We tested hundreds of products earlier this year to round up the best outdoorsy gifts currently on the market—all explicitly curated for your outdoorsy loved ones. From travel gear to tech gifts to fitness products, from $20 to $1,600, we have something for everyone. Be sure to check out the rest of our favorite picks in our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide.
At A Glance
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Exped Mega Pump
The worst part of setting up camp is blowing up inflatable sleeping pads until you’re blue in the face. It can take forever, and the process always leaves you winded. That’s why we love Exped’s new rechargeable battery-powered pump, which does 95 percent of the work for you. The lightweight, hand-held pump can fill up a large or even queen-size pad in a minute or two. All you have to do afterward is top the pad off with a few puffs, and you’re ready to relax.
James Brand The Palmer
Weight: 2.5 oz
Designed to fit snugly in the change pocket of your pants or shorts, The Palmer is an ultra-versatile utility knife you’ll use for everyday tasks, from cutting paracord to prepping kindling. When your blade dulls, you can swap in a new one in less than a minute in the field. This year, James released a host of transparent, tinted-color options, which offer a playful peek into the knife’s mechanics.
Black Diamond Traverse Pro Ski Poles
Go ahead, chuck these poles in the truck bed or use them to whack snow off your boots: Thanks to a pure aluminum shaft, they’re practically indestructible. They weigh more than carbon options, but only slightly. The Traverse Pros also come with stronger locking mechanisms and extended grips, which provide better purchase and stability when sidehilling on the skin track.
Crazy Creek AirCliner
Weight: 1 lb, 13 oz
All the hours you spend glassing for elk or chatting around a campfire just got a lot more comfortable. Made from high-denier, ripstop nylon, the AirCliner inflatable chair can brush against rocks and sticks without springing a leak, and it’s easy to blow up in just a few breaths. You’ll notice the 1.8 pounds when backpacking with it, but for shorter trips, the weight is worth the comfort.
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Amazfit T-Rex 3 ($279.99)
When it comes to rugged GPS smartwatches, the Amazfit T-Rex 3 is ready for any adventure. With more than 3 weeks of battery life, the T-Rex 3 can withstand temperatures from 158°F to -22°F and is waterproof to 328 feet. The large display makes it easy to check GPS maps and activity data—even in bright sunlight. Plus, stay focused on your objective by fully controlling your watch with your voice and sending speech-to-text messages. With best-in-class data privacy, the T-Rex 3 also gives you the option of GPS disablement for total privacy.
Nocs Provisions Field Tube 8×32 Monocular
If you’re like us, you always choose to leave the heavy binocs in the car—and always kick yourself as soon as an eagle flies overhead or a moose saunters through a nearby field. That’s why we love this lightweight monocular. We keep one in our glove box at all times, and since it only weighs a scant eight ounces, throwing it in the pack is a no-brainer. A large knob on top makes one-handed focusing easy, and the glass is sharp and clear.
Freaks of Nature Daily Defender SPF30 100-Percent Mineral Sunscreen
Legendary surfer Kelly Slater founded his sunscreen company Freaks of Nature this year, and the zinc oxide formula is one of the best we’ve tested. Not only does it leave very little residue, but it also moisturizes your skin thanks to the brand’s biosynthesized squalane. Bonus: it’s reef-safe, and the container is made from 100 percent recycled plastic.
Salomon Stance 96 ski
Sizing: 168, 176, 182, 188 cm
While other skis outperform the Stance 96 in one category or another, it proved to be the most well-rounded ski of our 2024/2025 Ski Test. It’s a supremely versatile ski that we think will get along with anyone—from intermediates still working on their skills to seasoned experts adventuring beyond the groomers. An energetic carver and a nimble bump ski, our testers were impressed no matter where they pointed the Stance 96.
Pret Fury X helmet
Sizing: S-L
The Pret Fury X and its women’s version, the Vision X, are crowd-pleasers. The liner’s EPS foam has an antimicrobial treatment to help keep it from getting funky, and vents in the front and across the top of the head are all controlled easily with a single switch, making the helmet highly breathable. Cozy wooly ear flaps can be removed on warm days, and the magnetic chin strap is easy to attach and can even be done using one hand.
Anon M5 goggles
The oversized Anon M5 had the beefiest and most secure magnetic lens system of any we’ve tested, making this an excellent outdoorsy gift for the skier on your list who likes changing their lenses. A flat toric lens provided full-range visibility, even in those hard-to-spot corners, and the durable hard plastic frame felt sturdier than goggles with softer, more pliable frames. Plus, you can add a neck warmer, which attaches to the bottom of the goggles via magnet, for an extra $32.
How We Tested Our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide
- Number of Testers: 6
- Number of Products Tested: 125
- Number of States Tested in: 7
- Tester Age Range: 30-75
- Highest Elevation Reached While Testing: 14,006 ft.
The best holiday gifts often fit in two main categories. The first category is: “A gift that makes my everyday routine that much better. “ The second goes something like: “This is a gift I’d never splurge on, so it’s amazing that I received it from someone else.” With those parameters in mind, we reached out far and wide to find gifts both big and small, expensive and affordable, and obvious and unexpected. A team of six testers put well over 100 products through their paces, and after weeks of testing and comparing, we came up with the final list.
For example, one of the products that made the cut under the “everyday routine” holiday gifts category was the Suunto Race S watch in our fitness category. Running tester Meg Healy loved how it was the perfect training watch that kept her motivated and updated all week long, no matter the length of her workout. Lead tester Jakob Schiller flew all over the country (Alaska, California, Seattle) with the Mystery Ranch Mission Rover 45 pack and was always impressed with how it was perfectly sized for a three-day trip, easily fit in an overhead compartment, and was comfortable to wear while schlepping through airports.
Presents that fell into the “I’d never buy this myself category” included things like Sonos Ace headphones and Howl propane campfire in the tech category. The headphones, which are as much as a car payment, seem excessive, but you understand the appeal once you hear how they truly enrich every piece of music, from John Coltrane to Taylor Swift to Cypress Hill. A $1,300 gas campfire seems absolutely ridiculous until you stand next to one on a chilly fall night and realize that this new piece of technology is actually as warm as a campfire (if not warmer) and does a great job setting the vibe after dark.
Meet Our Lead Tester
Jakob Schiller
Over the past decade as an ϳԹ editor and then columnist, Jakob Schiller has gotten to know many UPS drivers by name thanks to the frequent stops at his house for gear drop-offs. He’s opened so many cardboard boxes he could start his own recycling facility, and his garage, as you might suspect, is a mess. But thanks to all that gear, Jakob and his family of six (plus two dogs) have been able to adventure around the world and visit many of the globe’s most beautiful spots. When he and his family are not on the road, they call Albuquerque, New Mexico home.