Christmas gift

Hello all. This is my first time posting but I've been reading for a while. I'm trying to come up with a good Christmas gift for a couple relatives that have the same interests as all of us survival and preparedness. Any ideas would be great. I'm looking for something in the $50 rang, give or take a few bucks.
Thanks in advance and have a Merry Christmas

Maybe the DR PSP . That way it allows a gift and a donation.

$50 can go a long way. Basic tools, lights, clothing, firemakers, water storage ....

A trip to the secondhand store can get you lots of perfectly usable stuff plus a donation to a worthwhile charity.

Maybe include a "coupon" to help them build inexpensive kits and develop solid plans?

But it occurs to me that if they're already interested, the best gift isn't necessarily "stuff," it's "information."

How about some good, motivating survival-related books?

I'm getting my GF an AR, she hasn't said she wants one but I know that deep down she really does. That and something sexy, in black leather.

I don´t know if 50 USD is meant for one person but for one person that gravitates towards outdoor/wilderness/survival this is one of the many possible selections:

Fenix E01 - 15 USD (4sevens.com)
Energizer Lithium 2AAA pack - 8 USD (4sevens.com)
LMF Scout firesteel - 9.95 USD (campingsurvival.com)
WetFire tinder - 8 pieces - 6.08 USD (campingsurvival.com)
ACR Hot Shot signal mirror - 11 USD (REI.com)
ACR whistle - free (comes with hotshot signal mirror) (REI.com)
AMK Heatsheets blanket single - 3.95 USD (REI.com)

total - around 54 USD

alternative:
remove: Energizer Lithium 2AAA pack - 8 USD (4sevens.com)
add: Suunto Micro clipper compass - 8.15 USD (campingsurvival.com)


A knife did not make it to this list because it would be too cheap.

This selection would cover (of course not completely) - daytime and nighttime visual signaling, acoustical signaling, fire making, hypothermia prevention and navigation (alternative).

Of course this selection is sometimes random, there is a lot more comparable gear or different useful gear, it´s just an example what you can buy for 50± USD. Also the selection of the on-line stores is rather random.
Or like Desperado suggested the AMK PSP - from the description and opinions of people on this forum there seems to be a lot of useful and compact stuff and it´s for very competitive price. And you could add something to it for the remaining money like some nice bottle, ... .

It also depends whether your relatives gravitate more towards long-term emergency prepardness (at home) or outdoor/wilderness /survival.

Speaking of gifts and PSK's, there's a chain of outdoor stores near me that sells the Ritter/AMK kit for a whopping $21.95 while the local REI, of which I am a member, gets $34.95. Same exact kit.

Anyone else seen that kind of price disparity?

Even with my 10% dividend at REI, I've bought two of the kits at the non-coop store.

Strange...

John E

I'd get a nice USMC Kabar. All the knife anyone's ever gonna need.

But I admit I'm a little biased. Also, I'd probably just keep it for myself in the end. You know, always have some backup.

DR PSK is $29.44 at Red Flare Kits but we are supporting a fellow ETSer, who BTW helped send Doug to the 2007(08) Shot Show

Good products, I plan on buying more stuff from them.


Mike
kd7fqd

welcome newguy!

anything made by leatherman. might run a tad more than $50, but worth it...

+5 on that. I got my Father-in-law a Leatherman Wave a couple of Christmas' ago. He carries it with him almost daily.

I was just struck at the large difference between 2 retail outlets that compete with each other. I'd expect to see some difference especially on a large ticket item but a $13 difference on something that costs less than $40? Maybe the outdoors store has them mispriced, but if so, it's been that way for many months including the moving of the entire store to another location.

For what it's worth, the Sport Chalet chain is the store I'm referring to, if there are any posters in the Los Angeles area who can use an extra PSK, I'd buy it there.

JohnE