What would be a good present for a gamer/coder wearer of dad jeans?
November 5, 2014 9:34 AM Subscribe
First present for significant other -- difficulty levels are a) Under $100, $150 max; b) I don't know what would be a good Christmas present for a gamer/coder and c) I know nothing about men's fashion.
The games he plays are D&D and some cyberpunk thing and he's organizing a game convention in our fair city. I would like to get him something gamer-related but I'm clueless. Also: he's said that he's good with my buying him clothes; I want something that is comfortable but stylish and is more remarkable than say, a sweater.
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
The games he plays are D&D and some cyberpunk thing and he's organizing a game convention in our fair city. I would like to get him something gamer-related but I'm clueless. Also: he's said that he's good with my buying him clothes; I want something that is comfortable but stylish and is more remarkable than say, a sweater.
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
more remarkable than say, a sweater.
How about a GREMLINS sweater?
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:46 AM on November 5, 2014
How about a GREMLINS sweater?
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:46 AM on November 5, 2014
Does he yet have a mechanical keyboard? As a coder [and gamer, though non-wearer of dad jeans] I very much find the experience of coding is enhanced with a keyboard that behaves consistently.
An example is this. Depending on his preference for tactile-ness of keys, he may prefer one over the other type of switches; you may prefer one over the other for your hearing's sake :)
posted by jangie at 10:01 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
An example is this. Depending on his preference for tactile-ness of keys, he may prefer one over the other type of switches; you may prefer one over the other for your hearing's sake :)
posted by jangie at 10:01 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Here's my stock answer that's almost never wrong: a Leatherman.
posted by General Malaise at 10:06 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by General Malaise at 10:06 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah, if he's at all a techie, a mechanical keyboard would be great. It's one of those things that every geek wants (or will want, once they learn about them), but may not buy for themselves. So, a perfect gift item, in other words.
A set of really nice, artistic polyhedral dice could work. There are some nice ones for sale on Shapeways (these are 3D-printed, so most are available in a variety of materials and/or colors, with varying price points).
posted by escape from the potato planet at 10:09 AM on November 5, 2014
A set of really nice, artistic polyhedral dice could work. There are some nice ones for sale on Shapeways (these are 3D-printed, so most are available in a variety of materials and/or colors, with varying price points).
posted by escape from the potato planet at 10:09 AM on November 5, 2014
Before you go and buy a keyboard, just take a quick glance at the current setup. If his current keyboard is a special ergonomic design, like this, odds are that his keyboard selection has more to do with ergonomics than with the quality of the keys. A very nice mechanical keyboard that is not the right shape might be unusable.
posted by rustcrumb at 10:16 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by rustcrumb at 10:16 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
A belt.
A ScotteVest.
A copy of Cyberpunk 2020.
A shopping spree at The Compleat Strategist in King of Prussia, PA.
posted by Rob Rockets at 10:20 AM on November 5, 2014
A ScotteVest.
A copy of Cyberpunk 2020.
A shopping spree at The Compleat Strategist in King of Prussia, PA.
posted by Rob Rockets at 10:20 AM on November 5, 2014
Comfortable but stylish is a difficult thing to accomplish without knowing more about his build and what he wears currently (aside from dad jeans). I would think maybe something along the lines of an unlined blazer, which is more remarkable than a sweater but not so stuffy that a nerd would immediately reject it.
FWIW it turns out that straight leg jeans do actually look better than dad jeans on most guys, so you could just buy him some decent jeans instead of the 560s (or whatever) that he's wearing now. I'm a cheapskate so I buy whatever color/wash/treatment is being discontinued at the Gap (woohoo, four pairs of jeans for thirty bucks!), but I'll say from personal experience that fancy jeans are a thing he might not buy for himself but would wear with encouragement. It took my girlfriend (now wife) saying supportive things to kick start my own decrease in schlubbiness. While I still default to schlub in the absence of actual reasons, the clothes I'm wearing now fit me better and look better when I do tuck in my shirts.
I would also think along the lines of cool sneakers, unless he's specific about what he puts on his feet. From my experience rare is the nerd who doesn't have very specific ideas about what he will or won't wear for whatever reason (flat feet, plantar fasciitis, the whole socks-and-sandals thing, blah blah), so this might be too hard of a row to hoe.
And completely unrelated to your ideas: nice shaving gear like a badger brush or a nicer razor can be a good gift. Maybe don't go for a double edge safety razor or a straight razor yet, but you can get nice handles that take standard cartridges.
posted by fedward at 11:51 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
FWIW it turns out that straight leg jeans do actually look better than dad jeans on most guys, so you could just buy him some decent jeans instead of the 560s (or whatever) that he's wearing now. I'm a cheapskate so I buy whatever color/wash/treatment is being discontinued at the Gap (woohoo, four pairs of jeans for thirty bucks!), but I'll say from personal experience that fancy jeans are a thing he might not buy for himself but would wear with encouragement. It took my girlfriend (now wife) saying supportive things to kick start my own decrease in schlubbiness. While I still default to schlub in the absence of actual reasons, the clothes I'm wearing now fit me better and look better when I do tuck in my shirts.
I would also think along the lines of cool sneakers, unless he's specific about what he puts on his feet. From my experience rare is the nerd who doesn't have very specific ideas about what he will or won't wear for whatever reason (flat feet, plantar fasciitis, the whole socks-and-sandals thing, blah blah), so this might be too hard of a row to hoe.
And completely unrelated to your ideas: nice shaving gear like a badger brush or a nicer razor can be a good gift. Maybe don't go for a double edge safety razor or a straight razor yet, but you can get nice handles that take standard cartridges.
posted by fedward at 11:51 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Is the cyberpunk game Netrunner? If so, he might like a playmat, some art sleeves, some acrylic tokens or maybe a thematically appropriate carrying case for his decks and tokens (no link, sorry I'm probably going to post a question looking for one of these soon).
For $100, you could put together a 4 person Netrunner draft night in a box by buying 4 each of the corp and runner draft packs and draft starter packs. You might be able to skip buying the starters if he and his friends already have them or are willing to put them together from their own collections.
A thematically appropriate carrying case for his gaming supplies would be pretty cool regardless of what game he plays.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 1:40 PM on November 5, 2014
For $100, you could put together a 4 person Netrunner draft night in a box by buying 4 each of the corp and runner draft packs and draft starter packs. You might be able to skip buying the starters if he and his friends already have them or are willing to put them together from their own collections.
A thematically appropriate carrying case for his gaming supplies would be pretty cool regardless of what game he plays.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 1:40 PM on November 5, 2014
It is awesome, but please do not buy him an $85 novelty sweater.
Seconding the thinkgeek.com suggestion.
posted by maryr at 2:29 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Seconding the thinkgeek.com suggestion.
posted by maryr at 2:29 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Did he like playing Mass Effect? My dude wants one of the official n7 jackets for Christmas.
posted by homodachi at 2:48 PM on November 5, 2014
posted by homodachi at 2:48 PM on November 5, 2014
Response by poster: thanks everybody! got some great suggestions for my adorkable guy. if I were richer I would get the gremlin sweater and then a regular present, although it's quite possible he might wear the gremlin sweater as often as he wears his Marty the Martian t-shirt, and I'm not sure about that. Really though, thanks.
posted by angrycat at 5:27 AM on November 6, 2014
posted by angrycat at 5:27 AM on November 6, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by heathrowga at 9:38 AM on November 5, 2014 [3 favorites]