The 10 Outdoor Essentials Gift Guide

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I lead kayaking tours for a living as well as teach kayaking classes, hiking tours, and hiking classes. In addition I am the Scoutmaster for a Boy Scout troop. Around this time of year I get asked what a good gift would be for a teenagers who are scouts and adults who are outdoorsy. Over the years I've offered many suggestions and collected quite a list. 

The best list, however, is not a list I've come up with. It's a list that dates back to the 1930s that was put together by a group called "The Mountaineers". It's a list of items that should be taken on every outdoor adventure. It's a list I really emphasize to the scouts because it helps them live the Scout Motto to "Be Prepared".

If you have a scout in your life, or an outdoorsy adult, and are wondering what good gift ideas might be, or you yourself live a life of outdoor adventure, please consider the items below:

NAVIGATION

We all have mobile phones with GPS and often we rely on that alone. There are a couple of drawbacks: batteries die, phones get broken/lost, and we often forget to download maps to the phone. Data service is NOT needed for GPS to work as long as we have that local map. I suggest using the Suunto M-3. Yes, it's a little bit pricey, but it is feature rich and will serve you for a long time.

HEADLAMP/FLASHLIGHT

Lighting is important. Fortunately we don't need flashlights much during the day because we have this thing in the sky called the Sun that provides our light. Flashlights are important when we don't have the Sun or need to look around areas where there is little light. They're great for putting up a tent in the dark or looking around in a backpack. I recommend having a headlamp AND a handheld flashlight available and I recommend the ones made by Bell + Howell. They are extremely bright and run off of 3 AAA batteries and I highly recommend those batteries be rechargeable. I'd also buy at least two sets of batteries for each light you'll be using.

SUN PROTECTION

This category covers a number of items from clothing to accessories. If you follow the 3 Ws of layering your clothing should protect you from the sun. However, you may not want to wear long sleeves/long pants in the warmer months so sunscreen becomes a necessary option. You'll also want sunscreen to cover up any parts that are not covered by your clothes should you choose to wear long sleeves and long pants. This category also includes sunglasses, lip balm, and hats.

FIRST AID SUPPLIES

You will rarely need your first aid kit but you will be incredibly thankful for it when those rare times occur in which it's needed! You'll want something that can keep your supplies dry and that is what the 32oz. Nalgene bottle is for. It's sturdy, relatively crushproof, and air tight. The Gorilla tape is good to make minor repairs and to cover bandages to help waterproof them.

 

KNIFE/MULTI-TOOL

I recommend both. A basis pocket knife is good to have in any situation. Sometimes you need one to open a Christmas present, sometimes you need one to whittle down a stick to poke food you're about to cook. The multi-tool is good because they just have so many handy features. You may not need the multi-tool, but if you do you'll be glad it's there!

FIRE STARTER

Sometimes a fire is built to cook food and heat water. Sometimes a fire is built for comfort. And sometimes fires are built as signals. Whatever the reason for building a fire you want to make sure your chances of building a long lasting fire are high. I recommend packing at least three different methods of building a fire.

SHELTER

Shelter is important when the weather changes all of a sudden or a rough night in nature is required. It's amazing how small shelter supplies can be! This shelter doesn't need to be comfortable, it just needs to sustain.

EXTRA FOOD

You're going to have your food planned out for your outdoor adventure, but this is food you keep if you need it. You may wake up hungry in the middle of the night, need a little extra fuel before bed, or lose your way on a day hike and want some extra nutrition. This food needs to be non-perishable and not melt. I love regular granola bars, but they break and crumble way too easily. Trail mix is a good option as long as you don't have chocolate that can melt. Beef jerky is another good option.

EXTRA WATER

This is likely going to be the heaviest, but most important item on the 10 essentials list. Humans simply cannot live long without water. When I hike I carry the amount of water I THINK I'll need and a little bit more. I have a water bottle that keeps my primary supply cold, and lighter water bottles for the extra. If I need the extra I'm not going to care about the temperature of the water much. If I'm going to be remote I carry water purification tablets. One caveat: Depending on where you are the sources of water may be chemically contaminated so items like purification tablets and filter straws won't work as they only take care of biological contaminants.

EXTRA CLOTHES

I don't have any particular recommendation on this one other than you need to keep them in a lightweight dry bag (not zip locking style) and keep them handy in case you need them. You also need to follow the 3Ws of layering when planning on what your extra clothes are going to be.

That's it! That's the list that will help any scout be prepared for any adventure in the outdoors! 

Some of the links on this website are affiliate links. This means that if you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I may earn a commission. I only recommend products and services that I believe in, and I hope that you will find them helpful as well.