Tom Fell Through A Frozen Lake In Estonia 

Laughed out loud at 11:11, he was standing in front of a building on ice smiling, blissfully unaware, that the writing in red behind him "varinguoht" translates as "risk of collapse" :D.

I like that you’re not clickbaiting. Tom falls through a lake, you call the video “Tom falls through a lake” and not “Tom nearly died from hypothermia”. You get pulled over by military and you call the video “We got pulled over by military” and not “We almost got arrested by military”. Thank you for doing that.

It's true, Estonian for: "Tea" is "tee" "Road" is "tee" "Do" is "tee" So an "ice road" and an "ice tea" are both "jäätee" Also, Estonia has freedom to roam, so it is legal to enter almost everywhere as long as it isn't barred off.

I love that Tom is going to be the coolest uncle ever "Did i tell you about the time I flew with the red arrows?" "Where was I? Ah yes, so I has just fallen into a frozen lake in a submerged prison in Estonia"

Don't try this at home. As if I have a frozen quarry lake, with a prison in it, at home

Tom: can fall into a frozen lake and is fine Also Tom: walks through some cold water in a cave and is not fine

You guys need to wear body mounted GoPros for your next adventure.

Seriously, good job on Matt for putting the camera away to be ready to help Tom. So many people would've kept filming just to be able to catch it on video, while Matt was actually worried about his friend falling into an ice lake.

17:04 "Don't try this at home" because everyone has a frozen lake in their home.

Tom's intense eyeroll at 12:46 - 12:49 still absolutely kills me with how dramatic it is

If you want to give ice roads another try there are also government maintained ice roads in northern Sweden. The roads are inspected regularly and are only open if the ice can carry 2 tons. Some facts: Speed limit: 30km/h. No overtaking. Minimum of 50m between each car. No stopping or parking. Bonus fact: Seat belt laws don't apply to ice roads. The reason is that wearing a seatbelt will make it harder to get out of the car should it start sinking.

I love how Tom's reaction keeps being: Damn, my phone!

It's not trespass, Estonia has freedom to roam, you can walk anywhere as long as it's not fenced

"and the phone lived. Oh and so did I." hahahah

Now the real question is. Did the divers see this unfold, and more importantly did you say anything to them or just walk back the the car awkwardly.

I saw the thumbnail and read the title and thought that an entire town called "Tom" had fallen into a lake. Clicking on it, I thought "Well what did they build the town on the lake for?!"

Matt genuinely seems like the best person to have in this situation. Kind, knowledgable, and funny enough to keep you mentally well

Sign says: varinguoh Tom: This sign can't stop me because I can't read

Sing "Tom fell through a lake in Estonia." to the tune of "We flew a kite in a public place."

As a student in Tartu who's been on a date on that very bench, I managed to stick it through and listen to your whole story. Glad you had an eventful stay.

19:45 For some reason I wasn't expecting the red T-shirt. That colour is truly a part of your personality now, Tom.

Dry suits will keep you dry, they WILL NOT keep you warm. The diver gasping was likely genuine.

11:05 picture, written on the building wall VARINGUOHT means in estonian collapsing danger :D:D Just pointing it out XD

Am I the only one who thinks that Paul looks like a smaller version of Tom ? :D

Ive lived in Estonia for 2 years and every time I meet someone new in the city it's allways the same question. "Why are you in Estonia" 🤣🤣🤣

You keep talking about this scar you've got, Tom, and I've been looking for it ever since the amusement park incident. Haven't found it yet. Logic dictates that it must be too fine a scar to be noticed on video.

Here after the cave video

That's right UK, you won't get to have your tree of the year anymore... I can hear them crying from Calais.

