I guess its the former helicopter mechanic in me, or the fact that I've always been a fix it type of person.
This is what sets me apart from the rest of the crew. When something breaks I'm always the first to try to fix it. In the case of filmmaking or photography it doesn't always have to be something physical that breaks.
I do live streaming and live events, I often find myself having to think through system solutions or failures. For example just yesterday I was filming a Vietnamese wedding, part of the day's events was at a Catholic church. We were limited to where we could walk around or film as is the case with many Catholic churches. We set up two stationary cameras in the choir loft. We weren't allowed to plug into the church's audio so we set up a wireless lav on the groom. When the ceremony began we realized the wireless was just on the fringe of the range. So I grabbed a small recorder, pulled the receiver off the camera and ran it to the front of the room.
In this job you have to think on your feet
The other day one of my lav kit antennae got caught in a zipper which pulled off the wire cover (insulator). This was the transmitter antenna, which meant that exposed wires would potentially dig into the talent if they wore the pack. I took a paperclip and some heat shrink from another DIY project and repaired my expensive equipment. I have no idea what a repair of this nature would normally cost, but I have had to pay to repair equipment and it is not generally cheap.
There have been plenty of situations where we have been filming in remote locations where replacing equipment is not possible. Its important to be able to know how your equipment functions and then be able to repair it when possible.