fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

I pretty much agree with all of these. Got any yourself?

A female writer posted a Twitter question asking men, “What’s a universal thing most men like?” The responses didn’t mention sports, sex or masculinity but instead listed very specific male behaviors. See if you (men) agree:

1. Watching construction sites, “just in case.” “I find it really satisfying and interesting to see the process behind things being built.”

2. Throwing big rocks into water from a high place and making a big splash. “Yeah this is a good one; we’re not complicated.”

3. Buy a guy a good knife and if there’s another man, he will hand it to the man to hold who will admire it for a while and then hand it back saying, “Nice.”

4. If a guy walks under a low hanging sign, he will jump up and try to tap the bottom of the sign. Men do this 99% of the time pretending the sign is 10 feet high and that they have the ability to dunk a basketball. There are those who can dunk and the rest are mere mortals.

5. Using tie down straps to secure a load in the back of a truck, then twanging the straps and saying, “That’s not going anywhere.”

6. Give a guy a new electric drill or electric saw and he’ll wander around looking for stuff that needs holes or needs to be cut.

7. Given a wood fire and a long stick, 100 out of 100 men will find a reason to poke the fire every few minutes. Just, you know, to make sure things are burning evenly.

8. When a tree service has to chainsaw down residential trees, neighborhood men will gather from all corners of the neighborhood to watch. It’s like a siren song.

9. While shopping in a grocery store, leaning forward with your forearms on the handle of the carriage while you walk up and down the aisles. Conversely, leaning way forward on the cart, stepping onto the lower rack and giving a good push to “go for a ride.”

10 Skipping a stone across water an unusually high number of skips.

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

Some I no longer do due to laziness or arthritis but every one of them made me smile!
Especially the stick and fire!!

cahale Loc: San Angelo, TX

I'm male, but I suspect from this list that I'm not human. At least I hope not.

RightOnPhotography Loc: Quebec,QC

For 75 years I thought I was a man but, according to this list, I am either not a man or just pretending to be one. I do nothing mentioned in the list. 🙄

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

What a shame that you’ve missed so much fun in life 🙂

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

Yep, embarrassed to admit, apart from No4, I still do them all. Arthritic hip and all.
Never really been conscious of it but it is a bit weird.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

It works for me. I have learned a lot by watching others do things.

I have specific ideas about knives. I did not keep records but I estimate that I have been carrying a knife since I was about 8. Except, of course, on a plane. For about 35 years I have been carrying a one-handed knife. It's an assisted-opening knife (which is different from a switchblade) that you can pull out and open with one hand. For a farmer it's an Essential Tool. It is always in my pocket (unless I use it and set it down and walk off -- which happens more frequently as I age). There's a pocket clip which is on the end of the knife opposite to the blade hinge. That allows you to pull it out of your pocket and open it without trying to turn it around. It's surprising how many one-handed knives are made with the clip on the hinge end. I consider them useless.

I probably did this in my youth, but at 83 I don't jump. That involves keeping my balance on landing.

This is NOT limited to small hand tools. The same is true for backhoes or bulldozers. "When you get a new tool, you will find all sorts of uses for it, most of which it was never designed for"

Absolutely essential to get a uniform fire.

The reason for that is that the tree service has things that the average neighborhood men don't. Tree spikes and safety belts. Bucket trucks. LARGE chippers. Chainsaws with 40" bars.

I do the first one all the time. Arthritis. The second I do without going for a ride, just a balance exercise.

Have to teach the grandkids (and maybe even the kids).

Ollieboy

Where's eating bacon?

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Yep, that's, me. Also, when an airplane goes over always look to see what it is

Red6

Started carrying a pocket knife at 7-8 years of age and have had a knife in my pocket since. I have lost a few at the airport not realizing I had forgotten to take it out.

Pocket knives are important tools and I use mine in some manner nearly every day. It is part of my ritual of getting ready - belt, keys, knife, handkerchief, pen, and now in my later years a couple 3 x 5 cards to write important items down.

Many men today, do not know there is a protocol for showing their pocket knives to one another. Never hand an open pocket knife to someone when showing it. The other guy can open it, admire the blade(s) and then close it and hand it back. Handing an open pocket knife to someone is considered bad manners and bad luck. Of course, this does not apply to fixed-blade hunting knives which are a completely different animal.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Disagree, "mostly not any more" some "NEVER"

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Rarely do I hand someone my Knife!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I will hand someone my knife if they ask for it. When so doing, I will open it because many are not familiar with an assisted opening knife and if they open it accidentally it could be dangerous because it's spring loaded and when it opens, it's quick. I hand it to them handle forward. When they hand it back I close it and return it to my pocket.

I keep my knife sharp. I used to have a stone that I kept in the truck. I still have it but on the farm I found a faster way. I got a 1" belt sander at Harbor Freight. It comes with a 1" x 30" belt, probably 80 grit. Way too coarse. But online you can find 1" x 30" belts with 500 or 1000 grit. They do a nice job sharpening knives. To touch it up you just turn on the sander, run the knife across it one way, then the other, and you're done. If you have been using the knife to cut rocks you might need the 500 grit belt to reshape the blade. The 1000 grit belt polishes the cutting surface nicely.

We used that on the heavy field knives also. Kept them sharp. There's only one time you need a dull knife: If you're in a knife fight, a sharp blade will cut someone and the cut will heal nicely. If the blade is dull, they will stay cut.

In the field you have to use the knife properly to get a good cut. No matter how nicely your blade is polished, a knife is really a saw. A well polished knife has saw teeth that are very small and you don't see them. Understanding this, you use a knife as a saw rather than an axe. For example, cutting a sunflower stalk by swinging a knife at it will give you a ragged cut no matter how sharp the knife is. You have to use the blade to slice the stalk rather than chopping. So you can swing the knife at the stalk, but hold the knife so the blade approaches the stalk at an angle that will draw the knife across the stalk rather than trying to go straight in.

We had a group of Daisy Scouts once come to the farm to learn how to make salsa. Daisy scouts are 5-6 years old. One of the first things we taught them was how to handle knives. Kids have to learn sometime and it's best to teach them early. They used the knives (the sharp ones) (under supervision) to cut up vegetables to make salsa. No cuts occurred to anything except the vegetables.

pbearperry Loc: Massachusetts

I am a #7 guy for sure.

LDB415 Loc: Houston south suburb

Obviously amateur efforts as nowhere, even once, is bacon mentioned.