(Notice: This yr’s listing incorporates a lot of your previous favourites, together with 20 new additions. I notice that December 24 could be very late for a Christmas present submit, however what the hey, this text has by no means actually been concerning the pressies. Joyful Christmas to everybody, and will your festive season be filled with peace, marvel, and at the least two or three stomach laughs. Cheers, Cam).
Within the 12 years since its launch, the most well-liked articles on The Mountaineering Life haven’t been about outside abilities, backpacking gear, or journey reviews from far-flung locales. Nope, they’ve been about crappy hiker items which you can decide up for lower than 5 {dollars}.
From Walmart with Love.
Due to this fact, after a three-year hiatus, I’ve determined to mud off the festive season favorite and provides my thrifty readership extra of what they appear to like. With out additional ado, if cash’s tighter than a hairpin flip however for some inexplicable purpose, you are feeling a way of obligation to offer your hiker buddies one thing, contemplate the next 70 present concepts for beneath $5 $10.
1. A Field of Ziplocs – Just about everybody takes Ziplocs (or equivalents) backpacking. However let’s be trustworthy, nothing says, “I don’t give a shit about you” like plastic luggage for Christmas.
2. Path Patches – Splendid present for hikers that need everybody to know that they’ve thru-hiked the Appalachian or Pacific Crest Path however aren’t fairly able to take the calf tattoo plunge.
3. Socks – For lower than $10, you will have to go artificial and even cotton. No Merino Wool or any of these different fancy blends. If potential, attempt to make your alternative seasonal-appropriate. You realize those with little Christmas bushes and snowmen on them……..possibly some reindeer as effectively.
4. Dental Floss – Along with serving to to maintain your tooth clear, uber-strong dental floss can be utilized as thread for gear repairs within the subject, an emergency alternative for a damaged shoelace, and even a makeshift clothesline beneath your shelter at evening.
5. Bandana – You possibly can typically discover these multi-purpose gems on the backside of outside retailer cut price bins. Potential makes use of embody: towel, water filter, neck safety, pot cleaner, tent drier, pee rag for she-hikers, hanky, makeshift gaiters, helpful to put on in your face throughout sand storms, and helpful in case you are low on funds and determine to rob a comfort retailer.
Bandana………..7-Eleven mode.
6. Hacky Sacks (set of 6)– I’ve just a few hippy hiker mates that love these little luggage. At simply over $3 every they symbolize glorious worth, weigh solely a few ounces, take up nearly no area in your pack, and may make for a enjoyable diversion throughout lengthy days on path. With each third set bought, consumers will obtain a complimentary eBook copy of The Light Artwork of Bong and Pipe Making.
7. Rest room Paper – In the event that they aren’t too choosy with reference to softness/high quality, $10 value of bathroom roll can doubtlessly final the giftee all of a multi-month thru-hike…………at the least when supplemented with the stuff they may pinch from motels, eating places, gasoline stations, and classier public restrooms.
8. Titan (or Voile) Straps – Used to carry collectively two trekking poles when pitching mid-style shelters in doubtlessly stormy circumstances. I used this strong setup throughout my latest journey to the Faroes/Greenland/Lapland (see photograph under).
MLD Duomid, Arctic Circle Path, Greenland.
9. Loopy/Tremendous Glue – Helpful for sleeping mat repairs, small holes in tents, and at a pinch, even cuts and blisters.
10. Tent Pegs – If you wish to go fancy, for a $10er you’ll be able to most likely decide up just a few titanium stakes. Alternatively, you should purchase six to eight of the Military Disposal Retailer selection.
11. Plastic Disposable Kitchen Gloves – You should buy 100-count packs (or extra) of those for a tune on Amazon. They can be utilized as a part of a layering system to your arms when mountaineering in extraordinarily chilly and moist circumstances. For particulars, see “Learn how to Preserve Your Palms Heat Whereas Mountaineering in Chilly Climate.”
12. Baking Soda – One other glorious multi-purpose merchandise that extra hikers ought to learn about. Makes use of embody toothpaste, deodorant substitute, cleansing pots and drink bottles, antacid for upset stomachs, and helps to take away foot odour from sneakers. As well as, baking soda assists in relieving itching related to insect bites, bee stings, and poison ivy/oak.
12. Head Web – Weighs solely an oz or two and could be a sanity saver through the peak of bug season. Certainly, when the midges, mozzies, or sandflies are swarming, I’m unsure there’s a higher value-for-money merchandise in a single’s backpacking equipment.
