An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

If you’ve read the Bible, then you’ve probably come across the phrase “gird up your loins.” I’ve always thought it was a funny turn of phrase. Loins . . . heh.

Back in the days of the ancient Near East, both men and women wore flowing tunics. Around the tunic, they’d wear a belt or girdle. While tunics were comfortable and breezy, the hem of the tunic would often get in the way when a man was fighting or performing hard labor. So when ancient Hebrew men had to battle the Philistines, they would lift the hem of their tunic up and tuck it into their girdle or tie it in a knot to keep it off the ground. The effect basically created a pair of shorts that provided more freedom of movement. Thus to tell someone to “gird up your loins” was to tell him to get ready for hard work or battle. It was the ancient way of saying “man up!”

While I’ve had a vague notion of what it meant to gird up your loins, I’ve always been curious how exactly you do it. So we did some sleuthing and found these instructions on the Historyzine Podcast and turned it into an illustrated guide for your enjoyment and edification. In case tunics ever come back in style, you’ll now know how to gird up your loins and get ready for action.

Yea, now go forth. Gird up your loins and fresh courage take, my brethren.

Like this illustrated guide? Buy the poster!

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An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

There are a lot of things your car can get stuck in: mud, snow, even a ditch. While every situation is different, there are some principles you can follow that may help you become unstuck without needing to call for a tow. So, we enlisted Wyatt Knox from Team O’Neil Rally School in NH to help us put this guide together should you ever find yourself in one of these sticky situations.

Like this illustrated guide? Then you’re going to love our book The Illustrated Art of Manliness! Pick up a copy on Amazon.

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An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

Of all the ninjas skills, being able to walk silently through the night is arguably the most useful for the modern man. Even if you don’t need to call upon it to stealthily assassinate your archenemy, it will allow to check on your sleeping children without waking them or steal cookies from a coworker.

Inspired by Secrets of the Ninja by Ashida Kim. I stumbled upon this book back when I was in middle school. Definitely a fun read.

The post Skill of the Week: Walk Like a Ninja appeared first on The Art of Manliness.

An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

I’m a big fan of old cop and detective shows. One of my favorites is The Rockford Files that aired in the 1970s and starred the legendary James Garner as private detective Jim Rockford. The Rockford Files was famous for the car chase scenes in which Rockford would race down bad guys in his Firebird Esprit. Rockford’s signature car maneuver was the J-turn in which he would start off in reverse, spin the car 180 degrees, and then continue forward in the same direction. Because the move was used so often on the show, the J-turn is often called “The Rockford Turn.”

For a tutorial on how one performs this automotive escape/pursuit maneuver, I turned to Wyatt Knox at Team O’Neil Rally School who teaches the skill as part of Team O’Neil’s tactical driving course. Wyatt noted that J-turns don’t really work with newer cars that have stability control, and he warns against doing them in high center of gravity cars like SUVs and trucks because of the risk of rollover. Above you’ll find his instructions for doing the J-turn, illustrated by Ted Slampyak.

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An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

From those awkward days in early gym class to Marine trainees racing through obstacle courses, rope climbing is a time-honored practice of testing and building your physical fitness. At one time, rope climbing was even an Olympic event, pitting agile athletes from around the world to see who could race up their rope the quickest. Rope climbing is not only a great workout for the upper body, it’s also a useful skill, whether you’re looking to do some technical climbing or scale Mount Midoriyama to become the next American Ninja Warrior.

There are several methods taught for proper rope climbing technique. The biggest difference between each technique is how you use your feet. No matter what method you use, you should always start by jumping up to grab the rope at the highest point possible. This helps give you a head start and provides some wiggle room for you to position the rope between your legs.

Illustrated by Ted Slampyak

The post Skill of the Week: How to Climb a Rope appeared first on The Art of Manliness.

