25 Skills Every Man Should Know

In My Humble Opinion
81

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
82

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.
83

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 :slight_smile:
-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

84

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.

85

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!

86

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’.