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I think the one commenter hit the nail on the head with, "the stuff Colin does looks off-the-cuff and spontaneous, cause that's his bit, but there is almost cer

by kortex 5y ago

I think the one commenter hit the nail on the head with, "the stuff Colin does looks off-the-cuff and spontaneous, cause that's his bit, but there is almost certainly planning and engineer review going on before hand." England tends to be even more tightwad about this kinda stuff than America, and with multimillion followers, it's not like he can do these big projects surreptitiously. There's the 360° swing, giant iron man mecha, underground bunker, and a few others which would absolutely draw ire from inspectors had they not been done aboveboard. Pretty sure "we have to dig the tunnel stealthily so the neighborhood doesn't know!" is a bit. I bet all the neighbors are subscribers.

nathanael699 5y ago
In the original bunker video, he applied for planning permission /after/ it was built https://planning.southkesteven.gov.uk/SKDC/S16-0017/1288446.pdf https://planning.southkesteven.gov.uk/SKDC/S16-0017/1288446.... It's also quite funny he names "Mr Malcolm" as the person who gave him advice before hand. He's also been arrested for other projects. I feel like he's very much "do first, ask later" type of person. And at least with both of these projects they're sponsored. So it's not costing him anything.
542458 5y ago
Also, in his “final” videos he never wears a helmet on his motorized bikes or carts - but he does wear a helmet in behind the scenes footage, which says the helmet is omitted for image reasons. On the flip side, I don’t think he’s all that completely cautious either. For example during testing in the absurd salad knife belt video (which features a whirling belt of knives) from one shot to another a very large bandage appears on his arm (and is never acknowledged) which suggests to me that that thing was exactly as dangerous as it looked.
- kortex 5y ago
  He's definitely trying to preserve his original image, of twenty-something spontaneous punk-rock welder making crazy inventions with little regard for safety. I've been following his channel for years (fiveish) and watched a lot of his earlier stuff and those vids are definitely safety-third. He's definitely still no Captain Tightpants by any means, but as a fellow former crazy maker / fire performer, you never fully grow out of it, but you mellow out over time and take less crazy risks (in favor of calculated risks).
  - CydeWeys 5y ago
    He definitely did a few things in this most recent video that made me cringe, like using an angle grinder to make a notch in a steel pipe that he's holding up with his other hand. Some pipe clamps would've been advisable there vs holding by hand the object you're cutting into. Felt like something you'd see on /r/OSHA. The tunnel generally feels safe, but I can't say the same for the methods employed in digging it.
    - kortex 5y ago
      Yeah, I see that attitude a lot in burner/circus arts/stunt circles. Limited concern for their own safety ("I know what I'm doing") but very safety conscious the moment other people involved. Grinding some pipe with it in my hand? Yeah I got this. Digging a tunnel that will have the cameraman and others in it, and might collapse the house of done wrong? That's worth some thought. Some. Lol. That reminds me of this greybeard that was helping us move some heavy machinery. "It won't hurt you!" as we have a 1400 lb top-heavy drill press dangling from an engine hoist. Um, yeah, heck yes that'll hurt you. Wouldn't have gotten it into the uhaul in time were it not for him.
