Top Tech Gifts for Outdoor Geeks

Updated December 4, 2024 10:47AM

We tested hundreds of products earlier this year to round up the best holiday gifts currently on the market—all explicitly curated for your outdoorsy loved ones. From travel gear to tech gifts to fitness products, from $20 to $1,600, we have something for everyone. Be sure to check out the rest of our favorite picks in our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide.

At a Glance

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Sonos Ace Headphones

Thanks to lots of plush memory foam in the cups and vegan leather, these are the most comfy over-the-ear headphones we’ve ever worn. Crisp highs and powerful lows help everything from music to phone calls come through in ultra-high-definition. We use them wirelessly on commutes thanks to the noise cancellation, but also love to plug them into a headphone amplifier (via USB-C) and then into our laptop for an extra rich listening experience.

Rocky Talkie 5-Watt Radio

Most outdoor walkie-talkies are dead after a day, if not sooner. But thanks to a specialized 1800 mAH battery, this radio lasts up to five days, which is a big leap for hunters, backcountry skiers, and rescue personnel who spend multiple days in the backcountry. The radio also transmits the highest GMRS power permitted under FCC regulations (5 watts), so your loved one will get up to 35 miles of range in clear areas and up to eight miles in mountainous terrain.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Power Bank with Qi2 15W 5K

With enough juice to keep an iPhone running for 16 additional hours, this wireless charger will get the traveler in your life through a long day on the road. We love the small size of this wireless charger because it doesn’t block your phone camera, so you can still snap photos. Bonus: it comes with a kickstand that keeps your phone upright, so you can charge while watching your favorite show.

The Howl R4 Propane Campfire

Thanks to special, radiant heat tubes inside the Howl R4, you can have that same wood-fired coziness from a propane stove. We love that it’s certified for use during burn bans and will continue to pump out plenty of heat in a downpour or windstorm. With 6.5 hours of run time on a standard 20-pound tank, you’ll stay toasty deep into the night.

PAID ADVERTISEMENT BY SWISS TECH OUTDOORS
Swiss Tech Kumpel Headlamp ($19.98)

This meticulously crafted and ultra-compact headlamp combines versatility and precision, ensuring that you have the perfect light source wherever your journey takes you. Customize how you wear with both a cap clip and headband as options.

Jlab Go Air Sport

If you’re shopping for a fitness enthusiast but on a budget, these smooth-sounding earbuds are just the ticket. Comfortable, bendy ear hooks all but guarantee a secure fit during workouts, and with an IP55 rating, they can handle dust and moderate rain. The 8-hour charge is more than adequate for most workouts and daylong activities, and the case provides another 24 hours of juice.

Turtlebox Gen 2 Speaker

Encased in a super-burly drop-proof case that’s completely waterproof and even floats, this lunchbox-size, 9.5-pound boombox has quickly garnered a following among outdoors enthusiasts for its durability. The bass tones flowed thumbed beautifully and distortion-free from this 120-decibel speaker, thanks to the 6-by-9-inch woofer. An 85Wh Lithium-ion battery lasts for up to 25 hours on just one charge. With five color options, you’re sure to find one to please the adventurous audiofile on your list.

Fujifilm X100VI Digital Camera

The X100VI digital camera is small, stylish, relatively simple, and captures gorgeous images. About the size of three iPhones stacked together, the camera weighs just 1.1 pounds, so backpackers, hikers, or skiers won’t feel weighed down. The sensor is much bigger (40.2 megapixel APS-C X-Trans CMOS 5 HR), than an iPhone’s, so it creates super detailed photos and performs much better in low-light scenarios.

Heat It mosquito device

Everyone has that one friend or family member who mosquitos can’t resist. Luckily for them, this itch-relief product actually works. The device weighs four grams and plugs into the power port of a cell phone. Controlled by a user-friendly app, it delivers a pulse of concentrated heat between 117 and 126 degrees directly to the bite, neutralizing the reaction. It’s about the size of your thumb, so there’s no reason not to bring Heat It on every buggy adventure.

How We Tested Our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide

The best holiday gifts often fit in two main categories. The first category is: “A gift that makes my everyday routine that much better. “ The second goes something like: “This is a gift I’d never splurge on, so it’s amazing that I received it from someone else.” With those parameters in mind, we reached out far and wide to find gifts both big and small, expensive and affordable, and obvious and unexpected. A team of six testers put well over 100 products through their paces, and after weeks of testing and comparing, we came up with the final list.

For example, one of the products that made the cut under the “everyday routine” category was the Suunto Race S watch in our fitness category. Running tester Meg Healy loved how it was the perfect training watch that kept her motivated and updated all week long, no matter the length of her workout. Lead tester Jakob Schiller flew all over the country (Alaska, California, Seattle) with the Mystery Ranch Mission Rover 45 pack and was always impressed with how it was perfectly sized for a three-day trip, easily fit in an overhead compartment, and was comfortable to wear while schlepping through airports.

Presents that fell into the “I’d never buy this myself category” included things like Sonos Ace headphones and Howl propane campfire in the tech category. The headphones, which are as much as a car payment, seem excessive, but you understand the appeal once you hear how they truly enrich every piece of music, from John Coltrane to Taylor Swift to Cypress Hill. A $1,300 gas campfire seems absolutely ridiculous until you stand next to one on a chilly fall night and realize that this new piece of technology is actually as warm as a campfire (if not warmer) and does a great job setting the vibe after dark.

Meet Our Lead Tester

Jakob Schiller

Over the past decade as an Outside editor and then columnist, Jakob Schiller has gotten to know many UPS drivers by name thanks to the frequent stops at his house for gear drop-offs. He’s opened so many cardboard boxes he could start his own recycling facility, and his garage, as you might suspect, is a mess. But thanks to all that gear, Jakob and his family of six (plus two dogs) have been able to adventure around the world and visit many of the globe’s most beautiful spots. When he and his family are not on the road, they call Albuquerque, New Mexico home.