Best Man Gifts for the One Who Did the Work

The best man is not one of the groomsmen. He is the one who booked the weekend, collected the money, got the suits back on time, wrote the speech and stood at your shoulder while you said the thing that mattered. That is months of work done by one man for no reason except that he is your friend.

The usual thank-you is scaled for the whole party. A flask with initials. A set of whiskey glasses. A cigar and a card. These are fine for six men who each showed up for the day. They are the wrong size for the one who showed up for the year, and he knows it when his box looks like everyone else's.

The gift for the best man should be one object, better than the rest, with his name and your wedding date on it. A hand-forged blade does that job better than anything else at the price, because it is the only version of this gift that is still on a shelf or a wall in thirty years with the date still legible.

Why the blade and not the other options

The watch is a good gift and the wrong one here, because a watch is chosen for the wearer's taste, and you are guessing. The engraved flask is the groomsmen gift; giving the best man a nicer flask tells him he is a groomsman with a bigger budget. The cufflinks get worn once, at your wedding, and then live in the box. The gift card, however generous, is a receipt for services rendered. A knife or sword with his name and the date on the steel is a different category of thing. It is not consumed and it is not replaced, and nobody else at the table got one.

Engraving, and when to order

Engraving is what separates the best man's gift from the groomsmen's, and it is done in our own Illinois workshop rather than sent out. A name, the wedding date and one short line is the standard order: "Thank you for standing up," or a line from the speech. A folding knife takes a name and a date on the blade. A bowie or a sword takes a full sentence along the flat, and a sheath or scabbard can be etched instead if you want the steel left clean.

Timing is the part that catches people. Stock blades ship normally, engraved or not. Fully custom builds from the knife and sword builders take four to eight weeks, sometimes longer. If you are giving the gift at the rehearsal dinner, count back from that date. Inside eight weeks, buy from stock and have it engraved. With the date set and months to go, build the thing from scratch and let him open something nobody else owns.

What to buy

The folding knife with his name on it

This is the gift most best men actually get, and for good reason: it goes in his pocket on Monday. Engrave the blade, put it in the gift box, and it is the one he keeps.

• Gentleman's Lockback Folding Knife, 7", 1095 Steel, $199.99. Clip-point blade in 1095 high carbon, wood scales, metal bolsters, a lockback that stays open until he closes it. The most traditional pocket knife in the range and the one that reads as a gift rather than a tool.
• Folding Pocket Knife, 8", High Carbon Damascus Steel, $149.99. Wood handle, 352-layer Damascus blade, leather sheath, and a corkscrew, which is the right extra for a man who has opened a lot of bottles on your behalf.
• Folding Pocket Knife, 8", High Carbon Damascus Steel, Bone Handle, $89.99. Same 352-layer Damascus and corkscrew, camel bone handle. The best knife here under $100, and the bone takes the light differently in every photograph.
• Large Folding Pocket Knife, High Carbon Damascus Steel, $99.99. The bigger folder. Longer blade, more flat for the engraving, and the one to pick if he has large hands or a job that uses a knife.

The fixed blade for the one who hunts, camps or splits wood

If the best man owns a truck and a deer tag, a folder is the polite answer and a bowie is the correct one. These have crossguards and clip points and a sheath, and the flat of a 12-inch blade takes a full sentence.

• Bowie Knife, Outdoors, High Carbon Damascus Steel Blade, 12", $119.99. The American frontier knife in 352-layer Damascus. Clip point for fine work, thick spine for everything else, and the pattern in the steel means his is not identical to anyone's.
• Bowie Knife, Handmade 1095 Steel, 17", $149.99. The large version in plain 1095 high carbon. Seventeen inches overall, so it lives in a sheath on a belt or on a shelf, and it takes a long inscription along the flat without crowding.
• Scottish Dirk, Damascus Steel, 18", $199.99. The Highland gentleman's sidearm: 12-inch 352-layer Damascus blade, sculpted black hardwood grip, full tang, leather sheath with steel throat and chape. For the best man with a Scottish surname, or the one who wore a kilt to your wedding, this is the answer.

The sword, for the man who would want one

You know whether he is this man. If he is, nothing on the list above will land as hard. Hand-forged full tang swords start at $199.99, and below that price you are buying a partial tang wall hanger, which is a different object.

