Van Neistat's The Spirited Man Unofficial Companion
The purpose of this site is to consolidate the tools, tips, and thoughts of The Spirited Man YouTube series by Van Neistat, the elder half of the Neistat Brothers. Many thanks to Van for his inspiring work.
Start here: Chronological playlist of Van Neistat's The Spirited Man YouTube
Van Neistat's website is here. His merch store is here. His Patreon is here; You should join, it's only $5.
Please support your local independent hardware store and used book stores before buying from Amazon.
- Swiss Champ or
Leatherman Wave multitool pocket knife. Also: Vice-grip 4" pliers
- 12v cordless drill, drill bit set, and bit holder and Philips bits.
- A good saw for cutting wood: BAKUMA PURANOKO 240 Single Edged Japanese pull saw from video or similar ones on Amazon AND/OR Bosch barrel-grip jigsaw with good blades
- Combo square, level, and tape measure
- Dremel 200 with EZ lock mandrel. Also: ear protection and eye protection.
From the essential car toolkit videos I and II
From other videos
Van's filmmaking gear
Gear technique notes
- Van often uses bolts/screws that are "too long" then cuts off the excess with a Dremel cut-off wheel when they're going through a piece. Jimmy DiResta does similarly, often using an angle grinder cutoff wheel.
- Van used Sunnyside brand boiled linseed oil to finish the baby gate in the Sean Avery episode after he uses the shou sugi ban technique on parts of it.
Books Referenced
Reading List from YouTube details:
Other books referenced
Films Referenced
Narcissism vs. Universality
- Royal Tenenbaums (DVD directors commentary)
- Dumb & Dumber
- Fitzcaraldo (Herzog); Burden of Dreams (Les Blank)
- Hearts of Darkness
- Tarnation
- The 5 Obstructions (Lars van Trier)
- Alice doesn't live here any more
- Do Easy (Gus van Sant)
- Color it Clean
- For all Mankind (Al Reinert)
- Unstuck in Time
Other
Episode Notes
- All gifts should have an element of surprise
- Respect the gifting Holy Trinity: NICE MADE THOUGHTFUL (any two will be a good gift)
- Made gifts should not be bigger than one's hand.
- Dating and/or Monograming a gift gives it extra power.
- Know what flowers your girl likes.
- Take your time with books.(get a signed copy if possible)
- A Postcard COUNTS! (your goal of giving a gift is to make the person cry)
- She will tell you. (not if you ask)
- Buy small gifts when you travel.
- Expensive, not Costly. (e.g. fancy chocolate or socks)
- For KIDS: you pick the store, The kid picks the gift.
- Send thank you notes
The goal of gift giving is to make people feel loved.
- Always pack a bathing suit
- The greatest adventurer I know
- Leave room for presents
- Begin packing when you know your departure date
- A packing experiment from THE PAST
- Pack a
multi-outlet extension cord &
rubber bands
- One luxury item
- A rule when traveling by plane - "Don't pack more than you can carry yourself for a distance of 1/4 mile"
- The complexities of adventure packing
- Support for The Spirited Man
- The heaviest I've ever packed
- What I packed on the biggest adventure of my life
- How packing impacts travel
- No Stacks/One-Handed - only stack identical/interchangeable items
- Kit Your Sh!t - junk drawers are a necessary evil. Their chaos preserves you kits' organizational integrity.
- Find Your Organizational Talismans - 1. Binder clips 2. Post-its 3. No. 64 Rubber bands 4. Push pins 5. Hooks
- Learn to Build Shelves
- Customize
- Do Not Switch Horses Mid-Stream
- Do Not Lend Tools
- No Hoarding Materials
- Do Not Use the Last of Anything
- No Flat-head Screws
- Do Not Migrate Tools
- No Tripwires
- No Fixing Garbage
- No Straight-Edge-Guide for Cuts
- No Bare Feet
- Ingredient 1: OVERLAND, NOT COACH
- Ingredient 2: ONE MONTH
- Ingredient 3: SPLURGE
- Ingredient 4: OFF-SEASON
- Ingredient 5: NATIONAL PARKS
- Ingredient 6: BICYCLES (especially electric bikes)
- Ingredient 7: MODEST HOTEL/MOTEL
- Ingredient 8: SEPARATE ROOMS
- Ingredient 9: NICE HOTEL / AIRBNB
- Ingredient 1O: SCARY BUT CHEAP
Supplies
- 1x6 pine board, up to 40" in length
- 4-inch corner braces x2
- 3/4-inch #8 flat head sheet metal screws (they usually come included with the corner braces)
- Cobra TripleGrip #10 x 1-1/2 in. Anchors with Screws
- 1 1/2" #10 pan-head sheet metal screws (crappy ones come included with the wall anchors, but do yourself a favor and trash the included screws. Buy new screws separately. Phillips-head only, ALWAYS!
