I've got to ask ... What cool stuff did Santa bring you this year?

Even a lump of coal would be interesting from an ETS perspective!

For me:
--Fenix TK10 Flashlight - gift to myself mentioned earlier
--Princeton Tec Rebel EOS - the 4-mode one with the new Rebel LED, not the EOS II - even nicer than the original EOS!
--Midland HH50 Pocket Weather Alert Radio - the tiny black 3-AAA one - tiny, but so far not the best reception.

and best of all ...
--John Deere Wind Chimes - I see this as a weather monitoring device, plus it sounds real nice too - not the tiny irritating chimes, but has bigger tubes for nice sound.

My kids have now officially moved from Legos and Disney to video games (DS & Wii), books (Ripleys & that vampire series), and camping gear. They're growing up! Did I ever mention that they both earned their junior black belts in Taekwando this fall? A proud Dad couldn't have asked for a better gift.

Merry Christmas!!

Ken K.

Although I'm employed, and business for my company was really, really strong in 2008 and 2009 contracts are signed and look great, we are aggressively containing our expenses.

In a good year, we don't really "do" the gifting thing at Xmas, limiting total spending to $500 or less on all purchased gifts.

This year, we dropped that budget by half. The kids got a few handmade gifts, one or two store bought ones, and that's it. My wife and I didn't exchange gifts. Instead we had a really nice dinner of Goose today (MMM!) and it was good.

I was planning to apply money received toward M1A SOCCOM 16 to debt reduction, but it was a gift certificate instead. I know the owner, so I may try to get the cash back, but his policy is no cash refund. Don't know what to do if I don't get cash back. M1A or M4. I already have M1ANM and M21.

I'm currently in the mode or reducing my accumulated possessions, not adding more. My wife and I agreed not to exchange gifts this year, and focus on charity and frugality instead. She's currently off delivering gifts, but I stayed home since I'm feeling a bit under the weather.

Jeff

Being very selective (picky) about my outdoor gear I ordered myself a few books online and my kids wrapped them up when they arrived.

Titles I received:

Wild,erness Survival 2nd Ed. by G. Davenport
Tom Brown's Field Guide, Wilderness Survival
Wilderness Survival by S. Swedo
One Man's Wilderness by S. Kieth/R.Proenneke
Survive! by L. Stroud

The trouble is that I am only 1/2 way through reading "When All Hell Breaks Loose" by Cody Lunden and am determined to finish it before I start on a new book.

I also received the DVD "Apocalpse Now - The Complete Dossier" I am looking forward to watching it on the new television I surprised my DW with.

In my Christmas stocking I got a "Speedy Sharp" tungsten sharpener, it looks interesting and really bites into steel.

Lastly I got a little cash to spend, I am thinking; a Cold Steel shovel, Silva "Clipper" watch compass, Petzl e+lite headlamp, stainless steel flask with bottom cup and Mors Kochanski's 17 Instruction Booklets.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's everyone.

Mike

I got some flack from family on this same decision. How about you?

No. Even most of my nieces and nephews are adults now, and my family is always been pretty big on charitable work and giving, anyway.

In any case, neither my wife nor I could think of anything we actually wanted and didn't already have.

Jeff

<Drool> I'm still trying to come up with a reason why I NEED to buy one. No luck so far.

Jeff

One of Cabela's $30 cammo Camelbak MULEs ! and a sweet little Remington 700ADL in 30-06. No knives or survival equip this year! Oh wait, my daughter managed to find some Rocky (made in USA) merino wool socks for me

Merry Christmas!

Rain gutters, beef jerky and the movie "House of Flying Daggers". DD1 got her first wristwatch and two night gowns, DD2 got "Moon Sand" and a nightgown. DW got a package of Pringles, and candybar and a nice headlamp.

-Blast

MMM, warm socks, I am jealous.
(damn, that come out looking sarcastic in print but it is not meant to be, good warm socks are hard to find)

Because they make them worked for me.

I got Les Stroud's Book "Survive" and a guide to the hiking trails of New England from the kids (they know their dad).

I'm heading out today to shop for a tool box for my truck bed.

I got the DW and all 4 of the kids the Red Cross Emergency SmartPack and the ResQMe emergency tool for their cars. They were surprisingly well received.