An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

Maybe you have roadside assistance, maybe you don’t. Either way, you should know how to change a flat tire yourself. You never know if you, a loved one, or even a stranger, is going to need the help.

The post Skill of the Week: Change a Flat Tire appeared first on The Art of Manliness.

With our archives now 3,500+ articles deep, we’ve decided to republish a classic piece each Sunday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in December 2017.

While busy airports tend to get all the attention around the holiday travel season, the highways and byways are actually far more trafficked. Of long-distance travelers — those going 50 miles or more — over 90% are getting to where they’re going by car. Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year’s are in fact the most heavily trafficked times of year on America’s roads.

While it’s wonderful that folks are traveling to spend time with friends and family, it’s also an unfortunate time of year to be on the roads in certain parts of the country. Icy streets and snowstorms can quickly change a pleasant drive with the family into a stressful and truly dangerous situation, especially if one isn’t familiar with winter driving tactics and practices; it’s a whole different game than driving on dry pavement.

So whether you’ll be passing through conditions on the way to Grandmother’s house that you don’t normally encounter in your home state, or you’ve recently moved to a snowy place and are getting the feel for driving in your first winter there, be sure to acquaint yourself with how to navigate this cold and slick season. Below I offer a primer on this subject, based on input from experts, as well 15 years of my own experience driving in wintry conditions in Minnesota, Iowa, and Colorado.

Before Driving

Ensure proper tire tread. One of the most important things you can do before getting behind the wheel in snowy conditions is to ensure your tires have enough tread to grip the road/snow. While proper tire inflation is also important (even though myths about intentionally underinflating in winter persist, don’t do that; it puts too much pressure on the tire), tread depth is more so. In some states (including my home of Colorado), you can actually get fined in the winter for having balding tires.

You should have at least 1/8” of tread. A quick way to measure this is to simply use a quarter, with George Washington’s head pointing down. Place the quarter in the tread, and if the top of his head is covered, you’re also covered. If the top of his head is visible (at any point around the tire — test multiple points) it’s time for new tires, and ASAP. More winter accidents are caused by poor tread than anything else. In recent years, Colorado State Patrols have tried to underscore this point by measuring tire treads at ski area parking lots and handing out fines if treads are less than that 1/8” threshold.

You’ll see some guidelines saying that 1/16” is okay (which would be passable using the Lincoln penny test), but newer standards and research shows that it may already be too late at that point — especially in mountain environs.

Don’t hesitate to delay your errands/road trip if needed. Pay close attention to weather forecasts. If it’s a week out and the weather looks spotty, no need to postpone plans yet. But check daily what the reports look like, and if it gets to be 1-2 days beforehand and the forecast still calls for blizzard conditions, don’t hesitate to postpone. It’s a hassle, of course, but far better to be safe than sorry. And even though weather forecasting is an inexact science, when it’s just a day or two out they’re more likely than not to be right. You also really just need to know your own confidence levels. Growing up in Minnesota, I have years of winter driving under my belt, so it takes quite a bit to keep me off the road. I have no judgment, though, for someone from a warmer locale canceling plans because they don’t want to be on the snowy roads. Again, use your head, and repeat to yourself over and over that it’s far better to be safe than sorry.   

Here’s a pro tip: Use national weather services vs. local reports. In his book The Signal and the Noise, statistician Nate Silver researched this topic and found that local meteorologists tend to exaggerate forecasts (albeit unintentionally — probably) and make things seem just a little worse than what the National Weather service might say. Why does this happen? Because a poor weather forecast is going to garner better TV ratings than a good one. My go-to is weather.gov online and Wunderground on the phone.

Keep winter emergency supplies in the car. While there are some things you should always have in your car, a few are winter-specific:

• Blanket(s)
• Hat(s) and gloves
• Ice scraper
• Mini snow shovel
• Kitty litter (for tire traction)
• Tire chains
• Candles (and lighter/matches)

This article goes into a little more detail on these things (plus the other stuff you should be keeping in your car).