Ice in sheltered places is always weaker. I know that, because I grew up near a pond with a bridge, and now work across a canal with a bridge (in other words, typical Dutch landscape). Just getting near that building was, frankly, a stupid idea. By the way, I believe the lack of snow there is a SYMPTOM of wet (too warm) ice* but not the CAUSE of it. Snow is bad for ice, because of its insulating properties. *) That's not to say thin ice can't have a big layer of snow though! In short: ice sheltered or covered is potentially dangerous. Smooth ice in the open, where the wind can cool it, is usually the most reliable. Plus you can more easily tell if there are serious cracks. Beautiful scene though!

I find it quite interesting that I find out more about Estonia in your videos than I do on my own..... I live in Estonia.....

When they said Tom went through the ice, I was on the edge of my seat wondering if he was going to make it out alive. Finally they said he did. What a relief!!!!!

Yes, it's a long one this time, but we've got some stories to tell! -- Tom

That artist impression of Tom's face is horrifying.

On the sign at 5:00 it says "PRIVATE PROPERTY entry at the owner's permission" and "your movements are being recorded".

Me and my friend once sat and played guitar on that exact same bench. I sat on exactly the same spot where Tom was. This is absolutely useless information but I will cherish this revelation

So glad you're safe, Tom!! As a mother of 2 adult children, I hope you called and told your mother this story ~before~ you uploaded it to the internet! 😉

Thank god you are alive. And you were acting really responsible: You all tried to distribute your weight. Matt put away the camera and made sure Tom was all right. I like that spirit. That's far better than watching someone die

Paul is a hoopy frood who knows where his towel is at. A good guy to have around in an emergency.

Apart from the fantastic story, I laughed out load at Matt pulling the mic to himself for a facial expression. Brilliant. 16:00

Gee I wonder why Tom had such a reaction to the cold water when he went caving. Oh wait

This is bound to be such a classic Matt and Tom video: Tom being a test subject for doing the most interestingly head-scratching activities - and Matt encouraging him. 😭

Wow i live just a few hundred meters away from that park bench. Can't believe you were so close to me.

I love the artist's impression

4:55 Reminds me of that sign here in Britain telling you about the "Secret Nuclear Bunker."

that we all could have a matt gray as a friend on standby to pull us out of potentially fatal mistakes

Now we need to hear the scar story as well!

Ah, Estonia... Truly the Canada of Europe...

All of us (the fans) should go to the base. He would have a Sub-Base.

Matt Gray, the guy that will make a good partner to some lucky person and/or fantastic father.

Road Trip! You guys have just added a location for my future Europe trip. Me and my friends will dive anything that's wet. And a submerged prison sounds like something we couldn't go past without having a look.

I suddenly understand why Tom had so much difficulty on citation needed. Matt sounds like he's making up the details as he goes trying to recall data.

I weigh very little so, I used to crawl on ice sheets every year. Once my friend did the same. He was more than twice my weight. I have not done that again.

the amount of times they walked past signs that said things like "danger of collapse" and "private property"

17:00 how do i get a prison in a frozen lake at home???

"Don't try this at home" Me: *flys to Estonia during the winter*

In an alternate universe, that was the death of that phone. Oh, and Tom

Matt: "It was about 45 minutes bottom left of Tallin?" Tom: [exasperated] "South-west..."

I wonder whether the three of you would've fit on the Wilde-Vilde bench. :D It's a punny little statue of two contemporaries, the world-renowned wordsmith Oscar Wilde and ... atleast locally admired estonian writer Eduard Vilde, engaged in banter with some sitting space between them. People like to snap photos of joining the conversation, but it looks like there's only room for one person. If you ever want to check it out a bit closer to home, there's an exact copy located in Galway, Ireland. :)

That whole attitude, of "this looks safe, can I beat him?" is a significant part of why so many men die young. It's the human equivalent of smashing your heads against each other, you're trying to prove yourself the Most Successful. It's a stupid impulse, but a deep-rooted one. ;-)

best thing I've ever seen and heard Matt do, repeating "Tree of the year" for the third time.

I love how Tom got the pronunciation of Tartu pretty much spot on and then Matt cut in and just butchered it 😂

I laughed my ass off when Tom said the bit about the ice tea

Sitting between them I can't get the idea out of my head that Paul looks like a cross between Tom and matt

Tom describing something as ‘the weather thing’ seems unthinkable

So the cave thing was an anxiety attack all along.

