Outdoors
Outdoors gift guide: From dirt bikes to trout books

By Mark Yuasa
Seattle Times staff reporter

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES The Camper's Dream Ice Cream Maker provides a fun and easy way to make homemade ice cream. Simply add cream, sugar and ice to 20 minutes of fun to make a pint of ice cream.

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Only 27 days remain until Christmas, but don't panic. The holiday gift bag is full of goodies for the outdoor fan on your shopping list:

• The Novara Dirt Rider SS 20-inch ($139) is available exclusively at REI stores, and the single speed beginning off-road bike allows young cyclists (ages 6 to 10) to keep focused on the path ahead rather than which gear to use.

The bike offers large Wellgo platform pedals to make braking easier and a sturdy chain guard to protect young riders. It also has hand brakes to allow kids to become accustomed on their own time. The durable steel-framed bike comes in Screamin' yellow and Maui blue. Details: www.rei.com.

• Portable GPS navigation devices are more affordable, and they're the perfect stocking stuffer for the outdoor buff who doesn't want to get lost in the woods or on the water.

Thales has introduced the all-new Magellan eXplorist series hand-held navigation devices, the eXplorist 100 ($99), 200 ($149) and 300 ($199), which have all the bells and whistles needed in a GPS.

The eXplorist series have a large grayscale LCD display, and the amber backlighting ensures good viewing at night.

The exterior is a rugged rubber armor, impact-resistant casing that is waterproof, and each model is so precise that it provides position fixes within three meters of your destination. Details: www.magellangps.com.

• Readers of Jack O'Connor, legendary writer for Outdoor Life and father of retired Seattle Times outdoors editor Brad O'Connor, can enjoy 40 of his best stories in a book titled "The Lost Classics of Jack O'Connor" ($35). His great hunting expeditions took readers from Idaho to Alaska, and to faraway exotic hunting grounds in Africa. Details: 800-849-1004.

• For the boater in the family, there is a new product called the Magnetic Hitch Locator ($39.95) that makes lining up trailer hitches much easier.

The device, a set of reflector globes attached to masts that extend up to 60 inches, can be used on any vehicle that has a rear-view or side-view mirrors.

The masts attach to the bumper and hitch by strong magnets and the globes extend above or outside the vehicle bed, allowing the driver to see where the hitch ball and trailer hitch are. When the two globes touch, the hitch ball and trailer are aligned. Details: www.magnetichitchlocator.com.

• The Motorola FRS/GMRS T5000 and T4500 Two-Way Radios ($49.99) are the perfect way to communicate outdoors. Each has 22 channels with a range of up to 2 miles on the T4500 and up to 5 miles for the T5000. Details: www.costco.com.

• Stanley, known for its rugged thermal insulated products, has a new product called the Stanley Bolt Vacuum Bottle Series ($19.99). The innovative octagon shape ensures it won't roll around. Available at Target, Kmart and Fred Meyer.

• Did you know the human body loses as much water when asleep as awake? The MiGo Aero Water Tumbler ($9.99) is the perfect companion in the outdoors or at home. Available at Target, Storables and Fred Meyer.

• For the fisher on the shopping list the book, "Fly-Fishing for Coastal Cutthroat Trout" by Les Johnson of Redmond ($29.95) is a must read, according to longtime state Fish and Wildlife biologist Curt Kraemer.

"Les has covered just about everything on coastal cutthroat from A to Z, and the book is fairly comprehensive with a lot of information in it," Kraemer said. "For the cutthroat aficionados it should be a very readable book."

The book is published by Frank Amato Books in Portland. Details: 800-541-9498 or www.amatobooks.com.

• The Eagle Cuda 168EX Fishfinder ($119.99) packs 800-watt peak-to-peak power, and offers 60-degree coverage for fish detection and contour mapping. It also comes with a built-in temperature sensor, and the 4.5-inch diagonal high-resolution screen-boasts 168-vertical pixels and four-level grayscale for a clean picture. Details: www.cabelas.com.

• The Camper's Dream Ice Cream Maker ($24.95) is a fun and easy way to make homemade ice cream. Simply add cream, sugar and ice to 20 minutes of fun, and you have the recipe for one pint of ice cream.

Decorate your tree with GSI Santa Ornaments ($9.50 each) depicting Santa climbing, rafting, sea kayaking, snowboarding, snowshoeing and telemarking. The GSI Ornaments ($6.50 each) also come in a backpack, boot, canoe, kayaking, retro snowshoe, sleeping bag and tent.

The Gerber Nautilus Flashlight Tool ($69) is a multitool that has a four-mode LED, Fiskars scissors, Phillips flathead screwdrivers and a bottle opener that's tucked into a nylon sheath.

The women's REI Radiance Down Jacket ($99) and the men's REI Generator Down Jacket ($99) are great gifts for the cold winter days ahead. They are designed with high-grade 650-fill-power goose down and the stylish jacket offers plenty of warmth. Both jackets also moonlight as zip-in liners for the REI Switchback and Triad parkas.

All of these items are available at REI stores or www.rei.com.

• Camo Form ($12.99), a great self-clinging, no-mess, reusable camouflage wrap is the perfect hunter's gift, and will cling to just about anything including bows, guns, binoculars, to name a few. The wrap comes in four different patterns and is made by McNett Corp. in Bellingham. Details: www.mcnett.com or www.cabelas.com.

Notes

• The Lake Washington Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers meeting and potluck dinner is 7 p.m. Friday at the Mercer Island VFW Hall, 1936 72nd Ave. S.E., across from the Roanoke Inn on Mercer Island. Details: 425-823-0704.

• The Washington Ski Touring Club offers trips, classes, and volunteer opportunities for cross-country, telemark and backcountry skiers. The next club meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday at Seattle REI Store, 222 Yale Ave. N. in Seattle. Urs Koening, former member of Swiss University Ski Team, will share his ski-training philosophy. Details: 206-525-4451 or www.wstc.org.

• Those interested in the Wenatchee-Okanogan-Colville Forest Plan can make oral or submit written comments at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Mountaineers Club, 300 Third Ave. West in Seattle. Details: www.wta.org.

• The Lake Washington Snowsports Council will hold an Information Night at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Inglewood Jr. High School, 24120 N.E. 8th in Sammamish. The council is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that offers a ski/snowboard instructional program for students in grades 4-12. Details: 425-861-5972 or www.lwsc.com.

• The Washington Butterfly Association is hosting a seminar titled "Rare Butterflies of Washington," with Robert Michael Pyle, author of The Butterflies of Cascadia, at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 N.E. 41st St. in Seattle. Details: 206-364-4935 or www.naba.org/chapters/nabaws/.

• The Agate Pass Sail & Power Squadron will offer a "Boatsmart" course at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, plus Dec. 7 and 9 at the Martha and Mary Nursing Home, 19160 Front St. in Poulsbo. The two-week course costs $30 per person. Details: 206-842-3958.

• The Wild Steelhead Coalition meeting is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Bothell American Legion Post, 19213 Bothell Way N.E. Speaker Fred Goetz of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will talk about Snohomish and Skagit Basin bull trout.

Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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