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!

"Thank you! Thank you! It's great! I love them! Super! I never would have thought to buy myself a set of pot-metal, made in China, pliers. They are perfect!"

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196459034.jpg

My choice for stocking stuffer, looking to cut my "manscaping" time in half. More time to surf Pelican BBS!!

All-in-one cordless grooming solution safely trims and shaves all body zones.
Men can trim and shave everywhere — chest and abs, underarms, groin area, legs, back and shoulders.
Long-lasting chromium stainless steel blades self-sharpen inside its protective hypoallergenic foil.
Comes with three attachment combs, shower cord (use wet or dry) and plug-in charging stand.
Runs on built-in rechargeable battery; a full charge gives you 50 minutes of cordless body grooming.

I'm scared to have vibating blades that close to my man parts.

well after going shopping w/g/friend, we came up with some ideas............


as in all familys you have "active" people and well to put it bluntly ......"slothful" individuals. for the more slower metabolizms we decided to get some homemade tamales(done this before) and to up the ante, a half gallon pail of "MACHACHA" beef. their outdoor activities pretty much include getting the mail and taking the trash out and making sure the TV remote is in a strategic position in the house. what the hell "lard " is a food group isnt it? along with this a coupla dozen homemade tortillas. damn good food, but guarranteed to put you asleep in a flash after eating. major "oink" food! yummmmmmy.

for the more scientific members we purchased a coupla of indoor outdoor, atomic time weather stations. wayyyyyy cool and will give you probably a better indication of upcoming weather than yer goofy a$$ weatherman on TV. extended forecast mode goes out 5 days. a whopping $35 bucks each.

for the more active members we got some "nalgene" bottles. cant screw these up and in the dez, who doesnt need water. these would also be a wonderful gift idea for any illegal aliens you may know planning on treking across the border this summer here. beat the hell out of crappy 1 gallon milk jugs that the top always comes off.

granite gear makes some really really cool lightweight tough "stuff sacks". these really come in handy and they have various styles/sizes and even compression sacks for bulky items like synthetic sleeper bags or jackets. cheap stocking stuffers and a good way to organize your backpack. material is thin so you can see what you have in them instead of opening up every single one of them looking for your secret decoder ring!

i bought the 28oz gerber shovel for myself and promptly proceeded as soon as i got it home, to take a nice chunk of skin off of my thumb while collapsing handle. bled like hell! but a nice lightweight stashable shovel none the less. $18 bucks and a bandaid.

for our family members in mongollon, new messiko, we bought completely enclosed "no-see-um" mosquito hammocks. during parts of summer skeeters and other annoying pesky airborne creatures inhabit the area by their creek bed. this will assure them a restful nap outside during those long dog days of summer. also got both of them mosquito head nets. wayyyy goofy looking but very effective. i own one and have used it extensively fishing on the colorado river at lees ferry and also on the upper san juan river in new messiko. both places mentioned are "blue water fisheries" and have MONSTER TROUTS! and a hell of a "no-seeum" population. work very well towards maintaining your sanity while popping the big juans out of the river.

while walking by gun dept. the smith and wesson model 329 4" barrel SCANDIUM frame lightweight .44 mag beckoned me over. didnt buy it, but sure is tempting for nice backpacker hand cannon. when dem pesky bears see that strapped in a shoulder rig on me...............they will be running fer dem dar hills! got a super duper smith 629 from smiths custom shop and nelson ford has done some work on it also. its stainless and dual magna ported and has a 6" barrel, but is wayyy tooo heavy to carry all day humping the dez or forest. so the scandium is a nice way to shave some weight, and still have some serious firepower. dont know if you can magna port scandium yet. something to look into.

and finally.........back to the "slothful members" stocking stuffers..........at the checkout we got some real honest to god "elk/deer/antelope/ jerky". they dont own guns, never will hunt, let alone go hump thru the forest or dez, so we decided to bring the game to them. simple and inexpensive.

thats it for now. its raining like hell here and my road is impassable and the major cross street is closed down due to flooding. HSR racing at PIR is obviously shutdown til track drys hopefully by sunday. lots of people come from out of state for this, bummer of a let down for them. if it drys out enough by sunday we will be there.

stay tuned for more goofy ass fabulous gift ideas!

