Best Man & Groomsmen Gift Ideas

[tholly]

Okay,

I'm completely stumped and only have until May 24th to come up with four gift ideas, a best mans gift and three groomsmen gifts.

I have already purchased Express neck ties (~$30 each) for the ceremony / reception that they will get to keep, but I still want to get something else.

I don't really know what the normal $$ amount is, or what to get.

All I do know is that I don't want anything tacky (flasks) or anything monogrammed.

Any other good ideas are fair game.  Online ideas are fine, Amazon.com would be great, and I live close to the King of Prussia mall in PA (one of the biggest malls in the country), so store bought is fine too.


Help me out.  Thanks!

[Barracuda]

I bought my best man a $100 gift card to his favorite store and my groomsman a $50 gift card to his favorite store. I figured what the hell at least they can enjoy the gift cards. They also got to keep the pocket squares from the tuxes as a momento.

[Tan]

Swiss Army knives, compasses, beer mugs/steins, zippo lighters.

[NES_Rules]

One wedding I was in, all the groomsmen (maybe the best man as well, I can't remember) got engraved pocket watches, they were neat for about a week and then the novelty wore off and I haven't looked at mine for years. Those were a bad idea.

Another wedding I was in, all the groomsmen (there wasn't an official best man, so we all got the same stuff) got engraved beer mugs. That was a good gift, at least I enjoyed it, I still use mine when I go over to their house to drink beer.

So, your best bet is to get things they will actually use, not stuff that looks nice. Like Tan said, a nice pocket knife or a Zippo is great (but only if they're into that kind of stuff, a non-smoker isn't really going to be thrilled with a Zippo).

[tholly]

Yea, none of them are smokers, so a Zippo is out.  Pocket knifes would be fine for two of them, but the others would look at me like I had 5 heads.

Gift cards may be a good idea with a nice personal note in a card (plus, I am already giving them the $30 ties I mentioned.)

[Tan]

You'd be surprised at how a Zippo can come in handy for a non-smoker. BBQ's, outdoor bonfires, camping, loose threads, lighting candles & lanterns, all kinds of misc uses. You can even get them with leather sheathes that have belt loops on them.

Like NES_Rules said, stuff they'll actually use. When I think of those kinds of gifts for that occasion, I think the kinds of things that would be personal to a guy. The kind of stuff we all carry around in our pockets every day and wouldn't leave home without.

http://www.swissarmy.com/...llights&product=53321&

[Sirgin]

http://www.swissarmy.com/...llights&product=53321&

My grandfather gave me a small pocket knife for no particular reason 2 months ago.

It's kind of cute, something like this: http://www.swissarmy.com/...ay&product=54091&

It's fairly old, but the (tiny) knife is still sharp. I don't carry it around though, I'm not into the whole carrying knives culture.

[NES_Rules]

You'd be surprised at how a Zippo can come in handy for a non-smoker. BBQ's, outdoor bonfires, camping, loose threads, lighting candles & lanterns, all kinds of misc uses. You can even get them with leather sheathes that have belt loops on them.

The only problem with using Zippos for occasional uses like those is the fluid always seems to evaporate right before you need it. That's why I quit carrying a Zippo (I don't smoke, but love fire and am always burning stuff ) and stick to a plain old Bic. I never have to worry about it suddenly being empty.

[Tan]

http://www.swissarmy.com/...llights&product=53321&

I'm not into the whole carrying knives culture.

You make it sound like it'll intimidate people and skin deer. It's a functional multi-tool with a thousand uses. The most dangerous thing you can do with it is open someone else's mail by mistake. Hell my wife carries one I bought her last year:

http://www.swissarmy.com/...outdoor&product=54821&

There used to be a time only a few years ago when having something like that was an everyday thing as it was a rite of passage for a 10 year old boy. Hell then the worst thing someone could think of is a boy skinning an apple he swiped off a local farmers orchard. Now carrying a blade big enough to clean your fingernails makes people paranoid and cautious. What a fucked up world we live in. No offense intended Sirgin, I just see that mindset a lot. Like all of a sudden your a terrorist if you buy a knife, an axe or razor blades for your safety razor.

On my belt:

[img width=218 height=250]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/Tanthalas/stt.gif[/img]

In my pocket:

[img width=340 height=160]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/Tanthalas/storm2.jpg[/img]

In the woods:

[img width=550 height=255]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/Tanthalas/003.jpg[/img]

Years a blade has been carried - Twenty
People maimed, stabbed or killed - Zero
Times I had to open something with my teeth or fingernails - Zero
MacGyver moments that these made my life helluva lot easier - Countless



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Before the topic gets derailed, here are a few more ideas:

USB thumbdrive/keychain
Money clip / cufflinks
High quality ball cap of favorite sports team
2 piece refillable pen set
shot glasses
Wii/X360 points cards

[Sirgin]

You make it sound like it'll intimidate people and skin deer. It's a functional multi-tool with a thousand uses. The most dangerous thing you can do with it is open someone else's mail by mistake. Hell my wife carries one I bought her last year:

http://www.swissarmy.com/...outdoor&product=54821&

There used to be a time only a few years ago when having something like that was an everyday thing as it was a rite of passage for a 10 year old boy. Hell then the worst thing someone could think of is a boy skinning an apple he swiped off a local farmers orchard. Now carrying a blade big enough to clean your fingernails makes people paranoid and cautious. What a fucked up world we live in. No offense intended Sirgin, I just see that mindset a lot. Like all of a sudden your a terrorist if you buy a knife, an axe or razor blades for your safety razor.

You don't need to defend yourself Tan, really.