Clear the car of snow and ice (ALL of it). After a snowstorm, few things drive me crazier than seeing cars that have cleared off windows and hoods, but left a foot of snow on top that is slowly — and sometimes not-so-slowly but rather all at once — being blown off into the car(s) behind them (including mine). I know it’s hard with your giant SUV, but clear off the entirety of the car before driving. It reduces risk for everyone else on the road.

Know that your 4WD SUV doesn’t make you a Super Snow Driver. While your 4WD is handy for traction, it only works if you’re going at safe speeds at which the tires can actually catch that traction. If you’re going too fast, 4WD won’t help you slow down faster. You still have to practice all of the following safe driving tips, even if you’re driving a tank.

Know your locale. When I was in college, I was once visiting my mom in Seattle over spring break. She lived in the heart of the notoriously hilly city, and while I was there it snowed a few inches. While back at school in Iowa, that wouldn’t cause anyone to even bat an eyelash, I kid you not when I say that the entire city was shut down. People were literally sledding down the streets on mattresses.

It was clear that it would be best for us to stay off the roads, not only because they were filled with gleeful sledders, but because the folks out there driving likely had little to no experience and were making the whole thing more dangerous. In my hometown, those few inches would be nothing, and it was more likely that the folks on the road knew what they were doing (to some degree, at least). In short, know where you are and use your practical wisdom to judge whether or not the situation would be safe.

While Driving

Accelerate and brake slowly. Everything takes longer in snowy and slick conditions. When accelerating, do so slowly. Your tires will be better able to grip the snow and push forward versus if you’re slamming the gas pedal, in which case your tires will just spin and spin.

Same goes for braking. It (hopefully obviously) takes longer to stop on snowy roads. Press the brake slowly rather than slamming it down, and give yourself much more room than you think you need in order to stop. If people would heed this single piece of advice, there would be far fewer winter accidents.

Related: you’ll want to double or even triple your normal following distance to account for this. Give 2-4 car lengths between your car and the one in front of you, depending on your speed. Some experts say to add a car length to every 10 miles per hour in speed in winter driving conditions, e.g. at 30 mph, give 3 car lengths of space. Put another way, give 8-10 seconds between you and the car you’re following; that is, you pass a landmark or stoplight 8-10 seconds after the person ahead.  

Drive slower than you normally would, and know your vehicle. It’s okay to be a grandpa on the road when conditions call for it. Drive as fast as you can while still feeling in control of the vehicle, no matter the speed limit (without going over, of course). If it’s 30, and you can safely drive 30, great. If it’s 60, but you can only drive 30, do it. There’s no “right” answer here because it totally depends on the conditions and the vehicle. I drive our 4WD SUV a little differently than our small 2WD Toyota. As you’re driving, you’ll be able to make a determination on how the car is handling, and adjust accordingly. Sometimes when I start out driving in snowy conditions, I’ll hit the brakes on a random stretch of straight road — when nobody is around, of course — just to test out what it feels like. You’ll have to gauge each scenario as it comes.

Let’s talk about hills. Hills are a nightmare in the winter (in fact, if you have 2-wheel drive, it might be prudent to alter your commute routes and the like in order to avoid particularly steep ones). A couple tips to help you navigate them:

On the way up: Don’t floor it. Your instinct might be to give the car extra juice the whole way up the hill, but that’s the wrong approach. It’ll just get your wheels spinning, and you’ll stop making progress. Instead, try to actually get some inertia before you get to the hill so that you don’t have to accelerate too much while you’re on it. Then when the car naturally slows at the top, you can sort of coast into the decline at a nice slow speed.

On the way down: Coast down nice and easy, but don’t hit the brake beyond a gentle squeeze. If you hit the brakes too hard, you’ll slide and possibly lose control. You want the tires to still spin a bit.

