If you’re a nature-lover who once had no idea what outdoor activities were like, your friend who’s only starting out with the wild outdoorsy life is probably just as clueless as you were back then. After all, researching can only get you so far, as experience is always the best teacher in outdoor activities.
Before their first excursion in nature, help them gear up by giving them the essential and trusty supplies. Perfect timing, because the season of giving is approaching. Below are some practical gift ideas for a rookie explorer buddy:
- Fishing Reel
If you’d be camping together by the lake, you’d most likely fish for your dinner. Get them the best fishing reel, such an Avet SX, or that of any other reputable brand. A high-quality reel will make their first fishing experience easier and fun, and they’d learn to be meticulous on the gears they’d use from then on.
- Water Purifier
It’d be ironic to travel in nature with dozens of bottled waters in your pack. Do the lands and oceans a favor by opting for a reusable tumbler instead, and getting your drinking water from the streams. If your water source won’t be as clean, get you and your friend water purifiers, which can be a tablet or a specialized tumbler. The latter will automatically remove debris, bacteria, and viruses as soon as you fill it with water, without the need for pumping and batteries. Definitely an eco-friendly find!
- Day Pack
Your friend’s trusty backpack in middle school may not work at all in a hike. So if they haven’t got a day pack yet, be the one to buy it for them. A size of 18 to 30 liters is perfect for a daytime adventure. It’ll fit their gear, water, snacks, and extra clothing snugly.
- e-Tip Gloves
For winter camps, gloves are an indispensable must-have, but the e-Tip gloves are not your ordinary hand warmers. They’re thick and sturdy, yet work on touchscreen devices as if your fingers are bare. Your friend will surely love their convenience, and the best part is that you didn’t even spend a dime over $25 for it!
- Polar Headwear
Another perfect gift that won’t break the bank is a polar headwear, which is a winter garment that can be worn in 10 different ways, including a scarf, headband, and face mask. It will considerably lighten the pack of your friend.
- Hiking Smartphone Charger
As much as you’d love to unplug during your entire nature excursion, there’s no telling that you won’t need your phones at all. Besides, your friend who’s experiencing it for the first timewon’t be able to resist taking pictures, and having their phones on full-charge may also help them feel safer.
Hence, give them a hiking smartphone charger to keep their phones fully-powered and functional throughout your entire trip. The device can also charge your digital camera, so consider it a win-win if you’d be bringing some photography gear too.
- Quick Lock Trekking Poles
Aside from advising your friend to condition their bodies well before a hike, consider gifting them quick-lock trekking poles as well. No matter how much they’ve prepared, the hike will still put a strain on their joints, but at least the poles will make it more bearable.
- Multipurpose Camping Accessory
If your friend grumbles about needing too many supplies for a camp, heed their woes and help make their experience easier. Give them a multipurpose camping accessory as a Christmas present. It is a 4-in-1 tool that they may use as a bow saw, mallet, stake puller, and hatchet. It’s truly the pinnacle of tools that you’d definitely want one for yourself too.
- Dry Bag
For water sports and adventures, a dry bag is essential. It will keep all of your friend’s stuff dry, and the bag itself has waterproof varieties. It’s spacious enough to carry mobile devices, clothes, cameras, and accessories, yet not bulky and unappealing.
- Books on Outdoor Adventures
The internet may already have everything, but nothing compares to the feeling of holding a book and learning from it. Plus, reading is an enriching and calming form of entertainment when you’re starting to get bored in a network-less camping site. If you want your friend to feel like they’re still having an adventure while reading, choose a book about stargazing, wild animals, and exploration mishaps, or a fiction novel about getting lost in the woods and finding romance, like Becca Fitzpatricks’s Black Ice.
These presents will surely fuel your friend’s excitement for their first outdoor adventure. They may not be much in your perspective as an experienced explorer, but they’ll mean the world to a beginner, like how it did to you in your early exploration days.
