Mad Skills

There's a lot of skills that are nice to have. Some skills used to be common and are fast disappearing. Other skills never were common and are worth knowing. I think it's great to learn new things, not just the important skills, but silly and frivolous tricks too.

How many new drivers can drive a stick shift? Good to know and could save you some grief. It doesn't take a zombie Apocalypse to be useful. I once got a ride to a bachelor party. My driver proceeded to get very drunk. I stayed sober. He was handed me the keys and it's a good thing I knew how to drive stick.

If you know how to drive stick, might as well learn how to start a car on compression. Over the years I've started quite a few cars with dead batteries using that trick.

Here's an old skill that's quickly dying: the ability to write good clear cursive that other people can read. Many schools no longer teach it. It's a skill that takes a lot of practice to get good at. I learned under the stern guidance of nuns wielding rulers. A lot of preppers like to learn old skills. Good handwriting should be one of them. I still take notes with pen and paper. It's low tech, but it works.

Why not learn a silly skill just for heck of it? I taught myself how to juggle. It amuses kids and keeps me entertained. (Okay, I'm just a big kid.) No real expensive equipment is needed. As a bonus, I developed much better hand/eye coordination.

When I was a kid my dad taught me how to throw knives. It rarely has real practical value, but it's fun and looks impressive.

There are a lot of good useful skills to develop, but why stop with the ones every prepper talks about? Learn some dying skills, and then learn some fun things. Nothing wrong with a little fun, and there might be benefits you've never imagined.

-Sixbears