Gift idea for wife- yay or nay, rocket related

switch the scenario. this is your wife talking:

Hi all- I'm on a fence, and need some advice. Many of you seem to either be blessed with or are yourselves a knitting loving husband...my husband is terrific in so many ways, but has an "active disinterest" in knitting. he doesn't begrudge me of it, which I love him for endlessly, but he also doesn't have many hobbies of his own. he's been to a few club knitting sessions, and was a great cheerleader for my contests, but mostly he just sees it as "sillygirl stuff", something I do to get some alone time in the knitting room. I'm toying with the idea of getting him a knitting kit- nothing fancy, something that has a single point needle pair, a knit tally, cable stitch needles, stitch holders, tapestry yarn needles, cabone rings, point protectors and a knitting gauge . My idea is that I would be happy to help coach him on how to build it, but I will not do it for him, no way no how. It's then up to him to either start it, or leave it in the closet.
Obviously you don't know my husband, but surely someone here has tried something similar, and either it worked, and it becomes a team hobby, or it doesn't, and things go back to normal. I suppose if the situation were completely wrong, it could backfire, but I am not quite sure I can see that happening here (worst case is he says, "Oh great, you bought me something for you...", but I explain that away by saying it doesn't matter to me if he leaves it in the bag for ever).
Stupid idea?

do you truly honestly want to show her how much you love her and appreciate her? do you truly want to do something for her? theres 2 choices:
1) ask HER what she would like. not straight out ask, but do it in a covert way.
or
2) this is what lowpuller said and,imo, this man knows how to show his unconditional love:

I like rockets, a lot, but I love my wife.

Let her know she is loved, focus completely on her when picking the gift, and from what you have said, it won't be rocket related.

In fact, here is a suggestion......................

Take her away for a weekend getaway, to the special little spot she has always talked about. Splurge and buy her several things she shows interest in from the local gift shops.

Here is the hard part, buy nothing for yourself, and don't even talk about rockets!, no TRF, nothing for the whole weekend.

Focus on her, and remember why you married her..........................I don't know you, I don't know her, but I promise this will work.

It will be the best gift she ever got, and will pay dividends to you rocket related, big time in the future...


im single. have been for many years. I had a love of my life at one time.
you know what made me happy?
seeing her happy with a gift I gave her that she truly wanted. she was an amazing woman and very simple- simple things made her happy. but I listened. she love sunsets, the beach,bonfires, and reading. a little observing and I saw the author she liked.
so I got her some books by that author and scheduled a weeklong vacation in traverse city in a beach cottage.
seeing her enjoying reading her books until the sunset, then sitting by the bonfire reading........ priceless

Oddly enough, my wife and I have very little in common. She is not interested in rocketry, Stephen King, progressive rock of the 1970s, horror movies, sci-fi, superheroes and comic books; all stuff that I love, but in which she takes no interest.

And she really likes genealogy, cooking shows, playing the violin, and lots of things having to do with children, none of which particularly interest me.

But, we both believe in Jesus, we are both dedicated to our kids and our church, and somehow, praise God, she likes to watch the Ravens play football. We have made this work for 14 years, now.

She does come to launches, and sometimes when she wants to sit and show me what ancestor she found living in Europe in 1786, I listen and ask questions. We make sure every day has some together time, talking or (you know, that) before or after splitting up to do our personal things.

So far, so good.

My wife could care less about building rockets but loves to fly whats built ABC's and enjoys the trips away ,

2015 she did the Richard Petty rookie driving experience had a blast I declined but got same $ for 2015 BS weekend rocket budget
I encouraged her to get the video , t-shirt wall plaque , bill came to just under $750.00 lol

https://www.drivepetty.com/experiences/rookie-experience


we have only been married 36 years

So...update on this older thread. Wife and I were talking/joking, and she said, "let's get two of the same kits for Valentine's day, I'm going to build mine on my own, and then we'll see who wins!" I about near fainted, but she was dead serious, even went so far as to ask if we could race them. I think I'm in guys!!

