Paddling Life Holiday Gift Guide 2018: Best Gifts for Paddlers and Outdoors Lovers

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The holidays are, basically, here, and it’s not too late, or too early, to shop for the paddler and outdoors lover in your life. Or just shop for yourself, because we’re cool like that. We spent the whole year testing and researching the best gifts for the holiday season, so take a look at what we found for you…We guarantee at least one of these gift ideas will change your life forever!*

*No actual guarantee.

Who Gives a Crap Holiday Toilet Paper
Toilet paper wipes out 27,000 trees a day — pun intended — and 54 million trees annually. Make an impact with your choices, even what you choose to wipe your bum with. Who Gives A Crap toilet paper is made from 100% bamboo, is soft on your underside, is free of any inks, dyes or scents, and 50% of profits go to help build toilets in developing countries. Of particular note, the holiday delivery box is to be reused and fashioned into a pop-up holiday tree and wreath.

DÆHLIE Airnet Top and Bottoms
DÆHLIE is the official supplier for the Norwegian Cross Country Ski Team, which is about the best endorsement you can get as far as we’re concerned. Perhaps 200 bucks for the set seems like a lot, but these are very special longjohns: this 100-percent Merino baselayer features 4-way stretch and mesh panels to move heat during intense activity. They are very slim fitting and quick drying, ideal for uphill skiing and winter paddling, when you want to wear wool but you need to breathe as well.

HANAH ONE Superfood
This is the one that you should definitely buy for yourself. HANAH ONE is a relatively unknown, almost magical Ayurvedic superfood supplement, made from 30 wild-harvested botanicals concocted in a base of Keralan mountain honey, artisanal ghee and sesame oil. Active ingredients include turmeric, ashwagandha, amalaki and shatavari. Based on a mere 4,000 years of Ayurvedic tradition, HANAH ONE is designed to strengthen the immune system, reduce fatigue, increase endurance, and improve focus and mental clarity, all of which we found to be strangely true. HANAH sources only the highest-quality natural ingredients and produces them using ancient methods — and they produce in very limited batches. HANAH devotees include elite athletes Jimmy Chin, Travis Rice, Ian Walsh, Kit DesLauriers, Angel Collinson, and a host of entrepreneurs, wellness coaches, yogis and chefs.

Moment Skis: The Deathwish

With so many amazing skis available these days, it’s impossible to pick just one. But if I had to, right now, it would be the Moment Deathwish. It’s the most versatile and forgiving ski I’ve ever skied, and I test skis for a living. Even their marketing director told me this ski is the reason he works with Moment. It has won All-Mountain Ski of the Year twice in Powder and it is also the widest ski to win this award. The Deathwish incorporates Moment’s Triple Camber Technology, unlike anything else on the market, incorporating an overall camber profile with two micro cambered sections in the front and rear of the ski. This gives you the surfiness and playfulness of a rockered twin-tip but the stability and predictability of traditional camber. The Deathwish skis like a playful, surfy twin-tip when you stand up on it — but drive it hard and the micro cambers engage and the ski becomes stiffer, quieter and much more powerful, easily pushing through crud and chop. The micro-cambered sections allow for huge amounts of energy to be loaded into the ski so it carves and pops back when flexed. Even in the iciest conditions you’ll hold true on this ski and, despite it’s 112mm waist, the triple camber and its multiple contact points allow you to carve and grip like a much narrower ski. The reason I like this ski even more is that the Deathwish as an exceptional telemark ski. Triple camber lines up perfectly with the weight distribution of a telemark skier as they drop into a turn. The dropped knee falls perfectly over the micro camber in the trailing ski, which allows for exceptional stability especially when lead changing. Of course there’s no such thing as a one-ski quiver…or is there?