13. $10 Goodwill Reward card – Polyester Hawaiian-style shirts, solar attire, dishevelled shorts, 100wt fleece – the listing of cut price basement hiker choices are virtually limitless. Keep away from socks, lingerie, and bandanas. There’s low-cost, and there’s simply plain cheesy.
Tatu Jo – Legendary long-distance hiker and long-time connoisseur of thrift retailer mountaineering shirts (photograph courtesy of Whitney LaRuffa).
14. Hand Sanitizer – I haven’t had a case of the trots within the “backcountry” (so to talk) since 1999. I think that the diligent use of hand sanitizer is a part of the explanation. I at all times preserve a small bottle helpful in one of many shoulder strap pockets on my backpack (together with sunscreen and lip balm).
15. Folgers Basic Decaf Instantaneous – None of that fancy By way of stuff from Starbucks. The truth that it’s decaf leaves the giftee in little doubt as to how you actually really feel about them.
16. Simpsons Bic Lighters – Customised Bic lighters that includes characters and scenes from The Simpsons. Whereas cooking up a feast at day’s finish, these little flame throwers are positive to convey a smile to your fellow hiker’s dials. And keep in mind…….
17. Six-Pack of Ramen – A culinary staple for backpackers. In case you actually wish to make an effort, choose singles with a wide range of flavours.
18. Tyvek Groundsheet – This may truly value you nothing if yow will discover a chunk in a building website dumpster. Customise the scale for the giftee. It’s the little issues that rely.
19. Reconstituted Talenti Ice Cream Container – A much-loved mainstay of the cold-soaking crowd. The Talenti container sports activities a large mouth, a screw-top lid, and naturally, the not-to-be-scoffed-at bonus of a (semi)tasty pint of ice cream.
20. Diaper Pins – This one is courtesy of long-time subscriber Gerry B, who wrote that “old style diaper pins are a lot bigger and stronger than customary security pins, and I preserve a pair hooked to my packs for drying socks or different items of clothes.”
21. Dr. Bronner’s Cleaning soap: Helpful travel-sized selection pack. Weight-conscious hikers can repackage into mini-dropper bottles (see under). Not solely are they inexpensive and sensible, however gifting Dr.Bronner’s is a none-too-subtle method of claiming, “mate, you actually need to work in your hygiene.”
22. Mini Dropper Bottles (2 Pack) – For nearly twenty years, I’ve repackaged my hand sanitizer and Aquamira in these tiny bottles for all of my backcountry journeys.
23. Trash Compactor Bag – When bought in packets of 10 or 20, these infants normally work out to between $1 and $2 a pop. It puzzles me as to why anybody would spend $40 plus for a dyneema pack liner, when a trash compactor bag weighs about the identical (a tiny bit heavier) and performs simply as effectively for a fraction of the worth.
24. Zipper Cleaner – Conserving tent zippers clear charges simply behind laundering your sleeping bag on the listing of issues hikers are vulnerable to overlook on the finish of an extended backpacking season. Zipper upkeep is particularly essential if a lot of your mountaineering is finished in coastal or desert environments (Tip: All the time be light with zippers; by no means power a caught zipper).
25. Condoms – Along with the apparent, the previous Johnny bag will also be used as an emergency water holder (as much as 2 liters) in case one in all your bottles develops a leak. In addition they come in useful as a water-resistant cowl to your telephone throughout river crossings. It’s even potential to make use of the contact display screen by the latex – helpful for secure sexting.
Whether or not you might be sexting or fording a difficult river, if it’s not on, it’s not on.
26. Bag Balm – Bag Balm now is available in sensible travel-sized 1/4 oz tubes. Not solely does these items works wonders on thigh and bum chafe, nevertheless it additionally is useful in case you are overcome by the urge to exploit a cow whereas out on path (i.e. Which was its unique objective when developed again in 1899).
27. Titanium Stitching Scissors – I’ve a few gram weenie hiker mates who love this stuff. They tip the scales at solely 0.3 oz, and should you add the mini-tweezers from the Swiss Military Basic, you will have a gossamer weight combo (0.4 oz), which ought to cowl nearly all your restore and tick removing wants whereas out within the subject.
28. 3M Micropore Tape – Breathable paper medical tape. Adheres effectively. I’ve used it for years as a substitute of band-aids and different adhesive strips.
29. Ibuprofen – Vitamin “I”. A hurting hiker’s finest pal. Might be discovered in lots of (if not most) hikers’ First-Help kits. Overlook concerning the title manufacturers comparable to Advil and go generic. For $10 you’ll be able to normally decide up a 100-count bottle at most main supermarkets.
