Transcription
Ryan: There's a small community of primitive builders that still exist in our modern era. The only problem? They're YouTubers. Oh, no! Only doing it for the views. I would never do that. However, I'm going to attempt to survive a night in a shelter that I build all by myself. No camera crew, no technology, no excavators. So I'm flying across the country to go to the woods.
So these woods are owned by a dude named Rob. Hi, Rob! It's Rob. I'm giving myself 72 hours to build what I'm calling the Giga Hut. However, I spent yesterday learning from Rob, an expert bushcrafter, on how to use tools. The axe. We chopped down a few trees. It was awesome. I also learned how to saw, how to start a fire. Fire. How do we put this out? How to carve wood to make it look pretty. And now I'm all on my own in the woods, so I can build a Giga Hut.
So I walked around with Rob yesterday, scouted everything out, and I landed on this area. This is what I'm envisioning: front door, roof, wall, back wall, and then a cute little trail that goes into it. I think that's gonna be perfect. So time is of the essence. I'm going to sleep in the shelter in, like, 2 days. Oh, yeah, these red lines are because Rob doesn't own the full forest. Someone else owns the forest past that, which is crazy. So yeah, I've got like 40 hours to surprise Rob with the best Giga Hut he's ever seen.
And I'm pretty much basing this purely off of a YouTube channel I love watching: Cyprien Outdoor Adventures. I love this man to death, but I think he's a little bit better at this than I am. Surprise! There's no snakes down here, he said right before there was a snake down there. Looks like I'm digging my... my own grave here. I'm trying to lay down in here. Dude, I've got a lot of headroom. For the record, I'm 6'4". Okay. I know I'm not. I think it's time we move on to the next step: the first wall.
So right now I'm bringing this stack of wood to my Giga Hut. Now this is some wood that Rob already had cut down. But basically yesterday for like 4 hours, we carved the wood. We just carved the bark off of it, so it looks pretty. And I will say it does look very pretty. It's... it's kind of a trek to the Giga Hut, but it's gonna be worth it. Wood. I'm gonna use this stuff to build my first wall. Rob said that I am gonna need more, so that's why we cut down 2 trees yesterday. So later I'll get to carve those myself. I don't know why I threw that, I need that. Let's get to building this wall! This wall is gonna be essential, because it's gonna be the first and most important structural aspect of my Giga Hut. If a mountain lion tries to get me, let me get him! There really are mountain lions out here.
So... Rob taught me a building method that's different from Cyprien Outdoor Adventures. Cyprien, if you're watching this, I love you. But basically it requires 2 of these on each side. And then you basically just put logs in the middle. You just stack them. And it's super easy, super beautiful. So I'm just gonna do exactly what I just did, again. Oh, gosh! Reminder: I have no experience. The rock in there. My guy. You're going there. I just sawed all of these from our pile. I'm not sure if this is gonna be tall enough for the whole wall, but if it's not, I'm just gonna make the wall shorter by cutting it down. Well, I was trying to think of something awesome to say. I couldn't think of anything. I'm gonna start building our wall. This is gonna be insane. Not bad. It looks pretty good. There's a little bit of AC. I'm gonna tie these support beams together, and I think it should be pretty solid. Rob taught me some knots. That is a figure-eight knot. That has destroyed my wall. Oh, this? Oh, yeah. It's just the wall. So can barely hear you over there. I'm gonna keep building. This is the Giga Hut so far.
Next, we're gonna build a roof. Basically one of Rob's trees that we cut down. I'm gonna take the bottom part of it, the heaviest part, and set it on this wall. And that's gonna be the other side that we're gonna be able to connect the roof to. It's gonna be beautiful. So I'm gonna go collect that log. I keep hearing noises. It literally sounds like Minecraft noises. I swear I've heard a creeper like 4 times. Now that would be bad. There's the tree we chopped down yesterday. Still here. I estimate for our rock wall we're gonna need a big log, about this long, so I'm gonna start... Start sawing. Why don't I just start sawing? Got this saw for a reason. That is a nice log. I'll tell you. There's nothing like being in the woods. I wills. All right. I want the logs to go down to there. In theory, I should be able to stuff a log in there and set it there. Technically, you know, I'm gonna try to lay some wood. Oh, look at that!
