I hate to steer our readers to Amazon but they are currently selling aSwissArmy Knife Owner’s Manual that will definitely be of some interested to many of you.  It contains a fully fleshed out history of the Swiss Army Knife, some really great stories about lives that were saved by this enduring icon and listings of all the cool tools that have ever been featured on a Swiss Army Knife.

I know a lot of you are fanatical about your Swiss Army Knives so I’m trying to do the right thing here.  Even though we don’t sell this book, I am gritting my teeth and sending you over to the evil empire, Amazon.  You’re welcome!

-Simon

You think you have a cool man cave? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you have nothing on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s man cave! What do you have in yours’? A pool table? Maybe a really big flat screen powered by a big satellite dish? Maybe a personalized college football pub sign?  That’s all well and good and I’m sure you have a fine man cave by normal standards.

Dale Earnhardt Jr has built an entire miniature old west town called Whiskey River on his 200 acre property.   See the full story on it over at ESPN.   It includes an Old West saloon called Silverado Saloon, a US Marshall Jailhouse and even a hotel for those guests to his town that have over-indulged.  He uses it as a sort of getaway from the glare of the public eye.  It definitely shoes that Earnhardt Jr has a fun and whimsical side.  It also happens to be what I would consider the greatest man cave in the world.  I think that racing legend Junior Johnson tending bar at your man cave (as shown in the picture at right) seals that deal.   What do you think?

-Simon

I found a cool article over at UberGizmo about a Solar Powered Pocket Watch.  The article says that the pocket watch is inspired by the Steampunk movement.  I had never heard of this but thought the watch was really cool to look at.  I did a little bit of research (thank God for the internet), and found that Steampunk is a movement is sort of a confused mish-mash of a bunch of different themes.  It seems to have a goth flair to it, with a little bit of medieval times and some supernatural elements as well.  Without going too far down this path, you can find more information on this sort of culture over at Steampunk.com .

Anywaym back to the pocket watch.  Made of English pewter and brass, it is powered by the sun.  When exposed to sunlight, there are turbines on the front of the watch that spin (which is really cool to look at), generating the power necessary to keep good time.  If no sunlight is available, you can manually pump the turbines.  Aside from the fact that being solar powered is a really different feature, the design of the pocket watch is as cool as it gets.  It has such a unique, old world look.  It may not be something for your every  day wear, but if you’re hitting a Renaissance festival or something like it, this is the pocket watch for you!

-Simon

I stumbled onto this article over at www.Amog.com called the Ultimate Guide to the Zippo Lighter.  Now, we cover a lot of Zippo Lighter themed topics here at the Executive Gift Shoppe blog.  In fact, one of our all time most popular posts details how to change the wicks and flints on a Zippo Lighter .  Well, we have nothing on this article!

It starts off with the history of the Zippo Lighter, from its founding father, George G. Blaisdel coming up with the idea while watching a friend fumble with a sub-par “windproof” lighter to the origin of the name “Zippo.”  Apparently Mr. Blaisdell just liked the way the word zipper sounds and decided that Zippo sounded like a more modern spin on the word.

The article goes onto detail the mechanics of how a Zippo Lighter works from the chimney to the thumbwheel to the flint.  It goes onto remark on the value of the famous Zippo guarantee, shows how to fill your Zippo (using video!) and gives details on collecting these magnificent lighters.  In short, this article covers all of the basic information you’ll need to get started on your Zippo collection today!  Please go and read this article and let us know what you think about it below.

-Simon

So we found an article on cufflinks made from the Titanic wreck over at Gizmodo.  The author seems to be of the opinion that the making of these cufflinks is, for lack of a better word, tacky.

  I’m not so sure that its tacky, or wrong in any way, I’ve seen companies profit off far more recent tragic events in far tackier ways.  Heck, you could make the argument that the move Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is profiting enormously off the tragedy of 9/11.   But that’s an argument for another day!

So tackiness aside, I have 2 real problems with these “Titanic Cufflinks.”  First, the price.  They are limited edition and as such are selling for $520.00 a piece.  No, the titanic was not constructed of sterling silver, these are steel.  Which  leads me to problem #2.   The company making the cufflinks, Romaine Jerome, is sourcing much of the metal for them from the shipyard where the Titanic was built.

  In other words, from metal that was not part of the Titanic.  From scrap metal that did not make the final cut.  Now that seems just plain wrong to me.  You purchase a pair of Titanic cufflinks thinking they are made of metal that was sitting at the bottom of the ocean in the most famous whip wreck in history but instead they’re made with a bunch of scrap metal. 

Maybe I’m a stickler for authenticity, I don’t know.  What do you think?  Are the Titanic Cufflinks worth the price?  Would you want to have them in your collection?

-Simon

Ok, we don’t really need watches anymore—iPhones , iTouchs, BlackBerrys and all the rest of those guys have pretty much made them redundant.

But apart from being stylish and sexy, did you know watches pretty much have super powers now? Seriously, wearing a good watch is like having Superman wrapped around you wrist—check it out:

• Alpine Swiss Rallye Wenger Swiss Army Watch:
  
  This watch is gorgeous and heroic. If you have to randomly jump into a river to save a driver who has plunged his or her car into the dark waters, you can go as deep as 100 meters without breaking this piece of machinery. Furthermore, this watch contains a tachymeter, which measures speed over known distances. It also displays the date and has a stopwatch function.
  
