Ingenious Guide to Gift Giving: Gifts for Men

It's tempting to fall back on the tried and true when shopping for the men in your life for Christmas—a tie, a dress shirt or a bottle of cologne. Yet there are so many other more creative gift options sure to please and easy to find in town.

For the Mr. Fixit in your life, Star True Value Hardware has a number of gifts from which to choose in their holiday bargain bins. For $9.99, there are a number of selections, including: compact binoculars, a six-piece combo wrench set and a 2 inch by 29 foot racheting tie-down. For $4.99, you can get a 15-piece artist brush set, a 15 in one pocket tool kit with pouch, an auto/home electrical test kit or a screwdriver set with rack.

Do you have a cyclist who hates to stop riding during the winter months? Consider buying them a trainer, which locks in place the rear tires of a bicycle, providing resistance, just like a cyclist is riding on the road.  With this, they can ride the whole year through. At , Cyclotron Mag II, $169.00.

Know a man who is looking to get in better shape? Olympia Sports offers the Iron Gym's Perfect Upper Body Workout Multi-Gym for $39.99.

As we enter the winter months, warmer clothes will be a welcome gift. At Olympia Sports, Champion Classic Fleece Pullover Hoods are $19.78.  Winter Parkas are 30-50 percent off. Footwear is also buy one, get once half off.

Is there someone on your list who wants to be prepared for an contingency? Radio Shack offers the American Red Cross Solarlink FR600 Eton Emergency Radio. Great for camping or taking on a boat, it has an AM/FM and shortwave-band radio, in addition to NOAA and S.A.M.E. location-based weather alerts. It has numerous power sources, including hand crank, solar power and a USB cell phone battery charger. Eton Emergency Radio, $79.99

A wine connoisseur might enjoy the local wine selection available at . Westford Hill Distillers from Ashord offers flavored brandies. Jonathan Edwards, out of North Stonington, and Stonington Vineyards are also local brands that make wine. The best-selling local wine at Worldwide Wine Cellar is an affordable gift choice: Sharpe Hill, of Pomfret, offers the white wine, Ballet of Angels, $11.99.  The store also offers 10 percent off full case, and specials are offered via email.

For a simple yet thoughtful gift, consider a gift certificate to Tolland Barbers to help keep the man in your life looking sharp and well-groomed. A haircut and shave, $20.

The Novelty Gifts

You'll hit a homerun of the holiday with this sports-themed gift basket. With peanuts and pretzels and Cracker Jacks, as well as pistachios, old-fashioned root beer and a real baseball, this will surely be a hit for the baseball fan. At Wildflowers of Tolland, Take Me Out to the Ballgame basket, $57.95.

For the sports fan, The Homestead offers a number of items that you can use to drink from and also celebrate your favorite teams. To make a toast to your UConn Husky teams, a shot glass, $5.95. Coffee drinkers might enjoy drinking from the Red Sox mug, $12.95. Beer lovers can use the Red Sox stein,  $20.00.

At Olympia Sports, ProToast offers a toaster that brands your bread with your favorite team logos, $29.99.

also sells common household items made of uncommon parts—bike parts by Park Tool, the leading maker of bike tools: pizza cutter, $16.99 and bottle opener, $6.99.

This next choice is perhaps the most unique of all: I can't count the number of times we've had to replace the mailbox thanks to the traffic on the street. If your significant other wants a replacement that has stood the test of time and isn't likely to get dinged any day soon, consider giving him this unique relic: a slotted, cylinder metal election ballot box from the 19th century. He'll appreciate that he's definitely got the only one of these on the block, and the person delivering the mail will enjoy a chuckle coming by your house. From Capital Salvage: $150.

Stocking Stuffers

Know an endurance athlete who needs an extra boost on long rides or runs? Consider putting this in their stocking: Gu energy gel, $1.35 each. For electrolyte chews with amino acids, which can be chewed throughout the endurance athletic pursuit, Shot Blocks, $2 per packet. From the makers of those tasty jelly beans, JellyBelly, there are energizing jelly beans with carbohydrates, electrolytes and vitamins B and C, $1.50 per packet--all available at . 

Other Businesses Mentioned in the Article

Capitol Salvage, Capitolsalvage@comcast.net, 860.798.8019