What do you think?
Rate this book
Manskills: How to Avoid Embarrassing Yourself and Impress Everyone Else
Using a light but practical tone, the book covers everything a man needs to know in today's world. Includes tips on home repair, car repair, electronics, cleaning, personal grooming, fine dining, traveling, etiquette, outdoor skills and the fine art of conversation.
361 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
13 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 6, 2013
I brought this book home for my husband, but I actually read it first! It was full of humor, as well as tips on how to navigate your way through life. And yes, as a woman, I still felt the need to read this. While it is indeed awesome for a man to tie his own tie, it can be extremely sexy and intimate for the woman in his life to do it for him. And I also might need too know how to carve a turkey or change a flat tire. All in all, it's an entertaining read, full of useful, or at the least, interesting tidbits. The reason I didn't give it a higher rating is that I wanted more.
November 28, 2025
sexist but honestly informative
October 21, 2016
A complete guide to everyday skills to prove you manliness:
1. Tools - remove a stripped screw with a screw extractor. drive a nail with one hand by holding the hammer sideways. repair a leaking pipe with rubber gasket and hose clamps. freeze gum to remove it from carpet. patch a gutter with scrap metal and roofing asphalt. cut glass - use straight edge with cork or rubber back so it doesn't slide, pull cutters wheel toward you, tap along cut with ball on the end every inch, line cut with ended of table and snap Off. when sharpening a mower blade it should hang level
2. outdoor skills - debris hut- work Ridge pole into crotch of tree and rocks, line with branches, then layer of Moss and leaves, then more large branches you hold in place. find water- look for greener areas, scan terrain for gulleys, tie a bowline, during a hornet attack pull your shirt over your head to protect your head and neck, purify water with iodine or chlorine tablets boiling or straining through sock filled with sand and alternating with charcoal, collect water by digging a hole putting a container inside and cover with plastic put a hole in the center and a rock create a slope. start a fire by timing a shoelace to a stick to create a bow and rub it along another stick or focus the suns rays with water bottle or glasses. fend off a shark by attacking his eyes or gills. clean a fish. shoot a handgun- stance, grip, sight, trigger. set a snare with a bowline knot. create hooks with thorns or twigs and shoelaces or vines, survive and undertow by swimming across as it pulls you from shore until you get passed it. shine your shoes. break the ice by having a goal, opening line and ask questions noticing something unique and asking about it.
3. vehicular savvy- if there is nothing to place under your tires, deflate them halfway to get unstuck in the mud. turn into a skid and lay off the gas and brake. lose a tail by taking a right on a red light just in front of cross traffic so he is landlocked. stop a car when the brakes fail with the parking brake. parallel park.
4. emergency situations - make a stretcher with two handles and a blanket by folding one third over each handle and using the person's weight to hold it together. earthquake get under sturdy furniture and protect you head with hands. drive with a popped hood by sticking your head out the window. tornado seek shelter in basement and cover with something soft. Avalanche crouch down and swim to surface like wave. right a capsized canoe by getting underneath and pulling on side down while pushing up middle seat. downed power line in car don't touch anything and remain inside, to rescue someone push them from wire with wooden object. frostbite drink warm liquid and place part under dry blanket, warm slowly. kind in a door only if it swings away from you aim just inside handle or deadbolt. lay on ground with hands over head of free falling elevator. remove a fish hook by using wire cutters to snip off the end and push it through or if barb is still inside push toward wound and slide up and out.
5. indulgence - decant at bottle of wine. make a martini. pour a black and tan with a pouring spoon. know the doneness of a steak by feel: first finger and thumb=rare, middle finger=medium rare, ring finger=medium, pinky = well. cook fish over a fire in aluminum foil with garlic, salt and pepper and half a beer.
1. Tools - remove a stripped screw with a screw extractor. drive a nail with one hand by holding the hammer sideways. repair a leaking pipe with rubber gasket and hose clamps. freeze gum to remove it from carpet. patch a gutter with scrap metal and roofing asphalt. cut glass - use straight edge with cork or rubber back so it doesn't slide, pull cutters wheel toward you, tap along cut with ball on the end every inch, line cut with ended of table and snap Off. when sharpening a mower blade it should hang level
2. outdoor skills - debris hut- work Ridge pole into crotch of tree and rocks, line with branches, then layer of Moss and leaves, then more large branches you hold in place. find water- look for greener areas, scan terrain for gulleys, tie a bowline, during a hornet attack pull your shirt over your head to protect your head and neck, purify water with iodine or chlorine tablets boiling or straining through sock filled with sand and alternating with charcoal, collect water by digging a hole putting a container inside and cover with plastic put a hole in the center and a rock create a slope. start a fire by timing a shoelace to a stick to create a bow and rub it along another stick or focus the suns rays with water bottle or glasses. fend off a shark by attacking his eyes or gills. clean a fish. shoot a handgun- stance, grip, sight, trigger. set a snare with a bowline knot. create hooks with thorns or twigs and shoelaces or vines, survive and undertow by swimming across as it pulls you from shore until you get passed it. shine your shoes. break the ice by having a goal, opening line and ask questions noticing something unique and asking about it.
3. vehicular savvy- if there is nothing to place under your tires, deflate them halfway to get unstuck in the mud. turn into a skid and lay off the gas and brake. lose a tail by taking a right on a red light just in front of cross traffic so he is landlocked. stop a car when the brakes fail with the parking brake. parallel park.
4. emergency situations - make a stretcher with two handles and a blanket by folding one third over each handle and using the person's weight to hold it together. earthquake get under sturdy furniture and protect you head with hands. drive with a popped hood by sticking your head out the window. tornado seek shelter in basement and cover with something soft. Avalanche crouch down and swim to surface like wave. right a capsized canoe by getting underneath and pulling on side down while pushing up middle seat. downed power line in car don't touch anything and remain inside, to rescue someone push them from wire with wooden object. frostbite drink warm liquid and place part under dry blanket, warm slowly. kind in a door only if it swings away from you aim just inside handle or deadbolt. lay on ground with hands over head of free falling elevator. remove a fish hook by using wire cutters to snip off the end and push it through or if barb is still inside push toward wound and slide up and out.
5. indulgence - decant at bottle of wine. make a martini. pour a black and tan with a pouring spoon. know the doneness of a steak by feel: first finger and thumb=rare, middle finger=medium rare, ring finger=medium, pinky = well. cook fish over a fire in aluminum foil with garlic, salt and pepper and half a beer.
June 17, 2012
I'm a sucker for this kind of humour. "The Alphabet of Manliness" was something I used to love reading through in Highschool, and "The Truth about Chuck Norris" gave me laughs through my first year of university. Manskills is still part of that genre, but distinguishes itself by being presenting useful tips every few pages. It deviates between being a moderately helpful guide and being a parody and that's why I found it enjoyable - I may never need to make an igloo, but making the perfect omelette and carving a turkey are relevant to my interests and bound to impress a significant someone. The book is filled with the useful and the absurd.
In summary, men shouldn't dismiss it as another 'stupid' book because this one is clever. Women might want to consider getting it as a gift for a male friend, but might enjoy it themselves.
In summary, men shouldn't dismiss it as another 'stupid' book because this one is clever. Women might want to consider getting it as a gift for a male friend, but might enjoy it themselves.
November 6, 2013
It wasn't bad. Just informative.
December 19, 2013
Essential for men
April 21, 2018
A good book, in general, to learn some skills for life.
February 29, 2024
Some interesting stuff. It's for people that don't like learning from you tube.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews