2020 Holiday Hiking Gear Guide: 23 Great Hiking Gifts
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Affiliate Disclaimer: The following article contains affiliate links. Anytime you click these links and buy something, I get a cut of the cash flow. It’s mutually beneficial, see? You get some awesome holiday hiking gifts, and I get to eat food again.
Update 8/30/2019: Post Totally Overhauled.
What’s the best thing about the holidays? No, it’s not the warm, loving feeling of spending time with friends and family, and it’s not the opportunity to reflect on the past year. It’s definitely not the traffic…
It’s the stuff! All the material items being freely passed around. Duh!
And what better way to show your love and appreciation for the hikers on your gift-giving list by getting them the best stuff. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, or some non-denominational annual gift giving event, these are the best jackets, electronics, gadgets, and outdoor gear to outfit your hiking giftee.
All of the gear listed hence has been meticulously time tested by our dedicated staff of outdoor enthusiasts. It’s all quality stuff, and represent some of the best gear for every hiking trail. This is the stuff that’s sure to bring a smile to any hiker’s face.
Hiking Gifts under $50
On a tight budget, but want to get the best gear for the price? Let us help you get the best hiking gifts that don’t break the bank.
Ahh Gift Cards. Nothing wrong with gift cards. To me, giving someone a gift card is like telling them “I respect you enough to make your own decisions”. It’s a message respecting their autonomy.
With the huge assortment of hiking gear out there, what better than to let the hiker choose? A Gift card to REI-America’s largest purveyor of outdoor goods, will be better than buying them a pair of boots that doesn’t fit, or a fleece that’s too warm.
Alternatively, Backcountry is an equally awesome gear retailer. They offer cards up to a $500 value. Either way, these cards will give your hiker the freedom to buy whatever they want. I’ve always appreciated a good Gift Card, and I’m sure that other outdoor enthusiasts would as well.
Buff Neck Gaiter-The Original Multifunctional Headwear
The best hiking gear can do anything. Hugely popular, lightweight, and versatile, the The Buff Neck Gaiter can fulfill many important roles. It’s so useful that we rarely leave home without it, even to just buy groceries.
This simple, stretchy, tube shaped neck gaiter wears many hats: it provides UPF 50+ rated sun protection, warmth and wind shielding, insect protection, and can even be a used to tie back long hair. In a pinch, the Buff can even be used as an improvised face mask. With so many uses, any hiker will be happy to receive a Buff neck gaiter this holiday season.
The REI Flash 22 Pack is easily the best value hiking Daypack available. Within it’s lightweight, compact design is a bevy of useful features. For under $50, this is an incredibly versatile Daypack. To learn more about the Flash 22, check out our in depth review! (Spoiler Alert: We loved it!)
Whether day hiking, or backpacking, a gas powered, lightweight stove is always useful to pack along. I can recall numerous times, at the end of a long hike, where I’ve brewed up a cup of tea using my MSR PocketRocket.
It’s small, compact, lightweight, and fits on the top of a can of camp gas. And, costing just $45, the PocketRocket is a very budget minded hiking gift idea.
Wildly Good, a small yet fast growing company from Massachusetts, makes a great pair of hiking socks. They create comfortable, durable, and stink free hiking socks out of Merino Wool. Their quality rivals that of any other hiking sock, and each pair is made with care.
Best of all, Wildly Good makes all of their gear in the USA. By purchasing a pair of Wildly Good socks, you are helping to support local jobs, and buying a sustainable product.
Since hikers spend all day putting heavy miles on their hiking socks, why don’t you get them the best Merino Wool socks that money can buy?
In all of the beautiful wilderness hiking areas of all the world, one thing holds true: no matter where a hiker is, they can always use a reliable GPS to find their way. With the help of satellites communication technology, adventurers can find out where they are, figure where they are going, where they have been, and perhaps most importantly, communicate with people in the outside world. A good GPS device is essential to safe hiking.
The problem? Many dedicated GPS devices are prohibitively expensive. A typical GPS handheld retails for hundreds of dollars, and a yearly subscription for much more. Many can’t spare the cost.
Gaia GPS is an amazing GPS smartphone app, packing in tons of awesome features into a compact, easy to use design. The app uses the smartphones built in GPS features to geolocate it’s user anywhere in the world-even in regions with poor cell phone service!
For a fraction of the cost of a traditional GPS device, Gaia GPS can be used to track hiking progress, check elevation, and to find nearby hiking trails. Gaia includes hundreds of customize-able maps, and graphic overlays to help hikers plan their trips, find camping spots, and more!
