I think that folks underestimate the value of regular old unexciting stuff as gifts. The kind of stuff that you never to think to buy but are so glad to have when you need it. My wife and parents ask me what I want for Christmas every year and I give them a list of stuff that I'd appreciate, but I am then informed that those are not good "gifts." Oops, my mistake.
If someone wanted to spend $30-50 on me at TSC, I'd be thrilled to receive a couple different spools of rope and twine, some extra grease for my grease guns, lengths of chain (TSC has decent premade tow chains w/hooks in the bins adjacent to their bulk chain), a bunch of shop rags or those heavy-duty paper towels on a roll, packs of zip-ties, good electrical tape, stuff like that. A mixed goodie-bag of stuff like that would leave me pleased as can be.
Sure, you could do a theme - cleaning-related stuff, dragging-related stuff, vehicle-related stuff, etc. - but I think that a box full of miscelaneous stuff that you know he'll get use and benefit out of would be just as nice.
A related thought: In the latter years of his life, my grandfather didn't get out very much. But lucky for him, he got lots of catalogs. In particular, he loved Harbor Freight and ordered tons of stuff from it and gave most of it to me. Now Harbor Freight sells junk tools, we all know that and so did he. But he would put together boxes of miscelaneous stuff that he got for super-cheap from HF and give it to me. He explained that he knew it was junk, but it was cheap, disposable and these tools just might get me out of a jam sometime or in a pinch they could be fabricated into "custom" tools as a task might require without having to destroy my "good" tools. He was right. Those boxes of trowels, mini-hacksaws, holesaws, cheap rope, Grade 2 (maybe) nut-and-bolt kits, electrical connectors, off-brand Dremels, and such, they've been absolute godsends when I needed them and they have gotten me out of a pinch. Food for thought, anyway.
