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Hello everyone,

 

I know there are a lot of good people on this forum so I thought I would throw this question out there: As a father of 2 young boys, I am wanting to pick up some things now that will appeal to a boy as he gets older (besides guns) - something that can be passed down, collected in a jar or shoebox (or one of those potmetal safes as was the case for me), and will pique his imagination if you know what I mean.  Any suggestions? 

 

Please be as specific as possible as I will not be an expert on any of these things.  I am in no rush - I have time to look around\set up searches and wait on good opportunities. 

 

For example, Indian arrowheads, shark's teeth, certain old coins, pocket knives, pieces of metiorites, unique rocks, bones\horns\fossils, etc, are good suggestions but being more specific would help me. 

 

I appreciate your time and suggestions. 

 

PS - it also has to be something that will be mom approved so no half naked lady playing cards or bottles of whiskey (yet). 

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Look for an old chest with plenty of compartments to stash what ever you try and get them into. Something you can refinsh with the boys. Make it a fun project.

 

I would with unique rocks as these can be found for free and you do trips to mountains, quarries and caves in the future to tie it all together

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How about ammo? There are many, many different calibers and types out there. Make a long thin glass case and line them up from .22 CBs to 30 mm shells.

 

Failing that, rocks are a good choice. If you have a gravel driveway with mixed gravel, expect it to be picked over a lot. I've found arrowheads, fossils and fool's gold in gravel loads, besides many colors and shapes of all description. Can be very interesting.

Edited by Heartbreaker
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Excellent topic. As I've said before in other threads, I really like the idea of the male equivalent of a "Hope chest." There should be a dresser top one with fine small things for daily use, another small one for special occasion things, and a daily use life kit for big things that last. Preferably used with him together. 

 

i.e. rebuild a craigslist motorcycle together, & present some of the tools to the son at the end of the project, AFTER he has used them well. Taking care of something well gets honored and rewarded.

 

Grampa's foot locker or an obscure ammo can for the box. Just about any old milsurp case is neat. Ditto craftsmen's wood chests. Cigar boxes can be cool too, if wood. 

 

Stuff:

 

My dad built us tool boxes and collections giving toolsets each year for christmas and the like. Seriously good gifts. He'd stock up at the sears fathers day sale, garage sales, etc. One year a good set of half inch drive sockets, the next year 3/8", then some little handy boxes with 1/4" drive. A tool bag, a tool box. I will be continuing this until it is a tradition.

 

Quality pocket knife, hunting knife. Etch it to personalize. Got a coat of arms, family motto? (want to make one)

 

Quality diamond sharpener, i.e. Eze-Lap flat stone in leather 2"x6" med fine.

 

Straight razors: Cool even if they never decide to use them. Antiques can be had for under $30. Suggested brand: wade & butcher of Sheffield.

 

A nice flask. Inscribe something on it.

 

I kinda think smoking is nasty, but grampa's pipe or one you made for him would also be a good fit.

 

Fire starter kit. backpacking gear. Hatchet, machete, foldy shovel.

 

Cufflinks, collar stays. Antique silver can be cheaper than tacky new. I have some imperial russian filgree ones gotten for ~$30 that would cost hundreds to have made now. Something like that would be an awesome heirloom. As with the razor, cool even if not used. A man is prepared. He may not like to dress up, but when he is someone's best man, he ain't going to be using cheezy plastic stuff from the rental place. He's got too much class to do things half-way.

 

I think a personal seal or bookplate is pretty cool. Make your sons signet rings, and use them for special occasions. i.e. a letter to them when they pass milestones:  1st job, Graduation, marriage, kid, etc.

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pocket watch

 

Thinking about the things that feel "right", I've come up with a few factors.

 

  • Small enough that they fit in a small box which is not a burden, even in a small appt. Something he will always be able to stash somewhere.
  • The box itself should be cool
  • Not trendy stuff that gets used up and tossed. i.e. latest cell phone, even power tools. Those are good gifts, but not for this category. 
  • Stuff that becomes personally identifiable. When he is a dad, his kids will have a bit of reverence for the stuff in Dad's Box. 
  • Goods that are durable, but still need to be handled with respect and care. i.e. a carbon or damascus knife vs stainless. - when you get it out to look at it or use it, you wipe it with the piece of oiled leather in the box before putting it back.
  • The stuff needs to be set apart. If you have a bunch of pocket knives, chucking one of the many in the box doesn't make it special, unless something else makes it special.

As for the daily use box: it should have room for his daily stuff (aka EDC): wallet, keys, knife, (ccw pistol), whatever phone he has, maybe a quality light. But all the stuff should be quality. Getting stuff in and out of the box is a bit like putting on a uniform. Suit up, make sure you are prepared, whether manual labor or a formal event, he's got it ready.


Another thought to make the box special. Get the box made at birth when possible. Show him the box and things as they are added to it. ~ age 12 after some deed well done, present the box to him. Before that time, you keep it, and he has to ask to see it and use things from it.

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When I was a kid I had an insect collection. i would capture them then preserve and mount them in shadow box frames along with their common name and Latin name. By the time I was 12 I could name just about everything that crawled.

 

Did the same thing with my daughter only butterflies this time. She can name just about anything that flies by and it makes for an interesting wall display.

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How about ammo? There are many, many different calibers and types out there. Make a long thin glass case and line them up from .22 CBs to 30 mm shells.

 

Failing that, rocks are a good choice. If you have a gravel driveway with mixed gravel, expect it to be picked over a lot. I've found arrowheads, fossils and fool's gold in gravel loads, besides many colors and shapes of all description. Can be very interesting.

 

That's a good one, I still do it.

 

I always pick up a piece of brass, or an unfired round if I don't recognize them, or rarely see them. 

