Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

[Happy Joe]

Its nearly time to make out Santa lists and start shopping.

this year I' thinking to expand the camping gear with a game or two and perhaps a couple of tavern puzzles.

Looking at;
a chess checkers and backgammon set
https://www.amazon.com/Trademark-Gam...5993266&sr=8-5


I don't really care for the "travel set"s as the pieces and board are normally small compared to my fat fingers. And I cant drink beer all of the time.

being mechanically inclined with similar friends I"m also looking at this bolt puzzle.
https://www.amazon.com/NUTCASE-Hanay...5994132&sr=8-2



Does anyone else have any Ideas for potentially gift-able things?

Enjoy!

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

Check out wire puzzles. They are a lot of fun and challenging. Great to play with while hanging out around the campfire. They're available on Amazon and Etsy.

[Happy Joe]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

Check out wire puzzles. They are a lot of fun and challenging. Great to play with while hanging out around the campfire. They're available on Amazon and Etsy.

Funny that you should mention wire puzzles; I have a few left over from my childhood (might have been crackerjack prizes).
I have seen a few reproduction tavern puzzles (apparently used to keep patrons occupied before things like pinball), I know amazon has a pretty good selection of this kind of thing; I even saw a few of the old wooden 3 dimensional puzzles there along with some newer designed 3-D metal puzzles that might be a real bear to solve. Would like to find some wire puzzles made from ~1/4 inch steel rod (harder to loose than the crackerjack variety).

There are a few antique (depression era, or prior) wire type puzzles in the old footlocker that I never managed to fully solve; Might drag them out and try them on my friends for the next trip.

I figure that the bolt puzzle and similar will make a fair coffee table item for a while, some even look kind of artsy...

Enjoy!

(Edit) on the aspect of gift-able things (though not really camping related unless you are at a site with mains electric power hokups);
I took a risk a month ago or more and got a cheapy 1.9 quart airfryer (~$40; cheaper now I see) air fryer. ... Best appliance that I have gotten in a long time (being old and single I cook just for me) ... this looks like a good item for college students, dorm rooms etc.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Farberwar...Grey/437474892

It excels at reheating Pizza, tater tots ain't bad and heats a fair frozen egg roll or two (EDIT) Red Baron Deep dish singles fit in the machine and ar't bad either)with extra cheese)... Tyson lightly breaded chickedn breast strips are quite good (Thaw the frozen stuff in the microwave then air fry).
I see mucho accessories on Amazon so it looks like time to accessorize...

Edit; pretty much all of the accessories are for the much larger 3.2 quart air fryers; beware...

Enjoy!

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

I had gotten several wire puzzles from a Canadian company, Livewire Puzzles, but see they have closed down now. I think they would have been of the quality you want... They had a huge variety of them.

The air fryer looks nice. After the burglary, I have been having to replace everything, so I got a microwave with air frying capabilities. I'm enjoying it.

Some camping gear I'll be replacing for the holidays:

Mr Heater
Flojet macerator
Tires - all 7

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

One really great gift idea is a jumpstarter power pack. In the year before I retired, I must have used mine to jumpstart mine and co-workers' cars about 8-10 times.

They are great to have for camping - I keep two in the clipper: one reserved for jumpstarting and one for charging the cell and kindle. The burglars stole all mine, so I am hoping to get some good Black Friday deals on them.

[Happy Joe]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

I found that if I keep the vehicle batteries and terminals in good shape, I might have to jump start my vehicles once every 8 years or so (at the end of their lives). During the off seasons I keep the vehicle batteries on a battery maintainer; there are many out there ranging in price from around $6 on sale to as much money as you want. The medium priced and heavier duty ones seem to work slightly better than the cheapest ones, (they do require that they are hooked up and flooded batteries need their fluid levels checked and maintained regularly, about once a month, while the maintainers are in use.).
For emergencies I keep a set of Jumper cables (heavy enough to weld with) in each vehicle. (when I was doing the more extreme four wheeling I carries a complete battery welding setup and used it to help others numerous times.

Before retirement, I used to see Jump starter packs in use in the parking lot regularly, so they are a good idea for some folks.

I recently had to replace some NiMH rechargeable batteries for my AA battery powered book reader; I got the Amazon basics (green) 2400 ma-hr cells and they work well (better than the aging Imedion and Eneloop cells; the harbor freight rechargeables died early deaths some time ago). ... still using the old Lacrosse smart charger to recharge them.