"Don't do this at home" Yeah I'll keep that in mind while I'm crawling around the submerged frozen prisons in my house :P

It's kind of exciting to have Paul on camera doing the talky thing, especially given his role in Tom's past adventures.

I immediately paused this video and googled "how to survive falling through an ice hole," so... thanks for that, Tom!

Matt is a good friend, putting Tom's welfare ahead of making photo's. :)

On the one hand; a fantastic story - you guys are basically adventurers

So Matt says that Tom wasn't as good at "spreading his load" and none of you make a joke out of it? C'mon!

Also, while you were definitely in real danger of going under the ice and dying... the fact that there WERE a group of divers at the lake probably would've raised the chances of survival a bit. The brain's not dead until it's warm and dead and all that.

"Somebody could crawl through it... So I called through it!"

It’s honestly good he didn’t panick cause if he did it would have been potentially worse

Hey, at least it wasn't a river. Never attempt to cross a frozen river, especially a very wide one

Just turning a wet phone off isn't going to make a lot of difference as there will still be voltage in plenty of places - you should really disconnect the battery

This reminds me of skiing across a frozen river and feeling the ice give way. If you ever need to do this, learn from my mistake and let your companion take the lead! The ice creaked, my companion retreated, my skiis sank beneath the surface ... and came to rest two inches down. I can feel it yet.

The filmed part of the video for Alan Waller's song Faded here! I was watching the video and instantly recognised it as that place Tom fell into the ice :P

That abandoned prison is the set for the musikvideo for the song "Knebel" by Lindemann. That was unexpected to find out in one of your videos!

Welcome to Estonia

Tom literally did the comedy cliche of "there's no way I'm doing . You can't get me to do . Under no circumstances will I be forced to-" cut to Tom doing which is, in this case, crawling out of an ice hole after all but jumping in

Hi Tom! I´m from Estonia and it is soo nice you visited Estonia! :D Best to you and your friends! :)

10:58 what’s happening in the top right corner

8:06 you can swim above multiple underwater towns in Spain, you can even go kayaking

That teaser at the end though! I'm so excited for the next video!

Love you're videos guys! Thanks for stepping by Estonia. By the way, love the picture where Tom's in front of the ruins in Rummu and grafiti at the top right says "varinguoht" which is a warning that the building may collapse, Tom's face just goes so well with it :D. At least the trip was memorable, escpecially for Tom :D

4:32 those guys look like professional hit-men / kidnappers in the distance until they are nearby

Matt is a really good friend

Loving Park Bench as always - Long may it live!

Im off to visit estonia with my scout group for a challenge called the Explorer Belt. I remembered you made this video and so i came to watch it again.

Ice is always thinner near objects poking out of it. Also it doesn't look like a super cold day. The road is wet and the snow looks fluffy. On a really really cold day, the road would be dry and the snow would look less fluffy. From, a Canadian.

paul looks like a combination of matt and tom

Tartu is a Wonderful city, and in Estonia anyone can go in to any land even private land, and you may collect some berries and set up a tent etc. but you may not set up camp fires or cut down trees etc.

Reminds me of the time when I fell through the ice in a pond near my home one winter... very similar situation.

wait...... thats not Shenley....

I think this calls for a *Facepalm*... or several! Glad you got out of it alive though, Tom.

It's awesome that you went to the submarine base! My countryside-home (an Estonian thing) is near it. Could have showed you around as I was there for some time.

excellent friends, excellent story telling, excellent channel. Well done.

This video just made me realize that, whenever I had a bad day I tend to watch your videos (especially anectotal ones like this one) as a bedtime story. And they do make me calm down and think of nicer days ahead. Thanks guys!

Never follow tracks in snow assuming it's safe. This is how people fall through ice on lakes and off cliffs while skiing/snowboarding