Clever, weightless(ish) gifts for the traveler who already has it all

Adventure travelers can be extremely hard to shop for. The sports we love can require super-specialized equipment that you really need to pick out yourself, to make sure it fits and will do its job when tested—such as when you get stuck in a deluge on day two of your five-day backpacking trip. 

Even the most thoughtful gift can fail to make the carry-on cut if it’s too heavy or bulky. This year, gift something that’s clever, useful, and takes up (almost) zero space inside their suitcase. 

Our low-tech, low-impact gift guide has ideas for every budget, including thoughtful gifts that won’t cost you a penny.

Clever digital gifts to save time, money, and airline miles 

AirHelp+ subscription

When your flight gets delayed or your baggage goes missing, AirHelp chases down the airline for compensation and reimbursement on your behalf—up to USD$650 depending on flight regulations in your departure and arrival countries, regardless of where you live. It’s free to use if you’re willing to part with a third of the money they win for you, or you can buy an annual AirHelp+ plan that allows you to keep 100 percent of your reimbursements.

On a whim, I recently filed a claim with them for a chaotic trans-Atlantic flight from London to Santiago, Chile, in 2023, when I pulled an all-nighter in a Madrid airport waiting in an hours-long queue to resolve a missed connection. Amazingly, nearly two years after that nightmare, AirHelp won a months-long battle and sent me GBP£338—nearly USD$450. And that was after they took their cut. This felt like an extra-big win because I had already tried to get compensation from the airline myself when the incident happened, and they responded fairly quickly to say they were certain they owed me nada.

Insurance might not seem like a sexy gift, but there’s an extra perk for AirHelp+ members: If your registered flight is reported to be delayed by an hour, they’ll give you a free lounge pass. If you’re delayed more than three hours, you miss a connection, or your luggage gets lost, they’ll automatically toss you USD$200 in cash. 

For a frequent flier, it’s just a matter of time until payday. And you bet they’ll be thinking of you when they use that cash to grab a new book and dine in style on the best eats in Terminal A.

airhelp.com, from USD$179.99 per year in the US; prices vary abroad

Point.Me subscription

Finally, it’s here: A service that plays the points game for you. Just tell Point.Me where you want to go and what ‘currency’ your points are in, and it will crunch reward redemption rates to tell you how to get the best flight in the fanciest cabin for the fewest miles. 

Some of these calculations and conversions are impressively complex and would take a normal person (i.e. me) hours of experimenting to figure out, like converting AmEx points to KLM miles to buy a flight that’s operated by Delta. Point.Me claims you can save up to 90 percent of the value of your flight by using their service, making your points worth up to 12 times as much as if you just used them at ‘face value.’ The Premium version of Point.Me also includes a free consultation to help you figure out a points strategy to get where you want to go, faster and cheaper.

There’s unfortunately no free trial to give it a test run before you buy in, but you may be in luck if you have an Amex card. Amex.Point.Me is a free version of the service that lets US-based cardholders search for flight deals compatible with Amex Membership Rewards Points. The full version lets you compare conversion rates between airline miles and your credit card points (i.e. Amex Membership Rewards) so you can find the best value for your points and book your flight with as few points as possible.

It’s worth noting that Point.Me only supports US-based credit card rewards systems, but anyone can use it to compare over 100 international airlines against one another. 

point.me, from USD$129 per year  

Hands-free travel accessories

Klipsta magnetic clip

These heavy-duty magnetic clips wrap around your suitcase handles so you can secure lightweight but bulky items—such as hats, jackets, or other small bags—to the outside of your luggage, freeing up valuable carryon space. 

I’ve found these clips super-helpful for keeping a tote bag in place on top of my suitcase when I’m rolling around an airport, kind of like I’ve installed a hook on my luggage. The magnets are super-powerful, so you can be sure that hat isn’t going anywhere even if you’re running to catch a flight with just a few minutes to spare.

klipsta.com, from USD$24.99

Ohsnap phone grip

This smooth, super low-profile pop-out disc attaches to the back of a smartphone with both magnets and adhesive. The magnetic disc pops out and extends with an accordion-style attachment, so you can comfortably hold your phone in your palm or wear it like a ring for extra grip. 

The disc also clicks into place at an angle so you can use it like a tripod to prop up your phone. Think of it like a sleeker Popsocket that also has charge-thru tech, so it’s compatible with wireless chargers. They come in tons of colors and patterns to suit every style, and somehow seem to enhance the look of a phone rather than make it appear more clunky. 

Best of all, the adhesive on the disc is reusable with just a quick rinse under the faucet, so you don’t have to get a new grip whenever you get a new phone or case.

ohsnap.com, from USD$27.99

Stocking stuffers for the anti-plastic traveler

Wild’s travel-sized deodorant

With rigid packaging, deodorant tubes can take up a lot of space in a toiletries bag, even when they’re travel-sized. Wild’s plastic-free, natural deodorant minis, however, are about the size of a lip balm or lipstick, and work just as well. As a bonus, the fragrances smell fantastic.

