I’ve seen a lot of posts floating around related to the topic of gift guide for men, or gifts for him, or gifts for your husband/boyfriend. However, I haven’t really found any lists that pertain to gifts my boyfriend would actually want. A lot of these lists include things like love coupons, framed cutesy pictures or printable quotes. Though the items and DIY projects are usually adorable, I can’t picture my boyfriend really enjoying these things. He would of course enjoy them just because I put thought into them, but he wouldn’t actually be excited about those gifts. See, my boyfriend is a manly man. He likes manly stuff, and manly gifts, and gifts that he can thoroughly enjoy. He always likes unique gifts and gifts that I really thought long and hard about. And these are also the kinds of gifts I like giving: The gifts I can actually see him getting genuinely excited about. No offense to the men who do like the cutesy gifts–there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I just happened to date someone who was in the Marine Corps for almost 10 years, so he’s more inclined to enjoy the manlier gifts.
So, I’ve put together this list of gifts for manly men. These gifts are perfect for the upcoming holiday, Valentine’s Day, or for birthdays or father’s day, or just for a random “I love you” gift.
*Some of these links are affiliate links (marked by an asterisk), meaning if you buy a present through the link, I receive a small percentage of the profit. This does not cost you more money at all. All of the products/events I stand behind and my opinions haven’t been swayed at all.
1. Whiskey Explorer’s Club*
The Whiskey Explorer’s Club is one of Stephen’s favorite gifts that I’ve ever given him. Basically, when you give someone the membership to the club, they will receive a tasting flight of four 5cl/50ml sample bottles of whiskey. They can either receive this once as part of the Scout Introduction, or every three months for a year which is what I opted for. Each time, they receive four new whiskeys without a title, age or description on the bottle. The whiskeys are from all over the world and not typically found in your local liquor store. Once you taste the whiskey, you can take an IQ whiskey quiz online and test your whiskey knowledge to figure out which whiskey you are drinking. At the end of the quiz they tell you what you’re drinking and how much it sells for. There were multiple times where Stephen and I were totally off on our guesses, but this is what makes it fun! What I love about this gift is that it’s a year-long gift, and each time a flight comes in the mail your man will get excited!
2. Man Crates
I discovered Man Crates last spring and I couldn’t wait for a holiday to come up so I could give one to Stephen. The next holiday happened to be his birthday, and it was perfect. If you haven’t heard of a man crate, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a crate for men. There are different categories and varieties of crates but the one I ordered Stephen was the bacon crate which came with two flavors of bacon jerky, bacon popcorn, bacon salt (which changed Stephen’s world), bacon peanut brittle, bacon sunflower seeds, and more bacon popcorn. All of this comes in a wooden crate that your man has to open with a crowbar (included) which was extremely fun to watch. With every item pulled out of the crate, he got more and more excited. Some other crates they offer are: The Sriracha Crate, The Hot and Spicy Crate, The Zombie Suppression Crate, the Retro Gamer Crate, the NFL Barware Crate, the Outdoor Survival Crate, and a whole slew of other crates. You really need to check them out–they have something for every kind of man. Plus, I got to eat some of the delicious snacks so it was sort of a present for me too!
3. Rent a Ferrari/Race Car:
Now I know that not all men love cars as much as my boyfriend does, but I also know that a good majority of them do. And if you’re dating or married to a car guy, I can guarantee he would love to drive a Ferrari. The folks over at Cloud 9 offer “Gifts of Speed” where you can rent a speedy car for your guy. I have to admit, this is something I haven’t done for Stephen yet, but I’ve been wanting to for a while. It’ll be one of the little tricks up my sleeve when I need a good gift to give.
4.Amazon Fire TV Stick*
I think this would be a really cool gift idea. These Amazon Fire TV Sticks are fairly new and I keep seeing commercials about them (Has anyone seen the one with Gary Busey? Cracks me up.) Essentially what it is is a streaming media HDMI stick with Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, music, games, and more. It has a massive storage space and selection with more than 200,000 TV episodes and movies, millions of songs, and hundreds of games. I personally just think this is really awesome! I would personally use it to download movies or playlists online (legally!) and hook it up to my TV to watch on the big screen rather than my small computer screen. Though this is a gender-neutral present I think that men would really enjoy this, especially when it comes to movies and video games!
