C/O '26 parents - place to commiserate and share. Roller coaster for the next 3 years!

severn said:
... so a sword as graduation gift (vs Rolex), what do you think 🤔?
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My 24 loves watches. But, he is a history buff. Not close with my dad at all. But the history of naval service and USNA alumnus on my side might be worth commemorating. The watch we gave him for hs graduation wasn’t expensive. Suggested by @THParent But he is very attached to it as it came from us and has been in many seas and oceans. He just dropped it at Zachary’s for a band repair.
 
severn said:
... so a sword as graduation gift (vs Rolex), what do you think 🤔?
Click to expand...
This comes up every year at graduation time.

I am a practical person.

Buy it for him if he stays in and promotes to LCDR. Very difficult to travel with. He will drag it around for years without using it. It will get stuck in a closet.

My standard recommendation for both men and women is a valet-type box with the USNA crest and a small plaque with their class year, name, rank, commissioning date. It’s portable, can stow all the collar devices, insignia, mess dress studs, etc. I received one at my Navy OCS commissioning from my uncle who had been a WWII battleship sailor. Still use it for military pins.

Or look at his ring vendor site for things like class crest cufflinks, if you think he would wear a French cuff shirt. When I bought DH his USNA class crest cufflinks, he gave away all his other cufflinks. When he is really dressed up, he’s got those on.

The USNA Alumni Assn has a good gift selection of Navy stuff. Some very nice stuff. All kinds of engraveable things. The M. LaHart items, in particular.

The Mid Store and USNA Online Store carry some nice things.

Or, have fun googling variations on:
Naval Academy or Navy insignia box
“ “ valet box
“ “ keepsake box

Let him tell you if he wants a fancy time piece or high end smartwatch. Much will depend on his operating or working environment. Smartwatches aren’t allowed in many workspaces for security reasons. Deployments, ships, subs, planes are industrial environments. Utilitarian and reliable is the way to go, and if gets banged up, it won’t be a financial hit to replace.

I asked DH years ago if he wanted one of these for a change of command gift, and he wasn’t interested. Too flashy for uniform, and he had my dad’s old gold Movado dress watch for civvies dress-up.
www.mlahart.com

Naval Academy TAG Heuer Watches

Naval Academy TAG Heuer Watches. Custom-made for Naval Academy. Personalized Engraving. Great for alumni, students, and fans.
www.mlahart.com www.mlahart.com
 
Capt MJ said:
This comes up every year at graduation time.

I am a practical person.

Buy it for him if he stays in and promotes to LCDR. Very difficult to travel with. He will drag it around for years without using it. It will get stuck in a closet.

My standard recommendation for both men and women is a valet-type box with the USNA crest and a small plaque with their class year, name, rank, commissioning date. It’s portable, can stow all the collar devices, insignia, mess dress studs, etc. I received one at my Navy OCS commissioning from my uncle who had been a WWII battleship sailor. Still use it for military pins.

Or look at his ring vendor site for things like class crest cufflinks, if you think he would wear a French cuff shirt. When I bought DH his USNA class crest cufflinks, he gave away all his other cufflinks. When he is really dressed up, he’s got those on.

The USNA Alumni Assn has a good gift selection of Navy stuff. Some very nice stuff. All kinds of engraveable things. The M. LaHart items, in particular.

The Mid Store and USNA Online Store carry some nice things.

Or, have fun googling variations on:
Naval Academy or Navy insignia box
“ “ valet box
“ “ keepsake box

Let him tell you if he wants a fancy time piece or high end smartwatch. Much will depend on his operating or working environment. Smartwatches aren’t allowed in many workspaces for security reasons. Deployments, ships, subs, planes are industrial environments. Utilitarian and reliable is the way to go, and if gets banged up, it won’t be a financial hit to replace.

I asked DH years ago if he wanted one of these for a change of command gift, and he wasn’t interested. Too flashy for uniform, and he had my dad’s old gold Movado dress watch for civvies dress-up.
www.mlahart.com

Naval Academy TAG Heuer Watches

Naval Academy TAG Heuer Watches. Custom-made for Naval Academy. Personalized Engraving. Great for alumni, students, and fans.
www.mlahart.com www.mlahart.com
Click to expand...
OMG! Those watches!!! 😍
 
My Dad has already said he would like to give my grandfather's (his dad) sword to our dude upon successful completion of school. My grandfather went up through the ranks as enlisted and was given a field commission for his (at the time) top secret work on chaff that was used during D-Day to fool German radar. He retired a LCDR.

Luckily, my dude and my grandfather were probably pretty close in height, so the sword probably won't have to be modified.

I asked dad what he was going to do with his own sword then? He looked me straight in the face and said, "It's mine. The four of you <I have three siblings> can fight over it when I'm dead." :yikes:
 
Capt MJ said:
This comes up every year at graduation time.

I am a practical person.

Buy it for him if he stays in and promotes to LCDR. Very difficult to travel with. He will drag it around for years without using it. It will get stuck in a closet.