  
• LED Nomad Series Wenger Swiss Army Watch:
  
  Imagine this: you get lost in the dark forest. Your iPhone, which you have come to think of as all-powerful, is rendered entirely useless: it’s not getting service and really has no other functions to help you in this situation, unless you want to put on the bird call app and see how many birds flock over to help you. Fortunately, you have this watch, which you can read perfectly in the dark, since it has the day, date and time in luminous LED. And guess what? It also has a compass, so it can totally lead you out of the forest and back to the highway, or the cottage, or wherever else you came from.
  
  
• Classic Chronograph Pocket Watch by Zippo:
  Ok, watches aren’t always heroic through function, sometimes they’re heroic through coolness, and this is one of those times. This classic Zippo pocket watch comes on a silver stainless steel chain, is small enough to fit into any pocket and would look good in the palm of any man’s hand. It’s also got a chronograph, just in case you need to time an impromptu race.

-Simon

Throwing a dinner party is super hard work, and although the event isintended to be entertaining for the hosts as well as the guests, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t offer them a token of your appreciation for all of the planning and preparation.


There are a few essential things to remember when buying a host(ess) gift:

• Don’t Make It Difficult
  Although flowers are a classic hostess gift, they actually aren’t ideal for the situation. If you bring a bouquet wrapped in cellophane, the hostess has to take time out of her preparations and entertaining to remove the package, find a vase, cut the stem and put them in water.
  Don’t Make It Awkward
  
  
  Similarly, although wine is a traditional and wonderful host gift, it has the potential to make your host uncomfortable. Your wine might not be suited to the meal, but your host might feel pressured to serve it anyway in order to show his appreciation for the gift. Not good.
  You can still choose to bring wine, simply make sure your host knows you don’t expect him to share it at this meal.





• Do Be Simple & Thoughtful
  
  
  Here are a few ideas for creative host gifts that are sure to please:
  Gourmet Coffee: If you know your hosts are coffee lovers, this is perfect. Choose whole beans, since most true coffee aficionados will have their own grinders.
  
  
  Fresh Produce: A small basket of seasonal produce is always a good idea, as long as it’s not gourd season. Again, be clear that you don’t intend for this to be served as part of the night’s meal.
  
  
  Bar Tools: If your hosts are drinkers, a beautiful bottle opener of wine stopper [insert link: http://www.executivegiftshoppe.com/m099.html] makes an elegant gift.
  The Quirky: Something slightly eccentric, like a Brass Knuckles Meat Tenderizer, or a Personalized BBQ Branding Iron, is also a great idea.

-Simon

For some people on your list, the gift card seems like the perfect present, particularly for those folks who seem to have everything, or are magnificently picky.

There is research, however, which suggests gift cards can actually end up costing the
recipient money. Apparently, shoppers usually end up spending 140% of the face
value of their gift card, which means that someone who has received a $50 gift card
will probably end up spending $20 of his or her own money.

I think this research suggests you should ask yourself a few questions before
deciding on a gift card as a present:

1. Does the recipient usually stop at the store in question? If so, even though she
might spend extra cash on top of the gift card, she’ll still be saving money because
she’d be shopping there anyway.

2. Does the recipient have some extra cash to spend at the store in question? If the
person isn’t struggling financially, spending an extra 20 bucks isn’t going to hurt,
but if times are tight, you might not want to put him in a position where he might be
tempted to spend money he doesn’t have.

-Simon

There is a better way to smoke a cigar, and it involves attention to every step of the
process, including the instruments you use to prepare it.

Here’s our quick guide to sophisticated cigar smoking:

The Cutter:

The cigar cutter is key to the cigar smoker’s experience; the type of cut can affect
draw and flavor. The straight cut, for example, permits for a better draw, which
exposes the smoker to a wider variety of flavors. The V cut provides a similarly good
draw and range of flavors. In contrast, the bullet style cut, which punches a hole in
the end of the cigar, limits smoke and flavor, but is nevertheless popular amongst
many cigar smokers.

The Lighter:

While you can use matches to light a cigar, a lighter, particularly a high-quality,
well-designed cigar lighter lends style and weight to the ritual. If you do decide to use
matches, make sure they are the wooden kind; flimsy paper matches can affect the
taste of the cigar.

The Drink:

Ok, this last accessory is not at all necessary, but many people find it enhances the
cigar smoking experience. While I enjoy coffee or cognac with my cigar, dark beer,
whiskey, or red wine also make lovely companions.

-Simon

Every once in a while, we add a product that just takes off. Its usually not the product that we think will be a big seller, but the one we have the lowest expectations on. This year is no exception. We add the Brass Knuckles Meat Tenderizer to our product line in mid-November not thinking much of it. Well, we can’t keep it in stock. It has become one of our biggest selling items!

We’re not sure if its the novelty of it, the fact that people are always looking for funny gifts that are also practical or if some of our valued customers are just looking to get out some aggression while cooking! Whatever the reason, this unique gift is perfect for the cook who has everything. Looking for a complementary gift to the Brass Knuckles Meat Tenderizer, how about the Personalized BBQ Branding Iron? From the cutting board to the grill, some lucky recipient will have all of their bases covered!

-Simon