Available for both Apple iOS and Android Phones, Gaia GPS is constantly being updated by a dedicated team of engineers. Hikers love it, as do hunters, campers, overlanders, and rock climbers! We use it to keep a spatial “journal” of all of our hiking adventures, to mark climbing areas, and to find new places to explore.
Just for our readers, click on this link, or the banner below to receive an awesome discount on Gaia GPS! This holiday season, help a hiker find their way.
Clothing and Outerwear
Here are some selections of our favorite hiking clothing. With a piece designed for any and all weather conditions, these options will allow your hiker to adventure anywhere, anytime.
Marmot PreCip-A Lightweight Rain Jacket
The Marmot Precip-An affordable Hard Shell Jacket Perfect for Rainy Hiking Conditions. Click Image to see the Marmot PreCip Eco!
When Hiking in the Wilderness, it is important to be prepared with protection from the weather. Bringing along a lightweight, packable rain jacket like the Marmot PreCip will keep you warm and dry when the weather turns bad.
The Marmot PreCip packs into it’s own pocket, and can be stowed away in a backpack until you need it most. Pit zips help to keep you ventilated when on the move. Of all the hardshell jackets, the Marmot PreCip represents the best ratio of price to weight and features.
The only surefire way to protect yourself from sun exposure is to wear UV resistant clothing. Too many people mistakenly believe that wearing sunscreen is enough to protect themselves. Perhaps this misconception is why so many people are getting skin cancer.
Protect yourself, and get a good Sun Hoody. My favorite is the Patagonia Capilene Cool Daily Hoody. Aside from looking dorky, sun hoodies will protect your entire upper body from the sun, all while breathing well, weighing little, and drying quickly.
Fair skinned, sensitive hikers (like me) should pay extra attention. We burn easily. I wear a sun hoody all the time, along with long pants. Pasty I may be, but I refuse to get skin cancer.
Arc’teryx Atom LT-Our Favorite Lightweight Down Jacket
Every hiker needs a good Down Jacket. Whether You’re hiking in Winter, the shoulder seasons, or you’re up in the Alpine, a down jacket is a necessity to keep you warm when the temperature begins to drop.
Of all the down jacket options on the market, I recommend the Arc’Teryx Atom LT.The Atom LT comes full of features, including fleece side panels to enhance, and a helmet compatible hood
For extra warmth, the Atom LT’s front pockets are designed with fleece lining. And, in my opinion, this jacket has a very flattering fit.
Click Image to find the Patagonia R1 on Backcountry!
Weather does weird things in the mountains. It can get cold real quick. Summer days may be warm, even oppressively hot at times, but conditions can turn on a dime. Hikers need to be prepared for anything-from hot, sunny days, to near freezing night time temperatures.
It’s not feasible to always lug a big jacket up a mountain. Doubly so if the weather is predicted to be nice and comfortable. But for those moments when you risk shivering away in your shorts, you’ll wish that you had the right clothing.
Forget the weight and the bulk. This is the 21st century, where consumer goods have been revolutionized by the space age. Hikers have no excuse to not bring along the proper technical clothing. Pack along a lightweight fleece-one that can live safely in your pack, but can be busted out when the conditions go awry.
You can where them over a tee shirt, under a rain shell, or on their own. Lovely and technical are these clothing articles, but they add just the right amount of protection from the elements when you need it most. They’re so light, you’ll hardly notice them in your pack until you need them.
Popular options are offered by just about every outdoor gear company in the whole world. In Yosemite, you’ll most often see folks touting the Patagonia R1, or the Melanzana Microgrid Fleece (to read more about these two fleeces, check out our article comparing and contrasting the two ). No matter which you choose to take along on your hike, the peace of mind they offer is invaluable.
Have you ever purchased a season pass for a theme park, or maybe a ski resort? You probably saved a ton of cash on entrance fees.
The America the Beautiful Access Pass guarantees a years worth of admission to all National Parks, and National Monuments, and covers all day use fees in National Forests, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recreation areas.
For $80, the America the Beautiful pass covers the entrance costs for one vehicle, with up to four passengers. When you consider that most National Parks charge $30 to get in, the costs begin to rack up fast. If the America the Beautiful Pass is used just three times, it pays for itself.
What better than to bestow a gift that saves money? The America the Beautiful pass is a gift that keeps on giving.
