Hottest Valentine's Gifts for Men 2011

Gadgets and Goodies for the Man in Your Life

Amanda Herron
This Valentine's Day, reward your man for his support and love with a Valentine's gift that doesn't include chocolate or stuffed animals. One of these guy-friendly gifts is sure to be a big hit with your big sweetheart.

Spice up Valentine's Day with a Personalized Gallon Jug of TABASCO from the TABASCO Country Store. Choose your lover's favorite flavor of this spicy New Orleans favorite and personalize up to 20 characters on the old-fashioned glass jug's label for about $45.

List all the reasons you love your man in a personalized hard cover love book by LoveBookOnline.com. Use their library of customizable template pages or create from scratch with online drawing, stamp and text tools. On each page, list and illustrate a reason why you love him, ranging from super mushy to private jokes based on your couple style. About $40, but for a limited time your can get 15% off with the promo code GIFTS15 at checkout. Softcover books available for $25.

If you've got a golf fan on your hands, consider giving him a golf lesson with a PGA Pro -at a very affordable $125 per hour lesson through Excitations.com. Lessons are available in the Virginia cities of Alexandria, Reston and Sterling, and are adjusted to your man's level of experience from beginner to advanced. No spectators allowed.

If your budget's a little bigger, like $1,500 bigger, Excitations also offers the Fighter Pilot for a Day package. Your man attend a pre-mission brief, one-hour flight mission with an instructor pilot, and post-mission de-briefing. Flights leave from Butler or Lititz, PA, Suffolk, VA, and Winston Salem, NC.

For the sports fan, UncommonGoods.com offers unusual cufflinks made from material recycled from the seats of ballparks around the country. Set in sterling silver, each square of original wood comes with a certificate of authenticity from stadiums including: Shea, Dodger, Fenway, Ebbetts, Yankee, Wrigley, Polo Ground, Boston Gardens, Baltimore Memorial, and RFK. Price varies based on the stadium chosen.

Get your man excited about summer with a Meat Branding Monogram Iron from PersonalizationMail.com. Your grill master will be so thrilled, you won't have to cook all summer. Choose any two or three letter combination for your Valentine's initials, or combine two letters with the ampersand & for a couple monogram. This meat brand comes in a handsome wooden box gift set for about $60.

Transform your Valentine's gaming system for motion gaming by adding the PS3 Move or Xbox Kinect, both around $100 for camera and one controller. Motion gaming is the hottest trend in gamin for 2011 and burned up sales for the 2010 holiday season. Add a few motion games for your man's tastes, like EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp for Xbox Kinect or the military thriller Killzone 3 for PS3 Move. Bonus: Even if you're not a gamer yourself, the motion games are fun to play as a couple, and it gets him off the couch to shed those holiday pounds. While you're shopping, pick up the motion controlled Zumba Party for either system to enjoy when your Valentine's at work.

If your man travels a lot for work, consider a digital reading device , like the popular Kindle from Amazon (about $150) or the NOOK Color from Barnes & Nobel bookstores (about $250). Pre-load your Valentine's gift with some of your man's favorite authors or subscriptions to his favorite magazines. Digital reading devices fit easily into briefcases or airplane carry-ons so he always has his favorite reading materials when traveling, without all the extra bulk. And he can easily add to his library through any Wi-Fi connection while traveling.

Published by Amanda Herron

Amanda received her B. A. of Journalism and Masters of Secondary Education from Union University, with minors in Spanish, Christian Studies and Photojournalism. She went on to earn her Masters in Secondary E...  View profile

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