Buying a gift for a person that loves hiking and outdoor adventures in general can be a tricky business. Why? Well, because they can usually be very particular about the things they take with them to the hills. Have no fear though, you’re in the right place, because we’re here to help.
As hikers ourselves, we’ve used and abused the majority of hiking equipment out there and so have put our heads together to come up with a list of the gifts we’d recommend.
So what makes the best gift for hikers? We’ve selected a range of great presents for hikers, ranging from stocking fillers to full blown treats for that significant other, each one guaranteed to be a useful addition to anyone’s hiking gear cupboard…
Bushcraft Illustrated: A Visual Guide by Dave Canterbury
Price: £14
More info: Waterstones
A great coffee table book or the ideal introduction into the world of bushcraft for somebody who likes to spend the majority of their time off the beaten track.
The latest guide from New York Times bestselling author Dave Canterbury, Bushcraft Illustrated explains the necessary tools and skills for an awesome outdoor adventure or even a survival situation – all alongside 300 beautifully drawn illustrations. From foraging and animal trapping to shelter building and fire lighting, it’s all explained here in a clear and easy to understand way.
Smartwool Hike Ultra Light Crew
Price: £17
More info: Webtogs
OK socks aren’t exactly an exciting present, but a good pair of walking socks aren’t to be sniffed at – at least not in our books anyway. These, the Smartwool Hike Ultra Light Crew, are a pair we’d certainly recommend picking up. Comfortable, supportive, and made with warm, wicking and long lasting materials, if you’re going to go for socks, go with these.
GP Rechargeable Batteries & Charge AnyWay Powerbank
Price: £25
More info: uk.gpbatteries.com
Us outdoor enthusiasts can frequently find ourselves without power, often when we need it most, and that’s why powerbanks are a treasured item, giving charge to our in-need devices wherever we are in the world.
This, the GP Charge AnyWay, does a lot of stuff, almost too much for us to feasibly put into words (with 20 minutes left until our lunchbreak). It’s basically a powerpack and AA and AAA battery charger all rolled into one. You get four AA batteries with it, which, when you place them in the dock and plug into a power source, can be recharged over and over again. Up to 300 times to be specific. What’s more, with charged up batteries docked in the Charge AnyWay, you can use that to charge anything with a lithium-ion battery. Yes, that includes your iPhone. Or Android. Or headtorch.
Read our full GP Charge AnyWay review.
Petzl Bindi Headlamp
Price: £53
More info: Webtogs
One of our favourite headtorches around, this. It’s ridiculously light so it makes for a great gift for backpackers, and the beam is highly efficient. We’ve found it well capable of lighting the way on any night hikes or trail runs. Charge it up via a micro USB and it’ll run for 50 hours on its lowest setting. It’s pretty waterproof as well – enough to easily withstand heavy and prolonged rainfall anyway. We love it.
Lowe Alpine Klettersack 30
Price: £72
More info: Blackleaf
The Klettersack from Lowe Alpine may just look like another one of those heritage designed daypacks that are swamping the industry, but there’s more to it than that. In fact, it’s a practical pack for day hikes, with features including a secure internal valuables pocket, a sleeve that doubles up as a laptop or hydration compartment, trekking pole or ice axe attachment points, a comfortable sternum strap and water resistant fabrics. All-in-all, a great gift for someone who spilts their time between the city and the outdoors.
Northcore Adventure Acoustic Grenade
Price: £80 (£25 on sale)
More info: Blackleaf
Whilst we’re not really fans of blaring music when out in the mountains, it can be great having a high quality speaker whilst staying at a designated campsite for some evening tunes. The Northcore Acoustic Grenade has been built to last the rigours of life in the outdoors with water and shock resistance. It can, conveniently, be charged via USB and more importantly, the sound quality is surprisingly good for something so small.
Primus Lite+ Camping Stove
Price: £115
More info: Blackleaf
This, the Primus Lite+ is the ideal companion for any hiker that’s looking to upgrade their cooking system. With the stove, 100g gas canister and accessories fitting into the 500ml cooking pot, it’s been designed to take up minimal backpack space and it weighs just 390g altogether. On top of that carrying convenience it packs a real punch in the power department. Boiling a litre of water takes absolutely no time at all with this.
Julbo Aerolite Sunglasses
Price: £138
More info: Webtogs
Have a cardio-loving human in your life? One who can’t make it through the week without logging at least three hours in their top heart rate zones? Well, these sunglass would be a great addition to their running, cycling or ski touring kit bag, giving great vision in both low and high light scenarios thanks to the light reactive lens and weighing next to nothing.
BioLite Campstove 2
Price: £220
More info: bioliteenergy.com
Ok this might be an expensive gift but we thought we’d include it because, well, it’s fun.