5. Trunk Club Gift Card
Trunk Club is such a cool concept, and I’m happy to share it with you guys. You give your man a gift card to Trunk Club and they get set up with a personal stylist who asks them questions about their personal style and preferences and then the stylist does all the hard work and finds the perfect clothing matches. Perfect for guys who need new clothes but hate to go shopping!
6. De’Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker*
This is a gift that I think a lot of guys would love, but a gift that they wouldn’t buy for themselves–which I think is the perfect gift. Stephen loves coffee and espresso, so this is definitely for the coffee drinking bunch! Every time we go to Starbucks, Stephen gets some sort of coffee with a shot of espresso, or a double shot if he needs a real boost of energy. So, I know he loves his espresso! But, he has no way of making it in the home. Enter: The Espresso and Cappuccino Maker. If your man wakes himself up every day with some coffee, I think he would really love this gift! It might also be fun to give this in a little coffee basket with a mug and some espresso beans (or however you make espresso and cappuccino–I’m not a coffee drinker!) I’m all about cute gift baskets, especially when they’re personalized and catered to your gift receiver.
7. Pizza of the Month Club
I’m a big fan of club gifts or ongoing gifts, as you’ll soon find out. Mainly because I think it’s extremely fun for a gift to be ongoing. And because I personally like receiving these kinds of gifts. I just found this club and I think it’s brilliant. Every single man I know loves pizza (really, really loves pizza) and being able to experience multiple types just sounds fun, and delicious! The membership comes with 3 deep-dish pizzas per month plus a Pizza Lover’s newsletter. And best of all, the membership comes with 100% satisfaction guaranteed which I love because it means they really stand behind their product! Also, you’ll never receive the same pizza twice which is awesome. They offer different type of memberships: 3, 6 and 12 months, plus a Pizza of the Season membership (4 time a year). Lastly, my mouth started watering as I was writing this, so that must be a good sign. Right?
8. Elgato Smart Key*
This present is so handy and useful. This is the smart key which connects your keys to your phone. This way, when you leave your key behind somewhere (restaurant, office, etc.), your phone notifies you. Or, if you’ve lost your keys, your phone helps you find them. Also, you can customize when, how and where you want to be notified. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost my keys (usually daily) and I have a feeling I’m not alone. So next time your man is rushing and on his way out the door but can’t find his keys, he’ll have his handy dandy smart key to help him remember that he left them in the bathroom or on the counter or in the fridge (personal experience).
9. Mr. Beer Premium Gold Edition Home Brewing Craft Beer Making Kit*
Do you know the saying, “Everything taste better when it’s homemade?” I believe that saying applies to beer as well. I love being able to cook my own recipes in my own kitchen and then taste what I’ve just accomplished. It also allows me to tweak recipes and put my own personal spin on things. Giving the gift of brewing your own beer allows for your man to feel that same satisfaction, except with something he holds near and dear to his heart: beer. This kit comes with a 2-gallon fermenting keg, 2 refill brew packs, 11 reusable plastic bottles, 11 labels, a brewer’s guide, and instructions. If you’re looking for a great “bang for your buck” I think this is such a great option. So much is included in the kit, and it’s still affordable! I bought Stephen a make-your-own-whiskey kit last year and he absolutely loved it and only drinks it on “special occasions.” I think once they create their own drinks, they take pride in it!
10. An Evening for Him
This isn’t a materialistic present, but more an appreciation present. I like the idea of setting up “an evening for him” where you make his favorite dinner and dessert, get him a 6 pack of his favorite beer, set up his favorite video games, and just let him relax. It’s nice to have someone support you having a relaxing night to just de-stress. I wouldn’t suggest doing this on Valentine’s Day, since I think you should do something together that day. But I would suggest doing it on February 15th or close to that.
11.Mr Bar B Q 18-Piece Stainless Steel Tool Set*
Is your guy a grill master, or want to be? This 18-piece set of stainless steel grill tools are soooo nice. First of all, I love stainless steel. Second of all, they’re professional looking, useful, and come with an awesome storage case. I know our counters and drawers are filled with kitchen utensils and grill tools, so this storage case would really come in handy. Maybe give this along with a grill cookbook or some specialty rubs (a lot of great rub packages on Etsy and Amazon). What’s great about these is that you can use them too! It’s just always nice to have a nice set of grilling tools around.
