The holidays are here again. That means it’s time to start thinking about what to get the people on your list.
If you’re looking for a few little things for the guys at work or stocking stuffers for the other outdoorspeople in your life, a company called McNett has a ton of ‘em.
My favorite product McNett offers is probably the best shoe glue on the market. It’s called FreeSole, and I have a favorite pair of Merrill hiking boots that’s held together completely with it. I started using FreeSole to repair the little cracks and splits in my shoes a couple of years ago, but the shoes just kept coming apart in other places. Not where the FreeSole is, but everywhere else. Now those boots are completely covered with a thin film of the stuff.
The only problem with FreeSole is that it’s not breathable. That means my super-comfortable Merrills, which used to benefit from a GoreTex layer, no longer do what they were designed to do, which is to allow my feet to get a little air. They’re waterproof as all heck now, but they don’t let any air in.
McNett also offers a line of water repellent sprays you can use to treat your breathable waterproof clothing. It’s called ReviveX, and it makes the garments waterproof again without sacrificing the breathability. My hiking boots were well beyond the ReviveX stage, but I have a coat that I’ve hit with the stuff, and it works great. That coat’s actually more waterproof now than it was when it was new, and I haven’t noticed any difference in the breathability.
The company also offers pocket-sized wader and tent repair kits, which can be a huge help out in the field. Both kits are easy to use out in the field, and they work just as well as the patches you apply at home. But with these, you don’t have to cut your trip short if you spring a leak in your waders or your tent. The wader kit comes under the name Aquaseal, and the tent kit is called SeamGrip.
Any one of these products will fit easily in a stocking, and they’re all very affordable. If you don’t think another person on your list will find a use for them, you might want to stuff them in your own stocking, anyway.
