Post: #1

Lately I've been working a lot on my lifestyle, and I was curious to get some opinions on this.

What skills do you think every man should possess?

Some of the examples I came up with:

Changing a tire
Changing your oil
Checking tire pressure
Checking and refilling the fluids in your car
Installing a wall shelf
Unclogging a drain

Basically, Im trying to teach myself a lot of the skills that I'm missing.

What else can you guys think of?

Post: #2

Nice idea. Would be cool to see what people come back with and maybe learn some new skills.

Some that come to mind for me..

Able to tie a good looking tie
Able to tie some basic knots
Can build a fire

Ill try think of more during the day.

Post: #3

Decent start, although a bit car-based. A few more:

1) Defending yourself and your family
2) CPR & basic first aid
3) Ability to read a map well/give directions
4) Minimum one foreign language (renaissance man)

Post: #4

Drive stick shift.
Get a girl off.

Post: #5

Cook a steak.
Tap a keg.
Pitch a tent. (heh)
Perform a squat or deadlift properly.

Post: #6

Nunchuck skills
bowhunting skills
computer hacking skills...Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills

Post: #7

(09-19-2012 04:52 PM)HoustonRookie Wrote:  Lately I've been working a lot on my lifestyle, and I was curious to get some opinions on this.

What skills do you think every man should possess?

Some of the examples I came up with:

Changing a tire
Changing your oil
Checking tire pressure
Checking and refilling the fluids in your car
Installing a wall shelf
Unclogging a drain

Basically, Im trying to teach myself a lot of the skills that I'm missing.

What else can you guys think of?

Depends on where you live really.

Lot of the guys here are global so i'd say

1) how to fight/hand to hand combat
2) how to use a gun (self protection and hunting)
3) how to talk yourself out of a fight!
4) make money for yourself
5) know your way around your neighborhood/city
6) speak another language
7) have a passport

WIA

Post: #8

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Post: #9

These are all great

I think with “defending yourself and family” I would put:

1. Throw a punch (seems stupid but some guys don’t know how to throw a punch correctly)
2. Load, Cock, and Fire a gun

I'm not sure that knowing a foreign language is a skill EVERY man should have on the same level as changing a tire, but I do agree that it makes you more well rounded.
Great idea with driving a stick shift. I have been the hero several times when knowing how to drive stick came in handy.

Post: #10

(09-19-2012 06:56 PM)kickboxer Wrote:  



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Wow, that video was hard to watch.

Post: #11

Driving stick meaning driving a manual transmission car? Pretty much everyone here learns in a manual - even women :/

OT: Being able to build shit without the instructions

Post: #12

Learn to fix things. I have a friend who is a handyman and things are breaking down all the time in Mexico. The lesson I learned from him is that you can figure out how to fix almost anything by just using your common sense. Although he does have a master electrician as a partner to check electrical work.

Post: #13

Ride a motorcycle.
Know the rules to any popular sport ("sports" like curling don't count).

Post: #14

Finnish ones:

• Able to chop at least one cubic meter of firewood in single day
• Able to build a home from plans
• Can lay fishing nets and/or shoot ducks and finds a way in the forest without a compass.
  

Post: #15

Piss standing up

Post: #16

From, of all unlikely places, a Catholic website:

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstth...ble-to-do/

1. Forgive your parents – They did the best they could . . . or they didn’t. Either way, you’re a man now so it’s time to move on.

2. Ask your parents to forgive you—You know what you did. They do too.

3. Change a diaper so that the baby is cleaner and you are no dirtier than when you started.

4. Perform CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.

5. Use a soldering iron to fix a loose connection.

6. Comfort a child—If you want to judge the character of a man, observe how he treats a child. He may not have any himself—he may not even like kids—but if he can provide them comfort when they are scared or hurting then he can’t be all bad.