12. King of the Grill of the Month Club
I warned you I loved clubs, so I’m not going to apologize for adding another club to the list. Gifts that keep on giving are the best kinds of gifts. This club is to go along with the grilling set, of course they can be given separately–it would just be a super gift if you gave them together. The King of the Grill Club includes 3 clubs: Grill of the Month Club, Marinade and Sauce of the Month Club, and Beer of the Month Club. It really is such a cool club membership and will surely excite your guy, and his taste buds You have the option of getting a 3-month membership or a 6-month membership. You can also personalize it and decide whether he will get his shipment every month, every other month, or every third month!
13. Globe Game Box
A good poker set is something a guy could always use–if he’s into poker that is. I know that Stephen loves to play poker, and it’s a great excuse for the guys to get together to have a game night or just have guy time. I think guy time is always necessary, just how I feel girl time is always necessary. There are many different poker set options, but I fell in love with this one from Exposures. Not only does it includes everything you need for a night of poker–3 sets of playing cards, 2 sets of dice, and poker chips–it also serves as a beautiful decoration when it’s not being used for poker night. I think globes are so timeless and beautiful, and this particular one is made in Italy. If you want to go above and beyond, you can call his friends in advance and invite them over for poker night and surprise him with a fun guys’ night. Maybe cook an appetizer or two and just let him unwind and have fun.
14. GoPro HERO*
If your man is adventurous and loves the outdoors, he needs a GoPro. GoPros are so freaking cool. Stephen has one and he uses it when he goes snowboarding to record his rides down the mountain. You can use it during a bunch of activities though: skiing, bike riding, surfing, sky diving, skim boarding, horse back riding, etc. etc. I recently went dog sledding and I wish I had the GoPro with me, however Stephen was simultaneously snowboarding so he took it with him–but that would’ve been cool. They’re also just fun to record times with your friends or to record your children’s activities if you have children. They’re so small and easy to clip on that they can be so versatile and used in so many different scenarios and situations. I’m totally pro GoPro–see what I did there?–and I know your man will be too.
15. Plan a Date Night
This goes along with the idea that “an evening for him” has–you don’t have to give something materialistic for it to be a great gift. Take him to his favorite restaurant or to the movies or bowling. You can even take him to one of those movie theaters that serves as a restaurant as well–I love those places. Sometimes the hustle and bustle of life gets in the way and you don’t take enough evenings just to enjoy each other. Planning a date night is the perfect way to fix that. You also don’t even need to leave the house to plan a great date night: Madison from the Wetherills Say I Do wrote an awesome post about building a fort together and having a date night. I absolutely love that idea.
16. Be a Fighter Pilot for a Day
I had never heard of this prior to doing research for this post, but it sounds amazing. It’s exactly as it sounds: Your guy gets to be a fighter pilot for the day. The instructors are almost all ex-military and several have trained at “some of the most prestigious flight training schools in the armed forces.” They’ll be doing dog fighting, rolls, and some good ol’ fashion flying. This sounds like so much fun!
17. Tickets to his Favorite Sporting Event
This is always sure to please, that is if your guy likes sports! Getting a ticket for you and him to enjoy a game day out together would be so much fun! If you don’t like sports, I think it’s still important to share this with him. I’m sure he does a lot of stuff with you that he doesn’t necessarily enjoy doing, but enjoys doing them just because he gets to spend time with you.
18. A Netflix Membership or Hulu Plus Membership
I know most people already have one of these accounts, but if your guy doesn’t then this is the perfect gift for them. It’s great to stream movies and TV shows. I think this would be fun to give in a gift basket with popcorn and candy and soda! And this would definitely be a perfect gift to go along with planning a date night–like that fort we discussed earlier!
I hope I’ve given you a few ideas that your man would love. Just think outside of the box! There are so many different clubs and memberships you could look into, in addition to the ones I’ve included on this list. I know a friend of mine gave her boyfriend a membership to a hot sauce club and he absolutely loved it! Whatever you give, make sure you do it with love. Putting thought into a gift is what really makes the gift special!
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