JerryRigEverything Answers 20 Questions He's Never Been Asked

Summary

Zack Nelson, known as JerryRigEverything, answers 20 questions about durability testing, repairability, YouTube, and his wider projects.

Technology and durability testing

• Historical technology he would investigate: Nelson is fascinated by the Antikythera Mechanism, an approximately 2,000-year-old device used to track celestial movements and plan events. He would rather learn how it works than risk damaging it. He is also interested in reconstructing an early hand-propelled submarine, while avoiding the historically fatal shock wave from its torpedo launch.
• Why he wants X-ray vision: His teardown work often involves opening glued-together smartphones, where a prying tool can break a screen or damage internal cables. Seeing a device’s internal layout beforehand could help him dismantle and reassemble it without causing failures.
• A memorable durability test: The Nexus 6P became his most notorious phone-breaking test after he snapped one in half. After people accused him of staging the test—and he received death threats—he bought another phone and broke it on camera to show that the result was genuine.

Repairability, recycling, and AI

Nelson says his teardown videos have reached roughly a billion views and helped viewers repair phones rather than discard them. He also highlights recycling, including a glass-recycling video that he says received about 17 million views.

He wants AI-generated content to be clearly labeled and social platforms to do more to remove bots. He has declined AI-company sponsorship offers, including what he estimates could have been six-figure deals, because he believes the technology needs stronger safeguards.

Advice for creators

Nelson recommends publishing regularly instead of waiting for every video to be perfect or worrying about maintaining a strictly connected channel storyline. In his view, a larger body of work gives more viewers a chance to discover a creator’s content.

Wheelchair manufacturing and community support

Nelson and his wife founded a factory focused on making more affordable wheelchairs, including off-road models. He says specialized wheelchairs can be very expensive, and the goal is to make it easier for people to explore outdoors.

The factory is beginning to manufacture its own wheels. Equipment costing about $250,000 is intended to reduce wheel costs from roughly $500–$800 each to around $50. Nelson plans to make a video showing the process.

An anonymous viewer sent two bitcoins, worth about $100,000 at the time, to help fund KidsRig off-road wheelchairs for children. Nelson says the donation helped provide discounts. The bitcoins later rose in value, allowing the factory to support more orders before he eventually sold them.

Other projects and future plans

Nelson converted an old Humvee from diesel to electric using electric motors and a Tesla battery. He reports that it accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in about six seconds. He also built a backyard bunker, but moisture and mold mean its interior needs to be redone. Another project involved planting 3,000 Douglas firs in a smile shape.

After a period of burnout from making two videos a week, the wheelchair factory gave him renewed motivation to keep producing content. As the factory becomes more self-sustaining, he may reduce his publishing pace to one or two videos per month. He is also interested in making a woodworking channel.

What he hopes to leave behind

Nelson says he wants his work to encourage repair, recycling, environmental care, and appreciation for the complex technology people rely on. He sees preserving those capabilities—and looking after one another—as important to safeguarding civilization’s achievements.

Reviews, guides, and tutorials mentioned

• Nexus 6P durability test: A phone-breaking demonstration that became controversial and was repeated on camera to address claims that it was faked.
• Smartphone teardown videos: Repair-focused breakdowns intended to show that phones can be repaired and kept out of landfills.
• Glass-recycling video: An educational video about recycling, cited by Nelson as one of his most-watched environmental projects.
• Planned wheelchair-wheel manufacturing video: A forthcoming video documenting the factory’s wheel-production process.

Main speaker and source

Zack Nelson (JerryRigEverything) is the sole substantive speaker in the subtitles, answering questions in an interview conducted by Dexerto.