Raises the question, actually, about drag racing- can two rockets be flown at the same time by the same flyer? My wife isn't a NAR member, and at this point that would turn her off I think (too much commitment!). So could I fill out flight cards for both, and "pretend" that they're both mine? I'll of course provide some guidance during her build, so I'll be confident in the structural build. Am also thinking in the simple 29 or 38 style...so we could potentially fly it on MPR engines. I plan to ask my club, too.

Give her a NAR membership for Valentine's Day.


Steve Shannon

First, ask your club - they are the ones that will ultimately make the decision. Some clubs don't even allow drag races because of safety concerns. We cancelled one at Hellfire this past summer, shortly after a rocket came in ballistic and punched through the club VP's windshield (2nd year in a row!).

That said, if you build something that can fly on a G80, or even an F, that should be plenty exciting for a first flight. Then, if she is interested in bigger motors, you can give her a membership to NAR and she can cert on the spot.

I've found that there is a thin line between being excited and being pushy, and I usually wind up on the wrong side of the line.

Best of luck, and I'm happy for you!


P.S. What if you had Mark (Stickershock) whip up a set of Valentines-themed stickers for your wife's rocket?

Just get two mid power kits. She doesn't have to be NAR for MPR at your club does she? You don't need to coach her through a high power build for her first build. May !ead to frustration for the both of you. TTW is easier to align fins, for me at least. Get/make a decent fin alignment jig too.

Pick a few suitable candidate rockets and let her make final decision, unless she wants to do the shopping herself, in which case you would need to bless off in it...you don't need her buying two Velociraptors.

Maybe the two of you pick your own bird from Wildman's sport line. Built light enough they will fly on E's and F's. They are fun on G's too with a bit of nose weight.

My near-wife has mentioned coming to a launch, but no desire to build one yet. I try not to encourage her getting into rockets. She'll take over what little space I have left. Lol.

Check with your club about launching 2 rockets at once.

Good luck,
Mikey D

soopirV said:

So...update on this older thread. Wife and I were talking/joking, and she said, "let's get two of the same kits for Valentine's day, I'm going to build mine on my own, and then we'll see who wins!" I about near fainted, but she was dead serious, even went so far as to ask if we could race them. I think I'm in guys!!

Raises the question, actually, about drag racing- can two rockets be flown at the same time by the same flyer? My wife isn't a NAR member, and at this point that would turn her off I think (too much commitment!). So could I fill out flight cards for both, and "pretend" that they're both mine? I'll of course provide some guidance during her build, so I'll be confident in the structural build. Am also thinking in the simple 29 or 38 style...so we could potentially fly it on MPR engines. I plan to ask my club, too.

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Congrats!

My $0.02...Get 2 PS2 kits, ones that are easily HP capable with the right TLC. First flight for both on a G, then cert for her...

why not ask her if shed be interested in joining the NAR and getting L1?
which makes me wonder iffen L1 can be obtained through a drag race

Bat-mite said:

I may be too late for soopirV, but for anyone else who is thinking along these lines, I find that the answers to these questions come quickly when you reverse the scenario.

Suppose your wife were really into quilting, and she has been trying to get you interested, but you just aren't.

Now, imagine it's Christmas morning, and there is a nicely wrapped present for you under the tree, and you are hoping/wondering, "Is it an altimeter? A retainer? A new set of 38mm hardware?"

And you tear open the box, and it's a set of quilting hooks and yarn. What is your reaction? "Wow, she really loves me! I think I am going to take a new interest in quilting!" Or, is it more like, "Gosh ... what a disappointment. What do I say to her? She knows I don't like quilting...."

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I haven't tried quilting yet, but I have done knitting and once you get the hang of it, it's actually quite fun!
Have you tried quilting?

I went into knitting thinking "Uh Oh..." but it's a lot cleaner and takes up less space than rockets.

This isn't to say I don't like rocketry anymore, but if you learned knitting or crocheting or quilting (whatever they like) then that could be something to do together and possibly bargaining tool if the conditions are right...

Most clubs do not require you to be a NAR or Tripoli member or even a club member to fly. You can usually attend as a guest. At least that's the way it works for the few cubs I've flown with. No need to try to sneak her in. Get two rockets that don't require certification to fly and count yourself lucky! It's great she is showing interest!