30. Backcountry Bidet / Reconstituted Sports activities Drink Bottle (600ml) – Low cost and multi-purpose. You possibly can decide one up at any petrol/gasoline station. Search for bottles with a flip-cap spout. Present you care by together with the next directions and warnings on an accompanying Submit-it notice:
A. Make sure to fill the bottle to the highest earlier than use, as roughly solely the primary 200 ml are squirtable;
B. Brief, sharp squeezes fired at an upward angle of 45° work finest, and;
C. Professional Tip: Don’t put the spout too near your freckle, as accidents can occur, and there’s nothing worse than discovering poo floaties in your ingesting water over the course of the mountaineering day.
A sports activities drink bottle and 4 squares of TP are all you want to your morning constitutional.
31. Bleach – Overlook about these fancy filters and chlorine dioxide drops. Bleach tastes horrible and might not be very efficient combatting giardia and crypto, however what the hey, for $10 you should purchase sufficient to final you a few thru-hikes after which put your financial savings in direction of a course of Fasigyn.
32. Inflatable Pillow / Wine field bladder – The redneck’s backcountry pillow. For bogan bonus factors and a surefire thumper of a headache the next day, pack in a full field and drink all of it on the primary evening of your journey.
33. Security Sun shades – Plenty of completely different choices. Go for one that provides good UV safety. You possibly can typically decide them up for round $10 a pair on-line or at {hardware} shops.
34. Electrolyte Tablets – Particularly useful when mountaineering in scorching temperatures and/or for folk that recurrently endure from muscle cramps.
35. Ultralight Backpackin’ Suggestions – Greater than a decade after it was revealed, Mike Clelland’s Ultralight Backpackin’ Suggestions nonetheless charges as one of the informative and entertaining books on the way to lighten your pack weight.
36. Make America Nice Once more cap – Sensible and crappy. Regarding the former high quality, the hat’s brim helps to maintain the solar’s damaging rays off your face. As for the crappy half…….effectively………..
37. Hand Rake (Set of two) – Talking of the porn-star-hushing, document-squirreling, disinfectant-boosting, tax-avoiding, NFT-hawking, election-denying, riot-fanning, wannabee-Greenland-purchasing, former Commander Bankrupt In Chief, one in all Trumpy’s most memorable options was to comply with Finland’s instance in serving to to maintain America’s “forests flooring clear.” Hikers can do their half by choosing up a pair of those light-weight leaf scoopers for his or her subsequent backcountry tour. They weigh beneath 12 oz a pair and are straightforward to strap onto the again of your pack when not in use. With each second pair bought, consumers will obtain both a “Rake America Nice Once more” or “I Love Finland” bumper sticker.
Leaf scoopers/hand rakes are an awesome possibility for both the yard or your subsequent backpacking journey.
Wish to go the additional mile in forest fireplace prevention? This Finnish girl reveals us how by taking good care of the forest flooring close to her house.
37. Beer Koozie – Multi-purpose merchandise. Emergency mitten, storage to your DSLR lenses, paw protector in case your canine steps on a cactus, and helps to maintain that post-hike beer that you just left in your automotive refreshingly lukewarm. Earn gram weenie bonus factors by buying it from one in all your favorite ultralight cottage gear corporations.
38. Therm-a-rest Z-Lite Seat Pad – When your previous Z-Lite has gone flatter than gander’s arch, lob off a few segments and present them to a mountaineering buddy in the hunt for a bit extra back-country consolation throughout their noon breaks. Alternatively, massive spenders can splash out on a new Z-Seat Pad and share the posterior love amongst three of their hiker mates.
39. Frogg Toggs / DriDucks Rain Pants – The whole Frog Toggs go well with will value round $22. Nevertheless, whereas the jacket could also be a useful possibility for a lot of three-season backpacking excursions, the pants (est. worth $0.10) are about as sturdy as a pair of Altras on something however manicured trails. No matter the setting, chances are high you’ll blow out the crotch, bottom, or rip a gap in one of many legs inside a few days of leaving the trailhead.
Frog Toggs pants within the subject (photograph from BWCA.com).
40. Mylar Blanket (Pack of 10) – A cut price at lower than a greenback a pop. Along with being utilized in emergencies, area blankets will also be employed as a light-weight floor sheet, signaling mirror, and makeshift tarp.
41. Baskin & Robbins Pink Spoon – In case you order a sundae at Baskin & Robbins, it comes with a semi-durable, difficult-to-lose, long-handled pink plastic spoon. I used one in all these for 2000 miles on the Pacific Crest Path in 2012.
