Girly girl shopping for manly things...

November 25, 2008 9:01 AM

Gifts-for-men filter: don't worry, I know generally what I want to get, I'm just looking for specific item suggestions/brand names for a) a person who needs gloves, and b) a person who occasionally likes cigars.

For Christmas this year, I'm being cute and going with "I'm knitting you something and buying you something to go with it" -- I make the tea cozy for Mom and buy the teapot to match, etc. I'm going to try to buy the things for my father and brother this weekend, and have a GENERAL idea what to get for them both, but don't know enough of the specifics about what I had in mind for each of them. So to that end:

1. My brother is moving back east to Massachusetts after a few years in Los Angeles, so I've made him a hat and would like to get him gloves for the "now that you need cold weather stuff again..." factor. But I don't want to get just basic gloves -- I want the Cadillac of gloves (or, as good as I can get for $20). Something he can shovel the driveway with and also use for the occasional ski trip or playing in the yard with my niece. Since I make my own gloves, I don't know firsthand -- what is the height of glove technology? Down insultation? Polartec? Leather? What are the best kind of gloves I can get for $20? (Bonus points if they come in Navy Blue.)

2. In his dotage, my father has decided to treat himself to the occasional cigar (like, maybe, one a month -- yes, he knows the health risks, but the guy's pretty damn near indestructible). I'm already making him a pair of fingerless gloves (so he can light his cigar on the back porch without freezing his hands), but is there some cigar-related gadgety thing I can get to go with that? A lighter? A cutter? Again, working with a $20 limit here.

Thanks.

posted by EmpressCallipygos to shopping (13 comments total)

The Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch gloves are great, versatile gloves. I'm on my third pair (because I keep misplacing gloves, not because they wear out). They're warm but they don't make my hands overheat if I do something active. And they're thin enough that you can wear thicker gloves over them if necessary.
posted by grouse at 9:44 AM on November 25, 2008

I have a pair of Tec Stretch gloves from 180s. They have a one-way air valve that allows you to blow warm air into them to keep your fingers nice and toasty. They're also stylish too. Here's a link to their glove page.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 9:51 AM on November 25, 2008

I have some Gordini down mittens, and they are seriously the nicest, warmest hand coverings that I have ever encountered. They might reach a bit beyond your range, but REI has some close-outs (and that was just the first I found). Awesome, awesome, awesome.
posted by zachxman at 9:53 AM on November 25, 2008

Wrt the fingerless gloves for the cigar smoker.
posted by ottereroticist at 10:30 AM on November 25, 2008

ottererocist, that's actually the pattern I'm using -- I'm all set for that, just looking for the "plus one" element.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:39 AM on November 25, 2008

Zippo torch lighter and butane refill should be right around $20.
posted by fixedgear at 11:37 AM on November 25, 2008

If he doesn't already have a cutter, that's definitely a good investment. The slide-style pocket-sized cutters are effective and convenient, and you should be able to get a fairly nice one for $20.

If he does have a cutter, though, I'd strongly suggest cigar matches. They are slow-burning and don't contaminate the flavour of the stogie.
posted by batmonkey at 11:39 AM on November 25, 2008

~ Zippo torch lighter and butane refill should be right around $20.

Zippo torch lighters are their new(ish) Blu line. The prices start around $30, and go up from there, so they are probably too far outside of the price point. They also seem to be getting fairly negative reviews.

The non-Blu (non-butane) Zippos are generally not used by cigar aficionados, because the lighter fluid apparently imparts a very distinct and unpleasant flavor to the cigar. Many are priced at or below 20$, but I don't think he would use them for his stogies.
posted by paisley henosis at 3:18 PM on November 25, 2008

Yes, torch = butane, not lighter fluid. Hadn't seen the negative reviews, paid twenty for mine, very happy with it. Might have been an intro price? YMMV.
posted by fixedgear at 3:45 PM on November 25, 2008

Perhaps a match box (vintage?) for those cigar matches
posted by Calloused_Foot at 4:06 PM on November 25, 2008

Follow-up question on the cigar cutter -- would it be handy to have more than one? I'm leaning towards that, on the principle that if he doesn't already have one, then yay now he does, but if he does have one, then it's kind of like scissors where it's always useful to have a second set kicking around.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:33 AM on November 26, 2008

It depends on the person - some keep the same one on them all the time (like keys, or a favoured pen), and some need one on their desk, one in their pocket, that sort of thing.

If he smokes only occasionally, having one portable cutter is probably enough, but, really, what harm could it do to have one more? Especially one with merry thoughts behind it.

Is there anyone you can ask about how he's been handling the cutting aspect?
posted by batmonkey at 8:24 AM on November 26, 2008

We actually now have a follow-up on the Cigar issue before I tag this "resolved":

I just spoke with Mom, who I asked about the cigar cutting (nods to batmonkey), and she said that that may work...but then as we talked she had the even better idea of somehow something involving golf. There was some little accessory/carrying case/thing he had had clipped on to his golf cart which got lost -- nothing fancy, just big enough to hold pocket change, a couple extra tees, etc., and I realized I could just make one of those instead, throw a couple tees and golf balls into it, and be done. (It'll be easier to knit than gloves!)

If any golfer knows what this specific object may be called, so I can see what I"m working with (I'm envisioning just some kind of pouch-y thing and I'll sew a plastic clip on to one end so he can clip it onto his golf cart), great, but otherwise I'm good.

Huzzah!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:11 PM on December 1, 2008