Marker Alpinist Binding
The perfect gift for those looking to ski fast uphill as well as aggressively downhill, you’ve got a new pin-tech-based touring option from U.S. binding leader Marker, who’s been making releasable bindings since 1952. With the new Alpinist, Marker introduces its lightest-ever touring binding in an attempt to redefine weight-to-performance ratio at 490 grams per pair. The new Alpinist features zero, five and nine degree climbing aid positions in the heel as well as a fixed upward release and an adjustable lateral release function, and a 15mm range of adjustment. Available accessories include 90mm, 105mm, and 115mm brakes ($59), touring leashes, and U-Springs that allow adjustment of the upward release in the heel. ($449)

Mission Workshop Advanced Projects
San Francisco’s Mission Workshop is using advanced materials to promote new aesthetics and methods of garment construction, feel and fit, and this collection pushes the limits of what is possible with materials, technology and design in men’s wear – including fit and function. Key pieces like the Bomber (Released 10 -11-11), The Ren Leather Jacket (dropping early January), The Eiger Field Coat (mid December), and the Stryman Topcoat (mid January) are all modern takes of the classic men’s heritage jackets that incorporate 37.5 technology. If you haven’t tried it yet, 37.5 technology is made from biodynamic carbon particles that can absorb infrared light from the human body and work to keep you at the ideal temperature of 37.5 degrees and the ideal relative humidity next to your skin of 37.5 percent.

VanDOIt Adventure Vans

A little more than a stocking stuffer, this is the quickest, easiest, most convenient way to enter #vanlife on the market today, and believe us, you’ll be glad that you did. For a fraction of the cost of a custom Sprinter build, you can be driving a more reliable, customizable pimp Ford van with a queen sized bed, kitchen pod, Dometic fridge, and plenty of room for bikes, boats and skis. They’ll even take your trade-in at their dealership in Kansas City. But there is a waiting list so email now for more details on how to get started.

OtterBox French Press Lid
OtterBox – whose massive array of dependable products we’ve been using since the very beginning up in Fort Collins – just added a French Press Lid ($30) to its Elevation 20 Series, turning your Elevation 20 tumbler into a pro-level French Press at the trailhead. Buy one travel mug and swap out the lid to match the adventure of the day. We also depend on OtterBox iPhone cases on every adventure. Check it all out here.

Wicked Audio Hum 1000
Listen up, everyone needs a pair of fatty wireless noise-canceling headphones for air travel, co-working spaces, and Uber rides. It just makes you hate people less. The new Hum 1000 offers you the combined benefits of the Hum 800 and 900 in a full-size, travel-friendly, Bluetooth, noise-canceling headphone. From 97.5 percent ambient noise reduction, to “all day wear” total ear coverage, USB rechargeable battery, and an EVA carrying case, it’s a purchase you will thank yourself for every time you leave the house for journeys of all lengths.

UCO Flatpack Grill and Firepit
Setting up a quick cookout or firepit and leaving no trace is now easier than ever. One of my favorite camping accessory brands of all times, UCO’s new Flatpack Grill is a highly portable option (3.7lbs.) for boaters, anglers, and ski area parking lot parties that takes just seconds to set up. It’s made of stainless steel for durability and ease of maintenance, the sides serve as a windbreak for windy conditions, which is always, and the simple base is extremely stable. Throw some eco-friendly UCO Sweetfire fire starters in with kindling and coals and light up your night. ($50)

Otso Voytek Fat Bike
Regular biking is so last year, didn’t you know. If you’re not gravel biking (and we are), then you have to be fat biking, especially during these shitty winters that climate-change has been delivering us lately. We fell in love with this particular fat bike last season in Crested Butte. It’s got a narrow Q-factor so it won’t wear out your knees, and it’s as light as any high-end mountain bike. The Otso Voytek is a carbon fiber hardtail designed around the exclusive Otso Plus-Fat concept: it’s a 27.5+ or 29+ trail bike that can also accommodate up to 26 x 4.6” tires on 70mm rims. And a unique Tuning Chip lets you dial in the chainstay length so it can be quick and nimble in twisty singletrack, or stable for riding through deep snow or sand. It’s perfect for mama and the Burley bike trailer; or for dad, crushing packed powder and mixed surface trails between powder days at the ski hill.

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