It’s the season of celebrating, and this time of year wouldn’t be complete without giving that special hiking partner in your life a gift for them to enjoy out in the boonies. While it can be hard to buy gear for others without knowing just how light they want to keep their kit, here are a few items we here at Six Moon Designs think will keep a smile on any outdoor user’s face.
Gifts under $25
Nite Ize gear ties $5-$6
The Nite Ize Gear Tie are a rubber coated twist tie that come in various sizes. I first discovered them as way to manage all the cables I must carry for charging devices, and they work great. Then one day my hiking partner FeMike said, “you know if you get the 18” one it’s a great way to hang your gravity filter system on trail”. Mind blown and now my go to way to hang water in the backcountry
Nite Ize Moonlit Micro Lantern $10
This little 19g light is a perfect way to illuminate the inside of your shelter during the long evenings of shoulder season. With a 360 swivel an integrated hook to hang from inside the tent, this little lamp is great for reading and will save that precious headlamp battery for the miles you may want to hike in the dark.
Lets’ face it any shelter you take out on the trail is going to require stakes, so why not grab a shiny new 6 pack to get you out there in style. If you’re like me, you probably bent and broke a few stakes this past season when you tried to use that rock to hammer a stake into some hard packed or rocky soil.
Tyvek Footprint $14 - $16
If you want to avoid having to dumpster dive at the job site of that new home being built by you for a few Tyvek scraps, we got you covered. Our non-printed Tyvek is a great lightweight and durable choice to use as a groundsheet while cowboy camping or under your shelter to help extend the life of the floor. Available in both small and large sizes, this little ground cover is sure to keep you and your inflatable pad happy.
Want to use an umbrella while hiking but also use trekking poles? Being ever the problem solver years ago I started making these hands-free kits for myself, and over the past 3+ years we have been happy to share them with our customers. Weighing just 10g and only costing $10 it’s a great gift or stocking stuffer
TOAKS Long Handle Spoon with Polished Bowl $11
I have been using the same Toaks spoon since 2016, that shiny piece of titanium has a pile of miles on it and its long length makes scooping every morsel out of the bottom of a freezer bag a breeze. I personally love the polished bowl as it feels better in my mouth and makes scrapping the cheese from my lasagna off an easy task.
Cnoc Vecto 3L $25
From the Oregon Desert Trail in 2018 to the Northern NM Loop in 2022 and slew of miles and hikes between these hikes, the Vecto has proven to be a fantastic option for water capacity. Generally, I carry 2 of these and use them for my gravity filter. They roll up small, are super easy to fill up and are light. A perfect gift for that desert rat in your life who thinks a 25-30 mile water carry is no biggie.
My mind is still blown away by how good this food is, seriously it’s the best stuff I have cooked on trail in years. Available in 5 flavors Heart Beef Bolognese, Backcountry Chili, Chicken Alfredo Pasta, Chicken Coconut Curry, and General Tsoys Mountain Rice, there is sure to be a meal that your taste buds will love.
Deuce of Spades $20
When nature calls, and it will, you need to have a good way to dig that cat hole in the backcountry. The Deuce of spades in the perfect ultralight trowel, weighing just 17g and available in a variety of colors this crappy gift may be the most useful one someone receives this year. If they need to know how to use it check out video.
Gifts Under $50
Silver Shadow Family of Umbrellas $35-$45
When the sun is blazing down on you in the desert or the rain is chilling you to the bone in the Appalachians, and umbrella is an awesome piece of gear. With 3 models to choose from the Silver Shadow, Silver Shadow Mini, and Silver Shadow Carbon there is an umbrella for every possibly condition form heavy rain and lightning to travel abroad.
Just like my spoon my Toaks 900ml D115 pot has been with me on every hike since 2016. This ultralight pot has a wider bottom making it more stable on a canister stove, and bonus it holds an 8oz iso fuel canister perfectly. I also love that when I do cook in my pot there is plenty of room to do so.