I really don't want much of anything. All the stuff I honestly would like I think is way too expensive to ever be within the realm of appropriate insofar as asking someone else to get it for me. Stuff like the Pelican "peace of mind hydraulic tensioner kit" (at about $1,500), the elephant racing external oil lines and cooler setup (at about $2,000), a set of PMO carbs (at about $3,500), hell even a new set of tires is $600 or $700, etc, an air compressor (at about $1,000). No way I'd ever ask someone else to buy me a gift that expensive. If someone ever got me anything like that it'd be very awkward and I doubt I'd accept it anyway. Plus, P-cars are just a hobby of mine and I'd rather work for, earn and get it myself. Gifts to or from me have a limit of a couple hundred bucks for wife and immediate family and $25-$50 max. for anyone else. Anything else is just absurd. Some people really get carried away with this holiday stuff, which I see as just silly. What's the point in "doing something nice for someone" you hardly ever talk to, only to resent it for the next 10 months while you're struggling to pay it off? Simply crazy. I'd rather someone gave me a phone call - or a card. Whatever.

As far as practical gifts, again - same problem. Gift cards tend to get lost, mangled, or simply are a ploy to make the retailer more $$$ ultimately. They come off as a little bit thoughtless, although some people still like them, so maybe I'll GIVE some, but I won't ask for any.

I certainly don't need any stupid stuff. I don't re-gift, I simply take unwanted stuff down to Salvation Army - I figure someone will want it. There are literally years where I've taken 8 out of 10 gifts and given them away because they were just stupid or useless or would just end up sitting on a shelf for the next five years. I don't need stuff like that.

iPods? Maybe that's a good gift although I tend to shy away from electronics because it goes obsolete so quickly. Dunno. I might get one for the wifey anyway though. Jewelry is always good too. Maybe I'll just pay her car registration and insurance for the coming year again (pretty substantial gift, although not a "ooh! ahh!" sort of one. . .

Or just give me money. Or stock options. That's okay too. :)

Hmm, I can always come up with a list of stuff that I'd want. Guessing what other folks want is not my thing. I like to have a list from the folks that I buy for. I also suffer from most of the stuff that I want either being too expensive, or something that would require me to be at the purchase to get the right thing. Usually in the cheap realm, there are books and/or DVDs that I'd like.

Anyone who gives me cash is giving me the most practical, functional gift possible. Either that or booze

Chuck, You need to have a conversation with my outlaws.

As for your taste in outdoor equipment, will you adopt me?

I have 3 Gregory packs, MSR stuff (stove, water bag, filter) and nalgene bottles. All top notch.

Merry Christmas!!! Now we must drink.

I bought my wife a used CalSpa hot tub for Christmas. My coworker wanted to sell it and my wife has always wanted one. I'm working on it right now so she'll be able to use it before Christmas. I try to get my family/friends the things they really want, if I can.

I'm getting off pretty cheap this year. The wife is getting a big wine bottle cooler and some little stuff like DVD's, books, etc. Funny thing about the wine cooler, I went to Costco to see what they had. There was (1) 42 bottle cooler for $1,200. Seemed a tad steep. I went to Lowe's today and they had 10 plus. I picked up a Frigidare 60 bottle cooler for $599. First time a big item was not cheap at Costco.

Her B-Day and our 1st wedding anniversary are coming up so I need to save my pennies. I doubt that anything but the shiny stuff will do.

My son is getting a new PC (he's 16) and my daughter is getting her 1st iPod (she's 12). This Christmas is more low-key than usual due to some family issues (not our immediate family). One of my family member's has a mental illness and it's causing much trouble with the family. I guess we should just be more thankful and less focused on gifts...

Shameless plug for a good deal
 

The brokerage I work for is promoting the idea of buying stock in local companies to give as a gift this Christmas instead of the "Hot" toy. Therefore, if a the giver or receiver of the stock is a resident of Oklahoma, we are waving all fees and commissions on the trades. Big kicker is NO MINIMUM and a "gift certificate" to give the recipient at Christmas.

