Miscellany: Stocking Stuffers for the Tacticool Set

All this month, Shangrila Towers will be serving up various Christmas-themed posts. Today, we'll look at some great gifts for the mall ninja in your life. All of the suggestions come in at or under $20, so there should be something for everyone:

Novelty Paracord

550 parachute cord is incredibly useful (I'll be showcasing some braiding and lanyarding projects later on here at Shangrila Towers). Its utilitarian nature, though, means it doesn't usually make for a very distinctive gift. That is, until you glam it up with pastel or neon colors (check out Supply Captain). There's just nothing quite like giving someone a couple 50 foot hanks of pink camo para cord.

Snap Caps/Dummy Rounds

An ideal gift. For one, it's cheaper and easier to ship than actual ammunition (I'm pretty sure you can send snap caps through the mail, for instance). For another, unlike ammo, snap caps are universal - you don't have to worry about the shooter's particular bullet or charge preferences. If you really want to be cheeky, you can include a note ribbing the recipient for not dry-firing enough.

RKBA-related Clothing

Almost all Second Amendment apparel is casual (T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baseball caps), so it's almost uniformly affordable. There are a whole lot of choices out there, but I like stuff from Life, Liberty, Etc. The NRA, GOA, and other 2A groups have lots of merch out there, too.

Reading Material

Military history is a safe bet for most - the problem is finding a book that someone hasn't read yet. Instead of giving "Blackhawk Down" or "We Were Soldiers Once...And Young," go for lesser known books like "A Frozen Hell," an excellent account of the Winter War. Don't forget works of fiction which are particularly famous around the gunblogger community - like "Monster Hunter International" or "Enemies Foreign and Domestic."

Reloading Dies

Buying someone a set of reloading dies is almost entirely safe; if they already reload the caliber they can use the set as a backup, and if they don't reload the caliber right now, they'll be ready to start cranking out ammo should they ever decide to. Works even better as a gift if you offer to introduce a complete newbie to reloading.

Inexpensive Folding Knives

I'm not sure how the old superstition against giving someone a knife as a gift got started (supposedly such a gift means the friendship is destined to be severed), but the guy that thought it up obviously wasn't a knife lover. For about $20 or less, there are a number of great folding knife choices. Check out the CRKT Drifter, the Ka-Bar Dozier, the Buck Vantage Select, and the Kershaw Oso Sweet, among others.