21st Birthday Present

[glatt]

Not a lot of things fit that criteria. A nice engraved pocket knife could be useful.

Traditional style

Or modern

[glatt]

Maybe this is too practical and out there, but at my wedding, we gave the groomsmen Maglite flashlights as gifts. A big Maglite will last forever and can be engraved. Very practical too. Although LEDs may take over that field in the next decade or so.

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Something scientific and/or military that will be a keepsake: the most expensive telescope you can afford.

Counterpoint: The optics seem to be somewhat stable in price. But they keep loading the scopes up with more electronics. They now have computers that will point the telescope to whatever you want to look at. All you have to do is level it and point it north. What, you don't know which way it north? You don't feel like leveling it? Screw it.. we'll build in a GPS system so you just have to turn it on.

The optics may stay just as good but the electronics will be obsolete. Also, you don't want to buy a scope that's bigger than you're willing to drag out of the house and/or cart around.

Originally Posted by glatt

Although LEDs may take over that field in the next decade or so.

Maglite has started making LEDs. (It's not just about the bulb.. it's about that club-like heft. . . . .)

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by glatt

...A nice engraved pocket knife could be useful.

I read this as: "A nice graveyard pocket knife could be useful..."

so. How 'bout a graveyard knife? A nice big one; one that you could use to pry a lid off a coffin or similar.


Or a swashbuckling kit? An eye patch? Peg leg? Day at a Man Spa?

How about a gyro? My dad got me one when I was a little girl. Yes, he got his six year old daughter a working gyro. A gift I've never forgotten. Might be appropriate for your son, though.