    - madaxe_again 5y ago
      Yeah, I learned the hard way why that’s a bad idea. Really easy to catch because your workpiece is unsecured, and when it then jumps out of your cut, it makes a beeline for your hand. Fortunately I only took a little bit of thumb off, but you’ll never catch me using a grinder or chainsaw on something I’m holding with my other hand again.
- detaro 5y ago
  There was also a video in 2013 or so where he gets quite nasty burns when the jet engine he's working on without safety gear goes fireball.
ashtonkem 5y ago
Yeah, I’m fairly certain I’d get called out on this if I tried this as a random yahoo in Idaho, let alone a famous YouTuber in the UK.
numlock86 5y ago
> the stuff Colin does looks off-the-cuff and spontaneous, cause that's his bit, but there is almost certainly planning and engineer review going on before hand I am just going to add that this dude has been in hospital multiple times including some actual accidents happening here and there, almost losing one of his arms once IIRC.
- kortex 5y ago
  Sure, but as I mention in cousin-thread, there's a difference between being reckless with your own safety and well-being, and putting others at risk, physically, medically, fiscally, or legally. He's certainly not the most safety-minded person, but if you watch enough of his videos, you see that there is very much a "controlled chaos" when it comes to external hazards. My point is, it's often less reckless than it looks at first glance, not un-reckless in an absolute sense albeit. Good showmanship and all that.
Vespasian 5y ago
In the original Bunker video He briefly mentions inspections and permits.
- goodcanadian 5y ago
  He mentioned retrospective permits which means he did it first and tried to make it legal afterward. However, he wouldn't have got the permits if he hadn't done things properly, so there's that. Finally, there were contractors involved which usually know their jobs.
  - imtringued 5y ago
    What's the worst that is going to happen? He made a video and then lets the professionals clean up his mess if it's unsafe.
    - goodcanadian 5y ago
      The worst that could have happened is that he could have been ordered to remove it again at great expense.
      - manquer 5y ago
        It might still be worth it for him ? His videos make enough to justify the expense risk ?. I mean others wouldn't likely make money in projects like this. They do it because they need/want the actual tunnel. He really only the videos of him making one.
        nathanael699 5y ago
        He declared over £1million in just one company last year, and Sky were paying for the bunker anyway. Same with this tunnel, this one is sponsored. I do wonder if he's killed his budget though, because he's just randomly stopped, filled the walls with concrete and is now "taking a break". I suspect this one might not get finished.
meibo 5y ago
To my knowledge this is still in a residential area, so you do need to take care with construction noise, even though he certainly plays it up as a bit. In the video after the linked one, he mentions that the project was on pause for a while due to covid not letting the neighbors go on vacation (when he seems to usually do these big projects).
ufmace 5y ago
Probably more about keeping good relations with his neighbors than actually keeping it secret (while posting on a Youtube channel with over 10 million subscribers). They probably wouldn't be too happy with the noise from explosives and jackhammers and the other usual tools for digging tunnels.
- mbfg 5y ago
  well, one assumes that by the time the first video make it to youtube, the tunnel's been completely done for a while.

