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 receiving end of this story. A friend living across 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 task of returning it in order to get right one, he sent me a gift certificate AND he told me what to buy with it. So now I get backpack I want and my friend has proven once again how well he knows me. I loved gift. When giving gift certificates, tell 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, process needs to be hassle-free. If return procedure is clunky, 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 Grand Canyon than it is for graduation. The value of a gift is greatly increased when given at right time. Surprise someone with a perfectly timed present.

Giving 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!

I also resolve to learn a new backcountry skill. I haven’t decide what skill to learn but it will be something I’ve never done before. I’ve never taken time to learn how to rock climb. Perhaps that’s one, or maybe kayaking. I’ve never collected water using a solar still. That sounds interesting too. Maybe you need to learn CPR or how to read a map or tie a variety of knots. This is year to fill in knowledge gaps.

Finally, I resolve to bring someone new into backcountry this year. When I see perfect sunset or a herd of antelope, next thought I have is “I wish so-and-so was here to see this!” So this year, I’m going to share awe of our backcountry with someone brand new to outdoors. By sticking to these New Year’s Resolutions, I will have a great year in our backcountry. I hope to see you there!

Use this information and you’ll Get It Right The First Time. Get Outdoors!