100 DIY Skills For The Real Man - Airline Pilot Central Forums

vagabond , 03-24-2009 05:53 AM

Administrator

I'm not a man, but I can do everything on the list. Except for No. 71.

Quote:
By THE EDITORS
POPULAR MECHANICS

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 for the competent man.

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
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
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
Survival
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
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 These 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

rickair7777 , 03-24-2009 07:45 AM

Prime Minister/Moderator

You can weld too? I'm impressed

I've got 'em all, except I've never done #69...but if it has wings I can fly it, right?

vagabond , 03-24-2009 08:30 AM

Administrator

You've never done 69???? You're missing out, my friend.

rotorhead1026 , 03-24-2009 08:31 AM

Gets Weekends Off

Well, got most of 'em ... but beg to differ on the premise.

Number 68 for example. Neither Bobby Lane nor Bill Kilmer could throw a spiral to save their lives. Anybody who contends they weren't "real guys" has had a concussion or two too many.

Kilgore Trout , 03-24-2009 08:48 AM

Gets Weekends Off

101. Drink too much tequila on vacation, and say "I'm never ever going to do that again". Do it again the next night.
102. Bail buddy out of jail.
103. Have buddy bail you out of jail.
104. Forget parent's, sibling's, wife's, girlfriend's birthdays every year.
105. Lose remote control.
106. Buy universal remote control.
107. Find first remote control in couch cushions.
108. Stick head out pickup truck window, lose favorite baseball cap.
109. Use duct tape to remove dog's fur from clothing.
110. Know all lyrics to Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville".

rotorhead1026 , 03-24-2009 11:36 AM

Gets Weekends Off

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

105. Lose remote control.
106. Buy universal remote control.
107. Find first remote control in couch cushions.

Nothing wrong with having two remotes. You've got two hands ...

Cubdriver , 03-24-2009 12:01 PM

Moderator

One time I got summer job as hired hand at a large rural city water treatment facility. They had an entire staff of guys who did nothing but run out once a day and check this one big pipe and see if it was still there and the water was going where it was supposed to. Of course it always was. The rest of the day they used the land to hunt, ride ATVs, make holes with bulldozers and goof off.

I used the time to learn to weld. I made trailers, bike racks, outdoor grills, coffee tables, anything I could think of get enough materials for. The shop had a complete set of tools, a big TIG welder and a couple of arc welders and grinders. One the bike racks was really nice- I kept it for years. There's something reassuring about seeing a steel object that you made yourself with perfect beads to make you feel good.

markf64 , 03-24-2009 12:04 PM

Line Holder

#103

103. Have buddy bail you out of jail.

A real buddy will be sitting next to you in the cell saying "Whew, that was fun!!!"

BANYO4 , 03-24-2009 02:28 PM

Line Holder

111. Outdoor kitchen with kegerator.

#10

Ewfflyer , 03-25-2009 04:57 AM

Flying Farmer

I question a list that says you need to "Master" the use of a sledgehammer........seriously? 60-64 was easy, I flew freight!!!!!!!

Also notice that "Understand what women really want" was not on that list!!!!!