The count down is on! Christmas is less than a week away and if you aren’t out there shopping already, you better get going. I like my technology and I really enjoy being outdoors, so when I can combine the two together to have a better experience I always do. If you’re buying for someone special in your family that is of the active outdoorsy type person, I am pretty confident that I can help you out with that.
I’ve made the following suggestions based on my experience as an outdoor gadget enthusiast. But be warned! These are not cheap by any means. However, they are functional, extremely useful pieces of equipment that won’t be headed back to the returns line after the holidays and may even save their life. Let’s check them out!
Mapping Your Day Outside…
GPS technology has evolved in a big way over the last few years and as such this nifty little unit from Garmin would be the number one gift on my own wish list. For a cool price of about $299 USD, you will be absolutely amazed at what this watch can do. The proper name of this “watch” is the Garmin ForeRunner 305. It does tell you the time and date like the previously reviewed SUUNTO Core Green Light, but does so much more. It gives you all sorts of interesting data, such as your heart rate (if you wear the heart rate belt), elevation gains and decents, mapping overlays of the route your traveled with graphs and charts from the data collected from the onboard GPS reciever and heart rate monitor.
An avid outdoors friend of mine has used his Garmin Forerunner 305 extensively on a number of mountain bike rides, skiing days and hikes and really likes it. The first time he showed me what it could do I was blown away. Every time I am with him I get a bit jealous of the detailed information he can pull at the end of each day.
My friend was nice enough to volunteer this picture of the type of stuff he gets to peruse after each outing. This is a graph showing my friends Heart Rate in Beats Per Minute, Distance in KM, Elevation changes, and Speed in Km/h when he went for a road bike ride in San Jose California earlier this year. Further adding to the super coolness factor, you can then get the Garmin ForeRunner 305 to upload all this GPS route data onto an actual Google map so he can visually see where he went during the ride.
This is an awesome gift for anyone that is active and likes the outdoors. It can used as a great multi-sport training tool for those folks training for a marathon, or triathlon or some Tour de France bike ride. The ability to get such specific information about the training route is key in figuring out what areas need improvement.
Garmin has even come out with a new model for this year, the Garmin Forerunner 405 that looks more like a normal watch and like the iPhone, it has touch screen capabilities and some few extra added features. If there would be one techy gadget I would ask for Christmas, the Garmin ForeRunner 305 or 405 would be it.
Make Sure Your Loved Ones Never Get Lost…
Depending on what types of outdoor activities your outdoor enthusiast likes to do, communication between the party members in the outdoors is usually pretty important. Sometimes you just want to hear your self talk on the radio, and other times you really need to call for help! A few years ago the FRS/GMRS two way radios by Motorola were really popular amongst general consumers. Heading back to Garmin again, we see that they’ve taken this popular two way radio technology and have blended this with a GPS device.
Thee Garmin Rino as it is called combines GPS and FRS/GMRS into one slick package. If you have two or more Garmin Rino radios, you can physically see where the other radios (ie: your friends) are on your screen. What does this mean? With the true GPS functionality and the communication of the FRS/GMRS radio people with Rino’s always know where each other are and will never get lost. As long as your buddy keeps his Rino on, you can literally set a course and walk right up to him by following the directions on the LCD screen. Remarkable isn’t it?
The entry level Rino will run you about $195 USD with the most expensive being about $535 USD (this is the price per Rino mind you). Differences in price are determined by features and functions such as transmition power (1 watt vs 5 watts), battery capacity (lithum ion vs regular AA) , memory capacities (on board memory vs memory cards), transmition range (14miles vs 5miles), LCD options (color vs grayscale LCDs), on board compasses, barometers, altimeters and many more useful outdoors funtions all factor into the price hikes.
I have a couple friends that are avid hunters. These guys usually go wandering off into the woods separated while looking for animals. They swear by these radios as they can always keep tabs on what locations each person is at.
Capture the Adventure!
It just makes sense that people doing “Outdoor Activities” are exposed to all sorts of “weather”; you know things like water, rain, hail, wind, dirt, snow, ice, blazing heat, humidity, sand, mud etc. Being exposed to Mother Nature’s finest is usually not too good for electronics, especially digital cameras!
I know from experience that point and shoot cameras gets seriously trashed on outside. The outer body gets scratched to no end, I have had my lens stuck a couple times due to sand, and of course, I’ve dropped it many times. The list goes on and on. Well there is no more need to worry anymore, as Olympus has continued spending lots of money developing their Waterproof, Shock Proof , Dirt Proof, Temperature Proof series of point and shoot digital cameras called the Stylus.
