Gift ideas for appointee

My son received his appointment earlier in the week for West Point. As the holidays approach, I was wondering what are some gift ideas for things that might be needed by him next year. I know the basics are provided but I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on some things their cadets at West Point have requested. We have fun, memorable things planned to do for Christmas Break and also Spring Break before he leaves in June. Any ideas?

There are threads on this that should be in the archive if you search a bit that will contain LOTS of ideas. One everyone can use is a nice multi-purpose tool (such as a leatherman) engraved with their name. Also a headlamp (not used a lot, but nice to have if you need to do something with your hands in the dark). I am sure you will get lots of other ideas!

Here is a gift thread: http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=9012

My cadet took a multi-tool to Beast and wore an inexpensive Timex Ironman watch. He took very little to Beast and said that was the best way for him. As he has needed clothes, he buys things at the PX where he finds the prices pretty good and the winter clothing is better suited to the New York weather than what he can find here. He does want some upgraded ski things so I will probably give him money.

As soon as he is authorized, get him his pair of boots and low quarters. Well worth getting early.

Dixieland said:

Here is a gift thread: http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=9012

My cadet took a multi-tool to Beast and wore an inexpensive Timex Ironman watch. He took very little to Beast and said that was the best way for him. As he has needed clothes, he buys things at the PX where he finds the prices pretty good and the winter clothing is better suited to the New York weather than what he can find here. He does want some upgraded ski things so I will probably give him money.

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The Ironman watch is a good idea. Daughter wore one to R Day. She broke it within the first few hours (never gave us an explanation as to how and its probably best we don't know ). First letter from Beast was 3 or 4 lines with one requesting a new watch ASAP. Had to go out and buy two more, sent one overnight and kept one in reserve. By end of Beast, she need the third one. A good, small flashlight (we went with a Scorpion with tailcap push button) also came in very handy.

Things for Christmas that you will end up buying later anyway:

• 
  Iron
  Fan
  Duct tape
  Sharpies
  Long underwear
  good running shoes
  movies
  nefflix
  a nice watch
  picture frame
  gift cards to stores/restaurants/theater at Pallisades Mall or Central Valley

- Sunglasses:
DS received these as a graduation gift and has really enjoyed them.
They were personalized with his name on the lens (not that noticeable unless you look closely) on the lower left lens which is good since things tend to get misplaced.
This exact style is also sold at the Cadet Store and it has the Army 'A' on the lens instead.
http://www.oakley.com/custom/flakjacket

- Concur about NetFlix! That is a favorite!

- Scrapbook:
This is not really for the cadet directly, more for Mom, but I have the West Point one that I am making for my cadet which I'm sure he will appreciate later. The scrapbook is beautiful. Looks very much like the Appointment folder. I just bought the digital kits too.
http://www.creatingmilitarymemories.com/Army/west_point.html

- Carry-on luggage:
They usually don't need to bring home anything more than what will fit in a carry-on. Since they are usually rushing to catch their flights, not having to check luggage is a stress reliever!

- Hair Clipper:
This is a personal choice but DS prefers to trim his own hair. He considers to too much trouble to go have it cut elsewhere.

- Keurig coffee maker.
This one is small and fits on the sink area perfectly. There are so many options of K-Cups. Not just coffee but tea and hot chocolate too. Also, a box of K-cups make good gifts over their years there and are perfect in Boodle boxes!
http://www.keurig.com/brewers/mini-...-header-mini__plus__personal__brewing__system

- I-Tunes cards

mom3boys said:

Things for Christmas that you will end up buying later anyway:

• 
  Iron

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Get a good quality iron. My cadet went through 3 before he found one at the PX that satisfied him.

Although he ironed on his bed a lot, DS really wanted a small ironing board. Wow--hard to find on A-Day weekend! DH had to drive to the Target in Poughkeepsie to find a tabletop ironing board.

Graduation Gift - Ipad?

Does anyone know whether or not Ipads are allowed during the academic year? (Understand of course not at Beast.) We're considering it for a graduation gift for DS. I understood that cadets can have iphones during the academic year but have not heard anything about Ipads. Thank you in advance.

SupportiveDad said:

Does anyone know whether or not Ipads are allowed during the academic year? (Understand of course not at Beast.) We're considering it for a graduation gift for DS. I understood that cadets can have iphones during the academic year but have not heard anything about Ipads. Thank you in advance.

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DS has a friend at WP who is a plebe. He asked about purchasing an iPad and was told yesterday to hold off, because there are rumors that the plebes may be issued iPads for electronic textbooks (apparently, the Army is looking to save money by moving to e-books). I don't know whether this is true, but I would confirm before going forward with a gift with this amount of money. Perhaps someone who is a current cadet can chime in here on this issue.

Don't know anything for certain, however one of my end of class surveys did ask if I thought electronic books would be better than paper texts.

patentesq said:

DS has a friend at WP who is a plebe. He asked about purchasing an iPad and was told yesterday to hold off, because there are rumors that the plebes may be issued iPads for electronic textbooks (apparently, the Army is looking to save money by moving to e-books). I don't know whether this is true, but I would confirm before going forward with a gift with this amount of money. Perhaps someone who is a current cadet can chime in here on this issue.

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I'm curious because this http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=19000&highlight=kindle brings up the possibility that not enough relevant texts are in electronic format to make such a move viable yet.

We were talking about this in class the other day. An officer but it flat out like this "The army is addicted to windows, going to an apple program would mess that up and im not betting on it"

it wouldnt suprise me if 20 or 30 plebes were given them as an experiment but there is no reason to even repeat this rumor. They are revising the book buying system...but with paper books