Our overlander’s 2020 gift guide aims to take some of the stress out of shopping. Instead of frantically clicking the purchase button on Amazon a week before Christmas (or Hannukah, or Kwanzaa, or Festivus…), you can take a more leisurely approach and get your loved ones some thoughtful and useful gifts. In this article, you will find a selection of outdoor and camp gear gift ideas, all priced at or below $200. Happy shopping.
Benchmade 535 Bugout
Benchmade creates high-quality, made-in-the-USA knives that are built to last. And if you ever find your knife getting dull or sluggish to open, they will clean it and sharpen it to a factory edge. In addition to this service, all of their knives are under warranty against defects for the length of ownership. The 535 Bugout is one of their newer offerings. It’s an ultralight folding EDC pocket knife with ambidextrous features and a pocket clip. It’s also customizable on the Benchmade website.
$150 | Benchmade
Hults Bruk Agdor 28 Axe
An axe is one of those indispensable camp tools that is bound to come in handy. Whether the task is splitting wood for a campfire or pounding tent stakes into hard ground, the humble axe is the answer. The Agdor 28 from Hults Bruk of Sweden is a 3.8-pound, general-purpose axe, perfect for limbing downed trees, splitting small rounds, or making kindling. The 28-inch-long hickory handle is attached to a specially tempered head which will hold an edge, even after many sharpenings.
$109 | Hults Bruk
Planetary Design Airscape Ceramic Coffee Container
Are there any coffee enthusiasts in here? Making a great cup of coffee begins with high-quality beans, and if you are storing your coffee in a plastic container, now’s the time to make a change. Enter the Airscape ceramic coffee container. This glazed, ceramic container paired with Planetary’s patented Airscape lid not only looks great but will help keep your beans fresher for a tastier cup.
$31-$35 | Planetary Design
Fjällräven Ulvö 30 Backpack
A quality backpack is a prerequisite for any adventure, and the Ulvö 30 fits the bill nicely. It’s made from a proprietary fabric called Bergshell which is waterproof and hard-wearing. It utilizes 30% percent recycled nylon in its construction, has a padded laptop sleeve (15-inches), and offers 30 liters of volume for all of your essentials.
$150 | Fjällräven
Primus Klunken Vacuum Stainless Bottle
Because so much of the human body is made of water, proper hydration is essential for feeling your best; maintaining proper blood pressure, boosting physical performance during exercise, and helping your joints stay lubricated are just a few benefits. The Klunken makes hydrating on the trail or anywhere you go easy. It keeps 17 ounces of liquid hot or cold for extended periods of time, and it’s made from 18/8 stainless steel so that it won’t impart any taste to your drinks. The powder-coated finish and lid with cork accents are quite pleasing to the eye.
$30 | Primus
LiteChaser Polar Pro iPhone 12 Case
If you are looking to maximize the abilities of the iPhone 12 camera, the Polar Pro kit will give you the tools for the job. The protective phone case is compatible with Moment camera filters and incorporates a removable, modular grip with a Bluetooth shutter button. A range of mobile-optimized filters like a circular polarizer, neutral density, or diffusion filter from Polar easily attach to form a complete mobile photography solution. The phone case is MagSafe compatible.
$75+ | Polar Pro
Aerostich Slender Handlebar Mount USB Port
This simple handlebar-mounted USB plug attaches next to the left side handgrip on your motorcycle. It has a plug cover, is water-resistant, and will fit handlebars that are 1 inch or 7/8 inch in diameter.
$49 | Aerostich
Warn Industries Hub Wireless Winch Control
In an effort to give customers what they have been asking for, Warn has released the new Hub, compatible with a selection of their (and some other manufacturer’s) vehicle winches. After installing the Bluetooth receiver under the hood of your vehicle and downloading the free smartphone app, users can wirelessly control their winch from up to 100 feet away. Gone are the days of lost or damaged winch remotes (keep one around just in case). In addition to wireless control, the app monitors your vehicle’s battery voltage, and on some winches, can provide winch load and motor temperature details.
$112+ | Warn
onX Offroad App
Here’s a great gift idea for the overlanding enthusiasts in your life who don’t need more stuff. A subscription to the onX Offroad app is an excellent way to provide useful navigation tools that will work on most smartphones. There is an incredible selection of layers and tools, including land ownership, trails with detailed descriptions, campsites, downloadable map layers for offline use, and much more more. You can even use onX Offroad to create custom waypoints and track your route, making it much easier to navigate back to camp or wherever else you might want to go.
