The Outdoor Project Gift Guide 2018: Adventure Subscription Boxes

Surprise is a holiday tradition, right? Think of those fitful nights wide awake in bed, listening for every shuffle above your head or thud reverberating throughout your house. In all likelihood, it’s your parents' clumsy, painstaking effort to wrap presents without a sound, thanks to the big bearded fella known as “Santa” and his unmatchable reputation.

Little did he know that the big guy doesn’t always wear a red suit and cap. In fact, sometimes he disguises himself in blue pinstripes and cargo shorts, dropping packages at your doorstep at all times of the year. The outdoor community has recognized this, and you can bring that same holiday feeling to your adventure buds with adventure gear gift subscriptions. Every month, you can remind them why they love the outdoors and inspire them to get out there all at the same time.

There are many gift box subscription services out there, but these ones are some of the best around. There’s sure to be one that suits the avid outdoorsman or woman among your family or friends.

Find one and give a gift that keeps giving throughout the seasons!

Cairn

Cairn allows you to build a profile of your unsuspecting recipient and their favorite activities, their apparel sizes, and food and drink preferences. Then the good people at Cairn will send them a little box every month or a big box every quarter. Offering brands like Prana, Sea to Summit, Ruffwear (for the canines, of course), Black Diamond, and Ex Officio, the surprise may be overwhelming.

Nomadik

Nomadik offers a similar service with the addition of themes: a product box of light and functional items, for example, that includes a Luci light, Qliplet, and a HydraPak flask. Among the frenzy of brands they offer are LifeStraw, Outside Magazine, Mizu, and GSI Outdoors.

Hiker Crate

The Hiker Crate is just what it sounds like: a monthly box of carefully selected hiking snacks and gear, and the prizes range from hammocks to trail bars.

Trailfoody

Trailfoody brings the best of trail foods to your doorstep every month. With enough goodies to last for as many as three outings, each box contains a delicious assortment of energy and nut bars, snack mixes, jerkies, dried fruits, and more.

Pow Mau

With the winter stoke upon us, a gift box from Pow Mau brings you the best of winter gear. For when it isn’t snowing, they stuff this box with the best surfing gear. With a male and female option, it’s a great gift for your all-season kook.

Little Hiker

Hiking with a wee one? Little Hiker brings boxes for both you and your kiddo stuffed with stickers, activity sheets, snacks, and more. Think giant magnifying glasses, “twig” pencils, and notebooks for that budding naturalist.

KinderBox

KinderBox adds a dose of testosterone to the mix. Never mind that the name also translates to “children” in German, these product boxes for men include an assortment of man-themed snacks, hygiene products, and knives, including ManCave shampoo, tattoo salve, and straight-edge razors.

Adventure Standard

Anything men can do, women can do better. Or so the logic goes with Adventure Standard, and they curate their products for each individual subscriber with the badass woman in mind. Adventure Standard offers a sliding scale for their boxes, meaning that you can go all out with a $100 subscription or ones that are far more modest.

My Garden Box

The places we adventure to are sometimes out of reach, but My Garden Box delivers a little bit of nature to you. Fun garden projects come inside each box, and each of them is easy to assemble and gardener tested.

Postfly

Have an avid angler in your family? Check out Postfly, the subscription service that sends you the essentials monthly. The best part about this box: each is specifically packed with a certain fish in mind, including trout, warmwater and saltwater fish, and salmon and steelhead.

Runner Crate

Whether you know a trail runner or someone who’s just crazy for cardio, the Runner Crate is the gift subscription you’re looking for. It offers a bevy of fantastic brands, like Saucony and Oofos, and the boxes are themed—think a “running challenge” box that is sure to intrigue. 

Looking for something a little different?

A membership with ReddyYeti goes far beyond a year’s worth of discounts on outdoor gear—which, by the way, may save you as much as 40%. ReddyYeti gathers the industry’s most innovative and ethical startups, so those early adopters in your family and among your friends now have a one-stop shop to find all their cutting edge and curated artisanal outdoor adventure gear.

Join the ReddyYeti Membership for a free month and save up to 50% off 85+ startups and small business in the outdoor space.

For the movie buff in your life:

Winters are long, dark, and cold, and for those moments huddled in the back of your #vanlife you now have a streaming adventure film service to help keep you warm. For the cost of a carabiner, Slipstream offers hundreds of feature-length documentaries and adventure films like Damnation, Huayhuash, and many others.