Ditch the distractions. For real though. A vast majority of Americans agree that distracted driving — particularly in the form of phone use — is very bad and very dangerous, and yet 70% of drivers admit to using their phone while driving in the past 30 days. We know the problem, but most of us still contribute to it. In poor conditions, you need to be especially cognizant of any distractions in the car. Don’t text, don’t be eating, don’t shave (yes, I’ve seen it), and even consider turning off the radio/music altogether so you can really focus on driving safely.

Watch the road surface closely. Black ice — basically, thin, invisible ice on roadways — is difficult to detect, but if you train your eyes to detect dark, wet, slick-looking patches on the road, you’ll be better able to avoid those areas. Underpasses are notorious black ice zones (they don’t get the sunlight that often melts ice), as are bridges and other elevated roadways (they don’t get residual ground heat, so they stay colder).

Related: Watch things on the road a bit further out than usual. You’re often just looking at the first few cars ahead of you and reacting to what they’re doing. In poor winter conditions, though, you’ll want to look even further ahead. Since things take longer, you need to know what’s happening 10 cars ahead rather than just a couple.

Slow wayyy down for turns. Normally, you’re probably braking and turning at the same time. That’s the wrong tactic for driving in slick conditions. You’ll want to slow way down before the turn — almost all the way down, in fact — because braking and turning would just lead to slipping and a possible wreck. Once slowed — again, almost to a complete stop — you can either coast into the turn, or give it just a bit of gas. This way you’re in full control and can adjust as needed. For instance, if you gas too much and the wheels start spinning, you can take your foot off the pedal and probably gain the traction you need to keep the car in control. If you’re braking and turning, there’s just not as much you can do once you’ve started sliding in an undesirable direction.

Make yourself extra visible. If you’re in a snowstorm, make your car as visible as possible by first always having your headlights on. You can also turn on your hazard flashers when it’s especially poor visibility or if you’re traveling much slower than the speed limit. Flashers alert other drivers of your presence better than just having your headlights on.

Know your skids — and how to avoid/get out of them. A couple years ago the fellas at Team O’Neil Rally School put together an article for us on how to avoid and get out of 5 different skids that occur when driving in the winter. Read that article, and know how to properly apply the brakes when skidding (hint: it does not include slamming the brakes, even if that’s your natural instinct).

Give just a little extra time at stoplights. In snowy conditions, I always wait just an extra second or so to start going at a green light. You never know if someone from the other direction might slide or not be able to fully stop at their red light. Nobody is going to fault you for some extra caution in snowy conditions.

Give a little extra grace to other drivers. If you’re normally a little road-ragey, cool it. You should really cool it anyways, but especially in poor winter driving conditions. Give everyone around you plenty of space, don’t honk if someone doesn’t immediately hit the gas at a green light, etc. You’re not the only one stressed out about getting to work on time, but in the snow, there’s a little more slack all around, including, hopefully, from your employer.

Driving in wintry conditions can be hairy and stressful; you can find yourself gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles for hours on end. Hopefully by heeding the above tips, you can relax a little more (while staying vigilant) and will not only make it through that next snowstorm like a champ, but gain confidence in your winter driving skills as well, which is nearly half the battle.

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When you’re sitting at a poker or blackjack table, you’ll have stacks of chips in front of you. You’ll likely find yourself fiddling with them out of boredom or nerves. If you’re going to fiddle with your chips, at least do it with some flare by shuffling them. Shuffling chips not only offers at outlet for your fidgeting, it makes you look like you know what you’re doing. 

If you want to intimidate your friends at your next poker night or at least not look like a gambling noob, here’s how to shuffle poker chips like a smooth operator. 

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If you’ve got a military buddy, you may have heard him spell something out using whole words that begin with each of its letters.

For example, if he’s on the phone and needs to spell his name, he might say something like:

Juliet. Alpha. Charlie. Kilo. 

That’s “Jack.”

Juliet, Alpha, Charlie, and Kilo are words that are part of the military’s phonetic spelling alphabet. 