For example: Consider that the X-Box was 2001’s hot item with a List Price of $319.95. That same amount could have been used as a Gift of about 55 Shares of Chesapeake Energy. Today, the X-Box is long gone and the CHK is worth $2090 (that’s simply 55 Shares times the recent $38 Market Price and does not include any Dividends). This would have been a truly practical gift.

Don't forget to talk to your accountant about possible tax benefits as well.

CYA Statement: This is not an offer to buy or sell any securities and should be used only for informational purposes.

Chuck, Vasque boots.

i like the stock idea. well after the DELUGE here 3.5inches fri/sat and getting nailed with rain going to grocery store and doing local recon of washes, i was going cabin crazy. snuck out at about 330pm sat kinda looking clear outside. went to local aj's for some of the finer things in life, typical bachelor food ie. instant gratification stuff. you know albacore tuna/fresh tamales/buffalo chicken breasts/crab stuffed portobellos mmmmm! came out to the DELUGE again. got drenched...........I MEAN ******* DRENCHED! was wearing north face down vest..............NOT WATERPROOF! i was soaked from store door to truck to the skin.

had to backwash my pool twice water up to bond beam. anyway...........buying somebody you care about a honest to god waterproof anything is a damn good idea. not like i dont have waterproof stuff, but i should have brought something to store with me.

patagonia / marmot/ sierra designs/north face, all make some really nice packable stuffable/compactable rain jackets and rain pants. not the heavy gauge snow type material. my marmot pre-cip jacket was around a 100 bucks and the pants like 75 bucks. easily stowable in vehicle. just remember to buy big enough to fit any down vests or jackets under. with a little care and less tamales they should last a lifetime. and all offer a lifetime warranty on their gear.

it rained so much here there is no way in hell i will get p-car down my road to main street let alone drive down main street due to debris.

i want santa and the u.s. army corp of engineers to pave my road and bridge all washes that flow across all roads around me!

maybe a nice john deere tractor w/bucket /gannon combo as a stocking stuffer! LOL!

Asked my wife for several pairs of pants. Including lined ones for the winter. And a book, that she has probably forgotten about so I'll "buy it for her to give to me." Something we do often.

Other than that, I am not interested in personally getting much for XMas. We are thinking about some family purchases - new flat-panel TV (getting tired of the old CRT), Wii console for the kids (already got the console, need some games etc now), etc.

But I am not in a consumer mood right now, and when I am it seldom coincides with XMas. I basically seldom want anything but larger-ticket things (I mean, things from $1,000 to $10,000) and I sure don't want anyone else doing the research and making the choices for me. How in the world would my wife know which target pistol I want, for example.

Increasingly, in our house, XMas is for the kids.

books are always cool. be it p-car books or others. 3 i have just finished that i really enjoyed and highly endorse are : keith moons book, pattie boyd(g.harrisons wife), and claptons new book(boyd also claptons wife ie.layla).

for you trivia kinda guys guess who had the HONOR? of living next to keith moon in malibu?????????


STEVE McQUEEN! yep and old steve just about kicked moons ass over an arguement moon had w/chad mcqueen!

another tidbit: all three boyd, harrison, and clapton vacationed on BARBADOS!

but all three books show substance abuse (bad in and of itself) attached to an incredible income which made it not just worse for all three but fatal for one(moon) and damn near for the other two characters.

YOU WILL NEVER LISTEN TO HARRISON NOR CLAPTON THE SAME AFTER READING THEIR BOOKS! moon was pretty much already known for his antics, but the others have some dark skeletons in their closets, that really will astound you.

yesterdays gift idea for my worthless as SH!! wolf/weimereiner "throttle" was a $5 dollar doggie "ELF" suit, a chewy toy, and best of all..........A SIX-PAK OF WILSON TENNIS BALLS on sale at target!

next xmas gift mission..............wandering the perfume aisles, eyeballing the sweet nubile counter girls thru my dark sunglasses in search of : IZZY MIACHI(sp) perfume.

man i'll have fun with this one................of course until i have to pay for this wayyyyyyyy overpriced stink juice!