7. Cook one signature dish.

8. Calculate square footage—Width x length.

9. Innocently flirt with a woman at least twice your age—Without causing offense or being disrespectful, of course.

10. Write three coherent, connected, and grammatically correct paragraphs—If it’s really necessary, you should be able to repeat the process well enough to add three more. Unless you have a job that requires extensive writing, that’s probably all you’ll ever need to get by.

11. Navigate your way around an unfamiliar city without getting completely and utterly lost.

12. Differentiate between various types of mortgages and insurances and know which one is best for your situation.

13. Get a prostate exam without crying.

14. Know what a prostate is.

15. Make and follow a budget so that you can get out of—and stay out of—debt.

16. Tell a spellbinding (though not necessarily true) story.

17. Survive in water for at least a few minutes without drowning– 71 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. You’re bound to fall into it sometime.

18. Know the four lifesaving steps—stop the bleeding, start the breathing, protect the wound, treat for shock.

19. Give a great compliment—Tip: Be specific, be sincere.

20. Tell a joke that is (a) clean, and (b) funny.

21. Make a brief, informative speech in public without having an anxiety attack and/or using PowerPoint.

22. Type with more than two fingers.

23. Know how to use the mass transit system in any city within 100 miles of his home.

24. Use reference materials to find out any information that you’ll ever need to know.

25. Recite the Ten Commandments from memory—If you remember them, it’s easier to follow them; if you follow them you’ll avoid about 90 percent of the self-inflicted damage that will screw up your life.

26. Carry on a conversation with someone who bores you to tears.

27. Recognize when you are boring someone to tears with your inane banter.

28. Make a plan for the first 24 hours after a zombie apocalypse—Sounds silly but you’d be surprised how much you can learn about yourself by thinking through unlikely scenarios.

29. Perfectly cook scrambled eggs.

30. Push-start a car with a manual transmission—By the way, as I learned in the summer of 1988, you can’t push start a car with an automatic transmission. (I still don’t know why I was stomping on the brake as if it were a clutch.)

31. Tell the difference between snark and wit.

32. Properly maintain your basic form of transportation, whether it be a car, bike, horse, feet, etc.

33. Grow food—even if you never owned a vegetable garden, you need to understand the basic theory of how to grow food. When the zombie apocalypse happens, you’re going to be hungry.

34. Make it through the rest of your life without saying the thirty-seventh dumbest sentence in the English language: “I have to learn for myself.”

35. Endure an insult with grace.

36. Wash a load of white clothes without turning everything pink.

37. Load, shoot, and clean a firearm.

38. Admit being wrong in a situation that will cost you dearly.

39. Physically protect your loved ones and be willing to risk life and limb if necessary to keep them safe.

40. Lead your family in prayer.

41. Cogently explain and defend your most fundamental beliefs, preferably without raising your voice.

42. Hug another man.

43. Take harsh criticism without being defensive.

44. Differentiate between love and lust—and avoid the latter.

45. Recognize wisdom and know how to get it.

46. Help someone who is vomiting (without throwing up yourself).

47. Write a letter of recommendation.

48. Write a love letter.

49. Avoid the Three A’s That Ruin Your Life: Anger, Adultery, Apathy.

50. Be able to list at least 50 more things a man should be able to do.

Post: #17

Right, I'm going to have a crack at what I think need to be on there. Seems like we have covered everything major, 50 seems excessive so I'll keep it efficient as a good man should.

1) Defending yourself and your family, Know how to throw a punch, and more importantly, know how to take a punch.
2) CPR & basic first aid, no point going to prison because you hit too hard.
3) Ability to read a map well/give directions, be able to find North/South Day and night.
4) Drive manual (stick?) As well as doing basic maintenance to your personal forms of transportation.
5) Take care of yourself and maintain a good level of personal appearance, Know how to cook basic meals, Keep in Shape, Know how to dress for the occasion, from moshpit to ball and take care of personal hygiene Also be able to get food either grown or purchased.
6) Be able to maintain your house/residence, Know how to fix blocked drains, Add small improvements and build basic furniture, work the lawn mower, paint a wall to a decent level and do some plastering on any holes
7) Have basic survival/camping skills, Know how to tie some knots, Build a fire, Pitch a tent and make shelter when you don't have one, Work basic firearms (load, aim, fire, unload and clean)
8) Read and Write, (If you can't read this, ask a friend for help ) And understand basic gramma. IE “Let’s eat grandma!” vs “Let’s eat, grandma!”
9) Have social skills to be able to talk your way into and out of situations or at least have a bloody good go at it.
10) Have balls and use them. Face fears and fuck girls

