2026 Gift Guide
These have proven weirdly popular, as I assume we are all at point in our gear journey where we don’t bother having people buy us stuff. I imagine we have all experienced something like this conversation:
Partner: “Do you want a knife for Christmas?”
Reader: “YES!”
Partner: “Which one?”
Reader: “Well…it might be hard to find, but I want the Spyderco Native 5 Trout handle Sprint Run in S90V.”
Partner: “Is that a knife? I don’t even understand what you just said. Please go buy that yourself.”
But apparently I was wrong. So without further ado, here is my annual Christmas Listicle.
The idea behind this article is that I mix in a few gear items and other gear adjacent items for folks trying to buy for dudes or dudes giving a list to others (or buying themselves) and one book. Why a book? Well, see, we are in the midst of a literacy crisis in this country, so I thought it might make sense to highlight a good book. After all, Alexander the Great was on to something when he said: “Without knowledge, skill cannot be focused. Without skill, strength cannot be brought to bear and without strength, knowledge may not be applied.” Yeah, so go read a book.
When there is no Amazon link, which is the main source of revenue for the site, I have included a non-affiliate link. As usual, the affiliate links are the end of the article, but the non-affiliate links are next to the item.
The James Brand Helton (Link)
Look, I am not going to tell you this is better than a Victorinox SAK. They have been around for more than a century with largely an unchanged form factor. They are incredibly cheap for what you get. And they really, really do work. Furthermore there are tons of copycats and similar items that all do not stick around. BUT…this one is really, really special. Is it better? Age has made me wise enough never to bet against something that works well and has been essentially unaltered for more than 100 years. So, no it is not better. But it might.
Beavercraft Double Sided Strop
Sure you can make a strop with a piece of wood, some glue, leather, and a bit of old demin, but it is not that difficult to just buy a really, really good one. The ones from Beavercraft are among my favorite cheap strops. And if you have a knife you need a strop. I would venture to guess that given the modern steels we have a strop is actually better than real sharpening stones.
PaleBlue Battery Systems
It is hard to figure out how to make rechargeable work. You can have one or two and then you need a charger, or you can go with built in charging but that usually means the battery not replaceable. Finding a battery system that is both easy to use and flexible for multiple uses it not a simple matter. The PaleBlue batteries are all USB-C chargeable with an on-board port. You can buy the batteries alone and as long as you have the right cable you will be all set. But if you level up and get the system, it will keep you with power for years.
Creativity, Inc.
I always try to include one book and of the books I have read in the past few years, this is by far my favorite non-fiction book (excluding On Liberty, which I try to reread once a year…if you haven’t, you really should). The big takeaway for me was how much success is really just about iteration. The more and more you revise, the better the end product will be. I had known that in an intuitive sense about legal writing, but this has proven the point in other ventures. The act of creating is 10% generation and 90% iteration.
Yay, yay a Dragonfly recommendation. But let me tell you, I should have tried the SPY27 earlier. I had the Native 5, which is a boxy knife I really dislike (comparatively speaking), but in this knife, with a form factor I know and love, the steel can really take center stage and it is, fortunately, excellent. After the ZDP-189 version died, we went a while with no good default. This is it by a country mile. Compared to K390, its head and shoulders better.
Casio G-Shock GWM 5610-1
This is a relatively inexpensive watch. And it is bullet proof. I don’t want a watch collection as I love my Grand Seiko, but there are jobs and tasks I won’t do with it on. In that situation the GWM 5610-1 does quite well. It is a true set it and forget it watch. I don’t need batteries nor do I need to set it. Don’t worry about setting either—it’s an atomic clock watch. Perfect for a beater back up.
oLight ArkPro Ultra
With more special editions than a Corvette, it might be hard to figure out which version of the most famous candy bar flashlight in the world you should buy, so let me make it easy on you—this one. After years of truly horrible and squashy beam patterns, oLight has finally made a version of the Arkfeld with both a throw and a flood. Its still a pretty sad grayish blue tint, but the new emitter is much better than before. Baby steps. I have been surprised how useful this thing is and the runtimes are nice. Our post-dinner walks have been in darkness for about three weeks now and I have been taking this pretty religiously. Its excellent.
Keen Targhee III Waterproof Hiking Shoes
These are not a pair of Limmer Boots (what, you didn’t think there were custom, high-end hiking shoes?). But for the money you will have a hard time finding a better pair of tough shoes for a day hike in the woods. There are a few downsides—people with narrow feet should look elsewhere and when the DWR wears off, they can get heavy (though they have an inner liner that will still keep your foot dry). But I have scuba flippers for feet and so the wide toe box and just a little bit of rebound go a long way in keeping my feet from aching. I have danced around these shoes for a while, but I am glad I finally landed on them and I will probably just get a new pair when these wear out. Great hiking shoes to get outside in for a quick jaunt or a day-long hike. Even if the wind is ripping at about 55 MPH on the top of Mount Monadnock when we finally reached the summit.
Filson Insulated Jac Shirt (Link)
For those days where you aren’t doing much that is formal and there is a nip in the air, the Insulated Jac Shirt is perfect. The quilted satin interior is nice. The shirt layers well. And because it is Filson, the quality is top notch. One thing to remember when buying your Insulated Jac Shirt: the sizing considers layering already.
Casetify Bounce Phone Case
Nothing makes me feel more old than doling out tech advice to Gen Alpha kids only to be told—"Yo, you so unc. Try this.” Thus summarizes my experience with the Casetify case. It is better. It is much better. And it is great for taking pictures and easily gripping your phone with one hand. Not a game changer by any means—it’s an iPhone case after all—but it is pretty good.
Amazon Links
Beavercraft Double Sided Strop