$30/year | onX Offroad
OtterBox Fast Charge Qi Wireless Power Bank
Portable power banks can help keep your phone running all day, especially when you find yourself using high-energy consuming apps that require GPS or big transfers of data. Otterbox’s power bank keeps you juiced up with USB A and C ports and additionally incorporates a Qi wireless charging pad, allowing you to charge select compatible devices without the need for power cords. Available in multiple capacities.
$50 | Otterbox
Vasque Women’s Clarion ’88 GTX Boots
The classic style of these Vasque boots is timeless and perfect when you leave your rig to explore on foot. The GTX stands for Gore-Tex, the waterproof breathable membrane in these boots that keeps your feet dry when dashing through puddles or escaping a quick thunderstorm. Also available in men’s sizes.
$160 | Vasque
Last US Bag Company Waximillion Tool Roll
Here’s another great, made-in-the-USA manufacturer of high-quality sewn goods. The Last US Bag Company designs and produces heavy-lift industrial bags as well as recreational gear for enjoying the outdoors and the trail. Their Waximillion is a 10-slot sewn tool organizer with a folding safety flap. It’s made from waxed cotton twill, and once it’s rolled up, it secures with a D-ring and webbing closure.
$30 | Last US Bag Company
Trail Gear Fluid Carriers
If there’s one certainty in my life, it’s that I’ll need to put at least one quart of oil in my 50- year-old vehicle every time I head out for a road trip. While my quarts of extra oil are all stashed behind seats or bouncing around loose in my trunk, you will be much more organized with these fluid carriers. It’s a simple yet elegant solution for securing extra quarts wherever you decide you want them.
$39 | Trail Gear
Overland Journal Field Sets
We’re definitely a little biased here, but we think that the Overland Journal field sets would make an incredible gift for your loved one this holiday season. Get Overland Journal collections from previous years, beautifully-printed and perfect-bound. Enjoy the photography and stories from this distinguished magazine in issues going back as far as 2009. You can even get our collector’s set which includes every issue from 2007 to 2017 (though that one’s gonna cost you a little bit more).
$70-$85 | Overland Journal
Overland Journal FJ40 T-shirt
The FJ40 T-shirt will help you show your appreciation for the classic, the simple, the lovable Land Cruiser. The refined line drawing with vehicle measurements is printed on a Bella Canvas T-shirt made from ring-spun cotton. Printed in the USA.
$26 | Overland Journal
Hestra Wakayama Gloves
Hestra has been making gloves in Sweden since 1936, and their Wakayama fits in somewhere between a ski-specific glove and a lightweight lifestyle glove, durable enough to ski in but refined enough for driving or daily use. This supple and exceptionally soft leather glove has a wool terry lining and an adjustable wrist with paracord drawstring and comes in a variety of bold colors.
$150 | Hestra
Darn Tough Hike/Trek Socks
Darn Tough socks are well-known in the world of outdoor recreation for their lifetime warranty. Yes, a lifetime warranty on socks. They’re made in Vermont by a team that does all of the things that these socks are designed for: hiking, skiing, backpacking, trekking, and biking. Darn Tough has been family-owned for three generations, and they make their socks in the USA.
$16+ | Darn Tough
Goodr Sunglasses
Goodr sunglasses are lightweight, polarized, and, best of all, inexpensive. I can tell you from personal experience that these sunglasses are well worth their modest price tag. While they tend to be marketed to runners, they will work for just about any purpose with their bold colors and clever website copy. And if you aren’t into neon and mirrored gradients, they have some more classic colors like tortoiseshell and matte black as well.
$25+ | Goodr
Good To Go Meals
Dehydrated meals are a quick and easy way to satisfy your hunger at the end of a long day. Just boil water, and before too long, you’ve got an entrée. But a lot of the freeze-dried fare is overly salty or lacking flavor to begin with. In the case of Good To Go, I haven’t had a bad one yet. In fact, the Thai Curry surprised me with its authentic and balanced flavor. There are a couple of breakfast options, but their lunch and dinner entrees are where you’ll find the most variety.
$6.50+ | Good To Go
Leatherman and Tonquin Trading Preparedness Kits
Leatherman has put together three purpose-built field kits that were developed around three different multi-tools. The Survival kit includes a Signal multi-tool along with a water filter, paracord, emergency blanket, and more. There is also the Trauma kit, which is built around Leatherman’s Raptor trauma shears, and the Wave+ Repair kit.
$175 | Leatherman
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