.... Yep, I think that will do. A few in their I need to learn/improve. This is just "basic skills a man needs" in my opinion. There will always be locations and times that more or less skills are needed. But this should be enough to get my happily...

Post: #18

@havver

This is a really good summary of everything we've covered so far. Nice job.

Post: #19

1) Be able to fireman carry an adult man.
2) Know how to live without women. Cooking, cleaning, that kind of stuff.
3) Know how to sharpen a knife. Lots of people don't know how to do this. I can shave my beard with my pocketknives.
4) Know how to operate and take care of a firearm.
5) Basic car maintenance and handyman work.
6) Rudimentary knowledge on how to defend yourself.

There's more, but I'm too lazy to think of them.

Post: #20

Things that have always gotten me points:
-Knowing how to roll a good cigarrette
-Knowing how to open a bottle (beer, wine, champagne) with whatever object you have handy (bic lighter, silverware, another bottle, shoes)
-Knowing how to fix or install whatever (from house appliances to eletronic hardware). By the way: thanks, Internet.

Post: #21

-Basic world geography and the ability to recognize accents and languages, even if you don't speak said languages. The accent thing gets to me. It is very embarrassing that so many Americans can't tell the difference between an Australian and British accent.

-How to order wine

-How to carve a piece of meat

-How to cut vegetables

-How to use a whetstone/sharpen knives and tools

-Basic sewing skills

-Basic gardening skills

Post: #22

We need skills in adventuring, even though most are very costly, for example:

- Flying: Pretty much any kind, single engine land planes, sailplane, ultralight, paraglider, paramotor. The rewards are stellar.

- Performance driving or racing: Learn to drive a car clean and fast on a road track. Ideally in a prepped up car with a roll cage (a track toy or a proper race car). If you have lots of money and time, even race.

- Traveling outside of Europe or North America. Many of us do, and on our own.

- Exploring the natural wonders, that may include deserts, mountains, steppes, jungles, boreal forests and the sea. Self propelled as much as possible. I like a lot solo desert driving and hiking.

- Backcountry backpacking. Inexpensive and rewarding. Wild camping with a car is a great skill too.

- Snowboarding, mountain biking.

- Gainful employment abroad.

- Many other things of the same nature, it's not a complete list.

You want to optimize risk vs. reward in all pursuits. Being reckless is not adventurous. If you get all of this in over the years, you will be an accomplished man. But beware, this stuff will detract from pussy hunting.

Post: #23

Anything that helps make you self-sufficient. Think about every time you have to pay for a service. Is it something you can do yourself? Learn? Sewing on a button, fixing a lawnmower, floor tile repair. Start when you are young by at least reading about it. You can buy an old small engine and tinker with it. Take shop or home ec classes in high school.

These skills can be invaluable when traveling to other countries. Help the poor in a small town fix their car, tractor, or anything more efficiently and they will be eternally grateful.

I grew up in the rural mountains, and people did everything themselves. If they couldn't do it the neighbor could, and the community was close knit because of that. Nowadays men grow up not being able to even change a spark plug.

In fact, in my high school the rich kids looked down on guys that took shop. They were smarter and went on to college. Many of them now are suffering, while the guy that learned to turn a wrench is still making $30 an hr and still gainfully employed.

Post: #24

Keeping your finances in order and balancing a checkbook.
Keeping your woman's spending in check.

Anything car maintenance related. Even if you pay someone else to do it you should know enough
about cars not to get ripped off.

Basic cooking

Clothing care, washing, ironing.