If you'd like to go big, I'd get two PSII kits that can be flown on F and G motors. If you want to go smaller (and less expensive) but still have a decent-sized rocket that is easy to decorate with a custom style, I'd get a couple of Maxi Alpha Threes. You can build those in a single day. That's the one I usually build if I want to give someone a gift. Cheap, easy, big enough for custom paint, inexpensive to fly, and not much invested if they don't end up interested. But the PSII kits have come down in price too, and they offer a lot of great possibilities for paint and decoration too.

Drag races are are pretty common. Our club's LPR launches have stopped offering drag races due to rules on that particular field. But the HPR launches have drag races all the time!

ThirstyBarbarian said:

Most clubs do not require you to be a NAR or Tripoli member or even a club member to fly. You can usually attend as a guest. At least that's the way it works for the few cubs I've flown with. No need to try to sneak her in. Get two rockets that don't require certification to fly and count yourself lucky! It's great she is showing interest!

If you'd like to go big, I'd get two PSII kits that can be flown on F and G motors. If you want to go smaller (and less expensive) but still have a decent-sized rocket that is easy to decorate with a custom style, I'd get a couple of Maxi Alpha Threes. You can build those in a single day. That's the one I usually build if I want to give someone a gift. Cheap, easy, big enough for custom paint, inexpensive to fly, and not much invested if they don't end up interested. But the PSII kits have come down in price too, and they offer a lot of great possibilities for paint and decoration too.

Drag races are are pretty common. Our club's LPR launches have stopped offering drag races due to rules on that particular field. But the HPR launches have drag races all the time!

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UPDATE- we went with matching 1.6" Madcow DX-3s on 29mm power. Interestingly, hers went together a lot smoother than mine! I had to file out my fin slots, renegotiate the placement of my kevlar line (interestingly, the instructions provided are generic, and will not work with the DX-3). I think this is because I was trying to stay one step ahead of her, so I learned what not to do as I built mine. I had to shave off a few mm of centering rings, but mine is together nicely! Haven't flown yet, but got some great photos of her mixing and working with epoxy!

I wouldn't even consider it. I opened a box from AC Supply last night. She only shook her head when I pulled out the MDRM! She has her own things and I am fine with that and support it.

michigander said:

My wife could care less about building rockets but loves to fly whats built ABC's and enjoys the trips away ,

2015 she did the Richard Petty rookie driving experience had a blast I declined but got same $ for 2015 BS weekend rocket budget
I encouraged her to get the video , t-shirt wall plaque , bill came to just under $750.00 lol

https://www.drivepetty.com/experiences/rookie-experience


we have only been married 36 years

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Sounds like my wife. She has never been to a launch and doesn't plan on it. But, I did the same thing for her 14 years ago. She did 10 laps around Kansas Speedway with Dale Jarrett Driving Experience for her birthday. That seems like it backfired for me because it ended up with us buying a 1971 Mustang drag race car that fall. However it actually has proven to be the best thing I could have ever done for my rocket budget. Since the race car costs way more than my rockets she never asks me about how much I am spending on rocket stuff. Only once did she ever say anything and that was right after we had spend about $600 on a new fuel system. I purchased my L3 case and reload from Loki and it was about the same cost. She said $600 for one just one launch? I said well half of that is one launch but the rest is reusable. She just grinned and went on. The only downside is once in a while I have to give up a launch weekend when they fall on the same weekend as a big race that we wants to attend. I love drag racing so I am there supporting her and working on the car along side her.



Here car launching my L3 launching. hmmm

I guess some (most) women are not into rockets. My wife is in that category.

Here is a pic someone snapped at Thunda. This lady is obviously right into both rockets and fashion!

OverTheTop said:

I guess some (most) women are not into rockets. My wife is in that category.

Here is a pic someone snapped at Thunda. This lady is obviously right into both rockets and fashion!
View attachment 313274

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Don't mean to form an arbitrary and useless line on the hobby between the genders*, but that is AWESOME!

*By this I mean that it shouldn't matter if you're a male or female when it comes to liking or not liking rockets or fashion.