The person you’re looking to buy the gift for will most likely have a camping stove, but this could just be an old alcohol-burning Trangia, or a spluttering multi-fuel; it might be time for an upgrade. The BioLite Campstove 2 is an ultra-efficient camp stove that comes with a novel feature; on top of cooking your food through biomass fuel (twigs, pine cones and such like), the stove will also charge your phone whilst burning – nice. Coming in at 935g, you wouldn’t want to take this long-distance backpacking, but it does come into its own during weekend wild camps when you’re not looking to cover many miles.
Extremities Sirocco Glove
Price: £45
More info: terra-nova.co.uk
There’s a lot to like about these gloves. We’ll start with the fact they feature Gore-Tex Infinium which makes them completely windproof, water resistant and also breathable. Then there’s the silicone pattern on the palm to give a good grip on, say, a smartphone while you’re on the move and last but not least they have touch screen-compatible zones so you can happily swipe away at your phone without have to take them off.
Functional and flexible, the Sirocco gloves by Extremities are a great option for high-tempo activities on cold winter days and nights and they’ll be well up to scratch for those who need a touch of warmth on evenings during the milder months. Due to that sleek fit, we’d also say these will fit the bill as an inner glove under a mitt during those really cold trips up high in winter mountains.
Skinners Barefoot Socks
Price: £45
More info: skinners.cc
OK, we’ll be honest here. Your family member or friend are either going to love you for getting these as a gift for them or they’re going to hate you for it.
They’re basically sock shoes. Thanks to the specialised rubbery lining on the base you can actually hike or even run in these things and you won’t suffer from any splinters or cut feet.
OM Editor Will has been super impressed by them, writing in his review that he hiked for a whole day in them along the Pembrokeshire Coast and had “no problems problems over the rocky, muddy and brambly terrain”.
Savotta Happy (Or Grumpy Stove)
Price: £35
More info: savotta.fi
Simple but effective we absolutely love these two little stoves by Finnish brand Savotta. In fact, they made it into our Outdoor 100, our selection of the year’s best items for outdoor enthusiasts.
This is a bio fuel burner, don’t expect it to manage any other types of fuel. You pile your sticks and leaves all inside, spark them up, let the air holes create some nice convection and then plonk your kettle or pot on top of the cross bars and wait.
If Ikea made stoves, this would be what they’d look like. In other words, it’s a flatpack. Completely disassembled and stowed into its little pouch, it’s about the size of that letter your bank sends you when they want you to sign up to a credit card account, and it’s not much smaller than a Boden catalogue.
Read our full Savotta Happy Stove review.
Firepot Bio Meals
Price: £7
More info: firepot.com
We’ve been fans of Firepot’s dehydrated meals for a while now (that Chilli Con Carne one. Ooooff) and now that they’ve introduced the option of choosing between normal or biodegradable packaging we like them even more. There are a bunch of healthy and high-fuelling recipes, including a number of vegan and veggie options and meaty stuff for the omnivores to sink their teeth into as well.
Lightweight, hearty, healthy and fuss-free, these are the perfect accompaniment to any adventure.
Read our full FirePot Bio Meals review.
Joby Handypod
Price: £23
More info: joby.com
Weighing just 185g, which is roughly half the weight of a can of soup, the Handypod is absolutely perfect for photographers or filmers searching for that lightweight, portable, and easy-to-use support system which can take their image-capturing to the next level.
Considering it costs just under £23, it brings a lot to the table. There’s a super comfortable ergonomic rubber grip, that really does fits into the curvature of your hand nicely, a push button locking mechanism for portrait positioning, and a surprisingly solid overall feel for something so lightweight and affordable.
From chunky DSLRs to tiny wee compacts, and everything in between, this tough, portable, tripod can handle most cameras out there, plus it can also be used with GoPros, flashes, microphones, and a variety of Joby mounts.
Read our full Joby Handypod review.
Red Insulated Drinks Bottle
Price: £25
More info: redoriginal.com
With its incredibly bold claim of ‘24 hours cold, 12 hours hot’, we reckon outdoor enthusiasts will love what the Red Original Insulated Drinks Bottle brings to the table. Anyone, for example, who loves stopping for a hot mid-afternoon soup / coffee during long winter walks will love this product.
What’s the secret? That’ll be its double vacuum, marine grade stainless steel which, as an added bonus, doesn’t corrode like other metal drinks bottles. Hey, there’s also a handy carabiner to boot.
Read our full Red Insulated Flask review.
Leatherman FREE P4 Multi-Tool
Price: £190
More info: leatherman.co.uk
It wouldn’t be a gift list for outdoorsy types without a good Leatherman. This one’s from their new Free range which includes a bunch of very useful, high quality multi-tools, all with sets of varying sizes.
The FREE P4 boasts 21 items altogether, basically giving you the means to do achieve anything beyond your wildest dreams. The main USP is, however, its one-handed usability. It’s got that classic Leatherman look but now, with the help of a few magnets and specially designed hinges and locks, you can flip this open quickly and easily with just one hand, giving immediate use of the internal pliers.
Read our full Leatherman P4 Multi-Tool review.
