functional xmas ideas
 

was wondering what other pelicans were thinking of for gift ideas as the holidays start approaching. cant stand lines, nor the thought of fighting crowds in malls. yuk! internet this year, let my fingers do the walking !

im the type of person that likes to give gifts as well as receive gifts that last a life time. ie. ones that have a function that an individual will use forever with decent care. i dont mean toasters or coffee makers or other assorted crap in a kitchen. more like functional items you use while pursuing your fave outdoor recreational endeavours.

for my g/friend , i searched high and low and nailed one (1) small,green(mega important) gregory whitney backpack. snagged the last one from rei yesterday. had a blowout price and saved a $100 bucks at the same time. reg. price $349.00, sale price $249.00. 5000 cu in. frameless pack. mega tie downs/pockets/compartments etc. really nice pack that i wish i had bought for myself.

for the younger spawn nailed the last left hand zipper(hes a lefty) long, mountain hardware lamina -20 expedition waterproof synthetic sleeping bag from backcountry.com in salt lake city, utah. have bought quite a few items from them and they have some really good prices. btwn the 4-season bivy i got him for his b-day last month and this sleeping bag, he can camp anywhere, anytime, any weather conditions. he cant ever say i didnt give him a HOME! LOL!

for "throttle" the goofier than sh!! wolf/weimereiner wonder mutt i have, well hes gonna probably get a "doggie backpack". that way he can carry his tomato juice in the event of meeting up with mr. stripped skunk or mr. spotted skunk! its gonna happen, just a question of how soon. packs made for various size dogs and hes a good 100# dog so he'll be able to carry some of my gear also! LOL like a 12 pack of beer!

was pretty amazed after doing product comparisons and finding inventorys already low from some vendors. felt pretty lucky that i snagged the above items.

i have a few other people that i have to get gifts for and was thinking of MSR's sweetwater water purifiers. gets rid of every virus, and assorted other crap that tend to make ones tummy want to do somersaults in the backcountry from polluted water sources. felt that was a pretty cool idea. lightweight/packable/easy to use and best of all around $70 bucks!

soooooooo...........lets here some of your "functional" gift ideas????

santas gonna get me.................SSI's and dual in/dual out exhaust..........cant think of anything more functional than that fer me!

Chuck - your posts are always so enjoyable to read :)

Oil filters, air filters, CV boots.

Nothing says I Love You like regular maintenance parts. I can't wait to see Mrs Notfarnow's face!

well super duper dave...................1 month to get all the xmas shopping done and im about 75% done.

another i didnt mention. MT GAY RUM!( a product of barbados) a wonderful gift idea along with a bottle of mojito mix and some FRESH MINT from the veggie isle.

$36 bucks a quart at my local grocer. guaranteed to put a smile on my p-cars wrenches face!

another cheap idea.........$100 measly bucks gets my younger spawn basic scuba lessons. he wants to do it and i have all the gear he needs.

for the kids i usually spend about 350-400 bucks on them, and call it good.

xmas day pig out on fresh squeezed tangerines from my tangerine tree and pig out on homemade TAMALES from el bravo restaurante here.

xmas evening...................MOJITOS and the drumset!

Cash.

Nothing is worse than giving or receiving pointless crap at Christmas. Last year, at my wife's aunt's house, they gave me a frickin portable CD player. The kind you get at the checkout of CVS for $10. Seriously, WTF was I supposed to do? Act happy?

"Thanks for the crap- Now I have to put it on craigslist for free and hope someone takes it."

Its not about the fact that it was $10, but rather the fact that it is garbage, and shows no forethought. If they bought me wiper blades I would have been happy. Or if they just said merry christmas and gave me a hug, that would be fine too. Or how about a box of homemade cookies?

No- $10 PORTABLE CD PLAYER- in the year 2006, mind you. And no- this lady is not clueless- her kids have MP3 players and laptops and stuff. She knew it was craptastic.

Now I get phone calls from my mother- "What should I get your wife for Christmas"... is this what Christmas is now? Calling around for shopping lists?

I think I'll tell mother to buy Amy a $10 portable CD player.

We like to give gift subscriptions to publications: Economist, New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Octane etc. These always seem to be well received.

