|
|
| Recreation and Sports Information |
|
|
|
|
5 Easy Steps to Giving the Perfect BackCountry GiftChuck Fitzgerald Does the thought of buying a gift for a friend or relative make you smile or does it stress you out Is there a hiker or camper on your gift giving list What can you give to the someone who already has everything The secret of gift giving is not always the “what.” Many times the “why, when and how” make an ordinary gift the Perfect Gift. Continue reading to discover 5 sure-fire steps to giving the perfect gift to the outdoor enthusiasts in your life. Step 1: Do Your Homework. This is the toughest of the 5 steps. Doing your homework means thinking about your outdoor enthusiast and what he or she likes about being in the backcountry. Are there any current or past outdoor interests Perhaps he likes to fish or she likes to climb. Maybe you overheard the comment “I remember when I used to go camping every long weekend. I miss those days.” Our personal shopper service receives hints like this all the time. Chances are you already know their interests, so take a few minutes to think prior to shopping. There are loads of great outdoor gifts available. Another part of your homework is to understand the relationship between you and your gift recipient’s outdoor hobbies. Last year I was camping with a dear friend who got mildly lost. After about an hour, he showed up in camp a little embarrassed – but safe. So the perfect gift for him before our next trip was a GPS unit. I also included a hand written coupon good for one free lesson and an extra set of batteries. The relationship we had allowed me to have a little fun with the gift giving. I did provide him with a quality gift and he uses it all the time. Step 2: Speaking of High Quality. The best way to get the most enjoyment out of our backcountry experiences is to have good gear. When giving a backcountry gift, be sure it’s high quality. There are two gear buying rules to live by. First, only give gear you would use. And secondly, buy the best gear you can afford. Nothing derails good times in the great outdoors like bad gear. Step 3: The Right Way to Give Certificates. Gift certificates can be an excellent choice for a gift. Here’s a great use of a gift certificate - I was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of this story. A friend living across the country knew I loved to hike. He also knew from his own experience that you can’t just buy a backpack for someone else. Backpacks are a very subjective purchase. Instead of buying a me a pack and giving me the task of returning it in order to get the right one, he sent me a gift certificate AND he told me what to buy with it. So now I get the backpack I want and my friend has proven once again how well he knows me. I loved the gift. When giving gift certificates, tell the recipient what to buy with it. Step 4: Seek Out Customer Friendly Retailers. This is especially important when purchasing a gift on-line. Make sure you are purchasing from a store with visible customer satisfaction and return policies. If your gift recipient needs to exchange or return a piece of gear, the process needs to be hassle-free. If the return procedure is clunky, the perfect gift just became imperfect. Step 5: Timing is Everything. The best time to get “the birding binoculars I always wanted,” is not on your birthday or at Christmas time. The best time to get them is just before you go birding. The new backpack is a more thoughtful gift just prior to hiking the Grand Canyon than it is for graduation. The value of a gift is greatly increased when given at the right time. Surprise someone with a perfectly timed present. Giving the Perfect BackCountry Gift is easy to do. Determining “what” to give is important, but so is knowing “why, when and how” to give. Make your next gift giving experience a good one. The outdoor enthusiast in your life is counting on it. Use this information and you’ll Get It Right The First Time. Get Outdoors!
| | | | RELATED ARTICLES The Mayfly Adult In our last article titled Mayfly Nymph.We covered the basics of the nymph stage of this crucial insect in the world of the freshwater game fish and fly fisherman.We now will cover the adult phases of the mayfly.Although most of its life is indeed spent as a nymph dwelling at the river or lake bottom.It is the adult insect that has truly captured the fancy of fly fisherman.It’s the adults that were given the colorful names that we listed in the Mayfly Nymph article.And it is the adult that fly fishing elitists consider the only form worthy of imitation. Golf Workouts Can Quickly Add Yards To Your Drives I’m sure by now you’ve heard most of the professional players; both men and women actively participate in golf workouts. It’s no secret. But why then do most amateur golfers ignore this Is it because it seems like work Or, does the thought of actually breaking a sweat get you tired already Night Vision Devices -- The Ultimate in BackCountry Toys Many nights in the backcountry are far from dark.A bright moon and a sky full of stars can throw off enough light to allow for reading a book, but add cloud cover, mountains or trees and it gets dark awfully fast.When you need to see in the dark, you have two choices - you either turn on a light, or use one of the many available night vision devices NVD.The NVD could be the ultimate backcountry toy. Alignment - The Most Important Lesson in Golf When I watch inexperienced golfers players hit the ball I find that they are usually mis-alinged to their target. Typically, they aim way too far out to the right.The reason they aim to the right is because the inexperienced player has the tendency to hit the ball with their arms which causes the ball to pull to the left.This means that they are compensating for a flaw in their swing by just aiming their body out to the right instead of fixing the actual flaw. Know the Odds when you Bet In the casino, each game has different odds. This means that you are more likely to win some games than others. Knowing the odds, therefore, is very important if you want