If you’re looking for a more substantial gift, the brand’s refillable metal deodorant tubes, lip balm tubes, and shower gel dispensers come in a fun range of colors and patterns, with an even wider array of scents to choose from. An eclectic range of fun collabs makes the reusable tubes and dispensers even better for gifting, from the classy, floral Cath Kidston design to the juicy and super-sweet Chupa Chupas, paired with neon-pink packaging.

wearewild.com, from USD$13.60

Proofed! laundry detergent sheets 

Hostels and Airbnbs with washing machines that don’t come stocked with laundry detergent are the ‘batteries not included’ of travel. It’s not just a huge pain, but it can also be super-wasteful to buy detergent for a couple of washes. If you’ve arrived by train or plane, you’re almost certainly not going to bring it back home with you. 

Enter Proofed!, the last laundry solution you will ever need. Smaller than a dryer sheet and about as thick as a sheet of paper, these laundry detergent squares are a genius, space-saving, completely plastic-free alternative for washing clothes on the road—or for everyday life back home. 

A whole box of 32 sheets, which will last you roughly 16 to 32 loads (depending on how much stuff you cram into the machine), is smaller than a paperback book—and lighter. Gift these as a stocking stuffer for the constant traveler who already has it all, or who’s constantly having to re-buy small essentials on the road. 

liveproofed.com, from USD$12.99

Lightweight gear for the no-nonsense camper

NEMO Endless Promise Sleeping Bag

The best camping gear is built to last a lifetime, and often that’s a problem—far too many brands have no plans or guidance in place to help their customers figure out how to responsibly dispose of their worn-out gear once it comes time to replace it.

NEMO’s line of Endless Promise sleeping bags and backpacks are built with less environmentally-taxing materials and they’re fully recyclable. Once they’ve hiked as far as they can go, they can be deconstructed and turned into new products. 

There are nearly two dozen products in the lineup, offering options to suit every kind of hiker. The Pulse Ultralight Backpacking Quilt has the best warmth-to-weight ratio for the ounce-counting trekker, while the ‘spoon’-shaped Riff is excellent for side-sleepers. It’s not the lightest bag on the market, but it’s roomier at the elbows and knees so it’s easier to shift around and get comfortable. As someone who loves camping but often finds it hard to get cozy, the Riff is now my go-to bag after a great night’s sleep on a chilly autumn trek in New England.

nemo.com, Riff Women’s Endless Promise Down Sleeping Bag from USD$359

Helinox Chair Zero

The Helinox Chair Zero might add about a pound of weight to your pack (half a kilo), but it’s worth it, I promise. It takes less than a minute to set up, and it will literally elevate the lunch game of any hiker or backpacker. Instead of hunting around for a passably dry log or suitably smooth rock from which to eat your lunch, you can sit anywhere the ground is more or less flat, and you can stay out of the dirt. 

Packed down, the seat fits neatly into a water bottle pocket, and it really earns that space. Having a backed chair to settle into after you’ve been carrying a heavy pack all day offers some much-needed comfort.

helinox.com, from USD$91 (on sale)

Gossamer Gear Two Tent

There’s ‘ultralight,’ and then there’s Gossamer Gear. The brand’s two-person backpacking tent (simply called ‘The Two’) packs so small, it fits in the water bottle pocket of a backpack. And at less than two pounds (roughly 1 kilogram), it weighs less than a liter of water too.

This tent is a fantastic gift for a backpacker looking to lighten their essential kit. Thanks to large panels of fine mesh, it feels roomy inside even when camping with a friend. Pitching the tent with trekking poles is far easier than it sounds, and once you get the hang of it, you can set it up solo in five minutes or less. 

Two caveats: First, the tent floor is so thin that you’ll almost certainly want to bring a separate tarp or footprint to protect it from tears, and that extra weight can add up quickly. Second, the structure of the tent requires tension on the guylines to stay upright, so if you find yourself at a campsite with wooden platforms without well-spaced anchors, or if the ground proves too hard for your stakes, you might have to get creative.

gossamergear.com The Two, USD $320

NoNormal coffee paste

Coffee and tea drinkers have it rough when it comes to practicing Leave No Trace guidelines in the wilderness. Unlike snacks and meals that lighten your pack after you’ve eaten them, waterlogged tea bags and coffee grounds get heavier when you’ve ‘consumed’ them.

There’s no shortage of fancy contraptions you can buy to brew your morning caffeine outdoors, but not everyone has the space, patience or willingness to lug all that stuff wherever they’re going. Swiss company NoNormal has come up with a clever solution that addresses all these concerns: 30 cups of coffee condensed into one toothpaste-sized, recyclable aluminum tube, which you can recycle when empty. 

Stir about a half teaspoon of paste into a small cup of hot or cold water, then add more to taste depending on how big your mug is. That’s it. All you need is a mug and a spoon (and water). The paste is dark-roasted Arabica, and you can choose between sweetened and unsweetened. 

Full disclosure: I don’t drink much coffee, so I asked some more experienced taste tasters for their more knowledgeable opinions. The verdict was pretty consistent: This coffee is not bad, and for camping coffee, it’s pretty good. It’s on par with what you’d expect from powdered instant coffee, but the packaging is far more clever and suited to travelers—and that in itself makes this novelty a stuffer worth stocking.

nonormal.com, price varies by country

A note on sustainable consumerism: Adventure.com acknowledges that the most sustainable version of whatever you’re seeking is the one you already possess (and the second-most sustainable pair is secondhand). While we don’t endorse buying things for the sake of it, we do try to highlight more sustainable options in our gear reviews so our readers can make more conscious and informed decisions—for themselves and others.

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