Popular Mechanics put out a list of 100 skills every man should know, split out in categories like Automotive, Home, Survival, Technology, etc. I think we can do better. Spoilered for size Spoiler Automotive 1. Handle a blowout 2. Drive in snow 3. Check trouble codes 4. Replace fan belt 5. Wax a car 6. Conquer an off-road obstacle 7. Use a stick welder 8. Hitch up a trailer 9. Jump start a car Handling Emergencies 10. Perform the Heimlich 11. Reverse hypothermia 12. Perform hands-only CPR 13. Escape a sinking car Home 14. Carve a turkey 15. Use a sewing machine 16. Put out a fire 17. Home brew beer 18. Remove bloodstains from fabric 19. Move heavy stuff 20. Grow food 21. Read an electric meter 22. Shovel the right way 23. Solder wire 24. Tape drywall 25. Split firewood 26. Replace a faucet washer 27. Mix concrete 28. Paint a straight line 29. Use a French knife 30. Prune bushes and small trees 31. Iron a shirt 32. Fix a toilet tank flapper 33. Change a single-pole switch 34. Fell a tree 35. Replace a broken windowpane 36. Set up a ladder, safely 37. Fix a faucet cartridge 38. Sweat copper tubing 39. Change a diaper 40. Grill with charcoal 41. Sew a button on a shirt 42. Fold a flag Medical Myths 43. Treat frostbite 44. Treat a burn 45. Help a seizure victim 46. Treat a snakebite 47. Remove a tick Military Know-How 48. Shine shoes 49. Make a drum-tight bed 50. Drop and give the perfect pushup Outdoors 51. Run rapids in a canoe 52. Hang food in the wild 53. Skipper a boat 54. Shoot straight 55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike 56. Escape a rip current Primitive Skills 57. Build a fire in the wilderness 58. Build a shelter 59. Find potable water Surviving Extremes 60. Floods 61. Tornados 62. Cold 63. Heat 64. Lightning Teach Your Kids 65. Cast a line 66. Lend a hand 67. Change a tire 68. Throw a spiral 69. Fly a stunt kite 70. Drive a stick shift 71. Parallel park 72. Tie a bowline 73. Tie a necktie 74. Whittle 75. Ride a bike Technology 76. Install a graphics card 77. Take the perfect portrait 78. Calibrate HDTV settings 79. Shoot a home movie 80. Ditch your hard drive Master Key Workshop Tools 81. Drill driver 82. Grease gun 83. Coolant hydrometer 84. Socket wrench 85. Test light 86. Brick trowel 87. Framing hammer 88. Wood chisel 89. Spade bit 90. Circular saw 91. Sledge hammer 92. Hacksaw 93. Torque wrench 94. Air wrench 95. Infrared thermometer 96. Sand blaster 97. Crosscut saw 98. Hand plane 99. Multimeter 100. Feeler gauges Focus: What are the skills that everyone should have in today's society? Alt-Focus: Discuss the Popular Mechanics list - are those really the top 100 skills that are necessary for the average man?
- Know your way around the BBQ - Know how to "perfect pour" a beer - Learning to swim might also be a novel idea - Know how to strike somebody over the head with a wine bottle (always overhand instead of side-arm)
I suppose it's a good thing I don't put much stock in internet lists claiming to define my manhood by my possessions because I own one of the tools on that list. Know what I do have? A checkbook and a cousin who is a contractor.
I want to know what the criteria is for surviving extremes in order to prove one's manly manliness adequate. Or is this like go to the basement if there's a tornado and if it's cold, don't forget your jacket! Then manly men pat themselves on the back for their manness. Is manness one or two ns? A man should know. 101 - win a fight 102 - train an animal 103- finish a centurion (100 shots of beer in 100 minutes) 104 - eat steak at least medium rare, or rare
The one that I am surprised isn't in the home section is relighting the pilot light on a water heater. About a year back I lived in a house with a girl and two other guys and we all woke up one morning to find that there was no hot water. The other three were apparently content with filing a complaint with the leasing agency and waiting on someone to come out and look at it. I couldn't believe they were just going to deal with cold showers until that happened, it took me all of 10 minutes to realize the pilot light was out and relight it.
One would think that managing finances, and all of its offshoots would be listed as pretty fucking important. Hell, I'd even list learning to zip your fly up without getting your dick caught before I listed the following: The fine folks at Popular Mechanics apparently live in a much different world than I do.
1. Negotiate 2. Make peace between two other parties 3. Admit a mistake 4. Apologize 5. Laugh off attempts at intimidation For the record, I'm a bit insulted by the use of the word, "Master," with regard to tools. Motherfucker, I've worked my ass off to "master" those tools. Some chump with a home depot stanley hand plane needs to use a different word.
1. Know enough about a specific topic to speak about it with authority 2. Accept the opinions of others, even if you don't agree 3. Recognize the signs of common medical emergencies (heart attack, stroke, shock, etc.)
I was doing pretty well until I got to the technology section. Surprised "cooking a complete meal" wasn't on the list. 101. Anticipate your partner's PMS and take appropriate protective measures. 102. Have sufficient spatial reasoning ability so the fridge accommodates the week's groceries AND your beer. 103. Be able to provide an accurate response to any line from any Clint Eastwood movie.
Huh. And all this time I thought useful military knowledge would consist of close quarters combat, or strategy, or rigid self discipline. Making beds and doing push ups? Give me back my tax dollars you glorified P.E. teachers! Common medical emergencies? Is your hobby walking into nursing homes and flashing the patients or something? Anyway: X). Remain calm under pressure. X). Formulate a cogent argument. X). Approach a potential love interest. X). End a relationship in a civil fashion. X). Construct a feasible plan in case of zombie uprising.
We do in the US. There's a formal method for folding a flag into a triangle which is how it's to be stored. You've never seen this is a movie scene of a military burial where two soldiers fold the flag that covered the casket and then present it to the widow?