The Olympus Stylus 770 SW is a 7.1 MP digital camera that has the ability to record video. The reasons I like this camera so much is besides having the standard “digital camera” functions, it is also shock proof from a height of 5 feet and I can freeze the unit to a temperature of -10 Celsius. I can even go diving with it and take pictures and videos of fish and other underwater things to a depth of 33 feet with audio. If that’s not enough toughness, the camera is even squish proof, withstanding up to 220lbs of force. You can also drop it in the sand, drag it through the sand and bury it in the sand and it will still be OK! Heck you could even give it a mud bath overnight and it will still work! Try doing that with a regular digital camera!
Would I want this to be my only “digital camera”? Probably not as being housed in such a case does have its performance limitations. The lens is all internal and the size of the glass is only so big. However, the durability and what it can do for you while on adventure is second to none! For those that like to pack light while being outside, the Olmpus Stylus 770 SW is small enough to fit in your pant and jacket pocket and if you wear super tight clothing, it can even be attached via a clip to your backpack strap.
At a suggested retail price of $349USD I think you are getting a lot of bang for your buck.
Let There Be Light
If you are looking for an idea that isn’t going to break the bank, then here it is. Under $50 USD, this device does not hook up to any computer or upload and download stuff. However, this is a device that will be super handy for absolutely anyone.
Petzl is a company that has been manufacturing and developing and climbing equipment and a huge range of headlamps for a very long time. The concept of the head lamp is pretty straight forward: Put the light on your head so it frees up the hands to do other tasks. The Petzl headlamps are a smart and intelligent way to (for a lack of a better description) have a flashlight handy…without the hand.
Speaking from personal experience, for general use the Petzl Tikka Xp headlamp gets the nod. The head strap is super comfortable and adjustable to pretty much anyone’s head. It features a waterproof casing that is handy for those wet outdoor adventures. The unit comes with 3 AAA Duracell batteries (batteries included), and has three different brightness settings. Battery time will depend on what brightness setting you run and is rated for between 60-120 hours.
You can also choose between a wide flood light type mode or a concentrated focuses beam of light. I would highly recommend one of these for anyone that needs their hands free in low light. This could even be handy for gamers that like to dwell in their parents dark basements! You will find that this light has thousands of uses around the house as well.
I loved my Petzl Tikka XP… too bad I lost it somewhere! Stocking stuffer??
Give Your Outdoor Gadget Geek a Fighting Chance
Any outdoor activity comes with risk and with risk comes lots of worry from family members. If you are a spouse of one of these “Outdoor” adventure types, then you know what I am talking about. Depending on what “type” of outdoor activities we are talking about, some people take being in the great outdoors very literally. Remember that “Into the Wild” movie? We are talking “Outdoors” like that guy.
ACR Electronics manufactures products for those dire “life or death” situations. The type of outdoor activities the ACR MicroFix is suited for is for those folks that go way way way into the wilderness where there is zero cell phone coverage, no electricity, no Starbucks coffee, no cars, no computers…you get the idea. These types of adventurers go for days and weeks at a time to reach those special places in the middle of nowhere. True backcountry skiers, hikers, hunters, kayakers that go way out into the middle of nowhere all know the inherent risks of their activities. Most of these folks have lots of back country experience and common sense to get them to their destination and through their activity, but we all know sometimes accidents just happen.
The ACR MicroFix 406 GPS PLB is a device that is strictly based on sending a unique localized signal of your registered details (i.e.. name and special medical history) and your GPS coordinates within a 1mile radius accuracy to the Search and Rescue. Each beacon when purchased by the user is registered to that user’s information, so when the unit is activated, a signal is sent on the 406 Mhz transmission frequency to Search and Rescue via COSPAS-SARSAT satellites so they know who they are looking for. The transmission will run for a period of 24hours once the buttons are pressed and the unit is in operation. This is a device that is to be used as a complete last resort after all self rescue attempts have been exhausted. This basically is your last call for help.
If your loved one spends lots of time wandering around the outdoors and you worry about them, then $600 is a very small price to pay for some “insurance” and piece of mind. You will hope that your loved one will never have to use the ACR MicroFix, but if they do, at least you know they have one last chance to come home safe for the next holiday.
Get Outside This Holiday Season
From tracking adventures and being able to upload them on a Google map, to staying in touch and knowing the exact location of all your outdoor companions, to capturing all your memories digitally, to having a light source when it gets dark or even one last chance at life, you can buy it. All of my suggestions are all functional gifts that all outdoorsy folks would like to and in some cases, should have in their outdoor gadget arsenal.
Hopefully these ideas will help for those hard to buy for outdoor techie types. If you’re still stuck, you may want to check out one of our other guides for more ideas before you become one of those late night shoppers on Xmas Eve. Happy Holidays!
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