Not only is this alphabet fun to know, but it can actually come in handy from time to time.

So read on for the civilian’s guide to this combatant’s code.

A Brief History of the Military Phonetic Alphabet

When militaries started using field telephones and two-way radios to communicate in the late 19th and early 20th century, poor connections and external noises would sometimes obscure the messages being exchanged. When lives and the fates of nations are on the line, you can’t afford any miscommunication.

To ensure that messages got through clearly, signalmen developed a system of words that represented each letter of the alphabet. In World War I, each branch of the US military had its own code. During WWII, the military developed the “Joint Army/Navy radiotelephony spelling alphabet” so that the forces could communicate smoothly when working together. The Joint Army/Navy alphabet of this era was different than the modern military’s version; for example, Alpha, Bravo, Echo, Romeo, and Sierra, which today respectively represent the letters A, B, E, R, and S, were rendered as Able, Baker, Easy, Roger, and Sugar back then.

While the American and British militaries had each developed different phonetic spelling alphabets, during WWII they began to combine and standardize their independent versions to streamline communication during joint operations. During this time, extensive research was conducted in which various possible words for each letter were tested to determine which offered maximum intelligibility under the intensely cacophonous conditions of battle.

In 1956, all NATO countries adopted a universal phonetic spelling alphabet, known as the ICAO International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or just the NATO phonetic alphabet. (Some of the words are spelled a little differently in the US military, e.g., it uses “Alpha” rather than “Alfa.”) There are also phonetic alphabet numbers; a phonetic word represents each number, and some have distinctive pronunciations. 

This phonetic spelling alphabet is not only used in the military, but sometimes in the realms of aviation, medicine, and amateur radio as well.

Why Civilians Should Know the Military Phonetic Alphabet

So why should civilians know the military phonetic spelling alphabet? Most of us probably aren’t radioing in the coordinates of enemy combatants while gunfire erupts in the background.

First, knowing military jargon and contexts like slang and ranks is just cool. Also, you see the phonetic alphabet pop up in your favorite war movies and military-themed video games, and it’s fun to be able to follow along. 

Second, it can come in handy when you’re talking on the phone and need to make sure something gets spelled correctly. Your voice can sometimes sound garbled to the listener on the other end of the line. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between the sounds of B, V, T, and P; F and S; and M and N. While an A might be confused for a K, Alpha is never going to be confused with Kilo.

You probably already spell stuff phonetically over the phone. If the customer service rep asks how you spell your name, and your name is Brett, you might say something like “B as in boy, R as in rabbit, E as in elephant, and two T’s as in turtle.”

Well, with the military phonetic alphabet, you can spell things phonetically with a standard international system while sounding more badass. 

Bravo. Romeo. Echo. Tango. 

Much cooler than boy, rabbit, elephant, turtle.

The Military Phonetic Alphabet

The military’s phonetic alphabet assigns each of the alphabet’s 26 letters a specific, distinct-sounding code word that begins with the letter itself. It runs like this: 

Military Phonetic Alphabet Code Phrases

Over the decades, soldiers have developed phrases that combine the code words in the military’s phonetic alphabet. Here are some common ones:

• Charlie Mike: Continue mission
• Oscar Mike: On the move
• Bravo Zulu: Good job/well done
• November Golf: No go/fail
• Tango Mike: Thanks much
• Tango Yankee: Thank you
• Lima Charlie: Loud and clear

There you go. Now you know the military phonetic alphabet. Bravo Zulu!

The post An Intro to the Military Phonetic Alphabet appeared first on The Art of Manliness.

Ideally, you’d keep all your vehicles stored inside your garage when not in use. 

The garage protects your car from the elements, reducing its wear and tear and preserving its structural integrity, aesthetics, and future resale value.

But for various reasons, you may be unable to keep your car in the garage. 