 

It can be pretty interesting if you find some in an old junk drawer that no body remembers putting there. I got some .25 Stevens rimfire, hasn't been made since the 40's.

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My long dead grandfather would play a little game with his visiting grand kids.  I was about 8-10 at the time,  This happened around 1955 or so.  Every time me, my brothers and sister and my many cousins, (some kissing cousins later) would go somewhere with Grand Dad, he would suggest we find, pick up and put into our pockets a small item.  Something that years later would open the memory doors about that event.  Worked great.  It could be a rock, sea shell, a postcard, key chain goodies, small pine cone; anything unique enough to trigger the memory.  HB

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I had a cool old tin box that once held 'Old Black Magic Chocolates', it had a real nice design printed on it and label with seal.

I adopted it as a young teenager and just put all sorts of little thing into it that held some meaning or that i just found cool & liked.

That was my version of a keepsake box, still have it, last time I looked through it I wondered why I stuck half the stuff in there, faded memories.

 

I still have rock, fossil and Native American/ Indian artifact collections, but am not actively collecting any longer.

I had a serious comic book collection, all new or old collectibles,most were mint, all were bagged/labeled.

Had a few worth several hundred dollars, one of my F'ing cousins sold them for drug money when I was out of state for awhile.

 

I give my kids ideas, show them what I have, they adopt what interests them personally.

My youngest son has been on a coin collecting kick for a few years now, just,  US coins, all the state quarters, pennies from way back, trying to get as many years as possible, etc.

We always try to feed any interests that our kids have, it is part pf our homeschooling. If they want to do something we try hard to make sure they get to do it and have what they need.

Bugs, reptiles/amphibians, tadpoles to frogs, pet turtles, bird watching with a life list and such.

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gold or silver in any shape

 

I am a coin nut and I would have to say, going with US silver coinage is always a good thing. With kids you don't want something that they can trash. Circulated silver coinage can still be found and is an interesting hobby to take up and lets kids start to learn info about inflation, value of dollar...etc..etc. Take the kids to the bank and buy some boxes of dimes, quarters, nickels. Search the boxes for silver, when they find them, let 'em have 'em. Anything that isn't collected goes back to the bank to be reinvested into the hunt for silver. I still do this to this day, have been for going on 20 years. Nickels are great. % value to the face value is always great and they are harder for machines to spot out so you can find many more. I have found many buffalo nickels as well as others. It's like a treasure hunt with each box. In the end if the kids don't join in, the worst you are down is some time with the kids and some arm work lugging coins back to the bank......beer.gif

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The coin collection is a good idea, and valuable later on. Start him out with a coin collecting album for common denominations. I've got a penny that's worth $35 now, and old real silver coins that are valuable as well.

 

Here's link to the US Mint:

 

https://catalog.usmint.gov/shop/coins/?&cm_mmc=Google-_-All%20Other%20Coins%20Broad-_-Coin%20Values-_-US%20Coin%20Values&mkwid=sf0apcoHX&crid=59452604233&mp_kw=us%20coin%20values&mp_mt=b&pdv=c&gclid=CNXIw4WqnsYCFUIRHwodshAExQ

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Coins. Sets of quarters, dimes, halves, or dollar coins might be good.

+1. My grandfather made a coin collector out of me and I loved it. Get those little blue "Whitman" coin books and collect years and mint marks.. You can go as cheap or as elaborate as you like. Also an easy way to transition to silver and gold bullion
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My vote goes towards rocks. I still have my collection from when I was a boy, and have added to it from the internet and personal travels. I just picked up some beautiful agate from Haiti that came from the limestone quarries while we were mixing concrete for a building project. Rocks tell a very cool story and are unique and memorable from the locations collected. If you do start off your son with a collection, get a good mineral guide that helps them understand the difference and importance of the minerals they collect. I still have my first geology field guide from 1979 when I was 8 years old. Rock collecting is still a blast and will make you "smarter than the average bear."

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I will say coin collection too. State Quarters, National Park Quarters, Presidential Dollars, etc. Fun to hunt for and you can always spend them later on if needed. With the ones listed, they can be used to prompt them to research the history too.

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Apparently my previous reply didn't go through and I don't have time to type it back up now, but let me say these responses are awesome.  Exactly the type of input I am looking for.  My sons and I have some fun things to look forward to as we try to figure out their interests.  And I can tell it will be worth my effort as the personal connections to some of your recommendations are apparent.  Thanks guys for everyone who has contributed so far.  Very good stuff.  I may post a few follow up questions as time permits.  I also look forward to seeing what else is posted as well. 

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The kid probably did not want that watch very much. And collecting arrowheads that way has it's own problems. Especially those mechanical broadheads.

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An English hammered Silver flask with whiskey in it.Switchblade.

 

Blasting caps.

 

Rare Earth Magnets.

 

Playboy Magazine.

 

Snus or Snuff.

 

 

 

This is the grow up straight kit.

Stryker is in rare form tonight :)

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  • 1 month later...

This is kinda fun stuff but most of which is severely frowned upon today.  Those green plastic army men.  Also the same but cowboys and indians.  Also more rare period marching soldiers.

 

Then a brick of lady fingers.  Grand dad also let us play with fire crackers out in the decomposed granite heavy sand pile at their mountain cabin in Southern California.  Much much fun.

 

The sand was moist enough and had enough mold ability to create breast works, caves, walls, castles and what not.  Then we would plant lots of fire crackers with long fuses.  Blew it all up.

 

Yeah, we actually did it.  Nowadays it would be kinda not doable.  This was in about 1958 or so when we were very grown up at about the age of 12 or so.  Never blew off our fingers or blinded us.

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