Can You Master These 25 Essential Skills for Every Man?

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The discussion revolves around a list from Popular Mechanics detailing 25 essential skills every man should know, which includes practical tasks like patching a radiator hose, performing CPR, and navigating with a map and compass. Participants reflect on their own abilities related to the list, with many claiming proficiency in most skills, while some suggest modifications, such as adding plumbing repairs or basic cooking skills. There is a debate about the relevance of certain skills, with some arguing that the list is biased towards physical labor and lacks essential life skills like financial management and household chores. The conversation also touches on the importance of self-sufficiency and the practicality of knowing how to perform various tasks in everyday life. Overall, the thread highlights differing opinions on what constitutes essential skills for modern living, emphasizing the balance between traditional masculine skills and broader life competencies.

How many do you know?

  • none

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 1-3

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 4-6

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 7-9

    Votes: 5 12.8%

  • 10-12

    Votes: 4 10.3%

  • 13-16

    Votes: 11 28.2%

  • 17-19

    Votes: 2 5.1%

  • 20-22

    Votes: 6 15.4%

  • 23-24

    Votes: 4 10.3%

  • All 25

    Votes: 7 17.9%
  • Total voters
    39
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According to Popular Mechanics, these are the 25 skills every man should know.

1. Patch a radiator hose
2. Protect your computer
3. Rescue a boater who has capsized
4. Frame a wall
5. Retouch digital photos
6. Back up a trailer
7. Build a campfire
8. Fix a dead outlet
9. Navigate with a map and compass
10. Use a torque wrench
11. Sharpen a knife
12. Perform CPR
13. Fillet a fish
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid
15. Get a car unstuck
16. Back up data
17. Paint a room
18. Mix concrete
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle
20. Change oil and filter
21. Hook up an HDTV
22. Bleed brakes
23. Paddle a canoe
24. Fix a bike flat
25. Extend your wireless network



How many do you know?

Also, do you agree/disagree with the list?
 
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I can:


2. Protect your computer
3. Rescue a boater who has capsized
4. Frame a wall
5. Retouch digital photos
7. Build a campfire
9. Navigate with a map and compass
10. Use a torque wrench
11. Sharpen a knife
12. Perform CPR
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid
15. Get a car unstuck
16. Back up data
17. Paint a room
18. Mix concrete
21. Hook up an HDTV
23. Paddle a canoe
24. Fix a bike flat
25. Extend your wireless network

26. Call someone who knows how to do the things I can't
 
The only things I haven't done are 12, 21, and 25, but I'm pretty sure I could hook up an HDTV.

I'd delete 4 & 25 and put 'repair a toilet' and 'repair a sink' in their place.

Open a can and open a bottle of beer should probably be on the list somewhere, too.

Having skin like leather and the diamond hard look of the cobra should be on there, too, and maybe the ability to walk like Brando right into the Sun and dance like a Casanova.
 
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I've done all but 12 and 21, but I have had CPR lessons. I'd probably read the instructions to hook up HDTV installation.

Open a can and open a bottle of beer should probably be on the list somewhere, too.
With a set of keys and key ring, counter/table edge (preferably metal or ceramic and not wood), screwdriver, hammer, or just about any tool.

I've repaired most kinds of plumbing including installation and repair of showers, sinks, toilets, piping, DWV, . . . through steam lines, condensate lines, and then stuff like repair pumps, motors, compressors, and various other equipment.
 
I put 23, but I still need to think about the radiator hose... I should know that one. Of course, unless stranded, you never patch a hose anyway. :biggrin:

I only use wireless networks when at hotels.

They should have included using a pair of nylons to replace a broken V-belt, and pepper for a leaky radiator [in life or death situations].

How to use a multi-meter

And they forgot the most important one of all: How to keep mama happy! Because if mama's not happy, nobody's happy.
 
The only things I can't do are those like 1.14.15 and 22. well, mostly because I don’t know what the horse thing is and I am too young to drive a car.
 
There are a couple that I have never done, but only one that I wouldn't know how to do - bleed brakes.

Being a Boy Scout took care of about a third of those...
 
Not being a man, I can do 21 of them, and can't imagine hooking up any sort of TV would be all that difficult, but haven't tried with an HDTV (I'm not getting one of those or a flat screen TV until the prices come down to what a normal TV costs). I used to joke that I had to go to grad school to learn to back a trailer, because that's when I learned to do it while moving animals around the farm for experiments.

In theory, I think I could frame a wall too, but have never needed to do construction on that scale yet (short of handing nails to my dad when I was a kid...I'm sure my help only slowed him down, but at that age, my mind was like a sponge, so I could watch something once and do it myself...I think that knowledge is still kicking around in my head somewhere). The only one that I wouldn't even know where to begin would be cleaning a rifle.
 
russ_watters said:
There are a couple that I have never done, but only one that I wouldn't know how to do - bleed brakes.

Oh, that's easy, just keep stepping on the brake pedal until Dad tells you to stop. :biggrin: Yeah, that was one of mine too...I was always on the pedal side of the job. My step-sister can do it though, so I should ask her someday to teach me.
 
  • #10
Moonbear said:
Oh, that's easy, just keep stepping on the brake pedal until Dad tells you to stop. :biggrin:

:smile::smile::smile::smile::smile:

Tsu hates it when I need help bleeding the brakes on truck. Her leg usually gets tired before I can bleed the longest lines.
 
  • #11
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
 
  • #12
russ_watters said:
Being a Boy Scout took care of about a third of those...

