I had COVID-19 in April and didn’t recoup until May 6. For six weeks prior to that I was helping a buddy over in South Dakota. I left there and it was pretty much still winter and by the time I got well, spring was in full swing, crappie fishing was on the tail end slide and the mushroom season was over. When I went to sleep it was winter and when I woke up and it was almost summer. I felt like Rip Van Winkle.
I got to make the most of summer but still, even now I feel a little time disoriented. And suddenly it’s almost Christmas and here I am writing my annual Christmas list. Wow.
Well, here’s a list of some of the cool items that I got to test out this year and some that are old-time favorites. I say something to this effect every year but if you take time to investigate what your little outdoor honey wants/needs, you can really rack up some points. Most of our outdoor endeavors are pretty specific so investigate before you make a purchase.
I’ve never thrown this angle in before, but with the COVID-19 panic ravaging businesses in America try to shop in your community if at all possible and keep the dollars at home. That way your friends and neighbors can maintain their jobs and businesses. If your health is compromised then, yes, you can probably do almost all of your shopping online. I just wanted to remind everyone that local businesses are what supports the community that you live in.
If you buy a unique or much-needed item, you’ll sweep your outdoor lover off their feet. And you don’t always have to spend a lot of money. Well, let’s get started:
HUNTING
- SneakyHunter BootLamps
- Smith’s Folding Limb Saw
- Knives of Alaska Professional Boning Knife
- Umarex airguns. Check out the Gauntlet, Origin or the Yukon Magnum break barrel.
- mytopomaps. They will make a map of wherever or however detailed that you want. I use them.
- Hi Mountain seasoning to make your own jerky and sausage.
- Chard Pro Former Jerky Gun. I just got one. Can’t wait to use it.
- .511 cool tactical pants, great for hunting.
- Spyderco makes a cool little hunting knife called the Bow River knife.
- Scopes/Binoculars. There’s an up and coming new company called Riton Optics. Check out their offerings.
- For shooters, Caldwell makes a lot of must-have items. Shooting bags, Hydrosled and their Stable Table. These items help you have a stable rest when sighting in your rifles.
- Otis Elite Range Box. This is a great help when mounting scopes or cleaning your guns.
BACKPACKING ITEMS
- Alps Mountaineering Dash chair
- Alps Chaos 2 tent
- Alps Nimble pad
- Camp Chef Stryker 200 stove
- Aquimira filtered water bottles and straws
- Adventure Medical Kits duct tape, mole skin
- Irish Setter Canyons hiking boots
- Hiking socks — these are worth their weight in gold.
- Eating utensils, Outdoor Edge Chowpal, Collapsible cooking utensils.
- Uberleben Stoker Flatpack is a cool little collapsible stove.
- Smith’s Consumer Products offers I don’t know how many folding knives that are great for backpacking.
- Backpacking meals
FISHING
- Heybo makes some cool fishing shirts.
- Mister Twister plastics. I like their tube jigs for crappie fishing.
- I’ve been using a Honda BF 2.3 motor to fish with this summer. I like it better than my trolling motor.
- Sunglasses. Check out the Hobie El Matador model for full eye coverage.
- Hire a fishing guide to float a river.
- Fishing rod & reel.
- Fish filleting knives. Smith’s Consumer Products makes a variety of sizes.
CAMPING
- Daisy Powerline 51 slingshot, great fun for kids (and Katy) for shooting cans around camp.
- Grizzly 60 cooler. This is a well-built, stout cooler.
- Camp Chef Rainer 2X camp stove
- Smith’s Consumer Products sharpening stones. My favorite is their 8-inch Tri-hone set but I also love their 6-inch fine diamond stone.
- Lodge Dutch oven with legs
- Tent
- Backpack
STOCKING STUFFERS
This is where you can score some points on cheap little knickknacks that they’ll value.
- Split shots
- Fishing lures
- .22 ammo
- Waterproof matches
- Flashlight
- Substitute a day pack for a stocking!
- Talon Snap Cleaning Kit. This is a cool new kit to clean your pistol.
- Flies make great stocking stuffers. (Check out flydealflies.com use CLAYCOMB and you can get a discount.)
Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.
