Our clients make awesome stuff, so we decided to round up our team’s must-give items to share with you! We’ve broken them down into 5 categories for our 2020 Gift Guide: the adventurer and weekend warrior, family camper and hiker, best sustainable gifts, stocking stuffers, and splurge-worthy gifts. Be sure to let us know which item (or two) you’d want in the comments below!
The adventurer/weekend warrior
Coral: I love my Astral Brewess 2.0 — they’re a must-have for any year-round paddler and for folks who want a light, comfortable shoe for those afternoon walks in the woods. Couple these sweet shoes with the blissful innerwear from BRANWYN and you’re beyond comfy!
Suzanne: Ignik’s new Heated Seat Cover is the perfect gift any outdoor adventure–from tailgating to car camping. With the fact we’ll all be outdoors a lot more this winter, this gift is perfect for turning your chair (or bleachers, once we can go to sporting events again!) into a cozy heated seat. The Heated Seat Cover is made from bluesign®-approved, 100% recycled polyester and includes 3 modes via a built-in, waterproof “smart control” button. Seriously gift-worthy awesomeness!
Hannah: For women friends who run and hike, you can’t go wrong with getting them a gift card to Blyss Running. There’s comfy athletic gear for women in sizes 4-20, and it’s guaranteed not to ride up! This year they’ve introduced the new Relay Skirted Tight and the Skirting Around Crop, which are great for hiking and running in colder weather.
Katie: For my bike commuting buddies, I’ll be getting the Sierra Designs Borrego Hybrid Jacket. This jacket provides warmth and stretch without the bulk and is ideal for adventure travel. You can even pack it into a self-stow pocket with a carabiner loop for easy carry. Available for both women and men!
Dan: UCO’s 6 Piece Mess Kit is perfect for the weekend warrior because it’s so versatile; use it as your mess kit for backpacking or car camping, pack snacks for a road trip or day hike, use it when you’ve just moved into a new house and can’t find your regular dishes (not that I know from experience), or use it to bring your lunches to work Monday through Friday (like all of us at Darby HQ).
The family camper/hiker
Hannah: I’ll definitely be gifting some folx a Rugged Tarpestry. Perfect for a winter picnic, dealing with a sudden downpour, or throwing in the back of your car for wet dogs or wet ski gear. For the adventurer that likes to travel a little lighter, the Mini is a smaller version of the Rugged.
Amath: The Sprout Mini Lantern is the perfect companion for any family camp trip. Small, portable, rechargeable, and versatile, the Sprout can light up your tent with the push of a button. Feeling like you might need a soothing “moonlight” glow in your tent? Switch it over to Moonlight Mode and everyone is happy!
Coral: The SylvanSport Waylight hiking pole helps keep the trail illuminated for those evening hikes when the fireflies are calling. They also make for great fun around the campsite.
Katie: With a generous footprint, near standing peak height, and pockets galore, the new Sierra Designs Nomad 4/6 person tent is the perfect tent for families looking to camp out in the wild. This baby is big enough for the kids and a few dogs, but sturdy enough to withstand the elements. The Nomad is a must-have for family campers!
Angie: It’s time to combat the waste we’re seeing in campgrounds, so this year I’ll be getting Ignik’s Gas Growler Deluxe for my friends who love to camp. This long-lasting, refillable option connects to existing propane-fueled devices and provides 5x the heating and cooking power of one green bottle, without the waste. Featuring an insulated five-pound propane tank contained in a rugged and easy to carry case, the Gas Growler Deluxe replaces hundreds of disposable bottles that would end up in the landfill. This is the perfect addition to any family’s basecamp breakfast. This is also a great gift for that eco-friendly family or friend, too!
Best eco-friendly and/or sustainable gifts
Angie: Feetures’ Everyday Crew socks are my favorite work to trail to bike accessory – and this year, they are made with recycled polyester, so they’re great, affordable gifts for your eco-conscious friend. With targeted compression and an anatomical design, these socks give a custom-like fit every time you put them on and make WFH style a bit more comfortable.
Dan: Astral’s latest boot, the Hemp Chukker, is the perfect gift for your sustainability-minded family and friends. This stylish chukka is made from hemp and recycled polyester. Hemp, a super sustainable material, can be grown without pesticides or petroleum-based fertilizers and requires only a fraction of the water that cotton needs, yet it produces about 3x the yield that cotton does. Add in a pair of those Feetures Everyday Crews and you’ve got one stylish as hell sustainable look!
