I challenge you to think of a present for my extremely tricky husband

[Cinnamonandcoal]

It's his 40th. I find him almost impossible to buy for. Please help if you can! He is lovely and deserves something great.

But...
He doesn't drink alcohol
Or tea, or coffee
He's not into watching or playing sports
Not art, I'm an artist and we have many paintings of the kids by me
He's not into fancy clothes, he wears jeans and t-shirts and doesn't react well to people trying to upgrade his look (as he sees it!)
He has a car and a bike but isn't into fancy car stuff or bikes stuff. He's not really into status symbols of any type.
I've done photobooks before
Considered a weekend away but a spa hotel or similar would be more for me than for him.

He is into:
Gaming, sci fi, LARP, board games
Camping
Tools and gadgets
History, particularly historical clothing, weaponry and stuff
Cooking and food
Books, audiobooks and podcasts
Possibly something garden related, but our garden is absolutely tiny.

Budget flexible, we share accounts so while I can afford something expensive it's more about it being the right thing than an extravagant thing.

If your nearby I would really recommend the James Merton cookery courses at the Chewton Glen. My freind just did the Thai one and loved it.

An experience it's probably better than an object.

Depending on where you live, google tank driving experience (bit of hands on 20th century history) but look for a genuinely independent company, not the buyagift or groupon stuff.

Foraging course?

Blacksmithing course

Subscription to an online specialist magazine

Food subscription for 6 months

Oculus Quest VR headset, I love gaming and use mine every day, they've recently jumped £100 in price though

My husband is also very difficult to buy for. For his 60th, I bought him a learn to ride a penny farthing experience and adopted a Spitfire for him. He's into cycling but has all the gear he needs and isn't interested in clothes, aftershave, any kind of jewellery or watch, etc. His colleagues bought him a meet the meerkats experience, which he (and I!) Loved.

Watching him do the penny farthing thing was great. After a lesson in a park, they cycled to Buckingham Palace and were a source of great interest to many tourists 😃

www.kingdomforge.co.uk/event-details/axe-making-course-3rd-september-2022
A metal detector
Faulty Towers Dining Experience

Escape room?

First edition of a book he really likes

Fancy food processor?

Not the type of history you mentioned but what about the Titanic Experience In Belfast?

What about a coin collection from the royal mint, they do some historical ones

Vertical garden kit?

I have a DH like this. I bought him an Ooni wood fired pizza oven. It was a hit despite him not being a cook.
He gets all the credit, whereas I make the dough, sauce, prep the toppings and assemble the pizzas

Monthly cheese subscription. I did this for my husband and he loves it. Pong Cheese is a great company.

Does he have a gaming friend you can ask? Gamers usually have a dream purchase or a game they love so much they would like a model from it?

does he like Lego? There are some amazing adult Lego sets. I got my DP a Seinfeld set as a special present which was a hit!

A weekend away
Go karting for him and a friend
Gaming chair

Pizza oven. We bought one at beginning of lockdown and I credit it with keeping us sane. Each 15 inch pizza cost about £1 to make. They take about 4 mins to cook. My dh loves it. It is good when we have people over as can make dough day before.

Blacksmithing course to make his own knife?

Flying lesson or Rick Stein cookery school

My dh always says ‘what do you get a man or woman who has everything? … penicillin’ 🤷🏼‍♀️

If he’s really into board games there are thousands released every year so you’d definitely be able to find something new for him.

If you give me an idea of his favourite games I might be able to make some suggestions as I’m a bit of a board game nut!

An Ooni! I’m obsessed with mine.

Would he be interested in an experience trip at an observatory? My BIL just had one at the Keilder observatory and combined it with a couple of nights away. He loved it.

• BBQ tool set
• Butchery lesson
• Billingsgate in London do fish filleting and cooking skills
• Waitrose have cookery schools
• A smoker to smoke meat, fish, cheese, garlic in
• Garden seat/swing www.gardenstoredirect.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=65&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuuKXBhCRARIsAC-gM0jAlFSfVFAR7aRysRffwYCUj0HgoKwj6uJ0UksGQoXhHiQRL-jDKkYaAlCFEALw_wcB
• Build a robot/electronics type kit
• Swiss army knife
• Ticket to a re-enactment event (medieval/WW2/dress up/jousting etc)