I have a handful of very specific dudes in my life, and each one of them is exceedingly difficult to buy gifts for. Also, two of these dudes have Major Milestone Birthdays coming up, in addition to the winter holidays, and so I am twice as stumped.
All images from amazon.com unless otherwise noted.
Mens Sunday Slipper My husband hates having cold feet, and these look warm and elegant. Or maybe these slippers with arch support? (Image from bombas.com)
Puzzle Mania: I could see three out four of the dudes on my list enjoying this book.
Darth Vader Fortune Teller: This little fortune teller cracks me up and I think my brother would love it.
Upton City Coat: My husband mentioned recently that he’d like a new fall-weight coat he can wear to work. This is lovely. (Image from Johnstonmurphy.com)
Messenger Bag: Speaking of workwear, my husband is also on the hunt for a more adult work bag. His current bag holds a TON of things, though, so it’s hard to find an adequate replacement. (Image from buffalojackson.com)
Insulated Lunch Bag: Maybe if I got my husband a heavy duty lunch box, he wouldn’t need to stuff IT into his messenger bag.
Smart Bird House: Not sure if this would be better for my father or my child, but they would both get such a kick out of watching birds nest.
The Rolling Stones: The Biography by Bob Spitz: I think my dad would enjoy this biography, as he’s a big Rolling Stones fan.
Joggers: I got a pair of these for my husband a couple of years ago and he loves them and wears them all the time. Maybe my brother and my father-in-law need their own pairs?
Footed pajamas: These are another thing that I got my husband ages ago that he still loves and wears. The best part is that you can wear them and take your feet out of the feet part, just in case your tooties get a little toasty. (Image from feejays.com)
Apocalypse Survival Set: Perhaps you, too, have a prepper in your life. Although if you have a REAL prepper, they probably have heavy duty versions of all these things already. Maybe this is for the not-quite-a-prepper person in your life? (Image from uncommongoods.com)
Bubble blanket: My husband is often chilly and my daughter and I tend to hog the available blankets all to ourselves. He clearly needs his own. Also, I want about four of these for our house. *Oprah voice*: Everybody gets a blanket!
Waterproof headphones: Maybe this would be better for Father’s Day, since we live in a part of the country that has winter, but I think my husband would enjoy swimming laps a lot more if he could listen to his tunes.
Animal Print Socks: These make me super uncomfortable but I think my brother, who loves a good gag gift, would enjoy them. (Image from wanderprints.com)
Merino Wool Socks: For the less quirky men in my life, these Bombas might be more appropriate. (Image from bombas.com)
LED Sports Ticker: This would be a major splurge, but I bet my husband would LOVE this.
Flight Tracker: Oh wow, he might like THIS even more. He has always been obsessed with airplanes, for as long as I’ve known him. He would get such a kick out of this. (Image from theflightwall.com)
Backyard Hammock: Hammocks make me kind of nervous, but I think my brother would get a lot of use out of one.
Ring Toss Game: Maybe he’d get just as much enjoyment out of a game for the backyard? Or there’s always axe throwing.
Cordless Smart Jump Rope: The ceiling in our workout room is too short to use a real jump rope, so this would be a cool alternative.
Cordless Screwdriver: My husband and my father both need one of these.
Thermal Imaging Camera: This is another tool that I think my dad and husband would enjoy. Do I have any earthly idea WHAT they would use it for? Not really, but I think they would love walking around our homes and seeing what’s hot and what’s cold.
Portable Tire Inflator: If you have a person in your life who enjoys gadgets and/or tools and/or cars, this is another one of those surprise mega hits with my husband.
George Washington Cap: My father-in-law loves a good cap, and he also loves history and the United States. This cap seems like the perfect intersection of those interests. (image from thehistorylist.com)
Promise of a Nation: He might also really enjoy this coffee table book. (Image from smithsonianstore.com)
Funko Pop: My brother and sister-in-law 100% need me to create mini figures in their likenesses. (Image from funko.com)
Laser Measuring Tool: I think every guy on my list would enjoy measuring all the things with this digital tool.
Diagnostic Scanner: I definitely want to get this for my husband; I bet my brother would like one, too. My dad has one and it allows him to diagnose (and then repair, because he is A Car Guy) issues with his engine. I might need to look into it a little more to see if this is the exact right one for their specific vehicles, but this is definitely a contender.
Anything Speaker: Ah yes, yet another gadget that I don’t 100% understand, but I think would really appeal to my husband and probably my brother, too. Using some kind of bone conduction vibration technology, it turns anything into a speaker.
Fancy Sweatshirt: My husband is always a sucker for a good sweatshirt, and he tried this one on earlier this year and loved it. I don’t know if I can behind the yellow, but it does come in other colors. (image from jcrew.com)
Scent Subscription: My husband has been really into fragrances for awhile now, and I think it would be fun to get him a fragrance subscription service to allow him to sample a bunch of different scents. (image from luxesb.com)
Dopp Kit: A nice travel toiletry bag is always a useful gift. Just depends on whether the people on my list already have one or not.
Travel Hoodie: My brother has some long distance travel coming up, and I keep seeing this hoodie with built in eye mask everywhere. I love how efficient a use of space it is.
Well, this list got a wee bit out of control. But I do feel as though I have a better handle on what I might get these fabulous men in my life.
That’s a beautiful coat! Dudes are hard to buy for. I don’t get John anything or if I do, it’s edible. Otherwise, I give money. I buy gifts for the grandsons though since they love opening packages.
A weather station might also be fun for a tech dude. My husband just bought one- for work he says, but I think it will come home one day.
A portable car jumper/charger also has come in very handy for anyone ( dude or dudette) with a car.
The hammock might be a good family gift for my kids. That kind doesn’t need convenient trees to put up, and we could always set it up in the basement as a hang out spot.
Ooh. I’m totally getting my husband Puzzle Mania. And that travel hoodie is AMAZING. I don’t think anyone on my list travels enough to justify it though. And I’m thinking the socks for my son- NOT the animal print ones though!!! Ha ha… those are so weird.
Man, the dudes are so hard to buy for. There’s a new-ish Canadian mens wear company (started with underwear) that has really great funny commercials and the guys all really like the underwear (‘best underwear for flying ever’ according to my husband) and now they have pants and t-shirts and sweaters, so I got him a bunch of stuff from there. I thought the diagnostic scanner was for PEOPLE for a second, and was intrigued, alas.
Those socks are hilarious, and disturbing. I think the ring toss has to be a new camping game. My husband already has to spend too much time tracking flights lol. FOOTIE pajamas!
I really want to get my brother those pig socks, but he’s pretty heavy and what if he thinks I’m calling him a pig? BUT THEY ARE AWESOME. The bird ones are funny, but the pig feet are the BEST for a little sister to give her brother, right?
I LOVE my Vionic slippers with arch support. They are the best slippers EVER.
I’m cracking up that the animal socks make you super uncomfortable – so funny. Those are some weird socks. I bet one of my brother’s would really enjoy a pair. I also think that Darth thing would be a big hit for many of the men in my life. I got my dad a singing pickle last year, and he sort of made fun of it, but guess who really ended up enjoying it?
Oh my gosh, those animal feet!! I couldn’t look away!!
This is such a great list of options, I think now the problem is going to be narrowing it down to the ones you’ll get!
This is a fun post. I know exactly who needs Murdoku!
Ordered that travel sweatshirt for my son who will be studying abroad next semester, thanks for the recomendation!
Those animal feet socks give me the willies, too.
We bought a birdhouse like that and the birds did not take us up on it, even though there are a lot of them in our yard.
Murdoku is an intriguing concept.