SMD packing pods $40-$45
A favorite among any outdoor enthusiast or traveler, these lightweight packing pods make organizing your kit a breeze. Utilizing waterproof fabric and taped seams these packing pods are splash proof and weigh nearly nothing. I personally love the large size for my food bag on trail, being able to open 3 side makes finding my next snack a breeze. Available in either a 3 pack of mixed sizes or a 3 pack of the large size, anyone getting these for a gift will be stoked.
A knife may not be the first thing you think of for a holiday gift, but who doesn’t love a great lightweight pocketknife. The Gerber Sharkbelly features a 3.25” long blade in either straight edge or partially serrated. Paired with the SharkSkin GripTM this little knife is ready to cut some cord when needed and it’s also great for cutting the cheese during a break on trail.
Weighing just 3oz the Sawyer Squeeze is the perfect water filter and trusted by countless thru-hikers year after year. With the ability to be screwed on a bottle, run as an inline filter on a hydration pack, or rigged up as a gravity filter (my prefernce), this simple filter will be a hit this holiday.
Big Ticket Items
This cross-body satchel is any traveler’s dream. Designed to hold all of your electronic on the go and rich in features, this bag Is ready to see the world with you. Made using the same great X-Pack and LiteSkin fabrics as our backpacks, this modern piece of tech is a great gift. I know more than a few people who use it as their purse, and I absolutely love mine when on the go form airport to airport.
Garmin inReach Mini2 $400
The most expensive gift on the list is the latest piece of tech form Garmin, the inReach Mini 2. At just 100g (3.5oz) this little wonder will help keep your favorite hiker connected with home, and provide piece of mind knowing they can call for help in a life-or-death emergency. Sure it’s $400, but how can one put a value on their favorite hiker’s life.
Skyscape Scout $160
A one-person tent that cost less than $200 and has traveled on the major US trails, the Skyscape Scout is an amazing value, and rad gift. Using the same design as our Skyscape Trekker the Scout version utilizes a more cost-effective fabric, and is slightly heavier, but for the money it can’t be beat. Have a scout in your life needing a tent for this summer? The Skyscape Scout is a perfect gift.
Lunar Solo $250
Our award winning 1 person shelter has a cult like following for good reason. Weight just 26oz and providing 24 sqft of floorspace, the Lunar Solo is a generous 1-person tent. Designed to be sturdy and weathertight no matter what the conditions, this shelter I ready to tackle your next weekend away or a thru-hike of the PCT. Give the gift of ultralight this year, it’s sure to make the recipient one happy camper.
Owyhee $295
My favorite tarp we make and the one that I have carried on 2 thru-hikes now, the Owyhee is a palatial 2-person tarp. With full permitter netting this tarp is not only massive inside it also keeps the bugs away. With a built-in clothesline and gear loft, it’s easy to keep the necessities close at hand and dry pout your socks while you sleep. A great gift for a single hiker or hiking couple you are looking to give the perfect gift to.
Haven Bundle $335
Tipping the scale right around the 2-pound mark, the Haven Bundle is an amazing value in an ultralight 2 person shelter double wall shelter. By utilizing both the Haven Tarp and Haven Net Tent, this double wall beauty has amazing condensation management, and a ton of room inside for 2 people. What really sets this shelter apart though from the competition is the ability to use either the inner or the outer as a stand-alone shelter. While we sell it a s a 2-perosn shelter I know a few thru-hikers who told me they used it as a solos shelter because they just loved how much room they had to spread out at night.
Ursack Major-Bear Resistant Food Sack $100
Whenever I travel into Grizzly country, I make sure to bring along my Ursack, so that I can safely sleep at night with my food secure a few hundred yards away. Made of high performance UHMWP fabric, this bag is soft, pliable and fits much easier in your pack than bear canister. Grab one for that hiking partner who travel in black bear and grizzly country so their food will safe and they can sleep at night.
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