Tools? Clothing? Books? Seems to me that girls (and women) are just plain easier to buy for, and that most stores cater to that by OFFERING more cool stuff for ladies.
This year, there are a few guys on my list for whom I am stumped. I beseech ye Dopers to help.
I want to get my husband something nice, something he wouldn’t buy for himself, but that he will use/like. He has been working on a website for his flying club, and has been enjoying learning about HTML coding and such stuff. He mentioned that he wishes he had some kind of program that would help him to do HTML, to make animated gifs and fancy-schmancy headlines. I remember a desktop publishing program I had that would let me make some fancy effects for printing - one feature was something called “WordArt” - but is there something similar specifically for website design? The WryGuy is new to geekhood, so it would have to be something designed for beginners.
My stepdad jokingly asked for a ride in a warbird airplane of some kind, then admitted that the cost was TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS for an hour of flight. I like the guy a lot, but that’s just plain out of my budget. What would you get for a warplane loving guy that wasn’t a model airplane my mother will have to dust? I know there’s an airplane museum in Dayton Ohio (about an eight-hour drive from here) but admission there is free, so I can’t get him a ticket for that, but I was considering making a contribution to a hotel room in that area so he could go - but that just seems like a completely weird gift, you know?
Those are my specific questions, but I invite you all to post guy-friendly gift suggestions here, as well as posing your own specific guy-gift help requests. What do you male Dopers like to get? What gifts have you bought for guys that went over well? What guy on your list is stumping you, that maybe other Dopers could help with?
What about a nice book about the warbirds? I happen to live right near a military air museum (Castle Air Museum ), and they have a gift shop. Ours has occasional open cockpit days, which would be a hit. You might try to find out when your museum has them.
I have the opposite problem. The guys do so many fun things, that there’s always a big choice in gifts. Except that they do tend to just buy what they want rather than wait for Christmas. I don’t know what I would buy a woman. I want to play with the boys anyway. I think my sweetie’s planning on getting me a gift certificate to Cabela’s (an outdoor hunting catalog). Cool!
This is actually pretty cheaply done. The Major Chain Bookstore where I used to work ALWAYS has nice hardcovers with great pictures of warbirds for about $10-20 with their bargain books.
Depends on the guy and what he likes, but books, music, and movies are my preferred default gift.
The Museum in Dayton has free admission and is almost always open.
It is very impressive. Many of the displays and artifacts cannot be seen anywhere else. It is a worthwhile trip for any aviation enthusiest.
You can touch an SR-71!
I think the contribution to a hotel room so he can go to the museum in Dayton is a great idea. How about packaging it with a map of Ohio and a brochure from the museum? I would imagine he would love to go, but just hasn’t sat down and planned it, so if you give him the impetus, he would go and really enjoy it.
I have the same problem shopping for my father. All his hobbies are extremely expensive, plus he hakes 5x what we make, and can therefore afford to buy anything he wants. I usually just make him something, and he always loves it, no matter how cheesey it is. Dads are funny that way.
Hmm - I think you were misinformed about the price of a warbird ride. For $400, you can ride on a mission in a restored B-17 (they tour, so wait til they come to your area - the calendar they have on their website only goes through mid-Nov, so call them to find their updated schedule):
There a place in the Phillipines that will sell you airplane models carved out of hardwood and professionally painted and detailed. They come with insets for hanging the plane. I think they are 100- 400 and the level of detail is simply amazing. The labor involved would cost way, way more if you bought them in the US. I saw them at a friend’s house. If you are interested I’ll see if I can get the name.
cybersnark - thanks for the links. I’m afraid that’s a bit out of my budget, too. Truthfully, I’m looking in the $75 -$100 range. However, I sent that info on to my Mom, who is always looking for good ideas and has a slightly larger budget than I do.
Thanks for all the suggestions - I got him a couple of books, and will continue looking for something cool to go with.
In the meantime - how about that web design software for the WryGuy? Any ideas?
One great gift I’ve found for some of the men in my life are boxed sets of their favorite bands. Those are generally something just expensive enough that they won’t justify the purchase themselves, but would love to have. You can find boxed sets for just about everything these days. No kidding.
You can get a gift certificate for Netflix (however many months you wish to buy). That went over huge one year with my brother-in-law.
Another fun item are cookbooks oriented for the grill, or steaks, or whatever. I mean, of course many men enjoy cooking; not that you can’t get a regular cookbook. But I like the guy-oriented ones and they go over well with the men who do more limited cooking.
Nose-hair trimmers. Really. The first year of our marriage my husband asked for nose-hair trimmers. I thought it was the most unromantic gift EVER but complied. When he opened them, my sister started laughing so hard I thought she was going to wet her pants. She finally choked out that her husband (also a newlywed) had asked for some, too, but she’d refused because she thought it was so unappealing and unromantic.