I have good news and bad news. The good news: I upgraded my saw. I was using this one. Found a bigger one. This one just wasn't cutting it. And the bad news: Well, it's actually double good news. I have a turkey sandwich. This is awesome. I'm gonna bring you inside. I'm gonna bring you inside. This is literally the most fun thing I've ever done. I basically made a bit of a frame here, and I think I'll be able to make a door here. Also, I put that massive rock on that rock. I'm not sure why. They don't show these in the survival videos. I guarantee you, they got them. Oh, this is gonna be so good. Mhm! That's awesome. I love it here. You wouldn't expect the Giga Hut to be so cozy. I'm gonna process this tree we cut down. So this is the tree. Very nice. I'm gonna cut all the branches off, and then we're gonna skin this bad boy. You did nothing wrong, by the way. It's okay, it's okay. Time to carve. Get some building off camera. I have been wanting to say that since I decided to do this video. This is the difference between husked and un-husked. It's almost hard to see that tree. It actually is. This took like an hour and a half. But between this and this, I think I have enough wood to finish this thing. At least the wood part. Oh, yeah. There it is. Okay. Oh, I'm gonna finish building the roof now. I think I can do that. I feel like I'm in Twilight right now or Shrek. I can't decide. Let's finish this roof! I'm basically just gonna stack wood horizontally all the way across until we have a shape of a window. I'm just gonna horizontally lay them down. Let's do it!
Hey, I'm gonna give you a little tour on my phone. Doesn't look like much, right now. Actually... You know what? Yeah, it does. This is awesome. We got a rock on another rock. Look at this shelter! I know you guys see the vision. A door there. We'll put moss all over the top. That's gonna be insane. We have potentially a fireplace here. No idea if that's safe or if I'm gonna be able to do it. And then the back looking pretty good, you know, mid-century modern. That's what I'm calling it, you know. Absolute fortress. Let me show you on the inside! Let me show you the inside! Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So cozy. Guys, life is crazy. I'm building a Giga Hut. I feel pretty safe in here. Which is kind of crazy because I built it. I'm not even gonna front. I'm sleeping in a hotel between these days. I'm not gonna sleep out here until the shelter is done. I'm not tough like other YouTubers. I'm not cool like other YouTubers. But I am survival. I'm at the hotel. Pretty different from the woods. Sorry! Tomorrow night will be very different. That's for certain. However... Time to grind. Okay.
Moment of truth. Let's see if this Giga Hut is still here! Yes, I got Starbucks. This is the least survival-y video I've ever seen. Three, two, one. Oh, my gosh! I'm actually so surprised. I'm sleeping in this bad boy tonight. So it's time to upgrade the Giga Hut. I'm gonna work on the front door. Oh, wow! That is a frame, my friends. So before I go and fill this in, I'm gonna try to dig this out some more, because the front door is gonna hinge from there, and I don't want it to, like... it can't open. Okay. Much better. I even added a step. You're gonna walk in? Cool. Use the step. Also got a ton of rocks from that excursion. That's what I call... I'm gonna keep building. That seems pretty legit. Okay. This is literally the dumbest thing I've ever seen. This is a door. This is to create tension. So these things don't all roll over like a curtain. I'm gonna see if it stands. I'm gonna be the laughing stock of this forest. Here we go. The rock fell out. No! So I got some wood here, got some sticks. And they have a bunch of string all over them, don't they? We're not gonna have a door. This might be the worst news I've ever gotten. You're telling me I come out here, build this shelter, and I can't build a door with no experience? But nightfall is in, like, 6.5 hours, so there's work to do.
So that's the back wall. It's looking cute and wholesome. Look at that chimney! Wow! The Giga Hut is looking better than ever. I can't believe I'm not gonna have a door. Okay, so next, I'm gonna go get the branches from the tree we cut down. Cover the roof. Waterproof a little bit. Soon enough, I'm gonna put moss on this thing. It's gonna look so cool. We'll see what we do in the back, in the front. But it's branch time. I said that way to chill. It's branch time. Now... It's time to weatherproof the roof. All right, I'm gonna go get some branches. There they are. Let's give it a go! Might have to use this. Saw a commemorative branch. Oh, gosh! Look at that! Huh! Beautiful. So apart from that massive hole in the middle, there should be no rain or anything that can get inside this Hut. I'm gonna put dirt over this now, and then I'm gonna start collecting moss, which is gonna be so fun because I don't have moss in Texas. Moss is awesome. Moss-some, even. I'm so sorry! Let's cut that out! Y'all. Look at this! This is so cool. I'm probably gonna clean it up, get rid of those branches. But for now, the moss. Oh, yeah. Okay, this is crazy. This stuff is so pretty. How does this work? Wow, it's so strong. No way. Look at that! It's like a... it's like a nature roof. Look at that! Yeah. Got a bunch of moss in my hand right now. I'm pretty survival. I'm pretty primitive. Okay, my friends, this is the commemorative moss I'll put up to the Giga Hut. That was awesome. It's so cool. Y'all. The Giga Hut is forming. Look how crazy this looks! Dude, you just stumble across this in the woods. What are you doing? You're going inside. Look how cool it is! This is looking so good. It's actually so quiet in here.
