My neighbor in Toledo said my paper map folding was 'a public nuisance'

He watched me struggle for five minutes at a gas station trying to refold a state map and told me to just learn the accordion fold. I looked it up in an old Boy Scout manual and practiced on a free tourist map. Now I can get it back in the glove box in under 30 seconds. What's the most useful physical skill you've picked up from a book?

3 comments

3 Comments

anthony_lane552mo ago

Honestly, I gotta side with your neighbor on this one, that accordion fold is a game changer. @abby_martin28's knot trick sounds cool, but I learned how to change a flat tire from a library book and that's saved me way more.

jones.grace15d ago

Different folks different strokes, but I gotta say the accordion fold never really clicked for me. Had a buddy swear by it, tried it a few times, always ended up with it bunched up and useless when I needed it most. Maybe my truck bed is just a weird shape or something, but plain old stacking always wins for me. Not knocking anyone who makes it work, just saying sometimes the simplest way is the best way for the rest of us.

abby_martin282mo ago

Your neighbor was out of line calling it a nuisance, but he had a point about the accordion fold. That skill is a lifesaver. The most useful thing I ever learned from a book was how to tie a bowline knot one-handed from a sailing manual. It sounds silly until you need to secure a line with just your free hand. That single page has saved me so many times on boats and even just tying stuff down to my car roof.