If you’re shopping for him, or for yourself, holiday gifts for men can be a tough find. Unless you look here. These geared up gifts will make your tough guy weak in the knees. And make his knees look better. And butt. See below.
Phone Home. Part Gotham, part carbon fiber bad a++-ness, all tough, this Ducati-themed case for phones and tablets has hung with me from business meeting to job site. I use it every day. I love Element‘s carbon fiber pattern and that the tough case doesn’t look like a big blob. And because I drop my phone more often than I like to admit, I’ve done some potentially expensive impact testing. The Element has ridden shotgun for days in my tool pouch. It’s not an officially ‘ruggedized’ case, but it has lasted longer than others I’ve owned. And the accessories -effing rock. I use the Fuse Dek surface-mount system in my truck. No more is my phone riding in the passenger seat—or between the seats when I drop it. You can also get Deks for bikes, motorcycles and other surfaces.
Ring, Buzz. This phone-charging, electronics life-giving gizmo was nowhere near making this list of holiday gifts for men until recently. In fact, it was at the bottom of a tool box. Even though we used the be-schmeezus out of it building out bakeries for our Food Network project Save My Bakery, I just thought everyone kinda knew. That is until I set it up at The Remodeling Show where I built sets and gave presentations for a week. I left my phone plugged in to it (and a 20-volt Max battery) on my workbench. Every day someone came by, did a double take, and asked me: Where the hell did you get that? I got it from DeWalt I told them. And now you can too.
Ariat Gear. We’re often reminded that us DIY and jobsite guys don’t give as much thought to our clothes as we do our, say, tools. Ariat is a clothing and boot manufacturer that does both. I found them because of their butt-kicking line of boots but after closer inspection, Theresa and I fell in love with their jeans and other clothing. We’ve been wearing them every where from weekend projects to how to video shoots to live events to Spartan Race. And since this is holiday gifts for men, do yourself a favor and get a pair of jeans for your wife. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.
Plowed. I don’t just want this. I covet this. Why? I don’t just want to shovel my driveway anymore. I want to command the snow and Warn‘s hydraulic plow kit for an ATV (which I, by extension, covet) looks like the snow-lution I’m after. And the more snow we get, the more I want to be able to push the snowbanks back, clear out the town plow’s driveway blocking snow banks from the end of my driveway, around the mailbox and around the car. I want to help my neighbors do the same thing. And I want to have fun doing it. Bring it.
Thrown. More practically perhaps, and certainly less expensive than buying an ATV, Craftsman’s 88694 snow-thrower makes holiday gifts for men that you should get before the holidays get here. Beat Black Friday and haul this puppy home in time for your guy to read the manual, fill with gas and power up. Then wait for the weather. And what makes this different from other snow throwers: Power minus noise. It’s 45% quieter than other units. Shhhh….I’m clearing the driveway.
Zippo. Compared to a Zippo, a disposable lighter is an insult to fire. I received a Zippo at the Craftsman Tools MAKEcation and I now look for reasons to have a camp fire or light candles. Or just have it on my desk. When it comes to holiday gifts for men sometimes you have to get outside the box. Here’s your passport.
Wash it out. So when I unpacked the Karcher ‘Follow Me’ pressure washer, I had a number of feelings.
- One: A pressure washer that can manage its tentacles could be genius and I’m going to love this new experience.
- Two: Man, this thing seems, well, flimsy. So I shoved it in a corner. Until I needed a pressure washer to clean our playset. What the hell, I thought: If—and when—I break it, I won’t be surprised.
I was surprised. Not only didn’t it break, it worked great. It is by far the quietest pressure washer I have ever used. And it delivers plenty of power at the business end. And you can customize how much and how intense the spray is. It sets up and breaks down in minutes. I dragged it all over the place cleaning and doing paint-prep. Oddly, the thing it does the least well is manage its tentacles. But while it’s nowhere as neat as the picture (and this could be may fault not wrapping it all up right) it still works. And even that works better than any other unit I’ve owned. The Follow Me was great for all kinds of stuff around the house. And occasional pro use too, say cleaning a deck.
Thanks for the surprise Karcher.
So in this list of holiday gifts for men—whether you’re shopping for your man or are a man shopping for woman to shop for you—take it from me that I’d like to see any of these things race through my door.