I have no problem with a 30-year old responsible person carying a knife as a tool. (That would be you )
I do have a problem with 16-year old drunk punk kids thinking they're the shit and stabbing someone to death when things don't go their way. Please don't say that those things don't happen, because they do. A year ago, some kid got stabbed to death for his mp3 player (in Belgium). Half a year ago (also in Belgium), one guy got stabbed to death and his friend heavily wounded because some drunk guy asked for a cigarette and they couldn't give any cigarettes (because they weren't smokers!). In court, he explained he didn't know a knife could cause so much damage. What a load of crap! I'm sure the dead guy will be very happy to hear that.

In the UK, the whole knife culture is becoming dramatic. More and more kids/young adults are getting stabbed for nothing. Go live in a bad part of Glasgow and I can guarantee you'll get stabbed within 5 years time. (Unless you never leave your home, I guess)

But yes, I do realise that a majority of knife carriers are responsible individuals that wouldn't hurt a fly.
However, drunk or enraged people carrying knives are 10x more dangerous than if they wouldn't be carrying knives. Stabbing someone if you have the chance is easier than you'd think (when you're angry). If there would be less knives around, there would be less people getting stabbed. Simple as that.

Maybe Canada is a country of faeries and honey (and in that case I'd want to move there ASAP) where everyone is a well-trained civilian, but in the rest of the world knives have proven to be very dangerous. So my mindset is justified.

[Izret101]

Maybe Canada is a country of faeries and honey (and in that case I'd want to move there ASAP) where everyone is a well-trained civilian, but in the rest of the world knives have proven to be very dangerous. So my mindset is justified.

Actually it is.
(Story on gun violence for comparison http://saunderslog.com/20...9/gun-violence-in-canada/ yea it is kinda outdated)



I think a lot of the ideas given so far have been good ones.
I don't think the dollar amount spent is nearly as important as getting something that each person will need/want/have use for.

The 2 guys who would like a nice swiss army knife go for that. What are things the other guys are into? Pick them out something they would really enjoy.

Or you could always give them cash/giftcard. Cash makes everyone happy.

[Sirgin]

Or you could always give them cash/giftcard. Cash makes everyone happy.

That is true. People often think giving cash/giftcards is unpersonal, but a lot of people love to be able to buy something they can pick out themselves, instead of something that is "forced" upon them.

[Tan]

in the rest of the world knives have proven to be very dangerous. So my mindset is justified.

Whether you carry a knife to open a package or your mail doesn't affect the crime rate in the least. Or are you one of those ticking time bombs walking around out there waiting to happen?

Should we maybe take pens, baseball bats and hand tools away from kids as well? Maybe ban glass bottles, shoe laces and sharp sticks longer than 3 inches? Humankind has used edged blades as tools since we drug our knuckles on the ground and lived in caves. Don't confuse knives as a new invention causing crimes while the real culprit is the social problems of the world that are causing the anger and aggression. More kids carried pocket knives in the 50s to 80s than they do now without issue. Boy scouts used to give them to members not so long ago. Your grandfather knows better than to believe that because he gave you one!

If a 16 year old wants to kill someone, he'll find a way whether there's a blade in his pocket or not. Or maybe he'll just swarm you with 5 of his friends and beat you to death with his bare hands. Should we handcuff and shackle people while out in public so they don't kick or punch each other?

Your viewpoint is the same as the parents who won't accept blame for their kids behavior. Blame music, blame tv, movies, video games, knives, guns, sports, anything but their upbringing and home life.

------------------------

Since you had already bought them ties, giftcards would be ok too, but anything less than $50 would seem a little trivial in this case.

[Sirgin]

Whether you carry a knife to open a package or your mail doesn't affect the crime rate in the least. Or are you one of those ticking time bombs walking around out there waiting to happen?

No, I am most certainly not.

Should we maybe take pens, baseball bats and hand tools away from kids as well? Maybe ban glass bottles, shoe laces and sharp sticks longer than 3 inches?

No, of course not. We can't turn the whole world into a prison.

Don't confuse knives as a new invention causing crimes while the real culprit is the social problems of the world that are causing the anger and aggression.

It's a sad world we live in nowadays.

Or maybe he'll just swarm you with 5 of his friends and beat you to death with his bare hands. Should we handcuff and shackle people while out in public so they don't kick or punch each other?

Me and two friends from school got almost robbed by 5-6 black guys/young adults (pardon me saying, but it's the truth) about 2 months ago. We got away and nothing bad happened but we could have just as well ended up in the hospital.

Your viewpoint is the same as the parents who won't accept blame for their kids behavior. Blame music, blame tv, movies, video games, knives, guns, sports, anything but their upbringing and home life.

That's true but the fact remains less knives = less stabbings and people getting stabbed is a serious problem.

More kids carried pocket knives in the 50s to 80s than they do now without issue. Boy scouts used to give them to members not so long ago.

What a wonderful world it must've been back then. I wonder how things got derailed so much since then. Just look at all the high school shooting massacres and stuff.


To wrap up this discussion I'd like to say that I'd love to agree with you, Tan. But what is happening with the world today makes me think I'd be stupid to believe knives are harmless and nothing should be done.

[Tan]

....what is happening with the world today makes me think I'd be stupid to believe knives are harmless and nothing should be done.

Oh something should be done, but you won't find your solution by taking knives away and treating them like three year olds putting something bad in their mouths.

Ta ta, can't have that. 

Like prisons they'll find ways to make shivs and other weapons if they want them. Or it'll be railway spikes, steak knives, sharpened butter knives, pens, screwdrivers, syringes, wrenches etc etc etc. Also like all things, forbidding something makes it more appealing to the rebellious nature of teenagers.

Taking knives away would work just as good as game ratings to keep violent games out of kids hands and alcohol restrictions keeping liquor out of the hands of minors. Great system, flawless isn't it?