Our next 3 tasks are simple: 1. Try to finish the chimney. 2. Clean up the landscaping. Maybe rake or something. Use the... I don't know. And 3. Plant some ferns. It's gonna look so cute. After that, I can actually start working on my bed. I keep forgetting I'm sleeping here tonight. So let's get rolling! Oh, yeah. On a trek to get some fern. I'll do anything for landscaping. Oh, this is great. Look how pretty it is! I hope it's not poisonous. I don't know, I don't know anything. All right, up. There we go. Okay. Last idea is some moss right in this section. This stuff is so good. I mean, not that I've tried it. It looks so... I don't know. Very fun to rip out of the ground. The moss adds so much. It looks so cool. The chimney's so cute. Here, I'm gonna add some horizontal logs. I'm not gonna worry about carving them. And then some... Some of this stuff. Hopefully that'll keep me warm tonight. Apparently now it's gonna be 37°F, which is almost freezing. A few more. Yes! It's gonna start putting the branches here. I don't want it to catch on fire, that's for sure. That should make us a little warmer tonight. That should. It should do something. I'm gonna go check inside, see how we're doing. Okay. This is insane. This is where the wind would be coming from tonight, I think. I honestly don't know. I'm just trying to make myself feel better about this wall. Ooh, yeah! I actually can't believe I built this. I'm gonna do one more thing, and then I'm gonna eat a sandwich. So I'm just gonna collect some winter green thistle. That's what it's called. And I'm gonna put it in here. That's what I'm going to sleep on. It should make me warmer, according to Rob, than just the bare ground. Giga Hut appreciation moment. Nice. So Rob taught me that this is winter green. Like the same stuff they put in gum. He literally said you could... I'm gonna grab a bunch of this stuff and put it in the bed. I want to make Rob proud. All 1. It's gonna put that there. Gonna need quite a bit of this stuff. All 2. Let's put that right there! Testing it out. Oh! Oh, that's actually so much better than the ground. I'm gonna get more. That's nice. And it smells good. Guys. I think it's about that time. Time to eat my turkey sandwich. I've also got some candies.
So can you believe this? Now, seriously. I genuinely cannot believe this. I had no idea what I was gonna be able to do. No clue. Tonight I wanna start a fire in the chimney. I'm super excited to show Rob. And honestly, I'm just excited to sleep in this thing. I have no clue how this came together. Like, honestly, my luck, it's just gonna fall over any second. I'm not gonna say that. I'm not gonna say that. But this is definitely out of my comfort zone. And I will say that my attire this whole time has been so good. The boots, the sweatpants, the construction vest. Oh, and if you guys were wondering what hoodie I'm wearing, very good for survival. I'll show you what hoodie this is. It's my hoodie that I'm... that I'm launching. That's why this video is sponsored by Shopify. Come here! Come here! So I haven't personally sold anything on YouTube in such a long time. Growing up, I wanted to start businesses all the time, and I actually did in high school and a little bit in college. However, they failed. Now YouTube took a big front seat for me. I just started working super hard on my YouTube videos, and I kind of told myself: I'm not gonna try to sell anything unless it's just perfect and I'm super excited about it. Well, you may have seen me wearing this awesome hoodie throughout the video, and maybe even this t-shirt as well. Today is a super exciting day because I'm launching Howdy Howdy. See? It says "Yeehaw". See? It says "Howdy". The merch brand I'm working with is kind of nervous because these designs are, um, amateur, I guess. I think they're awesome. Look how silly the little skeleton cowboy is. He's got goofy glasses on. He's even drinking a coffee. That's so cute. I've worked super hard on it. I think this drop is so good, and Shopify has helped me throughout the entire process. Shopify is an e-commerce platform, so any business you wanna launch, you can launch it with Shopify. I even built the Howdy Howdy website with Shopify. Very easy. And they give you an amazing dashboard to see all of your data, like who's coming to your website, if people are buying your stuff or just leaving. So if you're like me and you've been thinking about trying to start something for a long time, let this be your sign! Just give it a shot! If you go to shopify.com/ryantrahan and start your business, you get a free trial. You got nothing to lose. So huge thank you to Shopify for encouraging me to do this. I'm nervous. If none of you want the "Yeehaw" hoodie, it's okay. But if you do, you can pre-order through the link in the description. Howdy Howdy.
