# 25 Skills Every Man Should Know **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000 "2007-09-13T01:35:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/21 "2007-09-13T02:39:45Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] I’m stunned that Rick didn’t know that. Even with my spotty record on the board, I’m pretty sure _I_ even knew that! [/QUOTE] I know! Never ceases to amaze me. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/22 "2007-09-13T02:40:42Z")
These would seem to be good skills for anyone, not just men. Let’s not be sexist! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/23 "2007-09-13T02:41:25Z")
No [dancing?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=436249) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/24 "2007-09-13T02:43:08Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] What a stupid list. Expert cunnilingus should definitely be in the top five. [/QUOTE] Isn’t that what “Use a torque wrench” means? ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/25 "2007-09-13T02:43:10Z")
Capability #1 - know how to stay out of situations where you’ll need to know how to do that which you don’t know how to do. Know how to follow others who do know what to do. Other useful capabilities not listed above: know when to be gentle, and when to be strong. Know when to listen, when to be silent, and when to speak out. Know when to be brave, no matter how terrified you are. And many others. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/26 "2007-09-13T02:44:00Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. Retouch digital photos –\> 4. Frame a wall **Tokyo Player** I believe the list means frame a wall with 2x4s, not hang frames. With that meaning, I fail to see the connection between #5 and #4. I can do both of those things though. 😉 I can also drywall, shingle a roof, and paint a wall. Only one of those is on the list, darn it. I have no clue how to use a torque wrench. I do agree that “change a diaper” should most definately be added to the list. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/27 "2007-09-13T02:48:07Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Isn’t that what “Use a torque wrench” means? [/QUOTE] If it is, I’d say you’re trying too hard! 😛 Of the listed skills, I’d say it’s somewhere between painting a room and performing CPR. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/28 "2007-09-13T02:48:48Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Woodhouse] I can do both of those things though. 😉 I can also drywall, shingle a roof, and paint a wall. Only one of those is on the list, darn it. **I have no clue how to use a torque wrench.** I do agree that “change a diaper” should most definately be added to the list. [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Look up in a manual how tight something should be, for instance the flywheel gland nut should be tightened to 220 Ft. Lbs. (30 Kg if you have a metric-only wrench.) Set the right level on the guage and start tightening up the nut. Don’t try and do it all in one go, a gradual tightening is easier to control. When you hit the level you have set, the torque wrench will ‘break’ - make a cracking noise and you can feel something inside the wrench giving way for a moment. Stop tightening now. See? Set the poundie thing! Now you know! ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/29 "2007-09-13T02:51:07Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] 1. Patch a radiator hose 2. Protect your computer 3. Rescue a boater who as 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 [/QUOTE] Another girl checking in. I can do 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 23. I’ve done 3 and 12 a couple of times. I can drive a stick (I learned to _drive_ on a stick!) I can check the oil and transmission fluid, change a diaper, entertain 21 kids for 3 hours at a time, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, and cook a tasty meal. I can’t set a bone, but I can stabilize it till I get you to the hospital. I can also hold traction on your spine, put a traction splint on your leg, bag you if you can’t breathe, completely immobilize you if you’re injured, put out a fire, rack hose, pull you out of a burning building or a smashed car, and climb a 105-foot aerial ladder. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/30 "2007-09-13T02:56:17Z")
Whatever. That’s why I live in a civilization- so I don’t have to do all this crap myself. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/31 "2007-09-13T02:58:27Z")
I’ve done: 2 5-11 15-18 23 24 I haven’t done, but feel confident that I could if need be: 3 4 12 14 21 25 I don’t have a car, so I have no need to know: 1 6 20 22 That just leaves the fish fillet and the gun, which I’m sure I could learn easily enough. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/32 "2007-09-13T03:01:28Z")
Does knowing how to, hypothetically work? If so, put me down for: [QUOTE=danceswithcats] 1. Protect your computer 2. Frame a wall 3. Retouch digital photos 4. Build a campfire 5. Sharpen a knife 6. Perform CPR 7. Fillet a fish 8. Maneuver a car out of a skid 9. Back up data 10. Paint a room 11. Mix concrete 12. Change oil and filter 13. Hook up an HDTV 14. Extend your wireless network [/QUOTE] If you just want things that I’ve done and know that I can do, put me down for 2,5,14, 16, and 17. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/33 "2007-09-13T03:04:49Z")
[QUOTE=wolf in second hand clothing] Whatever. That’s why I live in a civilization- so I don’t have to do all this crap myself. [/QUOTE] I even missed “Hook up an HDTV.” Give me a break. Why not just hire a nerd? Let’s see the nerds at Popular Mechanics change and dress a 2-year-old. Then I’ll be impressed. Of course, that implies you might have what should be Manly Skill #1: **Have sex with a woman and bring her to orgasm.** ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/34 "2007-09-13T03:09:10Z")
Every man needs to be able to make up a bullshit list of what a real man needs to be able to do. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/35 "2007-09-13T03:10:49Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] I even missed “Hook up an HDTV.” Give me a break. Why not just hire a nerd? Let’s see the nerds at Popular Mechanics change and dress a 2-year-old. Then I’ll be impressed. Of course, that implies you might have what should be Manly Skill #1: **Have sex with a woman and bring her to orgasm.** [/QUOTE] We require a note, in that case, signed by witnesses. Can’t rely on faked O’s. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/36 "2007-09-13T03:11:40Z")
Even though I know how to do all those, I still think a few things on the list are a little odd. “Retouch a digital photo”? That’s girlie work, innit? A man isn’t freaked out by redeye. A man lets someone else splice Jessica Alba’s head onto … Er, never mind. Doesn’t everyone know how to clean a bolt-action rifle? That’s elementary school stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/37 "2007-09-13T03:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] …Doesn’t everyone know how to clean a bolt-action rifle? That’s elementary school stuff. [/QUOTE] Can you do that in a washing machine? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/38 "2007-09-13T03:16:59Z")
Know whom to take shit from, and whom to give it to. Know when to bullshit, and when to call bullshit. Know what it is to work like a dog, and to play like a dog. Know that you can learn life lessons from assholes that good people can never begin to teach. Know when a man and a woman should approach each other as equals, and when they should do anything but. Know when to question why, and when to do or die. Know how to lose it, and pick it right back up again. Know when to deny yourself nothing, and when to deny yourself everything. Know that to defend against a hard, mean world it is sometimes necessary to be hard and mean. Know that any life well lived is part rat race, and that to turn your back on competing and striving and achieving is to begin to die inside. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/39 "2007-09-13T03:26:38Z")
A man don’t need no frickin’ list to know he’s a man. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000/40 "2007-09-13T03:35:53Z")
Eh. Yeah, I wanna take back a lot of that list I posted. I don’t believe most of it, and I promised myself I’d stop being so fucking dark and bleak on the Dope. A man ought to keep promises (as ought a woman, boy, or girl). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/419000.md?page=3)