Everyone has that one friend whose gear closet is better stocked than a rental shop. A new headlamp or water bottle won't impress them. What might? Something unexpected: a gift that's playful, collaborative, or nostalgic enough that they'd never buy it for themselves. A recent gift guide from Outside Online rounds up a dozen such ideas, and several are genuinely fun even if you're just shopping for a camping-curious cousin.
A few standouts. For gear nerds, a 384-page coffee table book published in 2025 charts a century of outdoor industry print culture — vintage magazines and catalogs from brands like The North Face, Snow Peak and Columbia, with a foreword by photographer Chris Burkard. It's the kind of thing that lives permanently on the living room table.
Nostalgia buffs get two solid options. The Camp Snap CS8 is a point-and-shoot video camcorder styled like an old home-movie camera, with no playback screen — you shoot on instinct and transfer footage via USB-C later. And Dale of Norway has reissued its 1994 Lillehammer Olympic ski sweater in a thinner, softer 100 percent wool with a unisex fit, a wearable bit of ski history.
Limited collaborations always make good gifts, and this list has two. Japanese retailer BEAMS worked with REI to revive a parka from the co-op's 1986 archives, capped at just 500 pieces. Meanwhile Black Diamond and Québec footwear brand Norda joined forces on a limited-edition 000 trail shoe — a splurge most people admire but never pull the trigger on.
Practical picks fill out the list. Black Diamond's RockLock Magnetron carabiner, which locks automatically when the gate closes, is back in production after six years; the first rerun sold out but restocks landed before the holidays. Crazy Creek's Hex 2.0 works as a chair, stadium seat, sleeping pad and kneeling mat, with eight-millimeter closed-cell foam and a DWR coating so wet ground stays outside. RUX's waterproof duffel box uses a zipperless roll-top in bombproof 840-denier TPU-coated nylon, with interior organizers for small kit.
For the whimsical end: a pocket-sized Kikkerland flower press that folds accordion-style with an elastic band to keep botanical finds flat and dry — a proper stocking stuffer for anyone who stops mid-hike to photograph alpine blooms. Skida's Scarflette, a slim triangle of Polartec Alpha microfleece bound in leopard or floral prints, layers under a shell without bulk. Snow Peak's Autumn stacking mug set runs about $110 — absurd for a mug, which is exactly the point. And Ripstop by the Roll sells a DIY zipper pouch kit with Dyneema fabric, a YKK zipper and drawcord, so the recipient can finally say they've made their own gear.
Why it matters: the guide's real advice is that the hardest person to buy for is an excuse to skip practicality entirely. Choose the oddball item — the flower press, the screenless camcorder, the archive book — and you've got a gift they'll actually remember.
