Looks like Popular Mechanics just came out with a "25 Skills Every Man Should Know" list.
Frankly, for a list geared specifically to men, looks like either some females or desk-jockey IT guys threw in their two-cents. Sure computer stuff is good to know (specially knowing enough to back-up your stuff), but I just can't see any of those "skills" even making it into the top 100. IMO, computer stuff is cross-gender -- doesn't skew male or female so it shouldn't even be here.
That said, here's Popular Mechanics "How-to" list followed by; skills I feel should be added, and skills that should be removed.
25 Skills Every Man Should Know
- Patch a radiator hose
- Protect your computer
- Rescue a boater who as capsized
- Frame a wall
- Retouch digital photos
- Back up a trailer
- Build a campfire
- Fix a dead outlet
- Navigate with a map and compass
- Use a torque wrench
- Sharpen a knife
- Perform CPR
- Fillet a fish
- Maneuver a car out of a skid
- Get a car unstuck
- Back up data
- Paint a room
- Mix concrete
- Clean a bolt-action rifle
- Change oil and filter
- Hook up an HDTV
- Bleed brakes
- Paddle a canoe
- Fix a bike flat
- Extend your wireless network
Skills that should be added. How-to...
- Change a flat tire
- Jump-start a car
- Tie a tie
- Wash Clothes
- Tie at least five different knots
- Build a lean-to
- Suture a wound
- Stop arterial bleeding
- Drive a stick shift (manual transmission)
- Navigate by the stars
- Identify poisonous snakes
- Trap small prey
- Identify edible wild plants
- Signal using Morse Code
- Order a bottle of wine (good to know and chicks dig a guy who knows his grapes)
What should be deleted. How-to...
- 2. Protect your computer
- 5. Retouch digital photos
- 16. Back up data
- 17. Paint a room
- 25. Extend your wireless network
What are your thoughts on this? Toss out your add/subtract items and let's see if we can't get this man skills to 100.
Reader Additions
- Tell a joke. Not some silly one everyone has heard, a real “story joke” that’s really damn funny
- Tell at least one campfire "scary" story and as well have a really good poem memorized like "When You Are Old" by William Butler Yeats
- Know how to throw a punch
- Choose a good wine without seeming pretentious
- Deliver a eulogy with substance that will leave everyone with a tear in their eye and a slightly crooked smile on their faces
Survival Knives
Category Survival See also Knives
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View Comments to “35+ Skills Every Man Absolutely Must Know”
1 Wolfgang 5 April 2009 @ 4:13 am
I like what you’ve removed however I’d keep “paint a room” because anyone can slather paint on a wall, but it takes a wee bit o’ talent to make a room appear evenly painted.
That said I’d add that a real man should be able to tell a joke, and not some silly one everyone has heard, a real “story joke” that’s really damn funny. A real man should be able to tell at least one campfire “scary” story and as well have a really good poem memorized like “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats. A real man can throw a punch, choose a good wine without seeming pretentious and know how to caress a woman’s back just so. A real man deliver a eulogy with substance that will leave everyone with a tear in their eye and a slightly crooked smile on their faces. A real man doesn’t monopolize a conversation and knows when to say No. And a real man knows when to stop typing about being a real man.
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