[charleskieffner]

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!