Can you boil water in a paper bag over an open fire? :biggrin:
 
  • #13
Though I have never needed it I have been trained in CPR. I am not sure about the radiator hose, a lot would depend on what was at hand. I claimed 23 or 24.

edit:
Modern hookup of HD is easy, the single HDMI cable gets it all. Hooking up the component cables along with a full Home theater system is a bit more fun.
 
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  • #14
What about screwing in lightbulbs?
 
  • #15
how to make your woman feel wonderful - this we all aspire to.
 
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  • #16
mathwonk said:
how to make your woman feel wonderful - this we all aspire to.

:smile::smile:
 
  • #17
mathwonk said:
how to make your woman feel wonderful - this we all aspire to.
Ivan covered that one so eloquently -
And they forgot the most important one of all: How to keep mama happy! Because if mama's not happy, nobody's happy.
:biggrin:
 
  • #18
Astronuc said:
With a set of keys and key ring, counter/table edge (preferably metal or ceramic and not wood), screwdriver, hammer, or just about any tool.

Don#t forget the german way... With a lighter. Thats like the number one bottle opener in germany.
 
  • #19
Real men can turn a bicycle frame into a blowtorch, disarm a bomb with a hockey ticket, or weld a broken pipe with a handfull of quarters.

http://www.hlb.com/inovlogImages/cap07.jpg
 
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  • #20
I have not hooked up a HDTV, but I claimed all 25. If I can build guitar amplifiers, I figure I can plug in a few cables.
 
  • #21
turbo-1 said:
I have not hooked up a HDTV, but I claimed all 25. If I can build guitar amplifiers, I figure I can plug in a few cables.

same here----


but if that "Simple Kirchoff's Law Problem" is going to a HDTV, I may have some trouble
 
  • #22
Integral said:
I have been trained in CPR. I am not sure about the radiator hose,
Just don't confuse the two.

Which, now that I think of it, should be skill 26.
 
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  • #23
I am dismayed at some obvious omissions from Popular Mechanics' list.

- how to kill a bear with one's bare hands
- how to intimidate a foe with grunts and gestures
- how to club a woman unconscious without causing serious injury or death
- how to approximate the appearance and mannerisms of Bob Vila
- how to make a radio from a coconut
 
  • #24
Not to mention...

- how to manufacture a gun
- how to comfort the dying
- how to hack the local government's computers
- how to exploit the medicinal properties of the local flora
- how to send smoke signals
- how to overcome one's self and become an ubermensch
- how to fly a Boeing 747
 
  • #25
hypnagogue said:
I am dismayed at some obvious omissions from Popular Mechanics' list.

- how to kill a bear with one's bare hands
- how to intimidate a foe with grunts and gestures
- how to club a woman unconscious without causing serious injury or death
- how to approximate the appearance and mannerisms of Bob Vila
- how to make a radio from a coconut

hypnagogue said:
Not to mention...

- how to manufacture a gun
- how to comfort the dying
- how to hack the local government's computers
- how to exploit the medicinal properties of the local flora
- how to send smoke signals
- how to overcome one's self and become an ubermensch
- how to fly a Boeing 747
And how to evade and skirmish with a rural redneck police force on their own turf if they draw first blood. That one's important.

Tha ability to track down and defeat taunting serial killers and terrorist cadres holding hostages also comes in handy.
 
  • #26
22.

I don't know what framing a wall is, and I've never picked up a gun, let alone clean one. I failed on the wireless network one though, I gave up with mine and sold all the bits on eBay!
 
  • #27
I started thinking about things that are necessary or just real darned handy to live self-sufficiently as possible. I think all of these things rank WAY above altering digital photos (unless you are a congressman who had his picture taken when a certain lobbyist named Jack was handing you a wad of cash!).

Dress out and butcher a deer or hog.
Tie your own flies for fishing and learn to fool tasty salmonids with them.
Build a workbench or simple furniture/storage cabinets.
Shingle and flash a roof.
Prune a fruit tree.
Rebuild/adjust a carburetor.
Build a stone wall.
Plant and maintain a vegetable garden.
Prepare and can the food from that garden.
Operate, sharpen, and maintain a chain saw.
Evaluate investment options.
Sight in a rifle with open sights or a scope.
Ride a horse.
Obedience-train a dog.
Evaluate a used car before buying.
Refinish wood furniture.
Re-glaze a window.
Clean and re-gap spark plugs.

There are probably hundreds more things that are more important than some of the things on that list - these are just things that came to mind.
 
  • #28
turbo-1 said:
I started thinking about things that are necessary or just real darned handy to live self-sufficiently as possible.
Which raises some interesting questions:

Are these lists of what a man specifically should be able to do, or lists of what a person should be able to do? The list seems pretty biased towards physical labour.


Are these lists about self-sufficiency in a world devoid of other people, or in the normal world? For example: while dressing a game animal might be truly necessary to survival if you're lost or after civilisation falls, what about skills like budgeting one's household income? I'd put that pretty high up.
 
  • #29
I think a lot of these things depend upon your way of life. For example, there is no way I'll ever need to know how to use, or clean, a rifle. Also, there's no need to know how to reglaze a window, since if a window breaks one can call the glazier (it's their job so they're bound to do this a lot faster, and do a better job, than a layperson). However, I agree that more fundamental things, like using a jack to change a car tyre, are important to know, since one may be stranded with no one to call.
 
  • #30
OK--who is going to start a list:

What every woman should know how to do




(not me--)