Advice

Five great last-minute presents for hiking enthusiasts

It’s the weekend before Christmas and, depending where in the world you live, Covid restrictions might be making in-person shopping pretty difficult. If you’re starting to panic about what you can possibly buy as a Christmas gift for the hiker or outdoors enthusiast in your life then don’t worry – here are five ideas you can order online over the weekend and still receive by Christmas day!

Best budget hiking gift

Image property of Camp-a-box

For the cost-conscious gift, we love the Wildo Camp-a-box. A super-lightweight, compact mess kit for hikers and campers, it’s exactly the kind of thing almost any outdoorsy type will be delighted to receive. In the UK, it’s available from Valley and Peak and will ship the same day if you order before 3pm. Alternatively, it’s available on Amazon and will still arrive before Christmas if you order this weekend.

Best gift for someone just getting into hiking

The one thing I tell people to buy when they start getting into hiking is a Jetboil. Sure, it’s not quite as essential as a good pair of shoes and some decent clothes, but it’s a lot more fun and it’s the sort of thing people won’t necessarily think to buy themselves early on in their hiking career. Once they’ve got one, though, they’ll really appreciate the ability to quickly boil water on the trail and make themselves a hot drink or heat a meal.

The jetboil zip is available for around £80 on Amazon with delivery before Christmas, and is an absolutely perfect gift for any hiker that doesn’t yet have a stove, or one with old/outdated or overly-heavy gear who might be interested in trying something a bit lighter and more compact.

Read our review of the Jetboil zip.

Best gift that says ‘I want to keep you safe’

If you have a hiking enthusiast in your life who has a tendency to go off on adventures that leave you slightly worried about them, I can’t think of a better gift than the Garmin in-reach mini. It’s fairly expensive, at around £250 plus the need for a SIM card subscription, but it allows your loved one to summon help from almost anywhere in the world, and they have without a doubt been responsible for saving numerous lives over the years they’ve been on the market. Even when they’re not being used in quite such dire scenarios, they allow a hiker to send brief texts even when they are far from phone signal – something both they and you will really appreciate if they’re gone for days or weeks at a time!

Best gift for the car camper

Not all hikers and campers are necessarily trekking miles into the wilderness with all their gear on their shoulders. Lockdown has introduced a lot of people to the simple pleasure of driving to a campsite with a few home comforts in the back of their car, pitching a tent, and spending a night under the stars.

If you’re buying a gift for someone who camps from a car or campervan, I’m pretty sure they’d appreciate a down blanket. Incredibly warm and cosy, these are perfect for throwing over your shoulders while you sit by a fire, putting over your lap on a chilly evening in the campervan, or sleeping under as an extra layer of warmth at night.

There are plenty of different options out there to suit all sorts of different budgets, and many of them will still ship before Christmas if you act fast!

Best luxury hiking gift

There aren’t many people who are splashing out on a £500-700+ watch as a Christmas gift, but if you do have someone in your life who you’re able to spend that sort of money on, then I don’t think you could do much better than either the Garmin Fenix 6 or the Garmin Tactix Delta. The very best hiking, outdoors and activity watches that Garmin makes, these are the kind of gifts that any hiker would be completely delighted to receive.

Right now, a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro is discounted to just £449 on Amazon and will arrive before Christmas. That’s pretty tempting!

Read our review of the Garmin Fenix 6 or Garmin Tactix Delta here.

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