How to Give a Man to Man Gift

With the holiday season fast approaching, you will soon be struggling with what to buy your significant other. With so many choices and no ideas, you will surely hit the massive gathering at the local mall and walk aimlessly around hoping the perfect gift jumps out. Ironically enough, you will see plenty of gifts that would be the perfect laugh for one of your partners in crime.

But how do you give a man-to-man gift without being excised from your manly status?

First and foremost, it depends on the gift. Please tell me you aren’t looking at a shirt and thinking, “You know, that would really bring out Jim’s eyes!” It can’t even be a set of screwdrivers because you know he really could use them in his toolbox – you shouldn’t care enough to know these things – he is a dude for Pete’s sake. The only gift acceptable to give another male friend is one to incur laughter. If any gift arouses an ounce of sentiment, you are chancing you life-long friendship. Be careful!

So what can I get another guy?

In trying to give examples of what is acceptable, you could offer a Mixed Martial Arts fighter action figure. Surely to bring up laughs around the office. Things like this are still fragile. In order to give a gift like this you have to have been to a fight together. You can’t just say, “Oh, I know you like Ultimate Fighting, so I got you this.” You may as well end it with, “I have been dreaming about your biceps.” Giving a gift is also about the presentation. We will explore that shortly.

You could also try a ticket to an upcoming fight or sporting event. A gift like this should be accompanied by a phrase like “I am just trying to lock-in someone to go and cause some raucous that night – it is going to kick ass! My wife got me the tickets…” Now that we have a few examples, let’s get into the all important presentation.

The Presentation

Traditionally, a gift is given during the holidays either wrapped or within a card. Right away I think you are worried about wrapping a gift, but are thinking I can give the ticket in a funny card, right? Wrong! The MMA action figure can be wrapped, but choose carefully. As a lifestyle editor for MMA Full Contact, I would suggest good old fashioned newspaper. Not just any newspaper will do either. You must use the sports section and preferably used – significant creases and even a coffee stain is best. If all else fails, used paper that was used as stuffing in a package you received recently or some plain brown packaging paper you can pick up at Staples or Office Depot.

The wrap itself can really only be done one way. Fold the paper around the gift and fold the ends like you would the top of a paper airplane, creasing the excess paper into a point. Then take the two points and fold them to meet each other and hold everything together with a single piece of tape. You can use more than one piece if absolutely required, but make sure they are torn not cut, which leads to our recommendation of using masking tape. All done, an easy to open man package.

Using the example of the ticket, this you will have to give in a plain envelope or just outright. Never get a card no matter how funny or seemingly appropriate. No one wants to have to explain a card from another guy on the desk and no one can justify paying three bucks for a card when you could have bought him a beer at the event.

All in all, we hope this helps you give a gift if you feel so inclined. The best advice is really to buy the gift for yourself and tell your bud you would have given it to him if you didn’t think he would have felt obligated to hug you or something. It is best to give a ticket in exchange for an agreed amount of beers at the event and call it a day. This allows your friend to feel like he is within the holiday spirit while helping a fellow man get a good buzz on. And that is what the holidays are about, getting a good buzz on!

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