Last-Minute Gift Guide for Mechanical Keyboard Enthusiasts
The holidays are right around the corner, and if you’re scrambling to find a last-minute gift for the keyboard enthusiast in your life, you’re in the right place. Keyboard people are surprisingly easy to shop for once you know what actually matters. A lot of the time it’s the small upgrades, the fun extras, or the “oh wow, I’ll actually use this” kind of gifts that land the hardest. This guide highlights things I genuinely think any keeb lover would appreciate, whether they’re deep into customs or just getting started. And yes, a few keyboard-adjacent gifts made the list too. Let’s hop in.
Full Disclosure and Affiliations
For clarity and transparency, this is not a paid article and none of these brands or companies have asked me to write this. However, there are some affiliate links included in this article to support content creation – your support is greatly appreciated.
A Fancy Keycap Puller
Top Pick
This is my first pick. Turntwood keycap pullers in particular. Hands down probably the coolest thing you can pick up for your keyboard loved one. I have two myself! They are hand made resin, wood, and stone keycap pullers that are just incredibly beautiful and well crafted. The owner of the store is also a long time hobbyist in the space.
This is sure to surprise anyone and is essentially a ‘luxury’ version of a tool they will probably use for just every time they swap keycaps. For now, you do have to message the store directly to set up a purchase but I can almost guarantee you this is worth doing.
A Custom Cable
This seems like it’s an obvious one but a new cable never hurts, and it doesn’t break the bank either (in most cases). My recommendation here is to peek at their current setup and see if they need one as well as maybe something that will match their keyboard or desk theme.
Once you do that, my suggestions are shopping from Ordinary Labs which have some awesome silicone cables that are soft touch and feel great. If you’re feeling a bit more fancy, check out Unikeys for some more artisan and unique cables. They even have some that light up for the avid RGB enthusiast.
Fancy Screw Tray
I know, this one sounds silly but trust me if they don’t already have a nice screw tray, they will really appreciate one. A small organizer used to hold tiny screws and parts while you’re building or taking apart a keyboard (or any electronics) is a godsend. Since custom keyboards use a lot of small hardware, a screw tray keeps everything separated so nothing rolls away, gets mixed up or lost.
My recommendations for these?
- Rotor Screw Tray R2. This one is awesome and doubles as a spinner too. I only got to look at these at a meetup once but I fell in love with it instantly.
- And my personal favourite, the A-01 Screw Tray. This has been a staple on my desk for a while and at first I didn’t absolutely love it, but pretty quickly it’s become my favourite small accessory. It has sections you can put different parts in and is no larger than other screw trays. Plus it’s beautiful.
The Volume Knob
What if I told you can get a very premium wireless (or wired) volume knob to sit on your setup? The Anticater VK-01 knob is an absolute gem of a gift if you have someone in your life that wants a little setup upgrade. At only $27 USD you really can’t go wrong with throwing this in as a stocking stuffer.
Larger Recommendations
A Full On Keyboard
Yes you read that right. There are some absolutely great projects right now out there that are in stock. I do have a few suggestions though that could make someone’s day or night.
- KBDcraft boards. These are essentially build block keyboards akin to LEGO. I did this two Holidays ago and everyone loved it. These are priced well, they are fun to build and they work and sound pretty darn good. They scratch the itch of building something, twice.
- The Neo65 Core. I can’t recommend this enough. It’s just as fancy as the Fuji and a bit more modern, comes in tons of colors and you really just can’t go wrong with it.
Bonus pick: For a more fancy board one option is going with the Fuji65 V2 from Deskhero. The Fuji65 is a pretty classic top mount board, I’ve actually built plenty of these. Deskhero is offering pretty sweet deals on the entire kit minus some caps.
A Lightbar
Hear me out. A lot of keyboard folk don’t use RGB and usually have a lamp on. I did this too, but something that wasn’t enough so I was given a BenQ Halo 2 lightbar by my girlfriend and holy smokes did it change how I use my desk. It made it so I didn’t have to stress myself out with having the dreaded big lights on, and I didn’t need to use a stronger lamp. There is no glare on the monitor which is ideal and it has some bias lighting for the monitor. Plus, it shines a light on my keyboards I use so I can see them clearly and can appreciate them!
Artisan Tray
If they have tons of fancy hand made artisan keycaps, then a fancy keycap tray is something I strongly suggest. In particular the Bliss Artisan Tray. This thing is a looker too and can really make your keyboard person in your life feel like their desk is fancier. It even has a glass cover on it for extra fanciness.
wrapping up
That wraps up my list! I hope this helps!
If you need a last-minute gift for a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, stick to things they’ll actually use. Small upgrades like fancy keycap pullers, custom cables, screw trays, and volume knobs are thoughtful and affordable. I really think there is something on this list for everyone and it beats just buying the usual keyboards and keycaps.
Until next time. 👋