• Longsword with Knife, 44", High Carbon 1095 Steel With Clay Temper, $199.99. A 44-inch longsword and a 9-inch knife, both in 1095 with leather sheaths. The clay temper leaves a visible hamon along the edge. Engrave the sword with the date and the knife with his name, and he has the wall piece and the pocket piece from one box. The groomsmen guide uses this as its default for the whole party; for the best man, it is the floor rather than the ceiling.
• Gladius Sword, High Carbon Damascus Steel, 28", $199.99. The Roman infantry sword in 352-layer Damascus. Short enough to display in an apartment, broad enough to carry a sentence along the flat, and the shape every man recognizes from across a room.

Build it from scratch

If the wedding is more than eight weeks out, this is the version that matches the size of what he did. You specify the steel, the length, the guard, the handle, the sheath or scabbard, and the engraving. He receives a blade that exists once.

• Customize Your Knife, Build Your Own Knife, from $149.99. Bowie, hunting, kukri, skinner, folding and more, in stainless, 1095 or Damascus, from 7 inches up. Choose the guard, the handle material and the inscription. Four to eight weeks.
• Customize Your Sword, Build Your Own Sword, from $199.99. Longsword, gladius, Viking, rapier, cutlass, saber and the rest, or upload a drawing and have that made instead. Steel, length, guard, grip, pommel, scabbard and engraving, all specified by you. Same lead time.

Give it somewhere to live

A knife handed over loose goes in a drawer. Put it in the Knife Gift Box, $29.99, black leather, and it gets opened in front of the room and stored properly afterward. A sword needs a wall or a shelf from day one: the Blade Stand, $29.99, holds it on a desk or mantel, and the Wall Mount Sword Stand, Black, $49.99, puts it on the wall of his office where the date on the blade faces the room. On a $200 gift, either one is the difference between displayed and stored.

When to buy something else

• He lives somewhere blades are restricted. Blade laws vary by state and city, and some places treat a folding knife over a certain length differently from a fixed one. Check before you ship, not after.
• He has no interest in objects. If he has never owned a knife and does not want one, engraving will not change his mind.
• You want it for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding is in five weeks. Skip the builders. Buy from stock, have it engraved, and it arrives in time.
• The whole party is getting knives already. If the groomsmen are getting matching folders, the best man's gift should be a different object, not a slightly better one. Move him up to the dirk, the sword or the builder so the gap is visible.
• He is flying home the next morning. Nothing here goes in carry-on and checked-bag rules vary by airline. Ship it to his house and tell him it is coming.

Most blades ship sharpened. Blade laws vary by state and city, and nothing here travels in carry-on, so ship to a home address rather than handing it over at the airport hotel.

Frequently asked questions

How much should a best man gift cost?
More than the groomsmen's, and visibly so. Most best man gifts here land between $90 and $200, with the builders and the Damascus pieces at the top of that range. The Bone Handle Folding Pocket Knife at $89.99 is the least expensive thing on the list that still reads as a real gift.

What are good personalized best man gifts that are not a flask?
An engraved folding knife is the standard answer: his name and the wedding date on the blade, in the gift box. A bowie or a Scottish dirk takes a full sentence along the flat.

Can you engrave a best man gift with his name and the wedding date?
Yes. Engraving and etching are done in our own Illinois workshop: names, dates, a line of text, a logo or an image on the blade. Sheaths and scabbards can be etched instead if you want the steel clean.

How far ahead should I order a best man thank you gift?
Stock blades ship normally, engraved or not, so a few weeks is comfortable. Fully custom builds take four to eight weeks and sometimes longer. Once the date is set, order the custom piece; inside eight weeks, buy from stock.

What is a unique best man gift for a man who has everything?
The custom knife builder, from $149.99, or the custom sword builder, from $199.99. He cannot already own the thing, because it does not exist until you specify it. Our guide for men who have everything covers the same problem from the other side.

Is a sword too much for a best man gift from the groom?
Not if he is the kind of man who would want one, and you already know whether he is. The Longsword with Knife at $199.99 and the Gladius at $199.99 are both full tang, hand-forged, and engraved in-house, and the best man is the one person in the party for whom that scale is right.

Should the best man get the same gift as the groomsmen?
No. If the groomsmen get matching knives, the best man gets the one with his name and the date on it, or a different object altogether. The groomsmen guide handles the party; this one handles the man who did the work.