I am so excited to see Rob's reaction. I'm gonna try to start a fire. Alright. I just collected a bunch of wooden sticks. So I've got these to try to keep the fire going. And Rob taught me a trick of getting 3 kinds of pieces of wood: pencil lead, pencil, marker. I'm gonna try to start a fire. This is kind of crazy. Oh! Come on! Yes! The chimney's working. This is crazy. That is a fire. Potentially a hazard as well. I don't know anything about survival. This is crazy. One day with Rob, that's all I have. But Giga Hut is thriving. Oh! Okay, guys, here is the final Giga Hut tour: the front yard. Oh! The side yard. Diag... diagonal yard. I don't know. The roof. Structurally unsound, but cool. The chimney. Need I say more? The back of the Giga Hut. That's gonna keep me warm. What a beautiful home. This might be the best thing I've ever done in my life. I'm in New Hampshire. Who knew you could do stuff like this in New Hampshire?
So I just got a text from Rob. He's coming over to my... To my hut. I'm gonna meet him in the woods because I don't want him to see it. I'm gonna do a little countdown, surprise him. So let's go meet up with the master and see what he thinks about his student. Rob, I'm so excited to show you what I built.
Rob: Man, I can't wait.
Ryan: Oh, my gosh! Oh, you got pizza. All right, we're approaching it, so eyes down. Follow me! Follow me! Little bit more, little bit more. All right. Three, two, one.
Rob: Oh, wow!
Rob: You're somewhere behind this house?
Ryan: Yeah, that's it.
Rob: Man. I gotta go in.
Ryan: You gotta go in.
Rob: Yeah.
Ryan: I did have a fire going earlier.
Rob: That's safe.
Ryan: Yeah.
Rob: I would use that.
Ryan: Really?
Rob: Nice job.
Ryan: Let's go! All right. Let's see what we got here! Oh, baby!
Ryan: Cheers, Rob!
Rob: Cheers!
Ryan: To the Giga Hut! Wow!
Rob: I'm proud, dude.
Ryan: Thank you!
Rob: Good job, man.
Ryan: Thank you, Rob! This is honestly one of the most fun. This is the most fun video I think I've ever shot.
Rob: Really?
Ryan: Yeah. Do you think it earned the name Giga Hut? Yes, absolutely.
So Rob left me with a care package of sorts, including this beanie. Gave me this little fabric and a sleeping bag. He said it's gonna get insanely cold. Like, not underestimate how cold it's gonna get tonight. He also said I can make a pillow using this and putting some of this fern inside. So I'm gonna make a pillow. That's a pillow waiting to happen. And then build a pillow. And just lay this out like this, cross, and then I'm gonna tie it. My phone is definitely not in my mouth. And that is a pillow. Oh, it's actually so nice. Rob also gave me a sleeping bag. There it is. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. I don't know what just fell on me. I'm honestly pretty warm right now, but I am just kind of freaking out. It's just really quiet out here. Kind of crazy. As soon as... as soon as I stopped cording, I seriously... I seriously just got to go to bed. See you in the morning! Hopefully. I feel fine. I'm being dramatic. All right. Good night!
Rob: Morning!
Ryan: Oh, he's got the coffee. Oh!
Rob: How was it?
Ryan: Oh, it was off. It was off.
Rob: You survived.
Ryan: Yeah, I survived.
Rob: This is nice and hot.
Ryan: Oh! Thank you! Thank you! Mhm! You know what, Rob? I think you could say that this Giga Hut is now a Giga Home.
Ryan: Cheers!
Rob: Cheers!
Ryan: All right. That's good. Thank you! That's Rob's wife holding the camera right now. Thank you!