busy
1:31
um I thought this would be a great
1:32
opportunity to discuss what I'm going to
1:35
be doing with YouTube for 2025 you know
1:38
I really thought hard about just
1:41
stopping doing all this and just hanging
1:43
it up and um that did not set well with
1:47
me because I have not hit that goal of
1:50
100,000 subscribers that's ultimately
1:52
what I really wanted I wanted that's to
1:54
me is just a personal goal doesn't
1:56
really mean anything um but to me that's
1:59
an achieve
2:00
um and I want to hit that at some point
2:02
and I would love to hit it in 2024 but
2:04
it did not happen so I've been thinking
2:08
a lot about the content that I do put
2:10
out and what that means to people and uh
2:15
what I like and what I don't like that
2:16
I'm doing and I notice that recently
2:19
there's been kind of a trend that I've
2:21
been shooting a lot of I I would say uh
2:25
quickly put together videos of product
2:28
reviews and I've kind of gotten into
2:31
this
2:32
um I don't know habit or um pattern of
2:38
you know companies contact me all the
2:40
time want me to review stuff and I turn
2:42
a lot down because a lot of It's Just
2:44
Junk but I still keep taking on these
2:47
reviews and of course there's pressure
2:49
to do those reviews people want to see
2:52
um what you're coming up with and um a
2:55
lot of times my heart's just not in it I
2:58
just don't you know feel like doing it
3:00
and the things that I love that I
3:03
personally enjoy watching on YouTube are
3:07
videos of people out doing stuff doing
3:10
activities I don't necessarily get to do
3:12
now I've always tried to have a healthy
3:14
dose of that on this channel I try to
3:16
get outside and you know if I'm doing a
3:18
knife review I'm doing a knife review
3:19
outside if I'm um talking about setting
3:22
up a tarp shelter or camping I'm
3:23
actually doing it I try to do that as
3:25
much as possible that becomes very
3:28
difficult at times um I don't have a lot
3:30
of private land available to me a lot of
3:33
what I shoot is on public and um of
3:37
course just time gets away from me uh
3:40
with family commitments and work like I
3:42
said so getting those opportunities to
3:45
get out and shoot videos has been more
3:47
and more uh hard to do but I want to
3:51
change that and I am not I'm officially
3:54
saying I am not going to give up yet I
3:57
am not closing this channel down
4:00
I still get a lot of comments from
4:02
people all over the world who say you
4:04
know I really enjoy your videos I
4:06
learned something I appreciate your
4:09
honest um downto Earth approach and I
4:13
appreciate that that means a lot to me
4:14
so I want to keep doing that but the
4:17
focus I think needs to
4:23
change so what is the change going to be
4:26
well I think the big change is that I'm
4:28
going to um
4:30
Focus Less on products and reviews still
4:34
going to do them from time to time
4:35
because I think they're important people
4:38
get a lot of information from those so
4:41
uh I'm going to be very selective on the
4:43
things that I review and I want to make
4:45
sure that I'm reviewing them these are
4:47
items I'm going to keep and use
4:50
longterm and that they will keep showing
4:53
up in videos down the road that they're
4:55
not just kind of a one shot
4:57
deal the other thing that I really want
4:59
to focus on um is getting outside and
5:02
doing it and that means training um
5:06
training with other people other groups
5:10
organizations um instructors that is my
5:13
goal I really want to um attend some uh
5:16
of the more uh larger survival schools
5:19
that are out there and try to get some
5:21
different perspectives from people and
5:23
just keep learning just because I'm at
5:26
my age does not mean that I can stop
5:28
learning that's the whole point you want
5:29
to keep learning and I I think um being
5:32
in the company of other people pushes
5:34
you to do more and even going out with
5:38
my buddies I will learn something from
5:40
them so I want to continue that that
5:42
learning process and then the big thing
5:44
is I want to do practical um field uh
5:50
exercises and training and I want to
5:53
document that and I want to show what
5:55
I'm learning and what I'm trying to do
5:57
the focus of the channel or atas the
6:00
title of the channel for a long time has
6:02
been Bushcraft
6:03
survival those are terms that I agree
6:08
with and don't agree with I think
6:10
they're overused a lot I don't like um
6:13
labels and titles because I think they
6:15
box you in and of course people have
6:18
preconceived notions of what certain
6:19
things are what is Bushcraft what is
6:22
survival um even when you start talking
6:24
about um preparedness
6:27
prepping uh Minute Man modern minute man
6:31
um all these things have positive and
6:34
negative connotations people have their
6:36
own preconceived notions about them and
6:39
then they try to put you in a box and I
6:41
don't want to be put in a box so what
6:43
I'm going to be focusing in on is
6:46
probably taking that word Bush Bushcraft
6:49
out doesn't really mean much to me um
6:52
I'm a practitioner or a studier of it
6:54
but it's not something that I'm focused
6:56
on never have really been um I admire
6:59
people who do it and really focus on
7:01
that because I think they're very
7:02
skilled but for me I really like more
7:06
practical application of skills in the
7:09
field and that comes down to field craft
7:11
I think that terminology fieldcraft sums
7:14
up things perfectly and then that can be
7:16
applied in a lot of different ways to
7:19
different scenarios and that is either a
7:21
survival situation um which I still
7:24
really I'm very much interested in and I
7:26
want to keep um pursuing and and
7:29
learning learning and hopefully teaching
7:30
and showing to people how do you survive
7:34
in a dangerous environment or situation
7:37
and then the other side of it is the the
7:39
more of the prepping side of like what
7:42
happens when um you can't get home or
7:47
there is a huge um natural disaster and
7:51
now roads are closed and you don't have
7:53
food or water and you have to do
7:54
something so those
7:57
scenarios all can apply field craft to