IF the initial price is affordable, go with an RKI brand tool box. They warranty these things FOREVER. The one in my fathers truck is about 18 years old. It has been through 9 trucks and the hinges finally pilled away from the box itself. (Keep in mind we put about 50K miles a year on trucks.) He went to RKI to buy the hinges, and replace them himself. They took his keys and asked if he had an extra hour or so. Two hours later, his box had a new hinge, lifts, locks and seals. They handed him a certificate to an off site powder coater as their booth was not set for custom colors and charged him. . . $0.00.

If you are looking for Auxiliary fuel and tool storage PM me, and I know of some folks to talk to.

I'm going to keep my comments about the "Flack" to myself.
But I cut way back on much of my gift giving this year. I gave preparedness supplies and books to many, much to their displeasure.

I'm weeding through my supply stock and am sending excess gear to forum friends that may find a use for it.

Desperado, thanks for the heads up. There is a distributor less than 10 miles from me. I'll visit them today.

Being Jewish, we don't celebrate Christmas. However, my birthday is just a few days before, and I was the lucky recipient of a slightly used banjo purchased off of Craigslist.

This is actually a great survival tool. When played correctly (which I can't really do yet) it provides hours of family "together time" fun and requires no electrical power. We already have an accoustic guitar for this purpose, but I figure redundancy is a good thing in survival gear, no?

When played incorrectly or out of tune it works as an excellent emergency locator beacon (well, my wife says she can hear it anywhere in the house).

We agreed to give Hanukkah gifts to the kids only this year as a budget-cutting measure. Our recent move burned through a lot of cash, and the first priority is building the bank account back up.

Happy new year to you all.

9 LED flashlight w/batteries from Recreation Outlet
Columbia Wallet w/lots of hiding places
Fire Striker Tool
Multipurpose Pocket Survival Tool

I got a set of japanese water stones (i kinda had to beg, and my dad wanted them too), A vixtorinox Rescue Knife (i think my mom got it cuz she liked the sheath), and a county comm BOB XL, wich ive already filled with all of my scout stuff, also a lot of active, and passive climbing protection, so now i can lead climb

an AWESOME christmas

DG got me a Leatherman Kick/Micra combo from REI, a few hand and toe warmers, and some Outdoor Research mitten shells. I'll probably hit the REI and Army-Navy looking for liners that I like.

The parents and brother got me the usual - clothes, DVDs. And some cash. Which, sadly, will most likely go to DG, and not me, but I guess that's survival of a different sort!!

My bro blessed me with a Streamlight Stinger with piggyback cradle with a/c and 12 v adaptors and an extra battery. Light is good.

Blessings and merry things to all!

We decided not to go all out this year and went to sportsman and got each others gifts at the same time. She got some snow pants, gloves, and a few other misc items. I got a holster, some gloves, hogue grips, and a couple other misc items. We both got some Wool socks too. The rest of the $ is spent on the house and fixing it up.

It might make a better story if you tell everyone that you picked it up during a canoe trip, with some of the guys, down south.

Casio G-Shock Riseman GW-9200. Ms Yeti decided I didn't need another knife!!! Who doesn't need another knife!?!

It will take me forever to learn! I'm OK with that!

A Cold Steel Spetznaz shovel. (need to find a way to sharpen it)
Couple of Boker folders.
Olson's book on primative skills.
The reprinted Angier (didn't tell them I already have a copy)
Les' book

And the item I'm debating on using now, or saving some of: three premium dark chocolate bars with chili in them. Had to test one- YUM!

DW, with the help of one of my friends, managed to purchase and hide a fully tricked out Mossberg 500 Tactical shotgun. Imagine my suprise on Christmas morning. I was only expecting a few small odds and ends for the endless quest of Preparedness nirvana. "Homeland Security" preps now complete.

Wife and I have been cutting back on gift exchange as after 40 years of present buying we're both pretty well at a loss as to what to buy each other. I did get her a day (well, maybe a half day) at the local spa.

I bought myself a Tamarak walking stick to take on my dog walks and a Jetboil PCS for when Ziggy (my dog, not the DW) and I go trail walking.

DD1 got an extra paycheck (she works for me) and DD2 some money to get her home from Alaska for a visit (it will be almost a year since we've seen her by the time she gets home).

