Top Five Christmas Hiking Gifts

Are you finding it a struggle to find that perfect gift for the hiker in your life? Well luckily for you we have selected our favourite five gifts for Christmas so let’s get it started shall we!

Number Five In at number five we have the Leki Micro Vario Carbon walking pole (pair). If you are after a light weight but very strong walking pole then look no further! They fold down nicely making it easier to carry them in your pack and for storage. Using the latest carbon technology these walking poles are ultra-light, only weighing 234g per pole, and because they are made of 100% carbon they are VERY strong. The handle (which has an extended grip) has Aergon thermo technology in it meaning that the handle will react to temperature of your hand, if it’s getting a bit chilly it will help warm your hand up, when it’s nice and cool it will also cool your hand down by wicking the moisture away.

Number Four At number four we have the Gregory Z 35 Rucksack, this is the perfect rucksack for any hiker! The size is perfect for a day hike as well as a weekend away. The fit you get with this Gregory rucksack is second to none, fresh out the box the rucksack will fit you and it will only get better the more you wear it. The shoulder and hip straps are pre-moulded which gives you the “perfect fit out of the box feeling”, the panelling in the back gives you a flow system to keep your back nice and cool no matter where you are hiking. There are so many pockets and straps to allow you to easily adjust the bag to how you want it, and to top it off the bag is covered in RipStop so you can be assured that you can put this rucksack through its paces.

Number Three At three we have the Petzl Tikka RXP Multi Beam Head Torch. This is an amazing bit of kit! It comes with a Lithium-ion (18oomAh) battery pack which you can charge via USB so you will never need to worry about triple A batteries ever again. But don’t worry if you like the standard battery system, you can also take the Lithium battery out and replace it with standard batteries. It packs a whopping 215 lumens of light which in turn works with the reactive lighting technology that allows the torch's light to adjust to the environment. So when you're hiking and it gets darker, the light will get brighter, and if it gets lighter then the light will dim. It also has a red LED which is perfect for night vision. And to top it off it only weighs 115g!

Number Two In second place we have the Mammut Men’s Magic GTX boot, it’s the perfect boot for all you scramblers and climbers. Why is this I hear you say? Well this boot is crampon compatible so perfect for winter time! The greatest thing about this boot is that you can still use it for hiking as well because its just that comfortable! The boot has Gore-Tex so its 100% waterproof and breathable, and what’s even better is that Gore-Tex is lifetime guaranteed. The ankle support is nice and high, but if you’re the type of person that doesn’t like high support don’t let this put you off because once you have walked around in the boots for a bit you won’t notice the high ankle and they end up feeling like slippers. The icing on this cake is the Vibram sole, the fact that the boot is crampon compatible means you want to make sure that the sole quality is at its highest, and you can’t get much better than Vibram.

Number One And in at number one we have the Biolite Camp Stove, if you have only just heard about this product where have you been? They are truly amazing! All you need to do is add some kindling, set it on fire, and then add some wood. Let it heat up a bit then switch it on, the fan will get going and will help maintain the fire and also keep it burning efficiently. If you think that was cool be prepared to get your socks blown off! The orange section on this stove isn’t just a fan it is also a heat converter. Yup that’s right a heat converter! So while you are cooking you can plug in any USB device and it converts the heat into electricity, which then charges the device you have hooked up to the stove… how cool is that! And because it uses wood to cook and convert it’s environmentally friendly.

So there we have it our, top five Christmas gifts. Don’t forget that we stock thousands of other products like backpacking tents, crampons, lightweight waterproofs and lots more from the leading hiking brands at www.simplyhike.co.uk