to maximize your chances of winning. We assume for the purposes of this article that each game is fair, and that you employ no card counting strategies. This will allow us to work out the expectancy of each game - i.e. the percentage chance of winning or losing. Cell Phone Cameras A lot of myths exist regarding as to whether the cell phone cameras are any good or not. The fact that people require to admit that these cameras are also digital cameras and they exhibit the same facilities irrespective of the fact that their sizes are much smaller and their functionalities are curtailed due to this particular reason. Hence some introspection needs to be done regarding the digital cameras and cell phones in their joint venture together in the technological world! Which Ring Tones Can I Get For My Phone Ring tones are simply a computer program stored in your cell phones memory and with most phones, you can change it. You can have a unique sound that only you want. Here’s the deal on ring tones - you get the cooler sounding rings on the newer, more expensive phones. For example, if you have an old Nokia phone, it can play a monophonic ring tone, which means simple tunes with one sound. But the newer phones can handle polyphonic ring tones. They can play several sounds at the same time, giving the ringing quality a more pleasing sound. Wildlife Scouting Cameras For years I wondered how big the bucks were that were roaming our property in the dark of night.After all, I knew that monster bucks had to be eluding me during the daylight hours only to roam the woods at night.In an attempt to reveal these mysterious nocturnal monsters I purchased a scouting camera in 1996. The Animal Rights Summit Is it just me, or is society becoming increasingly polarizedIt seems like for every action there is an equaller and oppositer reaction.For and against war.For or against the environment.For or against the family. How to Buy The Right Binoculars For You Binoculars are wonderful pieces of equipment that can enhance many of our daily activities including, birding, action sports, hunting, and even astronomy. Essentially binoculars take a distant image, enlarge it through the use of lenses for viewing, all while remaining small and light enough to be mobile. Gardening--Fun and Frugal! Whether you are an avid vegetable gardener, a beginning herb gardener or just like to have a pretty yard, these frugal tips may help you save a little money! The Protection of a Diving Wetsuit Wetsuits are meant to keep divers warm by giving them thermal protection. There are some important guidelines which a diver should learn regarding the wetsuit he might acquire and use. First of all, it is important to know that they are usually made from neoprene; most of the times open cell neoprene. Besides, when wetsuits have a coating added to the neoprene they are easier to be worn and taken off. Paddle Floats Paddle floats can save your life, so make sure that you get an easy to use paddle float. 6 Things You Must Do If You Want To Have The Secret To Catching More Trout It has always been my private conviction that any man who pits his intelligence against a fish and loses has it coming. ~John Steinbeck 50 Ideas to Get Organized and Enjoy Your Scrapbooking Hobby Scrapbooking is a wonderful hobby! Besides being relaxing and fun, it also allows you to be creative and to spend quality time with your family and friends. Plus, it results in a storybook of lifelong memories. TOP TEN Myths Surrounding the Montreal Expos 10 - That the Expos lost its fan base after all the English left in the early 80’s. The Base Hit Sometimes there is that rare moment that causes one to reflect on those matters that are deemed important and deflect those that are not.It is a very humbling experience but a nice feeling nevertheless.I had one of those moments. How To Avoid Or Reduce Red-Eye Photography with the aid of a digital camera is beyond doubt very fascinating. However, it also has many a nooks that the users of the digital camera must be aware of and also must be well educated to deal with in order to produce good photographs worth the most prized digital camera. Such a concept is that of the red eye! In order to understand what this red eye actually is, a little detailed introspection is necessary. Basically speaking red-eye is a function of at least three things, they are firstly, ambient level of light because stumpy light level causes the retina of the person to be photographed to open wider to admit more light thereby divulging open the iris, which is the primary part that reflects the red light hence giving the appearance of red eyes for the subjects. Also secondly the younger the person being photographed the wider remains the retina and hence the greater the effect of red eye in the picture. Thirdly, the reflection angle of the flash plays a vital role, as the light is recoiled back to the digital camera and the closer the incident light beam is to this reflected light beam, the greater becomes the red eye effect. To prevent this instruments such as flash brackets are useful to make the flash a bit removed from the propinquity of the lens. Thus the red eye effect is somewhat revealed till this part of this discussion. Now is the time to look into a greater detail in order to analyze the various aspects of the red eye effect and also find out ways of reducing the problem as far as possible. Italy - The Mother of Opera The story of Italian opera begins around the turn of the 17th Century and depicts an important piece of Italian culture. Divided into two periods, the Baroque and the Romantic, opera displays tragic-comedy that was adorned with beautiful scenes and breathtaking music. Historians across the world recognize the significance these periods have had on Italian culture. Duke Ellington Starring in “The Evolution of Jazz” Duke Ellington is considered to be one of the greatest figures in the history of American music. Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington was born in Washington D.C. on April 29, 1899. |
| home | site map |
| © 2005 |