It’s 2020, and the world is rapidly changing. One thing is for sure, though- a Face Mask is the most important, must have item. In the age of Coronavirus, a mask protects you, and everyone around you. If nothing else, get your hiker the Outdoor Research Essential Face Mask Kit. For the good of us all, your hiker will appreciate these comfortable, form fitting face masks. This mask even come with changeable filters, perfect for keeping the mask hygienic and effective.
I never Leave Home Without My Trusty Headlamp. Click the Image to Check Price.
A headlamp, or as they say in Great Britain, a headtorch, is another essential piece of hiking gear. Every hiker needs one. When your hike is long, and the sun is quickly dipping below the horizon, a headlamp will be your key to safely getting back to your warm tent.
I use the Petzl Tikka Headlamp. It is lightweight, bright, has multiple color and strobe modes, and looks like a Jolly Rancher strapped to your forehead.
At some point in every hiker’s life, we get backpacking-curious. Day hikes, as enjoyable as they are, leave something to be desired. Instead, the idea of spending a night or two out in the wilderness suddenly becomes more appealing.
Wilderness Backpacking-the activity of packing in a whole mess of lightweight camping, hiking, and cooking gear, is often times the next step in a hiker’s journey. Some just enjoy simple overnight excursions in their National Forest, while other will spend months at a time thru hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Regardless, the new backpacker is going to need, well, um a backpack to fit all of their stuff. We highly recommend the Osprey Atmos 65 (for Men), and the Osprey Aura 65 (for women) for a beginner’s hiking backpack.
Each Osprey Atmos/Aura pack is high quality, reasonably priced, and has enough storage capacity to accommodate any backpacking gear. Each pack features plenty of user-friendly features, and are backed by Osprey’s Almighty Guarantee.
The Osprey Atmos/Aura AG series of packs provides a solid introductory point to backpacking. If your giftee is at all interested in wilderness backpacking, then the Atmos/Aura AG would be highly welcomed, were sure.
Nalgene Water Bottle-Hydrate Before You Die-Drate!
Click Image to Check Price
Well prepared hikers will always bring along a reusable water bottle. There are many excellent reasons to do so, ranging from convenience, to frugality, to being environmentally conscious. No matter your motivations, bringing a reusable water bottle along on your hike is a practical choice.
I like to use Nalgenes. Nalgene water bottles are BPA free, touted as being shatter proof, lightweight, and are a great place to put all your stickers. They are also cheap, and easily replaceable. I have one on me at all times. Like my headlamp, I am rarely seen without it.
On your hike, water is going to be your most important resource. Dehydration and heat stroke regularly kills or otherwise incapacitates hikers. Often times, these incidents are a result of hikers being ill prepared-underestimating their water requirements.
Outdoor water purification is available in two varieties: mechanical, and chemical. Mechanical filters work by physically removing pathogens and impurities from the water. Chemical purification uses the magic of science to neutralize pathogens.
It doesn’t matter which you choose, so long as you have some way to get clean drinking water from the environment. You should have it on your person at all times-even on simple, well marked day hikes. I was reminded of this fact when I hiked Upper Yosemite Falls Trail. I did not bring enough water, and ran out near the end.
For a Mechanical Filter, I recommend the Sawyer Squeeze. If I reach for a chemical purifier, then I’ll pick Aquamira.
Trekking Poles May Save You From a Twisted Ankle or Two
Terrain and conditions can vary wildly from hike to hike, and season to season. Some trails are rocky, some are a tricky scramble, and others are sometimes submerged. All are beautiful, but regardless of which trails you choose to tackle, stability is important to consider when planning a safe hike.
A popular, and dare I say essential tool is a pair of trekking poles. Chances are good that you’ve seen them in stores. They are collapsible, metal poles, topped with hand grips. You’ll see many people using them throughout National Parks, and Public Lands.
Trekking Poles work by acting as an extra pair of legs. You shift some of your weight onto your trekking poles, thereby helping to distribute the load.
Regardless of which pair of poles that you choose to use, make sure that they are the right length for your body type, and that they fit comfortable in your hands. Otherwise, you can’t go wrong with trekking poles.
Our Recommendation: The Black Diamond Trail Back Trekking Poles
Ranked high as an essential hiking item is a good First Aid Kit. No, I’m not talking about the Swedish Indie Folk Duo. I’m talking about a pre-made kit packed with bandages, tape, ointment, band-aids, and analgesics.
On rocky, uneven trails, twisted ankles are common. Even if medical help is nearby, and though trained rangers sometimes patrol trails, a First Aid Kit will see you through the day. You can either pack your own, or purchase a premade one. A good first aid kit will include bandages, band aids, light analgesics, and some Nitrile gloves.
