Buying gifts is sometimes a tricky business. If the outdoors person you are shopping for is like me this list will be helpful, if not hopefully it will at least give you a few ideas!
GENERAL THINGS
There are a few things that we outdoors people can’t have enough of. Maybe its because we are always on the look for the perfect one that fits our lifestyle or we keep loosing them..
The digital age is spoiling us. If any of you are like me we need to do more hand writing. One of my favorite things from my grandpa is a calendar he help documenting things like the price of corn on a particular day, the weather, and the day I was born. Its small and worthless to most people, but a treasure to me. I never knew my grandpa, he passed when I was 2. But with his calendar I’ve got a piece of him that I can hold close. Snag a notebook for your outdoors person, encourage them to document what they are seeing out in the woods. Whether its quality writing or not you will have a piece of their history that is unique to them and it will help them become a better at their adventures! The more we pay attention to all the tiny little details the better we become at finding that elusive buck, the time of year the ducks like our pond or the best weather conditions for the food plot.
One of my all time favorite flashlight brands. Insanely bright, easy to operate with or without gloves and holds a charge really well. I’ll never go out into the woods without these 2 lights in my pack or on my head.
Fenix PD35 – my handheld backup light. Great to have in your pocket for when a little extra light is helpful or at 100% you can light up the woods.
Fenix HM61R Multi-Use Headlamp – my primary light when hiking out to my spot early in the morning. I love this headlamp because the light can detach from the headband and has a magnetic base so you can attach it to the side of your truck or other metal surface when you are breaking camp or processing wild game post sunset with ease.
THE MEATEATER FISH & GAME COOKBOOK
As a hunter who is not a chef but loves to cook this book is amazing. Chock full of amazing recipes that are all equally phenomenal. This book has a good mix of all wild game and different styles of food that will fit most any hunter or pallet. A close runner up would be any book from Hank Shaw, his are broken up to be a bit more specialized. Fish, small game, big game, waterfowl, etc. The Meat Eater website and contributor Danielle Prewett’s website also have a ton of cool recipes I would recommend checking out.
OUTDOOR EDGE GAMEPRO KNIFE SET
I’ve never met an outdoors person who didn’t appreciate a new knife! This is the total package, game shears, virtually all the styles of knives that will make processing literally anything a breeze and a few bonus items like a sharpener and a cutting board! This is absolutely in the back of my truck on every hunt and in my processing room when its time to break down that whitetail.
Coffee is life. A subscription to Black Rifle Coffee was the best thing I’ve done for my mornings. You can customize it for as many bags a month you need, you can swap the roast every month if you want, and you can skip a month if you are traveling and not drinking as much at home. It’s brilliant. The coffee is delicious and I love supporting our veterans and Black Rifles overall mission. 100% worth it.
Seriously another mug? Yea, we really do need another mug! Different drinks, different events, each has its own purpose & function. Snagging a From Field To Table branded mug will let them show their friends where they like their food coming from, or snag a fun custom color from Yeti.com
UNIQUE THINGS
Specialty items that may take up a lot of space, are a bit more pricey or you really just need one in your kit.
PROCESSING EQUIPMENT
To the hunter who likes to have their hands in the mix from start to finish, more processing equipment is always a welcome addition! A meat lug was a phenomenal addition to my processing repertoire. Its large enough to handle almost half of a boned out whitetail, but not so large that it won’t fit on your counter to catch meat coming from your grinder when making sausage or hamburger patties.
Another tool that took my processing to a whole new level was a vacuum sealer. Yea plastic wrap did a good job keeping meat from getting frost bit in the freezer, but the vac sealer does it WAY better! Its way more professional looking, easier to see whats what and keep organized. Plus you get the added benefits of being able to use it for marinating or sous vide versus trusting a resealable plastic bag, which always seem to leak on me.. If you are sealing up a lot of stocks or liquid marinades I would recommend the chamber sealer opposed to the external model shown. If your outdoors person already has one then grab them some extra bags! We can never have too many on hand. Just be sure the bags you buy can fit inside their current machine.
Every outdoors person needs at least one top tier knife. These are not cheap, but are a treasure! An extremely meaningful gift that they will truly cherish. For processing in the kitchen I currently love my Benchmade MeatCrafter. This knife is scary sharp. Long enough to make solid single stroke divides in large cuts of meat and flexible enough to take care of silver skin, fat or debone a quarter. The handle on this knife is made out of some mystery material that is almost velvety. It’s extremely comfortable to hold and fits my hand perfectly. Definitely the best knife in my collection.
The Hidden Canyon Hunter was purchased for help processing smaller game, but also as an heirloom piece that one day my son will inherit. Maybe.. Same as the MeatCrafter, this knife is wicked sharp, but a lot smaller and not as flexible. Perfect for breasting out a duck or pulling rib meat from between rib bones. Smaller tasks that a larger knife might struggle with.
I’ve got a problem with storage devices. I geek out on backpacks, cases, compartments, really anything that I can sort & store gear. It’s a bad obsession. Right now my top pick for gear storage is the Yeti GoBox. It’s currently holding a bunch of my truck stuff that was once scattered all around my cab & bed. Stuff that I like to keep on hand mostly for emergencies or random truck activities that I don’t do everyday. Items like a hitch, tow straps, ratchet straps, roof rack accessories, etc. I love that it’s as rugged as I am, waterproof, dust-proof, lockable, easy to strap down to my roof rack, need I go on? Come hunting season the GoBox will also easily accommodate things like extra waterfowl ammo, wader patches, hot hands and snacks.
I’m sure something on this list of my favorite items peaked the curiosity of your outdoors person. If it was a specific item I listed, awesome, if its similar but different, fantastic. Anything that gets them out in the woods and bringing food From Field To Table. Cheers!