- 5/16" masonry bit (included with TripleGrip wall anchors, check
Building the shelf
- Measure your wall.
- Measure your board.
- Mark your board.
- Cut your board.
- Sand your board
- Line up your corner braces.
- Mark the holes.
- Pre-drill your holes.
- Mount your corner brace.
- Line-up, mark, pre-drill and mount the second corner brace.
- Mark only ONE corner brace hole.
- Check your wall for a stud. (Drive sheet metal screw in first to check, don't use the anchors if you hit a stud)
- Carefully bore one anchor hole.
- Clear the dust.
- Moosh the wall anchor.
- Work the wall anchor into your hole.
- Screw the corner brace into the wall anchor.
- Level shelf and mark opposite hole.
- Test wall for stud.
- If you haven't hit a stud, bore an anchor hole.
- Insert second wall-anchor.
- Screw in second corner brace.
- Mark the remaining two corner brace holes.
- Remove the shelf.
- Drill the bottom holes and install anchors.
- Install the shelf with 4 screws.
For Brick, Concrete, or Cinder Block Walls use TapCon 1/4" x 1 1/4" hex head concrete anchors. You need a hammer drill.
Principles, quotes
- The Spirited Man or Woman is a person that takes care of their own business.
- Work hard, be brave.
- The reward of good work is more work.
- Kit your shit.
- When you don't know what to do next, organize. Get yourself some space.
- Don't by junk. Buy things worth repairing.
- If you haven't figured out your life's purpose, your life's purpose is to find your life's purpose.
Podcasts
A list of Van Neistat interviews and The Spirited Man-related podcasts is here
Video
Other people and things you may like
Miscellaneous
*add &list=ULcxqQ59vzyTk to the end of any YouTube video to magically create a chronological playlist.
Video screenshots
Golden Post-it Notes
Shelf tools and supplies
Artist Resentment & Gratitude diagram
Typewriter spellcheck
About Van Neistat and The Spirited Man in Van's words:
ABOUT THE SPIRITED MAN: The Spirited Man is an unlimited series about the spirited man or woman who lives inside all of us (and fixing things).
ABOUT VAN NEISTAT: A pioneer in digital filmmaking, Van Neistat made his first internet video, The Holland Tunnel, in 2000. He went on to collaborate with New York City artist Tom Sachs, directing a series of short films shown at the Guggenheim Museum in Berlin. Van has since directed dozens more films for the Tom Sachs Studio. In 2010 HBO aired The Neistat Brothers, an 8-episode series of short videos made entirely by Van and his brother Casey Neistat. Van Neistat's directorial debut feature, A SPACE PROGRAM, co-written by Tom Sachs, premiered at the 2015 South by Southwest Film Festival and opened in theaters nation-wide in spring, 2016. In 2018 Neistat Directed the short film Paradox Bullets, co-written with Tom Sachs, narrated by Werner Herzog, and starring Ed Rushca. Neistat has written and directed commercial projects for Nike, Hurley, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, J. Crew, Twitter, Sleepy Jones and Frances Valentine. His work has been exhibited in museums throughout the world. He lives in Topanga, California.
What is this site?
I like repairing, film, and bikes and was inspired by Van Neistat's video series. I wanted a list of his tools he uses since they appear well curated and tested over decades. Also they are unique and fun. I couldn't find a list or any written companion to the series for quick reference, so in the spirit of The Spirited Man, I made one.
Please leave any comments on the r/VanNeistat subreddit.
The Spirited Man Unofficial Companion website is unaffiliated with and unauthorized by Van Neistat, The Spirited Man. All content is available freely on the internet, nothing was taken from his Patreon-only content. It is intended as a fan site for informational purposes only. Do not attempt to recreate or re-enact any stunt or activity on this website.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.