# 25 Skills Every Man Should Know **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936 "2007-12-05T19:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ShakWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@ShakWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShakWave)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936/81 "2007-12-07T07:05:50Z")
I’m not very good with cars or tools (torque wrench?), so that wipes off quite a bit from my list The ones I can do: 1. Protect Your Computer 2. Retouch Digital Photos 3. Sharpen a Knife 4. Perform CPR 5. Back Up Data 6. Hook Up an HDTV 7. Paddle a Canoe 8. Extend Your Wireless Network ---
**Author:** ![FourPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e0b2c6/32.png) [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936/82 "2007-12-07T13:02:28Z")
Feller Here- 1. Patch a Radiator Hose- I’ve had to, but prefer to replace them. 2. Protect Your Computer - Der. Absolutely. 3. Rescue a Boater Who Has Capsized - Someone inevitably falls out of my boat or off the Jetski. Most of the time, I go back and get them. 4. Frame a Wall- Framed my 2nd floor of my house and helped build my cousin’s house, so yes. 5. Retouch Digital Photos- Every damn day. 6. Back Up a Trailer- Yessir. 7. Build a Campfire- Absolutely. 8. Fix a Dead Outlet- yip. 9. Navigate with a Map and Compass- yes. 10. Use a Torque Wrench- yup. 11. Sharpen a Knife- Almost every day. 12. Perform CPR- certified but haven’t had to, thankfully. So yes. 13. Fillet a Fish- Gotta prepare breakfast somehow at camp. Yum. 14. Maneuver a Car out of a Skid- Yes. Much more fun when you put it into that skid on purpose. 15. Get a Car Unstuck- yes. 16. Back Up Data- yup 17. Paint a Room- yes. 18. Mix Concrete- yes. 19. Clean a Bolt-Action Rifle- yup. I better, no one else is going to do it for me. 20. Change Oil and Filter- Yup. Did 4 cars (three mine) just last month. 21. Hook Up an HDTV- yup. How would this be hard to do? 22. Bleed Brakes- Yup. I’m not paying someone else to change my brakes. 23. Paddle a Canoe- Yup. I even own one. 24. Fix a Bike Flat- If you don’t it makes for a long walk home, so yep. 25. Extend Your Wireless Network- Sure. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936/83 "2007-12-07T14:55:48Z")
Male age 34, First the original 25 1. Patch a Radiator Hose - Don’t know, never had to do it but how hard can it be? 2. Protect Your Computer - I guess this means having firewalls, virus protection, spyware removal and the like? If so yes. 3. Rescue a Boater Who Has Capsized - I know how to rescue someone from drowning. 4. Frame a Wall - Don’t know what this means. I guess that’s a no. 5. Retouch Digital Photos - Yes 6. Back Up a Trailer - Yes, although it may take me a few tries 7. Build a Campfire - Yes 8. Fix a Dead Outlet - I’ve never done an outlet but I do other electrical stuff 9. Navigate with a Map and Compass - Yes 10. Use a Torque Wrench - Yes 11. Sharpen a Knife - Maybe 12. Perform CPR - Yes 13. Fillet a Fish - Yes, although the result may not look very pretty. 14. Maneuver a Car out of a Skid - Yes 15. Get a Car Unstuck - Maybe? From what? 16. Back Up Data - Yes 17. Paint a Room - Yes 18. Mix Concrete - Never done it but it does not look that hard. 19. Clean a Bolt-Action Rifle - Never done it but I do know how to take apart and clean the M-45 SMG, the AK-5 and AK-4 assault rifles and KSP-58 machine gun I got to use during my military service. I think I could figure out how to do the same on a rifle. 20. Change Oil and Filter - Never done it but I probably could. 21. Hook Up an HDTV - Don’t have an HDTV but I have hooked up lots of other TVs, videos, DVDs, satellite dishes so I’ll still say yes. 22. Bleed Brakes - Never done it. 23. Paddle a Canoe - Yes, passably 24. Fix a Bike Flat - Yes 25. Extend Your Wireless Network - Never done it but how hard can it be? and the extras … 26 Punch a dude in the face - No. Not effectively at least. 