I can butcher but I don't know how to field dress an animal. I can however do just about everything else in this thread, it's not gotten me much.

Tying good knots. Backing up a trailer. Driving a manual transmission vehicle.

I wish I knew how to fight. Whether it's boxing or a form of martial arts. I've never thrown a punch in my entire life. I guess you could say I'm lucky but without a pistol I can't even defend myself or my wife effectively.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

2. On the practical side, sewing. It my not be a man skill

A number of tailors and upholstery workers may disagree here.

The most important skills are to know what you don't know, and know that there are things you don't know you don't know. The fun is going to learn them (Heinlein's list is a great start), and surrounding yourself with people of like mind (and skills to teach you).

Welding and carpentry are two skills I don't have and am getting too old to learn. I can drill and complete a vertical oil or gas well, but never learned the skills needed to work with the horizontal boreholes now being used with such excellent results. My ham radio skills at Morse telegraphy and overhauling vacuum tube radios are fading into obsolescence. I can do pretty good PCB assembly work, but can't do the surface mount stuff taking over these days.

Hand to hand combat, edged weapons, and I'd appreciate a better knack with mechanic work and home improvement.

I have the same set of man skills as Lorenzo de’ Medici, but nobody calls me "The Magnificent."

Maybe I need to increase my meds?


.

At the top of my list would probably be outdoor/survival skills. Never went camping, hunting, or fishing growing up. Don't know how to navigate using a compass. Don't know how to tell poisonous plants from edible plants. My only outdoor experience is occasionally spending a couple of hours "hiking" on clearly-marked trails.

Mechanic/carpentry/plumbing skills would be great to have. I've done super basic stuff (change a tire, change headlight/tail light bulbs, fix a leaky faucet, etc.), but beyond that I'm clueless.

After becoming addicted to Man at Arms: Reforged on YouTube, I'd have to add blacksmithing to the list.

I would also like the combined combat skills of John Wick and Jason Bourne.

I can harvest a tree and build a table from it, rebuild an engine and trace an electrical fault in a car while cooking a gourmet meal no problem but I would love to learn to hunt & fish but have no idea where to start because they're not really learn on your own skills and I have no friends nor family that do.

Don't even know if or where to look for "classes" on where / how to go hunt a deer but I'd love to learn

Martial art, build a guitar and a lugged steel bike frame.

I am the proverbial "jack of all, master of none" although I have mastered a few.

Where I'd like to improve my knowledge is:
Butchering. I can field dress quite well, but know nothing about maximizing my cuts for food.
Welding. I can stick weld and make it work, but have never trained in Mig, Tig, or finish welding.
Flying. I've held steady course, made basic turns, but that's where my free lessons ended. I would love to be able to fully control an aircraft.
Sailing. I can pilot a motorboat, but never picked up sailing. Yet I love the peacefulness of being on open water with no sound of an engine.

Just about everything else mentioned in this thread I can/have done with passable results. So mush so that my wife calls me "the pretender" because whenever I'm faced with a task I can usually pull it off, even if it's my first time doing it. Just a lot of multiple experiences that I can use to relate to the task, I guess.

I'd like to be able to drink like Marion Ravenwood.

Some other posts reminded me that fighting, whether mano a mano or edged/impact weapons, is another skill I totally lack.

Add me to the list of people who want to be good at carpentry or mechanical stuff.

But I think the main man "skill" (or maybe "trait" might be a better word) I want is the willingness to do things. My dad is not happy sitting around. If there is anything to do on the house or cars or anything really, he is doing it. The moment something breaks or needs routine maintenance, he jumps on it and genuinely enjoys working on it. Me on the other hand, if it falls into one of a few categories I can actually handle, I put it off for as long as possible and might be willing to cut my hand off to avoid doing it.

Dancing. I have two left feet.

I suck at being handy around the house. My dad's dad died young so didn't teach him much, then my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was 9, so what he did know never really got passed on

I can cook, garden (although I hate it) and lots of other stuff, and I'm good with guns, and I can do basic maechanical stuff, and I pick it up fairly quickly if I want to


Fortunately, my wife is basically Bob Villa...she does moulding, refinishes whole rooms in the house, etc. she is pretty much the opposite of me.....there were only girls in her family, and she was closest with her dad, so she learned all that stuff. Everything she cooks, though, tastes like cardboard, so we compliment each other well

quote:

Originally posted by Jus228:
I wish I knew how to fight. Whether it's boxing or a form of martial arts. I've never thrown a punch in my entire life. I guess you could say I'm lucky but without a pistol I can't even defend myself or my wife effectively.

Same here. Without a weapon, improvised or otherwise, I've no idea what to do.

Two things my father was extremely good at he never passed down to any of us. Knot tying and welding.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
Just about anything that involves dirtying one's hands. I'm smart but a dolt with tools.

flashguy

This, but with about anything you could call a skill. I always get the simple tasks because I don't possess the necessary skills to do the more complicated stuff (I stack bales when doing hay, never drive or I chase parts and serve as extra hands around my buddy's shop when he has a more than one person project. I would like to be better at many things. Auto mechanics, computers (hardware & software), welding/fabrication, holding down a job(longest so far is 5 years), cooking and generally being more tolerant of people.
In particular, I am embarrassed by my lack of social skills around females and the fact I never learned to swim.

Crown molding. I couldn't get an inside outside miter box cut to work the first time to save my life. I'm a fairly smart guy but this totally escapes me. Pisses me off! I just cannot get it to mate up properly.

So woodworking is my kryptonite.