Just as important as having a First Aid Kit is knowing how to use one. Lacking knowledge in first aid and wilderness medicine will not help when an injury occurs. We at Hike The Planet believe that anyone who spends time in the outdoors should know how to respond to urgent medical issues.
First Aid, Wilderness First Responder (WFR), and Wilderness EMT are some of the many classes available that can teach wilderness medicine skills. If you’d like to learn more about our experience taking a Wilderness EMT class, check out our write up.
The Garmin InReach Explorer+ GPS handheld represents the best in outdoor communication technology. In even the most remote parts of the globe, hikers can get a fix on their location. More accurate than any smartphone app, the Garmin InReach Explorer+ is packed full of useful features for any hiking enthusiast.
If you want your hiker to be the safest they can be, the Garmin InReach+ is the solution. In this lightweight device, hikers get access to:
Preloaded topographic maps
Built in Barometer and Compass features
Create Tracks and Add Waypoints
An Emergency SOS beacon for 24/7 365 preparedness.
Rugged, weather and water resistant body.
Real time location sharing and messaging features.
With a monthly subscription, the Garmin InReach provides global peace of mind, anywhere, anytime.
Hikers can shoot live action footage of all of their awesome hikes with the GoPro HERO8 Waterproof Action camera. Strap it to a helmet or headband so that your giftee can shoot a first person view of their adventures, or attach it to a selfie stick to create breathtaking vlogs.
The GoPro HERO8 pairs well with a trip to Yosemite National Park, or maybe a journey into the deserts of the southwest. It can all be captured in stunning 4K with the GoPro HERO8. Included in this bundle is a head strap, portable tripod, 32gb memory card, and two rechargeable batteries. Basically, everything needed to get the most out of the GoPro.
Just because you’re hiking off the grid, doesn’t mean that you have to leave electricity behind, too. With the Goal Zero Nomad 20 Portable Solar Panel, harness the power of the sun to keep all of your hiking electronics charged and ready to go.
Combined with the Goal Zero Sherpa 40 Power Bank (listed below), the Nomad 20 can refill phone batteries, cameras, lanterns, flashlight, tablets, and more. Full sunlight exposure can charge a battery pack in a matter of hours, letting hikers make the most of their outdoor adventures.
The Nomad 20 Solar Panel folds up, and fits right into a backpack. At only 2.2 lbs, this Solar Panel is highly portable. Strap it to a backpack to charge while hiking, or leave it in a sunny spot on a break. In this day and age, having a ready power source is essential.
Goal Zero Sherpa 40 Recharger-The Best Battery Pack for Hiking and Backpacking
Personal Electronics can greatly enhance the hiking experience. Smartphones, cameras, and GPS devices allow a more dynamic outdoor adventure than ever before. To keep your devices charged and usable in the backcountry, a portable battery pack is essential.
My favorite battery pack is the Goal Zero Sherpa 40 Recharger . I pack the Goal Zero Sherpa along on long hikes, backpacking trips, and even alpine climbs. In a pinch, I can charge my smartphone and power batteries.
The Sherpa is USB rechargeable, and holds enough power to recharge my phone (and friends phones) several times over. Simply place the Sherpa 40 into the top lid of any pack, and charge away!
To accurately describe the alpine, just throw the dictionary at it. Beautiful, pleasant, majestic, overpriced, squirrel-ridden. All are good descriptors, but here’s one that you might not expect: highly reflective.
The mountains can be a bright place. There’s a lot of sunshine up here. When it hits smooth, glassy rock, the light assaults your eyeballs. Add in the occasional blanket of fresh snow, and you’ve got a retina-scorching albedo .
Take it from this squinting hiker- hike with sunglasses. At the very least, you’ll enjoy your hike more when you’re not trying to keep the sun from obscuring the view. For those taking to the high country, wearing a good pair of polarized, UV resistant sunglasses will save you from snow blindness.
There are a lot of expensive sunglasses brands out on the market. Fortunately for us savvy consumers, middle of the road, budget shades are available. Personally, I prefer Suncloud Optics. They make quality, durable sunglasses that can often be had for less than the cost of a national parks pass. Their sunglasses come in many stylish designs, allowing you to seamlessly move from the trail to the bar.
Timothy started Hike The Planet! as a Fun Way to Scratch His Creative Itch. Timothy is a Rock Climber, Thru Hiker, and Aspiring Trail Runner. He Has Lived and Traveled Throughout the Southwest, but Currently Makes His Home in Southern California.
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