For over two decades, the Gear Institute team has dug through mountains of gear to find the best gift ideas for holiday giving. This year, we continue that exhaustive work with the following Gift Guide for Outdoor Adventurers.
Jetboil MightyMo Group Cook Set
A dozen different things can go wrong when planning group camp outings, but the Jetboil MigtyMo Group Cook Bundle eliminates one issue.
The Bundle offers a complete kitchen setup for hiking parties of 2 to 6 campers. The set includes the highly efficient Jetboil cannister-top MightyMo cooker. This little stove throws out 10,000 BTU/hour yet weighs just 3.4 ounces. The bundle adds a non-stick skillet and a 1.5-liter cook pot with integrated FluxRing for highly efficient heating. You’ll also find a TrailWare utensil kit in the bundle, so your cooking tools are all in some place.
The MightyMo Group bundle is ideal for 2-4 campers. $145. Buy Now.
High Camp flask
High Camp has established itself as a leader in offering wilderness-ready flasks and the limited-edition Artist Series of the Torch Flask, is an art-engraved version of the original Torch. The Artistic flasks feature exclusive designs by Kinsey Hotchkiss.
The Torch totes 6 ounces/175 milliliters of fluid (roughly a quarter bottle of booze) and its cover doubles as a 3-ounce shot glass (that’s two jiggers for you bartenders). The small Torch has a wide enough mouth that no funnel is needed for filling, but it’s small enough for simple sipping without spillage.
The tough 18/8 steel construction stands up to the worst abuse you can dish out. As a bonus, the bottom unscrews to allow easy cleaning – a nice feature if you opt to change beverages between outings. $114. Buy Now.
G. Loomis NRX+ LP
Do-it-all rods are all the rage in fly fishing circles these days, but sometimes anglers want a rod for a specific purpose. That’s never truer than when focusing strictly on dry fly presentations to finicky trout.
The G.Loomis NRX+ LP rod series answers the call of the dry-fly purist. The rod’s gentle taper and sensitive build make it ideal for sleek presentations of tiny flies to hungry trout. The rod, available in 3- to 6-weight builds, lays out line efficiently, but also lets anglers drop flies gently at a distance for delicate presentations. The 9-foot 5-weight proved to be a great all-round dry fly purists’ tool, working well in skinny creeks and big western rivers.
If you want a rod designed for delicate presentations of dry flies at a distance, the NRX+ LP series will serve you well. $915. Buy Now.
Kuiu Upland Sporter Shirt
Hunters, hikers, anglers, mountain bikers, paraglider pilots, skiers. They all have the same basic needs in apparel: Comfort fit, good moisture (i.e. sweat) management, good freedom of movement, and good looks.
Kuiu primarily serves the hunting community, but their Upland Sporter Shirt might be the best general-purpose wilderness shirt we’ve ever tested. The Upland features a 4-way stretch nylon body with key friction areas (shoulders and lower arms) reinforced with lightweight Cordura panels. The articulated arm design provides excellent freedom of motion – fly fishers will have unrestricted range when casting, and paraglider pilots will full range of movement to reach their most extreme control motions.
The Upland sports two zippered chest pockets, and a snap-front design that is sleek and clean so it doesn’t catch on pack straps or fly lines. The shirt wicks moisture efficiently and dries rapidly, and even after a tough day in the field, it looks sharp enough to wear to dinner on the way home. $119. Buy Now.
Rumpl’s Original Puffy Blanket
Puffy jackets, fluffy sleeping bags, cozy quilts. All great products are designed to keep you warm. But sometimes what campers need is a simple blanket to wrap themselves in while sitting beside a campfire. The Rumpl Original Puffy Blanket fills that role perfectly. The Puffy Blanket packs into a compact 7-by-16-inch stuff sack when not in use. When deployed for camp comfort, though, it offers a cozy 52-by-75-inch cover (for the 1-person version). The Puffy boasts a synthetic fill insulation so even if it gets damp, it will keep providing warm coverage. The polyester outer shell is made from recycled materials and sports a stain-resistant finish so it will shed camp grime easily.
The Original Puffy Blanket is available in a range of colors and patterns and comes in 1- and 2-person sizing. The original 1-Person weighs just 2 pounds. $99. Buy now.
Rocky Talkie Mountain Radios
Staying in communication in the backcountry can be tough. When cell service fails, reaching your spread-out group requires more traditional tools. Enter Rocky Talkie Mountain Radios. Two version exist: 2-watt FRS radios, and 5-watt GMRS radios. The FRS mode (2-watt) two-way radios boast a range of up to 5 miles in mountain terrain, and up to 30 miles on bodies of water, and open plains. The 5-watt GMRS radios give you 5-day battery life, and 5 to 8 miles of range in the mountains.
The Mountain Radios feature powerful lithium-ion batteries (replaceable) with impressive 4-day battery life (FRS version). The radios also offer National Weather Radio channels so adventurers can stay abreast of storms and developing weather systems when exploring the wilderness. GMRS version: $144 per radio. FRS version: $88 per radio. Buy Now.
Yukon Charlie Minimalist Snowshoe kit
Snowshoe designs have evolved from wood-and-rawhide decks to injection-molded plastic sheets. But in today’s market, the modern classic design still leads the category. That is, a lightweight aluminum tubing frame and a synthetic rubber deck. And Yukon Charlie’s new Minimalist snowshoes make great use of that modern-classic design.
The Minimalists feature a unique binding that tightens securely with a single tensioning strap – one pull and you are locked in! Underfoot, aggressive steel crampons are powder coated to resist ‘snowball’ buildup and sticking.
The Minimalist kit comes complete with the ‘shoes, a pair of adjustable aluminum trekking poles, and a storage bag. Available in three sizes: 8×21 inches, 8×25 inches, and 9×30 inches. $144. Buy Now
Great Gifts for Outdoor Adventurers originally appeared on Gear Institute.