by kortex 5y ago

nathanael699 5y ago

In the original bunker video, he applied for planning permission /after/ it was built https://planning.southkesteven.gov.uk/SKDC/S16-0017/1288446.pdf https://planning.southkesteven.gov.uk/SKDC/S16-0017/1288446.... It's also quite funny he names "Mr Malcolm" as the person who gave him advice before hand. He's also been arrested for other projects. I feel like he's very much "do first, ask later" type of person. And at least with both of these projects they're sponsored. So it's not costing him anything.

542458 5y ago

Also, in his “final” videos he never wears a helmet on his motorized bikes or carts - but he does wear a helmet in behind the scenes footage, which says the helmet is omitted for image reasons. On the flip side, I don’t think he’s all that completely cautious either. For example during testing in the absurd salad knife belt video (which features a whirling belt of knives) from one shot to another a very large bandage appears on his arm (and is never acknowledged) which suggests to me that that thing was exactly as dangerous as it looked.

kortex 5y ago
He's definitely trying to preserve his original image, of twenty-something spontaneous punk-rock welder making crazy inventions with little regard for safety. I've been following his channel for years (fiveish) and watched a lot of his earlier stuff and those vids are definitely safety-third. He's definitely still no Captain Tightpants by any means, but as a fellow former crazy maker / fire performer, you never fully grow out of it, but you mellow out over time and take less crazy risks (in favor of calculated risks).
- CydeWeys 5y ago
  He definitely did a few things in this most recent video that made me cringe, like using an angle grinder to make a notch in a steel pipe that he's holding up with his other hand. Some pipe clamps would've been advisable there vs holding by hand the object you're cutting into. Felt like something you'd see on /r/OSHA. The tunnel generally feels safe, but I can't say the same for the methods employed in digging it.
  - kortex 5y ago
    Yeah, I see that attitude a lot in burner/circus arts/stunt circles. Limited concern for their own safety ("I know what I'm doing") but very safety conscious the moment other people involved. Grinding some pipe with it in my hand? Yeah I got this. Digging a tunnel that will have the cameraman and others in it, and might collapse the house of done wrong? That's worth some thought. Some. Lol. That reminds me of this greybeard that was helping us move some heavy machinery. "It won't hurt you!" as we have a 1400 lb top-heavy drill press dangling from an engine hoist. Um, yeah, heck yes that'll hurt you. Wouldn't have gotten it into the uhaul in time were it not for him.
  - madaxe_again 5y ago
    Yeah, I learned the hard way why that’s a bad idea. Really easy to catch because your workpiece is unsecured, and when it then jumps out of your cut, it makes a beeline for your hand. Fortunately I only took a little bit of thumb off, but you’ll never catch me using a grinder or chainsaw on something I’m holding with my other hand again.
detaro 5y ago
There was also a video in 2013 or so where he gets quite nasty burns when the jet engine he's working on without safety gear goes fireball.

ashtonkem 5y ago

Yeah, I’m fairly certain I’d get called out on this if I tried this as a random yahoo in Idaho, let alone a famous YouTuber in the UK.

numlock86 5y ago

> the stuff Colin does looks off-the-cuff and spontaneous, cause that's his bit, but there is almost certainly planning and engineer review going on before hand I am just going to add that this dude has been in hospital multiple times including some actual accidents happening here and there, almost losing one of his arms once IIRC.

kortex 5y ago
Sure, but as I mention in cousin-thread, there's a difference between being reckless with your own safety and well-being, and putting others at risk, physically, medically, fiscally, or legally. He's certainly not the most safety-minded person, but if you watch enough of his videos, you see that there is very much a "controlled chaos" when it comes to external hazards. My point is, it's often less reckless than it looks at first glance, not un-reckless in an absolute sense albeit. Good showmanship and all that.

Vespasian 5y ago

In the original Bunker video He briefly mentions inspections and permits.

goodcanadian 5y ago
He mentioned retrospective permits which means he did it first and tried to make it legal afterward. However, he wouldn't have got the permits if he hadn't done things properly, so there's that. Finally, there were contractors involved which usually know their jobs.
- imtringued 5y ago
  What's the worst that is going to happen? He made a video and then lets the professionals clean up his mess if it's unsafe.
  - goodcanadian 5y ago
    The worst that could have happened is that he could have been ordered to remove it again at great expense.
    - manquer 5y ago
      It might still be worth it for him ? His videos make enough to justify the expense risk ?. I mean others wouldn't likely make money in projects like this. They do it because they need/want the actual tunnel. He really only the videos of him making one.
      - nathanael699 5y ago
        He declared over £1million in just one company last year, and Sky were paying for the bunker anyway. Same with this tunnel, this one is sponsored. I do wonder if he's killed his budget though, because he's just randomly stopped, filled the walls with concrete and is now "taking a break". I suspect this one might not get finished.

meibo 5y ago

To my knowledge this is still in a residential area, so you do need to take care with construction noise, even though he certainly plays it up as a bit. In the video after the linked one, he mentions that the project was on pause for a while due to covid not letting the neighbors go on vacation (when he seems to usually do these big projects).

ufmace 5y ago

Probably more about keeping good relations with his neighbors than actually keeping it secret (while posting on a Youtube channel with over 10 million subscribers). They probably wouldn't be too happy with the noise from explosives and jackhammers and the other usual tools for digging tunnels.

mbfg 5y ago
well, one assumes that by the time the first video make it to youtube, the tunnel's been completely done for a while.