MythBuster, Eco-Legend and More TV Know-It-Alls Test PM Skills

• 100 Skills
• Mythbusters
• Digital Hollywood
• tools
• Skill Set

To celebrate PM's ultimate list of "100 Skills Every Man Should Know"—the full instructions for which are now live online—we quizzed your how-to aptitude, then asked four personalities who do-it-themselves every week on TV. So how did MythBuster Adam Savage, anti-whaling captain Paul Watson and their fellow know-it-alls stack up against you when tested on the first 10 questions of our Essential DIY Skills Quiz? Study up, take the plunge again, then read on for celebrity results (and reactions) that may surprise you.

Chris Grundy /// Tool junkie; host, DIY Network's Cool Tools /// Score: 9-for-10
In addition to being the funniest guy in the bunch, Grundy is also the one with the most DIY know-how. Some advice, Grundy-style: When toenailing, "Just don't hit your toe!" Grundy also says that, while cellphones aren't dangerous to use during a lightning storm, "It also depends on who you're talking to!"
• TOOL REVIEWS: Advice From Grundy and All the Latest Product Reviews

Dave Salmoni /// Large predator expert; host and producer, Animal Planet's After the Attack and more /// Score: 8-for-10
While he's got a handle on most of the skills, Salmoni thought that concrete should have the consistency of grits—not chunky peanut butter, as recommended by the DIY Network's Derek Stearns and Dean Marsico—and also commented that pruning bushes and small trees is "not a man's job."
• FIRST LOOK: 3 Next-Gen Animal Prosthetics Build Perfect Beasts

Adam Savage /// Contributing editor, Popular Mechanics and PopularMechanics.com; host, Discovery Channel's MythBusters /// Score: 6-for-10
"Who knows how I did?" Savage asked at the end of his quiz. "As I've repeatedly said, I'm not an expert, at nearly anything. So while I may not know the terms, I'm pretty good at figuring stuff out." While Savage has mastered some of the basics—where to hide out during a tornado and how to tape drywall, for example—he should probably study up on how to set a ladder safely. We're just sayin' is all....
• MYTHBUSTERS WORKSHOP: All of Adam and Jamie's PM Columns in One Place

Paul Watson /// Founder, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society; host, Animal Planet's new Whale Wars /// Score: 6-for-10
Like Salmoni, Watson thought that mixed concrete should be the consistency of grits (or, more precisely, oatmeal), but Watson was also the only man to correctly identify which tool should be used to prune live branches between 5/8 in. and 7/8 in.: a bypass lopper (wonder if he's used that trick on the high seas). The one DIY project Watson says he'll never tackle? Drywalling. "I know nothing about it and I don't want to learn."
• TECH WATCH: Commercial Whaling Unmasked by DNA Sleuths' High-Tech Spy Game

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