My standard recommendation for both men and women is a valet-type box with the USNA crest and a small plaque with their class year, name, rank, commissioning date. It’s portable, can stow all the collar devices, insignia, mess dress studs, etc. I received one at my Navy OCS commissioning from my uncle who had been a WWII battleship sailor. Still use it for military pins.

Or look at his ring vendor site for things like class crest cufflinks, if you think he would wear a French cuff shirt. When I bought DH his USNA class crest cufflinks, he gave away all his other cufflinks. When he is really dressed up, he’s got those on.

The USNA Alumni Assn has a good gift selection of Navy stuff. Some very nice stuff. All kinds of engraveable things. The M. LaHart items, in particular.

The Mid Store and USNA Online Store carry some nice things.

Or, have fun googling variations on:
Naval Academy or Navy insignia box
“ “ valet box
“ “ keepsake box

Let him tell you if he wants a fancy time piece or high end smartwatch. Much will depend on his operating or working environment. Smartwatches aren’t allowed in many workspaces for security reasons. Deployments, ships, subs, planes are industrial environments. Utilitarian and reliable is the way to go, and if gets banged up, it won’t be a financial hit to replace.

I asked DH years ago if he wanted one of these for a change of command gift, and he wasn’t interested. Too flashy for uniform, and he had my dad’s old gold Movado dress watch for civvies dress-up.
www.mlahart.com

Naval Academy TAG Heuer Watches

Naval Academy TAG Heuer Watches. Custom-made for Naval Academy. Personalized Engraving. Great for alumni, students, and fans.
www.mlahart.com www.mlahart.com
Click to expand...
Whatever you gift, make sure it’s something they would enjoy. Not something stuffed into their closet.

My ‘22 got a class pistol from us. It’s beautiful. Didn’t want a sword. Doesn’t wear a watch (other than a cheap one). But loves his pistol.
 
And, the dude had to report back to class today. No more SIQ. Had to walk right into a Physics quiz before the fun of next week. Joy!! :p
 
Capt MJ said:
Wearing the wrong length of sword can wreak havoc with a cover. And you can’t just say “back in a sec” and go retrieve it. Swords are sized by height. If too long, ears and covers are in the danger zone.
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As I've related on here in the past, during my 3/C year at USNA, my career enlisted father was on military travel through Spain and found a great deal on officer swords at the Navy Exchange in Rota which he snapped up. Again, he was career enlisted and had absolutely no idea that swords were "sized" and further that the exchange was probably clearing the stock for rarely used sizes. Sadly, the sword sized for 6'6"+ folk was not a
good fit for a son who was at least a foot shorter than that. Thus the family ended up with a spare officer's sword in his "collection-o-stuff" as he
did buy a properly sized sword prior to my graduation. Although the opportunities for me to wear it were few, it was definitely used as a wedding cake cutter for a number of my friends as it was very clean and pretty.
I'd probably have it hanging on the wall here now except that #2 son went to USNA so the sword is now in Japan with the rest of
his gear. Needless to say, that was a graduation gift from me to him. He also wanted me to make him a new set of golf clubs as
I had previously had a side business building clubs so I resurrected my setups and produced two sets - one for him and a matching set for
his roommate (who did pay).
 
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... ok, thinking of a new truck as a graduation gift. I'm trying to "give" my Toyota Sienna to him because of the wide cargo space. No cigars.
 
If they go USMC, they’ll be required to have a Mameluke sword. We gave DD’s hers as a commissioning gift. In this case, the sword shouldn't gather too much dust, as it’s used for various events and ceremonies — and the Marines do like their ceremonies. (A Marine officer’s “starter uniform package” is another great gift. They’re not cheap. Unlike naval officers, Marine officers can’t carry over much of their mid uniform collection.)

an654 said:
OMG! Those watches!!! 😍
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In a world rife with smart watches — uniform, drab, utilitarian — “real watches” truly stand out and even say something about the wearer.

I wear a Swiss-made, automatic, steel divers watch. Not flashy, by any means. But different. And I think it says something about me: that I know how to tell time the old-fashioned way. 🤭🤔😂
 
MidCakePa said:
If they go USMC, they’ll be required to have a Mameluke sword. We gave DD’s hers as a commissioning gift. In this case, the sword shouldn't gather too much dust, as it’s used for various events and ceremonies — and the Marines do like their ceremonies. (A Marine officer’s “starter uniform package” is another great gift. They’re not cheap. Unlike naval officers, Marine officers can’t carry over much of their mid uniform collection.)


In a world rife with smart watches — uniform, drab, utilitarian — “real watches” truly stand out and even say something about the wearer.

I wear a Swiss-made, automatic, steel divers watch. Not flashy, by any means. But different. And I think it says something about me: that I know how to tell time the old-fashioned way. 🤭🤔😂
Click to expand...
That sun dial on your wrist must be a bear to wear, unless you splurged on the carbon fiber and titanium model. About as old-fashioned as you can get.
 
... definitely a conversation starter for the next USNA event... wearing sun dial watch + velvet silk scarf + sunglasses/corncob pipe (Gen. MacArthur variety). Don't mind wearing it. Truly.
 
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