For one thing, you may not have a garage — you live in an apartment or home that lacks one.

Or maybe you have a two-car garage but own three cars. One of those cars is going to have to stay in the driveway. 

Or perhaps you’ve turned your garage into a gym and don’t have room for your vehicle(s). Sorry, car, you’ve been kicked to the curb for the sake of gainzzz.

If you need to park your car outside, what can you do to protect its exterior and interior from being damaged by the sun, heat, cold, rain, snow, pollen, and pollutants to which it’ll be continually exposed?

You don’t have to do that much, especially for cars built in the 21st century. Thanks to technological advances, vehicles can withstand quite a beating from the elements without deteriorating. But there are a few things you can do to supplement your car’s built-in outdoor protection. And of course, if you own a vintage automobile, you’ll want to take extra good care of your baby.

Here’s a maintenance schedule for keeping your vehicle in the best possible condition:

Daily

Don’t Park Underneath Trees. If possible, don’t park your car underneath trees. When you park beneath a tree, you increase the chances of birds pooping on your car. Moreover, tree sap, pollen, and falling acorns can all damage your car’s exterior. 

Use a windshield sunshade. UV rays and high heat can weather and damage your car’s interior over time. To mitigate that, put a sunshade under your windshield. It will block the sun and keep the interior of the car cooler, which is particularly important in the bright, hot summer months.

Every Other Week

Wash Your Car. You can get away with less frequent car washes when you park your car inside a garage. When your vehicle is parked outside, it collects dirt and grime, so regular car washing becomes essential. Washing your car every other week will ensure you remove the debris that can damage your car’s exterior. Follow our guide to the perfect driveway car wash.

Monthly

Wax Your Car. Car wax will not only make your car look nice and shiny but also provide a protective layer to its paint. 

Carnauba wax is easy to apply and provides plenty of protection for your car’s paint. You can buy waxes that have UV protectants mixed in for an added layer of defense. 

Car waxes last for two to four months, but if you park your car outside, the wax will wear off faster, so wax your vehicle on a monthly basis.

Apply Trim Protectants to Exterior Plastics, Rubber, and Moldings. UV rays, as well as hot and cold weather, can dull, fade, crack, and weaken your car’s exterior trim. To prevent that from happening, apply a trim protectant once a month to your vehicle’s exterior plastics, rubber, and moldings. 

Apply Interior Protectants. While using a sunshade will go a long way in protecting your car’s interior, for added protection, apply an interior protectant with UV protection to the dashboard and leather upholstery once a month. 

Yearly

Consider a Sealant or Ceramic Coating. Consider applying a sealant or ceramic coating for longer-lasting protection for your car’s exterior. You apply them the same way you do a wax. They last longer, and the ceramic coating also helps protect your vehicle from minor scratches. 

Only Use a Car Cover If You’re Parking Your Car Outside Long-Term

You’d think if you wanted to provide maximum protection to your car when it’s parked outside, you’d always want to use a car cover. 

But most professional car detailers actually don’t recommend putting a cover on a car that’s parked outside, at least if you’re using the car on a regular basis. This is for a few reasons: 

First, constantly putting the cover on and taking it off increases the chances you’ll inadvertently scratch your car. 

Second, you’d only want to cover your car after it’s been washed. Covering your car when it’s already dirty will keep it from collecting more grime, but you’ll be wrapping in the existing debris.

Finally, if you’re driving your car regularly, it’s just a pain in the butt to cover and uncover your car day after day, and it’s probably not offering much ROI in return for the effort. Regularly washing and waxing your vehicle and applying trim protectants is likely enough to keep your vehicle in tip-top shape.

The only time you might want to consider using a car cover is if you plan on parking your car outside long-term. Make sure you wash and wax it before putting the cover on.

There you go. How to take care of your car if you can’t park it in a garage. You’ll need to consider some extra factors when parking your car outside in the cold and snow. We’ll tackle that in a future article.

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