Everyone should know how to: - front and back float, doggy-paddle (or something that'll get you headed forwards), and tread water - build a campfire using flint and steel - change a fuse - reset a breaker - tie at the very, very least, a square knot and a bowline (there are stronger knots, but those two will get you through pretty much any situation that isn't, like, mountain climbing or marine) - change a bike tire, and fix a broken chain - read a topo map, and use a compass - build a snowcave - change a car tire, sparkplugs, and your oil - accurately use a measuring tape - plunge a toilet - boil water - choose fruit and veggies at the supermarket
About half of these are things I routinely teach my Girl Guides....the other half are things I wish my housemates had known before they moved in (one of the boys, a couple weeks ago, blew the upstairs kitchen breaker in the morning - not unexpected, it's an old house. When I got home in the late afternoon, he said "Hey, this morning the plug-in on the counter just, like, stopped working. Did I break it?" - thankfully, the fridge is on a different circuit).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-11-11 11:37 pm (UTC)- front and back float, doggy-paddle (or something that'll get you headed forwards), and tread water
- build a campfire using flint and steel
- change a fuse
- reset a breaker
- tie at the very, very least, a square knot and a bowline (there are stronger knots, but those two will get you through pretty much any situation that isn't, like, mountain climbing or marine)
- change a bike tire, and fix a broken chain
- read a topo map, and use a compass
- build a snowcave
- change a car tire, sparkplugs, and your oil
- accurately use a measuring tape
- plunge a toilet
- boil water
- choose fruit and veggies at the supermarket
About half of these are things I routinely teach my Girl Guides....the other half are things I wish my housemates had known before they moved in (one of the boys, a couple weeks ago, blew the upstairs kitchen breaker in the morning - not unexpected, it's an old house. When I got home in the late afternoon, he said "Hey, this morning the plug-in on the counter just, like, stopped working. Did I break it?" - thankfully, the fridge is on a different circuit).