I completely agree with his description of the modern-day football fan. I have never understood fantasy sports. I have told my friends for years that if they invested as much time learning to pick stocks as they do learning to pick teams, they could retire early (as I plan to do). I love football, but I am a fan, not a fanatic.

My "man cave" is my music room. I have drums, guitars, records, rare rock photos, etc. that adorn the room. If I can't be outside (we have 7.5 acres), I like to retreat there to enjoy music. We are currently remodeling and I will soon have my home office which will be much like a study. I am certain I will enjoy that room as well. Neither room will has a TV.

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When bought our latest house I designate one room to be mine. I call it my office but it really is my study. The running joke was I wanted a "man cave" but really it's full of books...and pictures of airplanes...and my martial arts weapons. But mainly books. (And the obligatory pictures of the wife and kids!)

It was never meant to be a cave. The door is propped open with souvenir brick from somewhere. You're greeted by a life-sized cut-out of Captain James T. Kirk complete with Santa hat around Christmas time. There are the aforementioned pics of planes on the walls. Some maps. Certificates of achievement.

And a book case. Not the only bookcase in the house. We have 6 book cases. All full. All read and re-read.

Sports? Downstairs in the Living Room with the bigger TV. No TV in the Man Study.

Food and beverage? Usually in the Man Study with a coaster made by my sister just for me, the Dallas Cowboys fan. Something to drink while I read my book(s).

What's portrayed as the modern version of man is one who is either the aforementioned Jack Links/Slim Jim/Bud Light Lime swilling farting man or the uber-hipster who only drinks coffee from Civet poop filtered through artisanal waters from the slopes of Mount Nicaragua. There seems to be no middle ground. (Except here on The Gentlemint of course!)

I like the Cowboys. I follow the Rangers. I know who Justin Spieth is as well as Fuzzy Zeller and Lee Trevino. I can also be lost in Half Price Books for over 2 hours thinking about how any lottery money would be well spent there.

But if you are the kind of who loves Bud Light Lime and a good Slim Jim with your belly painted purple and a cheese wedge on your head...congrats. You're a man too. Not just the only kind of man on the planet.

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I can agree with the sentiments in the article above and comments here. Once we stop being AF nomads, I will have a man-cave area with two parts: half filled with books and half filled with barbells and heavy iron implements. A man has to forge his mind and his body and his soul will be forged in the process. I've currently made do with a garage gym and steadily increasing bookcases (let me tell you how fun it is to move every couple years with that stuff!) but these are places where I want my kids to spend time with me. I don't want to escape from the wife and kids, I want to LEAD them...and once the kids are older, a quality burbon will become ever present. So glad I'm not alone this idea.

Personally, I'd love to hear others weigh in on their atypical approaches to this topic.

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Fantastic discussion. I don't have a man cave, but an office which I share with my 4-year old. Her "desk" (see: Fisher Price) sits next to mine where she can color and sing. While I do enjoy solitude, I don't need another space specifically for an activity that doesn't better me or keep me from my family. While I do follow and watch more sporting events than I probably should, I don't have an area dedicated to it.

I really liked @Nickolas' sentiment about having a Man Cave outdoors... excellent.

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I love this article and the comments that followed. It's things and discussions like this that make me proud to be part of the Gentlemint community. Where else can I run into like-minded individuals like I do on here? I've spent the past few years wondering if my man cave and lack of the typical things seen in other places made me strange. I'm glad to see I'm not, but that I just had the wrong word to describe my sanctum sanctorum. It's not a man cave; it's a study.

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I went from a 5000 sq ft home on a lake (that I never got out on) complete with man cave with built in custom bar and a 27' power boat. Then, to a 2 bedroom condo 2 miles from the Gulf and I get out on it 3 days a week with my 30 year old catamaran 16'. . I gotta say, simpler is sooo much better. In every freakin way.

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I built a library in my house, you can see a picture of of on the webpage where I document the books I read over the year. http://www.benespen.com/reading-log/">http://www.benespen.com/reading-log/

I keep my cigars and my whiskey in here, but I also have a riding sheep and a marble race for the kids to play with. I have a garage for projects, so I guess these are the two spaces that could be in some sense considered 'mine', but really they are 'ours'.

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