As Christmas grows ever nearer, many outdoorsmen and women begin to anticipate what they might find under the tree on the morning of the Twenty-Fifth. I think I'm safe in saying that they won't be having visions of sugar plums. People who spend a considerable amount of their recreational time outdoors can be, at once, both easy and difficult to please when it comes to presents.
Certainly, there are the usual "safe" gifts – socks, gloves, hats, shirts, etc. – but you might want to reconsider theme-oriented gifts that you believe they need in recreating until you thoroughly but casually question them as to what they truly need and want. Be careful though, since they may come back with things like a new ATV, SUV, lakeside cottage, hunting cabin, or an African safari. I had one friend who was disappointed because his wife didn't get all his "hints" about a two-week fishing trip to Alaska. The fact he got a new snowblower instead didn't seem to diminish his disappointment. Poor lad. But his wife could've just as easily given him a new snow shovel, so give her some credit, too.

Expectations tend to run rather high with some sportsmen and women. The simple fact that they may already be quite well equipped for their favorite outdoor sport can be misleading to those who are choosing a gift for them. The old "Heck- he/she-already-has-everything" approach doesn't factor in the never-ending wish list the sportsman/woman carries between their ears. Newer, bigger, more powerful - these commercialized improvements of products are constantly gnawing at us to replace that which really doesn't need to be replaced, at least not yet. Like electronics, precious little in today's consumer world isn't steadily getting "better." Or so the advertising claims.

I'm reminded of archery equipment. Not that many years ago, the new compound bow I had was state-of-the-art, but in just a couple of years new models were out that, according to ads, made my "favorite bow" seem like a dinosaur. So naturally I pined over the fact I was being forced to use that "old bow" when "everyone else" was hunting with those super model compounds that almost guaranteed success. Yes, I finally got my new "more super" bow, but – you guessed it – in just a couple more years there were new "more super-super'" models that I began getting the itch to have. Over the past couple of decades new bow models have been almost keeping pace with the auto-makers, trotting out a new or "improved" model almost every year.

The same can be said of almost any outdoor recreational product, whether it's a tool, clothing, or concept change. Marketing, shrewd as it is, tries to make us believe that we just can't live without the latest and greatest "gotta-have-it" models. Older readers may remember when three-speed bicycles were all the rage. Well, that lasted about ten years, longer than many model-lives, before giving way to 10-speeds, which led to umpteen-speeds and then the mountain bike designs, for riders who felt the urge to get dirty, muddy and maybe bloody. Even kids' bikes now look more like motor scooters than bicycles.

Time was, a hiker or hunter would be satisfied with getting a new compass for Christmas. Well, today a compass, although still a solid and very dependable tool, has given way to GPS units that show about everything from where you currently are to what the temperature and time are in Fairbanks. And those old "survival kits" that contained a space blanket, fire-starter pellets, fish line and hook, razor blade, matches and a signaling whistle are blasÈ, since we now have cell phones, walkie-talkies and GPS signaling devices that are so small you can carry them in a shirt pocket. It's somewhat sad that many outdoor people of today don't have the faintest idea how to use a compass properly, and compasses don't depend on batteries, satellites or cell towers.

But even with all the technological and marketing approach changes, there are still some items that will probably never go out of favor as Christmas gifts. A new tackle box or fishing reel or rod always gets a smile from the receiving angler, regardless of age. And despite the social "stigma" too many urbanites place on it, giving a Daisy BB gun to a outdoor-loving youngster who's shown enough maturity to learn responsibility isn't the terrible thing some try to imply. In fact, anything that will help tear a kid away from video and other electronic games and outdoors often enough to get some exercise beyond pushing buttons is a positive thing.

Gift certificates to appropriate stores or catalog sales may seem rather impersonal, but they make more sense than filling boxes with items the recipient may not want or need. I recall one Christmas back in the '50s when my parents gave me a gift certificate to Ackley's Sport Shop in Norwich. The fun I had later, picking out lures, lines, hooks and sinkers at "Ack's Store" was almost like having Christmas twice.

I know this has been written before, but one of the worst gifts (despite those Christmas TV commercials that often air) is a puppy, kitten, rabbit or other furry and adorable creature. Life around and following the holidays is normally hectic, so there's little time left over to properly care for a new pet or give it the attention it requires. Also, the weather is such that it discourages taking it outdoors, which means it will be primarily house-bound until springtime arrives.

So as you plan what to get for that outdoor person on your list, forget the old "it's the thought that counts" idea and give them something that will make them smile. And the cost, even if it's inexpensive, will be offset by its useful value to them in the months and years to come.