42. The Fellowship of the Ring – That is the primary a part of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and for my cash, the perfect thru-hiking story ever written. You possibly can typically decide up a used copy for lower than a fiver on Amazon. Mainly, it’s the story of a various bunch of fellows who went out for a multi-month stroll, received as much as plenty of memorable adventures, met some cool path angels, took some zero days, had some variations of opinion with reference to route choice, cut up into separate teams, stood by one another when occasions have been powerful, completed their journeys at completely different termini, and, lastly, met up for celebratory post-hike beers on a subject referred to as Cormallen at journey’s finish.
The boys from the Fellowship with the Misty Mountains within the background.
43. John Muir’s Works – You possibly can decide up both a paperback or Kindle model of “The Yosemite” and “My First Summer time within the Sierra” for lower than $5 on Amazon. Greater than three many years after first studying Muir’s works as an adolescent, he stays one in all my favorite wilderness writers.
44. Tenacious Tape – An improve from duct tape for out-in-the-field gear repairs to your tent, rain jacket, or wind shirt
45. Mini Cube – This one is courtesy of my pal, Liz “Snorkel” Thomas, backpacking sage, creator, and Queen of City Through-hiking. In response to Snorks, “5 mini-dice weigh in at grams and supply hours of leisure for hikers trapped in a tent or shelter on a wet or snowy day. Good for Yahtzee, Farkel, and anything you may make up.” A 100-pack will set you again $5.
46. PeakFinder App – This suggestion is from my previous mate, Paul Magnanti (Pmags). Whereas mountaineering in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo vary in 2016, Mags blew me away when he began randomly rattling off the names and altitudes of each mountain within reach. Simply after I thought he was taking the piss, he confirmed me the PeakFinder app on his telephone ($3.99 as of 2022). To make use of the app, merely level the digital camera at your mountain of alternative, and a panoramic drawing will overlay the picture and offer you all of the related particulars. It presently has info on greater than 950,000 peaks world wide (Notice: Different helpful apps for hikers embody PlantNet (free, easy, quick, and correct plant identifications), SkySafari (straightforward to make use of astronomy information to the evening sky), and Knots 3D (take a wild guess).
PeakFinder App (photograph from peakfinder.org).
47. Nan Shepherd’s “The Residing Mountain”: Shepherd was a Scottish poet and nationalist who’s commemorated on the nation’s five-pound notice. “The Residing Mountain” is Shepherd’s fantastically written testomony to the thrill and wonders of strolling in nature, particularly in her beloved Cairngorm mountains.
48. Dehydrated Cocktails – Excellent for hip flask-carrying backpackers that wish to prolong hiker midnight previous 9 pm. Taste choices embody Mango Margarita, Mint Mojito, and Blood Orange Mai Tai.
49. Personalised Revenge Voodoo Doll – When sharing somebody’s path combine has left you with a debilitating case of the trots, otherwise you picked up just a little greater than you bargained for throughout a wild evening at Path Days, present your self one in all these personalised light-weight dolls (3.2 oz / pins included). Positive they value a bit over $10, nevertheless it’s arduous to place a value on a great dose of path revenge.
Personalised Revenge Voodoo Doll
50. Backpacking Abilities/Instructional Books – A lot of the backpacking recommendation you see on YouTube is 90 p.c tip and 10 p.c iceberg. For people simply entering into the game, I extremely advocate choosing up a handful of basic hiking-related texts, which can complement the time you spend out within the boonies in serving to to construct your backcountry ability set and information base.
51. The underside half of a Platypus bladder – When your platy bladder is discoloured, more and more brittle, and the seam on the high has ruptured, lower it in half and regift the underside half to an ultralight hiker pal. They’ll then use it to scoop water from filthy puddles when mountaineering in pink rock nation or alternatively make use of it as a poor man’s consuming vessel.
52. Plastic Bathe Curtain – Overlook about fancy supplies comparable to Dyneema Composite Materials (DCF); the legendary Grandma Gatewood used a plastic bathe curtain for rain safety when she grew to become the primary girl to thru-hike the Appalachian Path in 1955. In doing so, she might have inadvertently grow to be the originator of the Poncho Tarp.
The legendary Grandma Gatewood.
53. Spam satchels – America’s favourite thriller meat. Cheap, long-lasting, and filled with fats and protein, (in idea) spam looks like it will be a great possibility for calorie-loading long-distance hikers. Till you truly style it. I throw up just a little in my mouth simply desirous about it.
