100 DIY Skills Every (Wo)Man Should Know
I found this rather exhaustive list at Popular Mechanics, though I would submit that the list is useful for BOTH men and women. I am not sure why men seem to think they have the stranglehold on the power tools.
I went through the list and added my own comments as to whether I have the particular skill or tool. I don’t think I did that bad.
Tell me, how did you do?
Automotive
1. Handle a blowout (ACK! I know how to do this, but hope to never have to use the knowledge)
2. Drive in snow (From Novemeber to May every single year)
3. Check trouble codes (Uh, what?)
4. Replace fan belt ( See number one above)
5. Wax a car (Thank you Karate Kid!)
6. Conquer an off-road obstacle (Like what? How would I conquer it?)
7. Use a stick welder (Uh, what?)
8. Hitch up a trailer (Yes, I can do this)
9. Jump start a car (Yes. Sadly I leave the lights on in my car so often that this is easy for me)
Handling Emergencies
10. Perform the Heimlich (Yes)
11. Reverse hypothermia (Yes)
12. Perform hands-only CPR (Yes)
13. Escape a sinking car (God, I hope so)
Home
14. Carve a turkey (Oh yes, love my Butterball)
15. Use a sewing machine (Yes)
16. Put out a fire (Yes)
17. Home brew beer (Celiac, I don’t drink beer)
18. Remove bloodstains from fabric (Yes)
19. Move heavy stuff (Get burly men to come and do it for me?)
20. Grow food (Otherwise known as gardening?)
21. Read an electric meter (Yes)
22. Shovel the right way (Is there a wrong way?)
23. Solder wire (Yes)
24. Tape drywall (Yes, and yet I still hate it)
25. Split firewood (yes, and thankfully I have sons to do this)
26. Replace a faucet washer (Yes)
27. Mix concrete (Yes)
28. Paint a straight line (More than I care to remember)
29. Use a French knife (I think this is not what I think it is)
30. Prune bushes and small trees (yes)
31. Iron a shirt (I could, just refuse to)
32. Fix a toilet tank flapper (yes)
33. Change a single-pole switch (Yes)
34. Fell a tree (Call the tree guy?)
35. Replace a broken windowpane (yes)
36. Set up a ladder, safely (Yes)
37. Fix a faucet cartridge (yes)
38. Sweat copper tubing (Yes, but really that is what plumbers are for)
39. Change a diaper (Hahahahahahahahahaha. I have changed a few)
40. Grill with charcoal (Yes)
41. Sew a button on a shirt (Yes)
42. Fold a flag (Yes, but not since elementary school)
Medical Myths
43. Treat frostbite (No idea)
44. Treat a burn (Yes)
45. Help a seizure victim (Yes)
46. Treat a snakebite (Get to the ER for some anti-venom?)
47. Remove a tick (Sadly yes I have lots of practice with this)
Military Know-How
48. Shine shoes (Yes)
49. Make a drum-tight bed (yes)
50. Drop and give the perfect pushup (Yes, one)
Outdoors
51. Run rapids in a canoe (No)
52. Hang food in the wild (I understand the individual words, but strung together I am lost)
53. Skipper a boat (No)
54. Shoot straight (Define straight)
55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike (Yes)
56. Escape a rip current (Yes)
Primitive Skills
57. Build a fire in the wilderness (Yes)
58. Build a shelter (Yes)
59. Find potable water (Yes)
Surviving Extremes (Uh, avoid them?)
60. Floods
61. Tornados (Get in the basement?)
62. Cold (Wear layers?)
63. Heat (Drink water)
64. Lightning (GO inside)
Teach Your Kids
65. Cast a line (Yes)
66. Lend a hand (Yes)
67. Change a tire (Yes, but I don’t have AAA for nothing)
68. Throw a spiral (Does signing them up for a team count?)
69. Fly a stunt kite (Uh, no)
70. Drive a stick shift (My 9 yr old would love a shot at this, but I figure he needs to be able to see over the dashboard first)
71. Parallel park (Yes)
72. Tie a bowline (Yes)
73. Tie a necktie (Yes)
74. Whittle (Yes)
75. Ride a bike (Yes)
Technology
76. Install a graphics card (Yes)
77. Take the perfect portrait (Yes)
78. Calibrate HDTV settings (No)
79. Shoot a home movie (Yes)
80. Ditch your hard drive (Yes)
Master Key Workshop Tools (I have all of these except the ones I have never heard of and have no idea what they would possibly be used for, like the infrared thermometer? In case my house is feverish?)
81. Drill driver
82. Grease gun (No)
83. Coolant hydrometer (No)
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 (No)
96. Sand blaster (No)
97. Crosscut saw
98. Hand plane
99. Multimeter (No)
100. Feeler gauges (No)
