Nautical Gifts for Men: Compasses, Ships and Sea Legends

The man who loves the sea usually already has the obvious things: the striped mug, the anchor print, the bottled ship someone gave him years ago. What he does not have is the small, well-made object with a real story behind it — the kind of thing a sailor would actually have carried. That is where a good nautical gift starts.

The test: does it have a real story?

A good nautical gift connects to something true about the sea: navigation, a famous ship, a legend sailors told. Ask: could he tell someone the story behind it? If so, it will stay out on the desk rather than in a drawer.

Nautical gifts for his pocket

• A pocket compass. The single most nautical object there is. Our hinged pocket compass closes like a pocket watch, in antique bronze, and actually works. If he wants a refresher, send him our how to use a compass guide, and the compass rose meaning explains the symbol on old charts.
• A pocket watch. Accurate timekeeping is what made it possible to find longitude at sea, and a steampunk pocket watch nods to that age of brass and gears.

Nautical gifts for his desk

• A ghost-ship model kit. The Flying Dutchman metal model kit is laser-cut metal sheets that fold into the most famous phantom vessel of sea legend. It is an evening's absorbing build and then a desk piece — see the Flying Dutchman legend for the story, and metal model kits for adults for how to build one.
• A rope and ring puzzle. A wooden rope and ring puzzle suits anyone who has spent time with lines and knots — it rewards patience, not force.

Nautical gifts for the table

• Pirate playing cards. For the crew's card game: Pirate King playing cards or pirate skull cards, with crossed bones on every back. Pair them with the history in pirate flag meanings.

Quick picks

Nautical gifts for men who have everything

If he really does own every nautical object going, give him a project instead of a possession: the model kit gives him an evening of building and something to show for it. Or give a pair — the compass and the pirate deck — so there is one for the pocket and one for the table.

For more ideas, see our gifts for history buffs and gifts for men who have everything.