My husband doesn't sew or quilt; however he used a surger once while taking Home Ec in middle school and made a wind sock.. so he has the 'I've used a surger' thing on me; I've never used one and I someday want one.
He will go into fabric shops with me and will give opinions. He helped research sewing machines when I replaced the clunker brother I bought for 15 bucks off of eBay (local pickup thankfully) and even asked questions about the machine that I ended up buying to replace it (Babylock Xscape) that I didn't think to ask.
Mostly though, when I run into the fabric stores -I don't drive so he has to take me everywhere- he'll sit in the car with the girls while I go in and grab whatever I need. They like to run around and touch everything.. so I try to avoid taking them in as much as possible; however he only does this when I know what I need.