Seven Gifts that Keep Giving, and Giving, and Giving

Some of the best gifts are ephemeral. They’re meant to be enjoyed for one very important moment: a beautiful cake, a vacation, tickets to a concert. Other gifts, however, are intended to stick around. These gifts will get used hundreds, if not thousands, of times and eventually develop their own unique patina. These gifts may also last long enough to be passed on, so that they’re not only enjoyed by one person, but by many. I love gifts with staying power. Below you’ll find seven of my favorites.

Classic Jackets

The reason Patagonia sells thousands and thousands of Snap-T and Retro Pile Fleece jackets, and always will for decades to come, is because they landed on an iconic design that’s timeless. The anorak cut of the Snap-T and the fluffy fleece of the Retro scream cozy and comfortable, which are the characteristics we want most from a warm jacket. Patagonia, as a company, is also so imbued with heritage that your jacket recipient will love being associated with them for the years, even decades, they wear the fleece.

Leather Boots

A good pair of leather boots will set you back several hundred dollars so your recipient needs to be someone special. But your investment will give them something that will last a lifetime, and beyond. I inherited a pair of Red Wing boots from my dad that were in rough shape, but I have so many good memories of him wearing those boots that I wouldn’t want them any other way than worn in. I also have my own pair of boots I’ve worn so many times they now fit like a glove, and with any luck I can pass them on to my son, too.

Camp Stove

How many of your parents still have the green Coleman stove they bought 20 or 30 years ago and continue using it every time they camp? Today’s Coleman stoves, as well as many other basic two-burner stoves, have improved over those decades-old models, but they’re just as bombproof. If you gift your friend or family member one of these stoves, you benefit, too, because they will undoubtedly use it to brew you coffee in the morning and cook up an amazing dinner at night when you head out into the woods together.

Folding Knife

Knives are very personal things so they can be hard to gift. But the Taggedout from Benchmade is a great all-around model with a huge audience. It can be used as an everyday carry knife that slices through boxes and salami. It’s also beefy enough to help a hunter on your list butcher a large animal (thus the name, Taggedout). Made from high-quality steel, the blade retains an edge but is also easy to sharpen. If your giftee doesn’t hunt, a more affordable but also gorgeous knife is the Redstone from The James Brand. It’s smaller and not as strong, but still has the chops to cut through anything from fishing line to a rare steak.

Nalgene Bottle

Nalgene bottles continue to be popular because they’re so light, cheap, and indestructible. Like leather boots, Nalgenes are also great because they develop a patina over their lifetime. That patina could be a long scratch when you dropped it on a grueling hike, or it could be a sticker from a beautiful place you visited on vacation. Nalgenes are easy to replace, but I mourned when I lost the Nalgene I had for the past 10 years because it had been nearly everywhere with me, and showed it, but still functioned as well as it did when new.

Great Book

Somewhere around age 60 my dad decided that he wasn’t going to read any new books. He had no use for The New York Times’ “100 Best Books of the Year” article because he’d read so many good books over his lifetime that he wanted to go back and revisit. His library was full of the type of books that make great gifts for their lasting stories. If I were picking books that one could read and then reread again with the same excitement five years later, The Emerald Mile would be at the top of that list. This book is an Outside favorite, and for good reason, because it’s a phenomenally written piece of journalism that weaves history and adventure together in a way that’s unmatched in my opinion. Your giftee will be rapt the entire time and want to book a trip down the Grand Canyon as soon as they can get their hands on a permit.

Hardy Plant

Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! With a little water and light, plants give back constantly by growing, flowering, and making your living space that much friendlier (and for some varieties, even cleaner). Consider a jade or geranium because both are easy-going plants that grow fast and are not too picky, so they stay alive if you forget a few waterings. That, and when your friend grows those plants into monstrosities they can give you cuttings that will brighten your home, too.