Brains and charm are fine, but a real guy needs to know how to do real stuff. After months of debate among PM’s expert editors, here’s our lineup of essential skills, broken down in 10 categories for the competent man—plus 20 tools you need to own. Did we leave anything out—or included a skill you don’t think is worthy? Sound off in our chat, then take PM’s interactive DIY quiz to see how you measure up!
Automotive
1. Handle a blowout *
2. Drive in snow *
3. Check trouble codes
4. Replace fan belt
5. Wax a car *
6. Conquer an off-road obstacle
7. Use a stick welder
8. Hitch up a trailer *
9. Jump start a car *
Handling Emergencies
10. Perform the Heimlich *
11. Reverse hypothermia *
12. Perform hands-only CPR *
13. Escape a sinking car
Home
14. Carve a turkey
15. Use a sewing machine *
16. Put out a fire *
17. Home brew beer
18. Remove bloodstains from fabric *
19. Move heavy stuff *
20. Grow food
21. Read an electric meter *
22. Shovel the right way *
23. Solder wire
24. Tape drywall
25. Split firewood *
26. Replace a faucet washer
27. Mix concrete
28. Paint a straight line
29. Use a French knife
30. Prune bushes and small trees
31. Iron a shirt *
32. Fix a toilet tank flapper *
33. Change a single-pole switch
34. Fell a tree
35. Replace a broken windowpane
36. Set up a ladder, safely *
37. Fix a faucet cartridge
38. Sweat copper tubing
39. Change a diaper
40. Grill with charcoal
41. Sew a button on a shirt *
42. Fold a flag *
Medical Myths
43. Treat frostbite *
44. Treat a burn *
45. Help a seizure victim *
46. Treat a snakebite
47. Remove a tick *
Military Know-How
48. Shine shoes *
49. Make a drum-tight bed *
50. Drop and give the perfect pushup *
Outdoors
51. Run rapids in a canoe
52. Hang food in the wild
53. Skipper a boat
54. Shoot straight *
55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike *
56. Escape a rip current
Primitive Skills
57. Build a fire in the wilderness *
58. Build a shelter *
59. Find potable water *
Surviving Extremes
60. Floods *
61. Tornados
62. Cold
63. Heat *
64. Lightning
Teach Your Kids
65. Cast a line
66. Lend a hand
67. Change a tire *
68. Throw a spiral
69. Fly a stunt kite
70. Drive a stick shift *
71. Parallel park *
72. Tie a bowline *
73. Tie a necktie *
74. Whittle *
75. Ride a bike *
(slightly cheating there.. I know all this, but dont have any kids!)
Technology
76. Install a graphics card *
77. Take the perfect portrait *
78. Calibrate HDTV settings *
79. Shoot a home movie *
80. Ditch your hard drive *
Master Key Workshop Tools
81. Drill driver
82. Grease gun *
83. Coolant hydrometer
84. Socket wrench *
85. Test light
86. Brick trowel
87. Framing hammer
88. Wood chisel *
89. Spade bit
90. Circular saw
91. Sledge hammer *
92. Hacksaw *
93. Torque wrench *
94. Air wrench
95. Infrared thermometer
96. Sand blaster
97. Crosscut saw
98. Hand plane
99. Multimeter *
100. Feeler gauges
Go to http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/how_to/4284709.html for FULL INSTRUCTIONS if you are even a little unsure!!
anyway 53 out of 100 aint too bad.. Whats your score???
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