27 Purchase a lapdance from a stripper - Never done it. 28 Break a bottle in order to make a weapon out of it like they do in the movies - Never done it 29 Pick up a girl in a bar - Yes 30 Prepare a bong for smoking - Never done it -tie a tie - Yes -change a baby’s diaper - Yes -mix a drink - Nothing advanced -talk an obnoxious drunk out of starting a bar fight - Maybe -cunnilingus - Yes. Never received any complaints but have received compliments -apologize - Yes, but I’m not sure I am good enough 🙂 -throw a spiral - Is this baseball related? In that case no. Sew on/replace a button - yes Hang a picture - yes Use a can opener - yes Replace a washer in a leaky faucet - yes Turn off the gas to your house - Yes Cook a dinner nice enough to serve to your grandmother - Yes Pick out a good pineapple or watermelon - Dunno Clean out your computer’s temp files and cookies - Yes Accept a compliment - Not good at it Give a compliment - Not good at it Operate a fire extinguisher - Yes ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936/84 "2007-12-07T17:07:33Z")
[QUOTE=Coil] 1. Patch a Radiator Hose - Don’t know, never had to do it but how hard can it be? 2. Clean a Bolt-Action Rifle - Never done it but I do know how to take apart and clean the M-45 SMG, the AK-5 and AK-4 assault rifles and KSP-58 machine gun I got to use during my military service. I think I could figure out how to do the same on a rifle. 3. Extend Your Wireless Network - Never done it but how hard can it be? [/QUOTE] I think duct tape does a passable job at patching a hose until you can get a new one. If you can clean assault rifles a bolt-action is simplicity itself. They have much fewer moving parts and no gas system. Extending a wireless network can be a royal PITA. SSIDs, encryption, DHCP, IP addresses, port filtering, you have to know all that stuff to make the network secure. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936/85 "2007-12-07T20:03:34Z")
Male, 61 1. Patch a Radiator Hose - yup 2. Protect Your Computer - yup 3. Rescue a Boater Who Has Capsized - yup 4. Frame a Wall - many, many times 5. Retouch Digital Photos - yup 6. Back Up a Trailer - as far as half a mile on a narrow dirt road one trip 7. Build a Campfire - with flint and steel baby! 8. Fix a Dead Outlet - yup 9. Navigate with a Map and Compass - yup 10. Use a Torque Wrench - yup 11. Sharpen a Knife - yup 12. Perform CPR - yup, done it twice. One lived, one didn’t. 13. Fillet a Fish - more like disassemble into many component parts. 14. Maneuver a Car out of a Skid - essential life skill in Maine 15. Get a Car Unstuck - ditto 16. Back Up Data - yup 17. Paint a Room - absolutely hate it, but can do it 18. Mix Concrete - yup 19. Clean a Bolt-Action Rifle - yup 20. Change Oil and Filter - yup but hardly worth bothering with these days. 21. Hook Up an HDTV - yup 22. Bleed Brakes - hasn’t been necessary but can’t be that hard 23. Paddle a Canoe - yup 24. Fix a Bike Flat - ypu 25. Extend Your Wireless Network - WTF is a wireless network? SWMBO says I’m good to have around. And I can still unhook her bra one handed! And boy didn’t that skill take years to master! ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936/86 "2007-12-07T20:24:40Z")
OK, fine, I’ll play along. I know how to: 1. Protect my computer 2. Rescue a capsized boater (sort of–I mean, I think I would remember in a pinch) 3. Retouch digital photos 4. Back up a trailer 5. Build a campfire 6. Navigate with a map and compass 7. Sharpen a knife 8. Perform CPR 9. Back up data 10. Paint a room (really, now…) 11. Mix concrete 12. Hook up an HDTV (are you serious?) 13. Paddle a canoe 14. Extend my wireless network 16/25, including the conjugation and the lovin’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-skills-every-man-should-know/428936.md?page=4)