I will likely need to replace the book reader with a newer version in the future; it has started experiencing intermittent memory issues ... I'll do a survey of available readers when the problem becomes an unacceptable hassle.

Enjoy!

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

I have jumper cables in both vehicles also. It's always good to have them. But to use them you need to have a second vehicle right there. With the power pack, you don't need a second vehicle.

That's nice for two reasons: 1) you don't have to risk your vehicle by hooking up to someone else's, and 2) you don't have to ask for help from a stranger if your battery dies somewhere other than home.

I've always been taught to be self-reliant and having a power pack allows me to "fix the problem" myself rather than waiting for some good samaritan to come along.

[Happy Joe]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

self reliance is best, IMO.

The last battery that I replaced (in the jeep last spring) gave me more than 6 months warning that it was failing; I replaced it before it died... no jump necessary.
I realize that not all failures are so "friendly": it is good to take whatever precautions you think may be necessary/help you.

I, regularly, am the person asked for help, for some reason.


An old friend recently asked me how to play chess (he was bored staying home due to covid. I showed him the basics and then downloaded the (free) software to a CD, and gave it to him...
Hes not very good yet but says its something different, and better than watching TV, all the time.

https://lucaschess.pythonanywhere.com/

Gifts are not always purchased.

Enjoy!

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

I'm more worried about accidental draining than failure.

I love finding none buying ideas for gifts. I stopped buying stuff for my nieces for their birthdays. Instead, I took them on outings. It was great because they got experiences that would last a lifetime rather than stuff that gets ignored. I did let them buy a special item as a memento of the outing.

When buying things, I always try to focus on what the receiver wants and not what I want them to have. One of my siblings was notorious for getting you stuff that SHE wanted you to have rather than what you wanted. It resulted in a bunch of unwanted items.

[Happy Joe]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

Yeah, I 've seen that too.

Any more I just send a postal money order in a card and some candy from Russell Stover...everyone has grown up and its no longer fun to search the stores of an appropriate gift.
https://www.russellstover.com/russel...-by-chocolates
Keeping it simple greatly reduces the stress and means that they don't have to go through the after Christmas return hassles.

Lately one of my sisters has been sending frozen meat packages from Omaha steaks; they are good, though more than a bit on the spendy side IMO.. (wish she'd stop).
https://www.omahasteaks.com/servlet/...SAAEgIsfvD_BwE

Enjoy!

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

When in doubt, get things that can be used up. A pretty candle, bath oils, food, etc.

I have often given pretty photo frames as gifts - but I replace the original insert with one of my own photos. I always tell the person that the frame is the gift and feel free to change out the photo. The photo is simply so they can put the frame out right away rather than having to tuck it away until the find a photo for it.

I've also done calendars for many years. Lulu.com used to be great for this and I could make several calendars from that year's photos. They don't do it anymore and I haven't found a place that will print any quantity on demand (most have a minimum of ten of the same calendar).

[Happy Joe]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

One of my neighbors, and one of my sisters make specialty pastries (Itialian for my neighbor and Danish Kringla (sp?) for by sister) and sends them out (typically in a metal can/box)... I would much rather get something like this than overpriced edibles.
Home made is almost always better, IMO.

Enjoy!

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

You could get that cat you were thinking about. Best gift for you AND for the cat!

[Happy Joe]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

...Thought hard about it; and have decided not to get another animal; both because it is likely that a cat would out live me (not fair to the cat) and due to the other, inevitable, hassles.

Solved the Bolt puzzle (took less than an hour), ordered another supposedly level 6 puzzle.

Received the chess and back gammon set The quality level is acceptable. and it fits well on the folding camping end tables.

Had to use a phone (camera needs batteries)...sorry for the poor picture quality.

Ordered a poinsettia for mom.

Enjoy!

[toedtoes]

Re: Time to hink about Christmas, black friday, sales etc...

There are a lot of senior cats who need homes.

I also found Petsafe scoopfree litter. It's silicone granules. They absorb the pee and ammonia. You just scoop the poop daily, and then replace the entire every 1-2 weeks.

On Amazon it comes in a 2pk - two bags in a box. I use one bag per box (1 box upstairs and 1 downstairs) every 2 weeks for my two cats.

My cousin spent two nights in the same room as one of the boxes and never knew it. And he would have never passed up the option to complain about the smell.