54. Mack’s Silicone Ear Plugs – Anti-snoring resolution. In response to their promo spiel, Mack’s “have been saving marriages since 1962.” Vital for anybody pondering of going from hut to hut within the Alps or mountaineering the Appalachian Path through the common season (Notice: As a bonus, I can personally attest that Mack’s silicone plugs work nice within the pool as effectively, for these of us which are vulnerable to swimmer’s ear infections).
55. Beano Extremely – When your mountaineering companion is overdoing it on the dehydrated beans, and his or her farts would make a skunk blush, provide them some Beano Extremely to chop issues off on the pass.
56. Croakies (or equal) – Helpful present for noggin-perching sunglass wearers, comparable to myself, that recurrently scratch or lose sun shades out within the boonies.
57. Smartwater bottle – Light-weight (1.3 oz), lengthy, slender, clean sides, and fairly sturdy, Smartwater is the ingesting vessel of alternative for a lot of weight-conscious backpackers.
58. Spiky Therapeutic massage Ball– Light-weight and compact merchandise that helps to scale back muscle ache and pressure within the ft, calves, hips, glutes, and shoulders. For just a little more money, you’ll be able to go for a lighter and extra environmentally pleasant cork possibility from Rawology.
59. Handsfree Umbrella Clamp – Purposeful accent for umbrella customers (particularly those who wield trekking poles) that clips onto virtually any shoulder strap.
Greg “Malto” Gressel on a dampish hike in New York’s Adirondack mountains (2015).
60. Paper Espresso Filters – Low cost-as-chips merchandise that’s helpful for pre-filtering soiled or silty water.
61. Resort/Spa Slippers – Tipping the scales at round 70 gr/2.5 oz, lodge slippers are an inexpensive, mild, compact, and cozy camp shoe possibility. They’re additionally superb for backcountry huts when you have to go away your mountaineering sneakers on the door.
62. Sponges – Featherweight, multi-purpose merchandise that can be utilized as a pot cleaner, condensation dryer, and, should you’re actually determined, to take in the final drops of water in a shallower-than-shallow pothole (Notice: A straw could be a greater possibility for the final level).
63. Blaze Orange Vest (and hat) – Important equipment when mountaineering throughout searching season in lots of locations within the US. Within the phrases of PMags (seen within the photograph under): “Carrying blaze orange is sweet for security; hunters respect it, and it’s a respectful method of sharing the outside amongst all customers.”
Yours actually and Pmags throughout a 2014 journey within the Mount Evans Wilderness.
64. Foot File/Callus Remover – You possibly can typically decide foot recordsdata up for beneath $10, however for one thing as essential as your ft, I’d advocate spending a wee bit extra for a mannequin that’s going to do the job effectively and final for the lengthy haul. I purchased a Probelle just a few years again, and it’s nonetheless going robust.
65. Nikwax Down Wash – For arguably essentially the most cherished (and sometimes the costliest) merchandise in a backpacker’s equipment, it surprises me what number of people don’t take higher care of their sleeping bag/quilt. In a nutshell, laundering your bag or quilt annually will assist it last more and insulate extra successfully (Notice: If you wish to go the additional yard, purchase the giftee just a few tennis balls to help within the drying course of).
66. Lint – Makes for an awesome emergency fireplace starter. Empty the contents of your garments dryer’s lint catcher right into a tiny Ziploc bag. Throw in some additional lint out of your stomach button simply to offer the present a extra private contact.
Stomach lint extraction – Japanese type.
67. Packing Pod Pillow – I have a tendency to not use quite a lot of stuff sacks after I hike, however over the past couple of years, I’ve periodically introduced alongside a few SMD packing pods. Aside from being helpful for organizational functions, these brightly colored pods are additionally the right measurement to make use of as a pillowcase, filled with no matter clothes objects you’re not sleeping in.
68. 100 Wt Fleece – Sturdy, breathable, and moisture-resistant lively put on. A superb value-for-money merchandise that (as a rule) has a spot in my backpacking equipment regardless of the setting or season. They’ll normally value just a little over $10, however you’ll be able to typically discover them on particular for beneath $20 or $30.
69. Mini Carabiners – Suggestions the dimensions at 0.1 oz/3 gr and can be utilized for guyline attachments, drying hooks, and hanging bear luggage. Poncho tarp customers can use them to make a fast transition from poncho to shelter mode when it’s raining.
70. Fanny Pack – Fanny packs are just like the fruitcakes of the backpacking world. They get quite a lot of shit, however on the finish of the day, you’ve received to tip your cap to a utilitarian merchandise that merely refuses to go away. Talking of one thing/one that’s unattainable to kill…………..
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