100 Skills Every Man Should Know

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

So How Many Do You Know How to Do?

  • Less than 20

  • 21 - 30

  • 31 - 40

  • 41 - 50

  • 51 - 60

  • 61 - 70

  • 71 - 80

  • 81- 90

  • 91 - 100

Results are only viewable after voting.
Donasay

Donasay

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
1,563
Reaction score
13
Location
Boston
From Popular Mechanics:
100 Skills Every Man Should Know – DIY Advice - Popular Mechanics

Read the list count em up and answer the poll. It is the damn blood stains and knowing how to use a sewing machine that got me.... Grrr.

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
 
Is this the Robert Heinlein list?

Edit: Sorry, I just read a bit more, no Heinlein :(
 
No the Heinlein list was better. I am a Eagle Scout. Between that and what my father taught me I hit 94 of the 100. I raised my kids to be able to do all 100. These are skills everyone should work on.
 
I'm kinda proud that I don't know how to tie a neck tie.

First thing I thought of when I saw the tread title was "chop wood" if it wasn't on the list, I'd be upset.

I can do somewhere between 79-85 of the list. Apparently the one thing I can't do is count while reading.:eek:
 
I got the sewing machine one! I learned how to use a heavy duty canvas sewing machine for working on my sailboat sail.

But WTF is a "French Knife?" Is it like a swiss army knife except it has a white flag??

Other than that, I've got it covered.
 
91... I surprised even myself. I could have scored higher, but I don't know the proper way to survive a flood, lightning, etc. but I'm with olllllo - I know how to avoid them!

Sadly, I do know how to use a sewing machine and an iron. :drunk:
 
mmb said:
I got the sewing machine one! I learned how to use a heavy duty canvas sewing machine for working on my sailboat sail.

But WTF is a "French Knife?" Is it like a swiss army knife except it has a white flag??

Other than that, I've got it covered.
Click to expand...

lol

Laguiole Pocket Knives

I love my Opinels! Best pocket knives I've ever had. I like the No.06 the best, they only cost $8-$12 and are definitely worth checking out.
pocket.jpg
 
I didn't exactly count them all, but figure its at least between the 81-90. Most of those skills seem pretty basic--anyone with some years under their belt should be able to cover quite a few.
 
I learned all those sewing/stain-removal skills in the Army. Had to.

What about ride a horse (or anything related), or mend fence, or ride a dirtbike up a gravel hill, or how to get a snowmobile out of a ditch, or how to fly cast, clean a fish, or chink a cabin.....the list could go on.

There should be another category: urban skills. If you're going to have backcountry/survival skills, might as well have city skills.

Of course, my score would have gone down ;)
 
Honestly a very basic list. Just a few I havent done. Never had to survive being hit by lighting before. Mostly just rural necessary knowledge.
 
I have the skills to use a lot of the tools, but my collection is woefully inadequate. I have the bare minimum to work on my car and make a few simple wood working projects. Do I lose man pints for not actually owning the stuff? My high school required all students to take at least 1 semester of home economy and and one of shop (wood or metal) so I picked up a bunch there. Air Force survival school and 5 years working as a life guard life guard bring me up to 95.

Sorry, never driven off road, shot rapids, had a need to weld (this is changing) or change my fan belt. Window panes are best left to a professional. :D

Terje

and I hit the wrong damn button to vote! guess i don't have that skill.
 
mmb said:
But WTF is a "French Knife?" Is it like a swiss army knife except it has a white flag??
Click to expand...

French Knife is the old school term for a chef's knife. The standard 8" to 10" chef's knife is the most important tool in your kitchen (see sig line).

Chad
 
I was ok once I got past the auto section. :)

I don't know how to do ALL that stuff, but I do know how to pay people to do it for me if I can't do it. (I know someone who might just get struck by lightning for me for $5)
 
MikeFlynn74 said:
Change french Knife to Japanese knife Ive got about 96 of them down.
Click to expand...

I'm at about 96 too. I have french kitchen knives & steak knives, but I prefer my Santoku knives.

For pocket knives, you can't beat a Spyderco Delica with steel from Seki City.

sc11pgre.jpg


It's great for everything from cutting boxes to trimming a brisket.
 
EdWort said:
I'm at about 96 too. I have french kitchen knives & steak knives, but I prefer my Santoku knives.

For pocket knives, you can't beat a Spyderco Delica with steel from Seki City.

[
Click to expand...

I was doing great until I got to the last category, Workshop Tools. I had 75 up until then, and then only five of the rest of the list.

Women don't use many tools- we use a socket wrench, allen wrench, a screwdriver, a drill and a hammer. And lots and lots of duct tape.

Total: 80
 
Chad said:
French Knife is the old school term for a chef's knife. The standard 8" to 10" chef's knife is the most important tool in your kitchen.

Chad
Click to expand...

grrr.... I've got a half dozen of those, then. The only knifes I had to buy, as my father in law was a meat cutter (don't call them butchers :eek:) and gave me most of his.

We process our own game in his back "garage" that has wash down walls and floors. I didn't see cap, skin, and quarter wild game on that list either....:(
 
I lost a few points for frostbite, seizure victims, skipper a boat (I can't sail) and throw a spiral (I was never a pitcher). :D
 
92...Not bad, and the ones I missed, Stick Welder, Reading an electric meter, change a diaper (I learned when I was a teenager, but haven't done it since then), treat snakebite, make a drum tight bed, run rapids in a canoe, Skipper a boat, ANd tie a bowline, I could learn if I had to....or at least look up.

Some are stupid....and some are missing...I mean sewing is in there but cooking isn't? I think everyone should know at least how to make scrambled eggs, bacon and toast...
 
Since there's two references to it, here's Robert Heinlein's list;

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.
 
I know how to kill a prostitute and prepare her body parts to meet kosher standards. Why the hell was that not on the list?


Edit. Oh yes... a new season of Dexter is on it's way! :D
 
I am missing 7 of those skills.

No, sewing isn't one I have a problem with...
 
WTF, you all scare me. I scored in the 20's. That, or I'm severely overestimating a few of these tasks. For example, soldering? Stick welding?

I guess I skipped the "Teach your kid" section since I'm never having any. I can *do* most of the things in that section. That would put me up into the 30's.

Here I thought I was manly just because I prefer to drive manual transmissions whenever possible.

Wellp. Back down about 8 pegs, I go.
 
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top