8:00
them and those field craft skills become
8:04
very very important and I want to focus
8:05
on them I want to become better at them
8:07
and I want to take you along on the
8:09
journey so that means getting out with
8:11
my gear and putting in the miles so what
8:15
are these fieldcraft skills that I'm
8:16
talking about what does this all mean
8:18
well there's one thing to show a
8:20
survival kit and then there's another
8:22
thing to actually take that survival kit
8:24
go out in the woods spend the night with
8:25
it um live out of it use it and actually
8:28
show
8:30
how to use certain items um and how
8:33
certain things fail work don't work and
8:36
show all that not edit it out don't um
8:39
sugarcoat it but actually show the
8:41
reality of things um sometimes it's hard
8:45
to get fire started sometimes it's hard
8:47
to find water uh sometimes you're hungry
8:50
sometimes you're cold you're wet those
8:52
are things that you um as a viewer
8:55
deserve to see and that's how you learn
8:58
I learn when I see other people going
8:59
through these struggles and I learn when
9:02
I do them so I want to share that stuff
9:03
with you field craft skills are exactly
9:06
that it's getting out in the field and
9:08
actually applying them and um trying
9:11
them out um you know uh not just talking
9:15
about it
9:18
so another big component for 2025 is
9:22
going to be actually getting out um and
9:24
training with other folks um it's really
9:28
become apparent to me that um there are
9:32
so many people out on in the internet on
9:36
YouTube on Facebook who claim to be uh
9:41
survival instructors
9:42
experts and a lot of it's just talk and
9:45
uh it's very annoying sometimes and I
9:48
don't want to ever fall into that
9:50
category I don't want people to think
9:51
that um I'm something that I'm not I am
9:55
a student I am always learning um I have
9:59
no
9:59
real professional background in this
10:02
other than I did search and rescue for a
10:04
number of years and I taught classes
10:07
within that environment to our team
10:09
members that doesn't make me an expert
10:11
by any means that's just experience just
10:13
some experiences that I've had um so I
10:17
want to continue learning I don't want
10:18
to stop so that means I want to get out
10:20
more um with um uh friends um who are
10:25
good at what they do there's some great
10:26
people out there one of the the folks
10:28
that I really enjoy doing some training
10:31
with was uh the real modern Minuteman if
10:34
you check out his channel modern
10:36
Minuteman he has some fantastic stuff he
10:39
is uh has fantastic videos content he
10:42
has a
10:43
newsletter uh he's just a great guy and
10:46
I've learned a lot from him and he's
10:47
just like me just a normal guy just
10:49
doing this kind of stuff and and he
10:51
documents it on YouTube and shows it to
10:53
everybody so I want to do more training
10:55
and um then the other side of it too is
10:57
I want to uh actually attend
10:59
some classes and schools I've been uh
11:03
spending a lot of time here in the past
11:04
few months uh kind of researching the
11:07
different classes and schools that are
11:08
available and I know people are going to
11:10
be putting their comments down on ones
11:11
that I they think I should attend and I
11:13
appreciate that um but there's some that
11:15
I just won't go do um and there's others
11:17
that I'm very interested in so uh if you
11:20
have some that you trust and you admire
11:24
um feel free to leave a comment down
11:26
below and I'll check them out but that
11:28
is definitely a goal to get to at least
11:30
two or three uh classes this year this
11:34
coming year um and becoming more
11:37
proficient in fieldcraft skills and then
11:39
also um doing some more firearms
11:41
training as well I actually have a kind
11:45
of an AR class I'm going to be taking
11:47
here in a couple weeks at a local
11:50
shooting range it's a very basic um uh
11:53
self-defense course with an AR but um
11:56
it's just an opportunity to spend a few
11:58
hours at the the range with some um
12:00
different people and to be taught a few
12:03
things so I'm looking forward to that
12:05
and I hope to do more and more of that
12:07
next year as Welles but if I make this a
12:11
goal and you guys um help me be
12:15
accountable and tell me when I'm not
12:18
doing it or at least ask the question
12:20
when's the next video going to come out
12:22
when you're going to be out in the field
12:23
when you're going to spend the next
12:24
night out overnight and film it for
12:27
us that way I can keep doing it and I'll
12:30
keep pushing myself and you guys keep
12:32
pushing me and then hopefully we'll hit
12:34
that 100,000 subscribers the channel
12:37
will grow more it'll become better um I
12:39
certainly think I can hit it um but I
12:41
need your help so I want you guys to
12:44
definitely leave a comment down below
12:47
let me know what you think of the the
12:50
direction that I'm taking this um tell
12:52
me the things that you like about the
12:54
channel and you don't like about the
12:55
channel um we all got to keep each other
12:58
honest and I can certainly take it um if
13:01
there's things that you don't like so um
13:04
I'm not going to sit here and ramble all
13:05
day long um a time but I wanted to share
13:09
my thought process this has really been
13:12
heavy on my heart and I wanted to share
13:14
it with my viewers and the people who
13:16
who enjoy this Channel and letting you
13:18
know that I can do better and I can um
13:22
certainly produce better videos for you
13:25
guys and hopefully um this cont content
13:29
that I'm producing resonates with you
13:32
and um you appreciate it you get
13:34
something out of it and if you do
13:37
subscribe hit that Bell notification
13:40
share it with friends ask them to take a
13:42
look at it uh post on social media and
13:45
help the channel grow and definitely
13:48
leave a comment let me know what you
13:49
guys think and as always thank you so
13:51
much for watching and we'll see you next
13:54
time on the prepared Wanderer
13:59
[Music]
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