Yup...that is why my nieces and nephew love Uncle Seahawk:)

I had heard so much good stuff about the Economist, but I read an article from it about a month ago, and I was disappointed by the repeated usage of opinion as fact (and this went both ways, so I am not looking to say its slanted).

Car magazine subscriptions would definitely be a well received gift to me.

HINT HINT HINT people- sent me material for my reading room (toilet).

What does Ron Burgundy say?? "Scotch, scotch, scotch. I love scotch.."

This is what's on my Christmas wish list..

http://www.phonejammer.com/cell-phone-jammer/p2jbz-r.asp

The water purifiers are a great idea. Another good MSR product are their stoves. I've had one for over 10 years and love it. Both products are well made and last forever. Best part is the light weight so it keeps the pack light!!

I told my wife I want a nice set of jeweler type screwdrivers. One of those sets with bigger handles and all sorts of sizes of straight, Philips, etc. About 10 screwdrivers in the set.

forget all the material crap, we go on a trip to experience belize, honduras, fiji, and this year Costa Rica.

An experience lives for a lifetime and grows the heart. KUDOS to the scuba lessons, its a whole different world underwater.

And for the brat who got a portable CD player and says its crap, SO WHAT! you got a nice gift, donate to a childrens home for a kid who would LOVE TO HAVE IT.........

i can see how "re-gifting" has become an EPIDEMIC!

thats what i meant. CRAP GIFTS W/NO THOUGHT!

give something useful this year. hell people will remember who gave it to them, and quite possibly make a situation a hell of alot easier.

example stupid as it is but i sure as hell would like one:

gerber knives(oregon) makes a hell of a nice little PAK-SHOVEL! not the full size nato version, but a packable shovel w/case. $30 some odd bucks. great for putting campfires out, covering yer poo, digging trenches around your tent etc.

gerber also makes some damn nice scissors. scissors? you say? think how many times you have to cut crap out in your shop for p-car projects or other projects and cant cut a damn thing w/the crap ones ya got.

tools! everybody likes tools. napa has some ratcheting wrench sets metric/standard dirt cheap and american made lifetime warranty.

how many people live in fire prone areas like us? perfect gift.......a NUPLA FIBERGLASS HANDLED PULASKI! and that leads to a stupid metal fire extinguisher. for yer vehicle or home. simple functional and not spendy.

a full size honest to god METAL BIG A$$ OIL DRAIN PAN for juan of yer p-car buddies. how many of us get earl spilled all over the garage every time we dump earl.

i can go on and on with ideas. but i'd really like to hear some off the wall over the top ideas jes fer grins. who knows it may become "the perfect gift" this year for someone you give a SH!! about.

it is all about giving and as much as i hate crowds/shopping it is fun to come up with unique ideas.

bout the only thing i enjoy about the malls.....................IS ALL THE 'LIL SOCCER MOMMIES (cougars) DRESSED TO KILL! tight sweaters drive me NUTS!


useful stuff. not junk!

X-mas? Bah!

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Last year my wife bought me one of those electronic dart boards. She knew I used to play and was very good at it before we were married. What she didn't realize that playing darts was something I did in a bar.
Also, I don't have any place to put the dart board up. The garage is full of cars and tools, there's no other good place to put it without making the place look like sanford and son.
So it sits in the box, still unopened after a year.
I'm about to become a re-gifter.

I think you might have misunderstood me.

First off, I did give it away. I wish I had thought of a chilldrens' home, although they'd need to have discs to play in it too.

As for the brat part- what I was saying was that Christmas really should be more about is just seeing family and celebrating another year gone by, seeing their kids grow up, etc. Instead, its to the point where if someone is coming to visit for Christmas you have to feel so pushed as to go out and buy anything you can think of. I'd seriously rather she didn't get it at all and just was happy to see me. In fact, she could have said she donated money to a childrens home and I would have thought it was awesome.

Ramm..you would really dislike my Mom.
what do want ? told her, as does everyone..
you get what she KNOWS you really want...nuff said

Wishing you and your lady..and the dog a Merry Christmas
Rika

I tell my boys that I don't want them to buy me anything. If they want to make me a card or just give me a hug then I'll be happy. Anything I really want I've bought so I don't want them wasting their money on me....






...until they're 21 and they can buy me a bottle of Scotch!