For my sibs and their spouses we donated in their names to charity that would leverage our money 10-fold or more towards clothing, food and school supplies for folks overseas.

It was a quiet Christmas but peaceful. Still trying to dispose of 12 dozen cookies DW got at a cookie exchange. Going to need to do a lot of dog walking...

A Henry .22 lever action rifle, "Frontier Model - H001T" I've been wanting a Henry for quite a while - I love this thing! A Nikon D700 Digital SLR camera (99.9% the wife's gift, but described as one of those "for both of us" gifts to justify the cost). Oh yeah, a newfangled Norelco razor ... the wife got tired of seeing me hack away at my face with a regular razor since my last electric broke. I also got this cool little "Gerber Artifact" thing. It's a mini-prybar, bottle opener, screwdriver, and Exacto knife blade pocket-thingy. Quite cool. And a few shirts to keep me dressed nice.

I got the usual stack of bills!!!

I did good. Some pouches for my jumbo fatboy (Janus, Rollypoly, Barnacle). A 3 person tent. Some Rocky socks (really warm), couple of sweaters, thermal underwear & cash. Oh and one of these for my bookshelf :

Tree torture devices right. Those look handy actually.
Do those folks make quality stuff? I need to get some stuff for my father.

At the big box home improvement stores they have a carbide bit axe sharpener similar to this knife sharpener . It however is a two handed 12" long device, that might get you started. It isn't going to provide perfection, but is one of those "idiot proof" type things that I find handy when in a hurry on heavy tools.

I got one of the Fisher Q-4 Multi-Action Space Pens which will replace my every-day carry separate pen and pencil. It has the Fisher waterproof black and red ink, an 0.7 mm mechanical pencil (which I like since I seem to break 0.5 mm lead too easily), and a stylus (which I use pretty often, actually). I have written about a full page worth so far, and I like it quite a bit. Now I just need some waterproof paper to compliment it.

I also got approximately 20 of the 4-foot “snow poles” (retroreflective driveway marker poles) for our 80-foot driveway. After all, getting home safe and sound usually requires being able to find the driveway. The snowthrower doesn’t like being driven into the yard much, either.

ooh ooohhh...I forgot...I got one of those in my stocking...I'll report back later! <grin>

what are the tricked out parts?

My DW bought me a set of these The Pocket Torch should be here Mon or Tues (drools)

Mike

Unmarked $100's?

Care to share a pic or link of this wallet?

I'm diggin' it. It turns out that the rather large instruction manual isn't so much a reflection of complexity but the multiple languages. The basic functions are fairly straightforward. Some of the side functions I'm still working on. I am pleased with the performance and if the durability and longevity are such that they compare favorable with other G-shocks, I'll be completely happy...happier still that there will be no battery issues to deal with.

Okay. I'm jealous! I don't allow the husband to buy me guns -- he lucked out last year and did get the right muzzleloader -- but just a bit risky with this guy.

Well let's see. . . .slippers, socks, extra knife with hook, a Rapala fishing knife/widget for the tackle box, and some gift cards which will buy a jet sled and a scope for my someday-soon 22 rifle (Marlin probably -- maybe a Glenfield Marlin). In the meantime the scope will reside on dad's 1952 Winchester Model 74.

That said, Christmas was a bit thin because I've been stashing cash for a new compound bow -- probably a Mathew DXT and the toys to go with.

"...Unmarked $100's?..."

I wish!!!

Yeti, I found out that the wallet is discontinued and Recreation Outlet was liquidating some of the wallets.

We mostly did our for 10 month old for Christmas, but I did get a few things to add to my camping gear:

Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 1W LED Headlight
U-Dig-It Stainless-Steel Hand Shovel

Gorilla Glue (in "The BAG")
Gorilla Wood Glue
Roll of 1-inch Gorilla Tape (in "The BAG")
Roll of 2-inch Gorilla Tape (in "The BAG")
Coast LED Lenser Tactical 141 lumen flashlight (clipped to "The BAG")
Set of "Angry Planet" DVDs
Ryobi 4pc 18v Lithium Cordless Tool Set
Ryobi Cordless Jig Saw (freebie with the 18v purchase)
Chocolate-covered coffee beans
Stanley 20oz hammer

I did pretty good. Now DW expects me to get some work so I can use the new cordless tools and hammer.