Gifts for hikers: 13 ideas by budget

Buying for a hiker is tricky. Boots, backpacks and jackets are chosen by feel and by habit, and you can hardly get them right blind. What works better are things that get used up, things people won't buy for themselves, or things that bring back a specific day out.

Here are the ideas that worked for us and for our friends. Prices are a rough guide.

Small gifts under 500 Kč

1. Merino socks

A hiker never has enough. Merino doesn't smell even after a full day on the trail, stays warm when wet and lasts for years. Go for medium thickness, which covers most of the year.

2. A map of their next trip

A paper map needs no signal and no battery. If you know your friend is planning the Krkonoše, the Tatras or the Alps, get them a detailed hiking map of that area. It also makes a good planning tool for winter evenings.

3. A hiking journal

A small notebook for summits, dates and who came along. Add a few pressed tickets or stickers from places you visited together and it becomes a very personal gift for very little money.

4. A book or a guidebook

A guide to their favourite mountain range, a mountaineering memoir or an atlas of hiking destinations. Pairs well with a map.

Gifts up to 2 000 Kč

5. A relief of their own route

We are biased here, because we make it. It is a 3D model of the terrain around a route the person actually walked, with the route raised in a bright colour. It sits on a solid wooden base, and we engrave your own text into its front edge, for example the summit and the date.

The 10 cm size costs 1 499 Kč, 15 cm is 1 749 Kč and 20 cm is 1 999 Kč. Unlike most gifts on this list it is one of a kind, because nobody else walked the same route on the same day. How to give one without having their GPX recording is explained below.

6. A head torch

In autumn and winter it gets dark sooner than hikers expect. A good rechargeable head torch is useful on the trail, at the cabin and when changing a tyre in the dark. Look for at least 300 lumens and a red light mode.

7. A flask or travel mug

Hot tea on a summit in January is a small luxury. A good stainless steel flask keeps drinks hot all day and lasts for decades.

8. A hiking first aid kit

Most hikers carry none, or only plasters. A small waterproof kit with a bandage, blister plasters, disinfectant and an emergency blanket may one day matter more than anything else on this list.

Bigger gifts over 2 000 Kč

9. Trekking poles

They save the knees on the way down and help on the way up. If the person doesn't have poles yet, they will use them every weekend. Light folding poles even fit inside a backpack.

10. A merino layer

A long sleeved merino top or a thin merino jumper is the most versatile piece of clothing in the mountains. Check the size, or keep the receipt.

Experiences

11. A night in a mountain hut

Staying overnight high in the mountains is something people remember for years. In the High Tatras, for example, Téryho chata or Chata pod Rysmi. Popular huts get booked out early in the season, so a voucher or a date picked together makes a good Christmas present.

12. A course

A via ferrata course, an avalanche awareness course or wilderness first aid. They learn something new and become safer in the mountains.

13. A hike together

The most personal gift costs nothing: a planned hike you will do together. Print the map with the route, add a date and put it in an envelope. After the hike you can turn it into a relief as a keepsake.

How to give a relief without their GPX

A surprise works best when the person knows nothing. You can still get their route without giving it away:

• Pick it on the map. The create page has popular routes, such as climbs to well known summits. One click is enough.
• Plan it yourself. Draw the route in a planner such as Komoot or Mapy.com and export it as a GPX. A planned route looks just as good on a relief as a recorded one.
• Find it from other people. AllTrails and Komoot have thousands of public routes you can download.
• Ask casually. Say you want to show a friend the route from their holiday. With Strava, a link to the activity is all you need.

The engraving fits up to three lines of 40 characters. What works well is the summit with its height, the date and a short message, for example:

• Sněžka 1603 m
• 12 July 2025
• For Dad, who got there first

When to order

We print, engrave and assemble every relief after you order. It takes a few days, then we hand it to Packeta or a courier. If you want it under the tree, order with time to spare, ideally at the start of December.