Reasons Shopping for Outdoor Enthusiasts is Easy

I came across a fun article/blog post at outdoorfirst.com about why it is easy to shop for people who love outdoor activities (they offer 5 reasons, I will summarize 4 below). Since we are so close to Christmas, and since there are always last minute shoppers who haven’t yet figured out what gifts to give this year, I thought a summary of the list in this article could possibly serve as a little bit of inspiration for such people.

1. No hunter or fisherman has everything. There are always little accessories that they will be excited to receive, and that they will actually use, which is more than you can say for many gifts. Also, since there is naturally a lot of wear and tear on outdoor equipment new items are always well appreciated.

2. If you are an outdoor enthusiast, too, you will find shopping for another one to be very easy. Probably the hardest thing will be not buying one of everything you get for yourself too.

3. There is another benefit to shopping for an outdoor enthusiast if you are also one yourself: You’ll get to see the equipment tested an used before you buy it. You might even be lucky enough to go out and test it yourself if you buy the equipment for a good enough friend. I’ll offer a disclaimer here, though: this type of self serving gift is not in the Christmas spirit!

4. Shopping in a pro shop is a pretty fun experience. Even if you are not into outdoor activities yourself, you might find yourself having a good time shopping for someone who is anyway. It is also a great place to find gift ideas for other people who you still need to shop for.

I came across an article about making your kids fall in love with boating. Since family is the most important thing to me and boating is my favorite hobby, I thought this was a perfect article to share. You can click the link above to read the full article if you’d like, but I will summarize it below.

When I first saw the article, I thought to myself, “What about boating could a kid not love?” The author pointed out that many children can be overwhelmed by rules and boredom, and I suppose I can see what the author is talking about. There are quite a few safety concerns that children must learn when they step onto a boat, but I think it is important to make sure they also learn the about the fun parts of the boating experience. And there are, of course, many fun and stimulating activities to introduce them to.

First, and probably most obvious is fishing. The surprise and excitement when your son or daughter catches their first fish is truly magical. You can also introduce your children to paddle sports such as kayaking, which, since they involve more exertion than motor boating for example, kids can find more stimulating than just relaxing in a boat on the water (even thought that might sound just great to Mom and Dad!).

Sailing and power boating are also very fun. With sailing there is a lot for your children to participate in, and power boating is just plain exciting because you move so fast, so these are excellent ways to help you children build a report with the water and water sports. And if you do go power boating, a natural next step are board sports. Water skiing and wake boarding do involve quite a bit of learning and skill, so they can be frustrating at first, but kneeboarding should not be overlooked as a good introduction to such sports, and is even quite fun in itself.

Of course it is most important to make sure these activities are done with all safety precautions taken. Be safe and have a good time!