COEC's 2025 Holiday Gift Guide

Being on a budget doesn't mean your only options for gift giving are poorly made products with limited functionality or usefulness - we have plenty of quality sub-$50 products that are sure to bring a smile to the a recipient's face, and earn a permanent home with their gear essentials.

Morakniv offers excellent, reliable, well-made low-cost knives for both outdoor and carving applications, including their Companion, Companion HD, 106 and 120 models.

To help keep gear organized in a canoe pack, barrel, or backpack, Savotta offers pockets and pouches including their mesh trinket pouches, roll-top stuff sacks, perennial favourite water bag, medical kit organizers, zipped pouches, and a variety of straps and elastic organizers to keep everything in it's place.

We're restocked on Frost River's waxed canvas accessory bags, belt pouches and saw bags, as well as the excellent, Canadian made Visk fabric wax for touchups and re-waterproofing.

Effective gifts for warm feet, hands and heads are always appreciated, and socks from Woolpower and Ivanhoe of Sweden, as well as wool insoles, wrist gaiters, and helmet liners go a long way to keep winter's chill at bay.

Safety related items include first aid kits, Exotac's field repair kits and waterproof match cases, Canadian made whistles, and the amazingly useful FORJ repair tape will help keep your loved ones safe and secure.

Many excellent book titles can be had, including those by Kevin Callan (including his excellent children's title "A Spark of Courage"), Adam Shoalts ( A History of Canada in 10 Maps, Vanished Beyond the Map), Juan Pablo Quinonez's excellent "Thrive - Long Term Wilderness Survival Guide", as well as classics like Mors Kochanski's "Basic Safe Travel & Boreal Survival Handbook" and Lars Fält's "Outdoors The Scandinavian Way - Survival Skills" are all on offer.

Gifts in this price range expand on keeping your loved ones warm, and include wool thermal base layer tops and bottoms, wool underwear, wool bras, heavy socks, toques, mitts and wrist and neck gaiters from both Ivanhoe of Sweden and Woolpower.

Knife and sharpening products offerings from Helle of Norway include children's knives, blade blanks, sharpening stones, and the ever popular Fossekallen and Speider models.

Bushmen Travel Gear's European made Thermo and ULTRA tarps provide shelter and an escape from the elements, Japan's folding portable Silky saws make wood prep fast and easy, and various Bushbox stick stoves from Germany's Bushcraft Essentials as well as competitor Firebox are also on offer for those rainy days when staying dry, warm and hydrated with hot drinks are foremost on the agenda.

Various Trangia cooksets - a study in compact, efficient design that is reliable under any and all conditions - are on offer, as well as alternate isobutane burners, and various accessories for Trangia sets.

Water filters including pre-filters from Brown's Bushcraft, and gravity and pump filters from Katadyn provide the means to ensure all pathogens are removed from drinking water when on trip, so the only thing accompanying you on the way home are your (hopefully) good memories.

Various models of headlamps, flashlights and camp lanterns from Fenix provide long lasting runtimes, superior brightness, the ability to recharge, and waterproofing to ensure you have plenty of light once the sun goes down.

Made in Canada offerings include excellent deer and moose hide mitts, folding bucksaws, Suluk 46's ingenious tree table, heavy duty leather belts, sharpening and care products from Knife & Axe,

Gifts in this category are some of the finest made, most long lasting outdoor products available on the market today.

Gränsfors Bruk axes are hand forged, come with a 20 year guarantee, and are available in various models and styles to accommodate a multitude of uses and applications. From general camp axes, to splitting axes, to wood working and carpentry axes, there's a Gränsfors axe for every application.

Savotta backpacks, long trusted by Finnish Defence personnel, are made in the EU and offer solid construction, various configurations, and the ability to add modular storage to your pack as needs require.

Cooke Custom Sewing make sil-nylon tarps that are bomb-proof in addition to being waterproof, and provide the ultimate in material strength and dependability - even in severe weather with high winds.

100% wool jackets, mid-layer jackets, and hoodies from Ivanhoe and merino wool layers Woolpower are all made in the EU, and provide the ultimate in thermal layering and cold abatement for those who work and play outdoors.

Helle from Norway and Casström from Sweden offer a wide variety of folding and fixed blade full and partial tang knives that are available in a wide array of sizes, steel and handle styles, and also come with 25 year guarantees - making them life-long, trusty companions.

Canadian made products abound, including Portage Creative's hit portable canoe seat the "SlackSeat", Wilderness Paddle Works' hand made canoe paddles, GV from Quebec's traditionally made wooden snowshoes (much better than modern 'shoes in out opinion), and made-in-Canada snowshoe bindings, wooden take down bucksaws, hand-forged camp and splitting axes, as well as hot tents and acessories from Esker.

Small, inexpensive yet cool and useful gifts are always appreciated by both sender and recipient. We at COEC have a great selection of just such items - including:

Canadian made bee's wax candles
Organic, fair trade, biodegradable soaps
Fire lighting gear
Corn cob pipes
Kupilka shot cups
Voyageur style pill boxes
Canadian made water purification tablets
Replacement zippers
Utility cords
Mess tins
Maps

plus one of our top selling favourites:
Pocket Bellows