What’s a good present for someone who has a FOREST?

December 17, 2023 11:17 PM

My brother and his wife just bought a new house which is on five acres of aspen groves! My mom is getting them a wildlife camera for Christmas and I think that’s so perfect! What can I get them as a gift that’s under $100?
posted by exceptinsects to Shopping (27 answers total)

Best answer: If you want to continue with the outdoors theme, a nice bird feeder if you think they might be interested in backyard birding.
posted by mochi_cat at 11:20 PM on December 17, 2023 [9 favorites]

Axe
Headlamp
Fire pit
Wellies
posted by greta simone at 12:48 AM on December 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

Binoculars
posted by mightshould at 1:23 AM on December 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Yep came to suggest an axe. This question caused me to stumble on a bit of a rabbit hole, I was going to link to the Best Made Co because they had a lot of giftable versions of good outdoorsy things and found it got bought by Duluth Trading Co a few years back but now it’s been reacquired by the original owner like, a few weeks ago??? Drama in the axe and waxed canvas coat community! Anyway that means a small selection of nice quality useful things is not neatly available on their website, but maybe the book talked about in this newsletter post would be a good companion to an axe for wood splitting or limb felling that is selected to match your family’s builds and heights?

Some good lanterns would be nice. I have three of these little guys and they are pretty incredible and have lasted me many years. I love that they have adjustable brightness, I’ve used them to illuminate under a patio umbrella for conversation and to just barely light my way into a field to get a spectacular view of the Milky Way without losing much of my night vision. Easy to hook on a bag or slip into a pocket for sunset forest wandering.
posted by Mizu at 1:27 AM on December 18, 2023 [6 favorites]

Hammocks! Ticket to the moon or Eno.are good quality place to start.
posted by Iteki at 2:26 AM on December 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: A good foraging book for their area. Forests can be food pantries for ingredients you can't get commercially.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 3:04 AM on December 18, 2023 [7 favorites]

If you go for an axe, I strongly suggest Fiskars. We have gone through a lot of axes and this is by far the favorite.
posted by evilmomlady at 3:47 AM on December 18, 2023 [5 favorites]

The axe is iconic, but the saw is better technology. Unfortunately for gift giving, bow saws are cheap and not interesting to look at.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:06 AM on December 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Not a bow saw but a pruning saw. Silky is the brand and don't piffle about with a folding saw but one that fits in a sheath. The tool for eliminating eye-pokers on the woodland walks.
posted by BobTheScientist at 4:51 AM on December 18, 2023 [8 favorites]

Is auggest an ax as well. If you're in USA, there's a lovely made in America company called estwing who make a variety of beautiful composite and wood handled axes all on Amazon.
posted by chasles at 5:10 AM on December 18, 2023

Best answer: I strongly suggest this, but only if you really care about them.
posted by amtho at 5:39 AM on December 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

A few field guides, specially tailored for their area. I'd look for ones put out by either the state university extension service or by academics within that state. While national guides (Audubon or Peterson) are nice, the localized ones are detailed for the exact region that you are in. For example, in Michigan where I am, I'd go with Michigan Trees (Barnes & Wagner), A Field Guide to the Natural Communities of Michigan (MI Natural Features Inventory), and then something with a bit of storytelling or narrative. These will all help them really get to know their local landscape.
posted by hessie at 6:29 AM on December 18, 2023 [7 favorites]

A pair of decent folding camp chairs with shoulder straps can be had for $100, nicer ones if you watch for sales.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:01 AM on December 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

If you are inclined towards a bird feeder, suet feeders are my local bird sanctuary's choice, along with Z-bird Spicy, which deters mammals like squirrels and rats, but doesn't deter birds.
posted by spamandkimchi at 7:12 AM on December 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's a bit more than you want to spend, but we love our Extractigator for pulling small trees. If you chop or cut down small weed-trees or invasives the next year they get bushier, and the root gets more powerful which just makes the inevitable removal harder. The Extractigator pulls whole small trees taproot and all!
posted by gregr at 7:32 AM on December 18, 2023 [4 favorites]

Depending on the wildlife camera and where they want to place it, a WiFi extender may be useful.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:52 AM on December 18, 2023

Does it have a woodstove? Haven't used it yet, but I just got a small splitter(example, I got mine on woot), supposed to be good for kindling. Outdoor fire pit? which must be installed and used with care, because it sound like wildfire territory, but I love sitting by a fire outside.
posted by theora55 at 9:08 AM on December 18, 2023

Best answer: aspens suggest a hummingbird-friendly ecology, so hummingbird feeder.

bat boxes.

Hammocks.

Picnic basket.

big bag of zone-appropriate native wildflower seeds. native grasses are great, too, especially at the yard-forest boundary.
posted by j_curiouser at 10:06 AM on December 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

One step easier than a bird feeder is a bird bath. There are a jillion models and price points.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:08 PM on December 18, 2023

A tree tent? https://www.tentsile.com/collections/2-person-tree-tents
posted by at at 12:29 PM on December 18, 2023

I have many wooded acres. If they want to get into the wood splitting game I would recommend a Fiskars splitting axe (X27) if they actually want to make firewood or the Kindling splitter (X7) if they just want to have a handy small hatchet. I would couple that with this book, which is great for reading by the fire. Either axe and the book together are under $100.
posted by true at 1:54 PM on December 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I think they’re not planning to get into the firewood game too much.
posted by exceptinsects at 4:51 PM on December 18, 2023

A leaf blower will almost certainly come in handy, if you can find a decent one in your price range.
posted by wierdo at 7:19 PM on December 18, 2023

related: maybe their state/county has something for wildland/urban interface. you could look for a hardcopy or send links.
posted by j_curiouser at 8:53 AM on December 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I decided to go with a bat house kit!
Holds 100 bats !
and is approved by Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation—I heard him interviewed on the Ologies podcast once and he is fascinating ☺️
posted by exceptinsects at 8:48 PM on December 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Came to say handsaw - one of the awesome folding bow saws or a silkie.

I'm bewildered by the axe comments - what are people using axes for other than splitting firewood?

Large high quality bowsaw/silkie or a small chainsaw/lessons/safety gear if you wanted to go big. Trees come down in storms or loose limbs or grow in inconvenient places, need a prune for their health, etc. I'd strongly suggest the big bowsaw - you can do almost everything with one of those, a ladder, and time! In addition, they're quiet and enjoyable to use. Sounds weird, but it's kinda peaceful - a pleasant way to do the maintaince that keeps your trees healthier.

I'm uh, a bit of a tree nut, so I'd buy them another (several) tree(s)!

Introduce them to chipdrop? Mulch is great for trees, and it decreases the most annoying kind of mowing if they haven't gone completely wildflower/mow once a year (yet).
posted by esoteric things at 12:56 AM on December 21, 2023

Living Woods magazine
posted by clew at 12:16 PM on December 21, 2023