Gift of equipment is always welcomed. It shows others that you care and worry about them. I try to stay away from equipment that requires expensive maintenance (ex cr123s). I know where to get batteries for a $1 but my friends are not so savvy and pay $9.99 retail for them. I try to stick to Leatherman Squirts, ARC AA or Inova X1. Small first aid kits in Otter boxes are great idea as well. Last xmas I had as much fun putting gifts together and thinking what my friends need as I had giving the actual gifts. Don't let your friends treating gifts like crap discourage you. One of my friends is a progressive work of 4 years. First year he got a multi tool, next year a Spyderco knife, than flash light and strobe light etc etc... All this stuff is all over his room, used very rarely and I'm kind of angry when he still asks me to use my light or tool. But my other friends are using my gifts a lot. I was especially proud of when last Thursday we were putting computer together and one of my guys just reached into his pocket and pulled X1 to light the inside of the case up (mission accomplished). Same thing for my other friend, who works for NYC subway system was raving how he was able to cut thru tons of duct tape with knife he got for xmas.

So few above examples show that gifts work. As long as you present the gift in the right way. My ex girlfriend was always telling me that she doesn't need anything since she has me. As much as I took it ac a complement it pissed me off when I had to wait for my spork and my knife was always lubed with pb and jelly. I never managed to get her a knife but I slowly started getting her a vacuum cup, spork and light. I think she liked the idea of having same stuff as me. I liked idea of eating faster even if it meant that now I had double washing to do and carry twice as many spares.

Matt