Ashleigh: Who knew underwear could be groundbreaking? BRANWYN’s performance innerwear is made by active women for active women. I’ll definitely be gifting out their merino wool underwear to all my friends. It’s naturally breathable, moisture-wicking, and odor-resistant—for innerwear actually designed with adventurers in mind. No ruffles or polyester in sight!
Stocking stuffers
Cory: You’ll definitely want to get your adventuresome partner the Leggeros from Ombraz Sunglasses. All they have to do is tighten the cord on these armless glasses and get after it! These high-quality polarized sunnies won’t fall off and won’t break, no matter what tomfoolery you get into. Bonus fact: with every pair of sunnies sold, Ombraz plants 20 mangrove trees, sequestering 330x more carbon than it takes to produce each pair.
Coral: Workout buddies, guess what? We’re going big in 2021 and our muscles are going to be sore (only the first few weeks, I promise), so you all are getting Hyland’s Muscle Therapy Gel with Arnica to accelerate your recovery.
Hannah: What’s better than popcorn and a good movie during the winter months? That’s why I’ll be getting Market Bags from Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn for everyone on my list! My favorites are Parmesan & Black Pepper and Pimento Cheese but there are some delish sweet treats as well like the Cinnamon Bourbon Pecan made with Asheville-local Troy and Sons‘ Cinnamon Honey Whiskey, and Reindeer Crunch for some holiday fun! These bags are affordable enough that you can put them in everyone’s stocking… perfect for your campaign to be the favorite grandchild or aunt!
Amath: Who doesn’t need a fresh beanie? Especially with all the outdoor socializing we’ll be doing this winter. Appalachian Gear Company’s Fleece Beanies are made from the same All-Paca Goodness as their award-winning Fleece Hoodies. Made from 100% temperature-regulating alpaca fiber, these beanies will keep your friends and family warm on all their winter adventures.
Angie: Please fill my stocking with Feetures performance socks (I seriously can never have enough of their Elite No Show Tabs and Mini Crew for running and biking), and Bioplasma Sport from Hyland’s, which I never go on a bike ride without (although touted for relief of sore muscles, it is essential to stop my feet from cramping on long rides, and it helps keep my tummy tame).
Dan: The Eldris LightDuty (S), from Morakniv, is a great knife for anyone looking for a light camp knife, a handy EDC, or a light chore knife around the house. And, measuring less than 6 inches long, it’s perfect stocking stuffer size!
Splurge-worthy gifts – just add a bow and ta da!
Katie: The LifeSaver Jerrycan is a robust and portable water purifier capable of filtering up to 5,283 US gallons of clean drinking water, removing 99.999% of viruses, bacteria, cysts and parasites instantly. This gift is great for your friend who likes to adventure travel, overland, or just be prepared for life’s next natural disaster. The LifeSaver Jerrycan holds up to 18.5 liters of water at any time and is designed to support those with a greater demand for clean water. And if you get them the Jerrycan, you can also add on the Shower Head Attachment as a stocking stuffer to help them keep the dishes (and themselves) clean when on the road.
Dan: Maybe I should admit this is more for me than to give away, haha. The Dine O Max camp kitchen from SylvanSport is the ultimate camp kitchen. Featuring two massive bamboo work surfaces, a detachable aluminum windscreen, a collapsible rubber washbasin, four large water-resistant storage cubbies, a fold-down trash bag holder, and (my favorite part) an integrated bottle opener, it’s got pretty much everything you could hope for in a camp kitchen.
Coral: Well, this is more my dream gift – a trip to beautiful Maine coupled with a shiny, new Old Town Penobscot canoe strapped to the roof rack (In Cherry Red please!)
Angie: A weekend experience with Wildwater! Book an overnighter on the Chattooga for you and your favorite adventure buddy for Spring ’21. This overnight trip includes an epic rafting trip, buffet-style lunch on the river, steak dinner, and hot breakfast at the campsite. What better way to look forward to a fun and exciting 2021! Bonus: all of Wildwater’s activities and lodging are 25% off right now through December 20th!
Cory: If you’re ready to splurge on your favorite angler or watercraft enthusiast, consider gifting them the all-new Old Town Sportsman 106 Powered by Minn Kota. That’s right, a sit on top kayak with a fully integrated 45 lbs. thrust saltwater ready Minn Kota trolling motor! The perfect watercraft for sunset cruising or casting for Largemouth…plus, you can’t beat the lifetime hull warranty!