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FOR HIM: Tech Guys & Trek Guys

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invasion-of-the-body-snatchersMy husband Tim is a bit of an anomaly because he is both a techie and trekkie. By the latter, I do NOT mean that he is one of those Star Trek devotees who dresses in costume and attends the premiere of every new movie (actually, if he ever does that, I’m pretty sure there will be some kind of invasion of the bodysnatchers thing going on…).

What I mean is that he is both extremely good with computers AND extremely athletic (i.e. he likes to go on treks). He can design websites and recover data and he understands all kinds of things that are abbreviated (CSS, DOCSIS, GB, etc.). That said, he’s not really your typical computer guy because he is constantly moving. Actually, right at this second, he is standing at the counter typing on his laptop. STANDING. Not sitting comfortably on the couch like a normal person (like…ahem…me). Nope. He likes to run, bike, hike, camp, backpack, etc.

It seems that most guys fall into one (or both) of those categories. As such, I’ve compiled two gift ideas for tech types and two gift ideas for outdoorsmen. Take your pick…

surfboard sb6120 cable modemSURFboard SB6120 Cable Modem by Motorola (~$100)

If he uses the Net regularly for work or play, he’s bound to appreciate an ultra-fast high-speed connection.

Enter the SURFboard SB6120.

Dependable and speedy, the modem is up to four times faster than current generation cable modems. As such, this black box is especially ideal for gamers, designers, and coders – or anyone who leads a digital life.

My husband says it’s VERY important to point out that this modem is DOCSIS 3.0 Certified. Apparently, that means that it offers the leading edge in cable technology. It pretty much guarantees that you’ll be able to access the fastest internet connection that your cable provider is capable of. Pretty sweet, right? For him…and for you.

harmony 700 remoteHarmony 700 Advanced Universal Remote by Logitech ($149.99)

Say sayonara to electronic clutter once and for all with a universal remote. You’ll never have to ask, “Where is the DVD/BluRay/TV/VCR/XBOX remote?” again. With one sleek, ergonomic, and colorful remote, he’ll be able to control up to six devices. Talk about high-efficiency! It’s an intelligent device that streamlines and simplifies digital clutter.

Plus, the remote holds its charge for up to a week and is fully rechargeable. On top of that, it comes with a 1-year hardware warranty.

sunshade mSunshade M by Kelty ($149.95)

This gift is a sneaky (and sensational) gift for your guy. Sneaky because he will absolutely love it if he is a coach, if he participates in organized sports, or if he enjoys camping/hiking…but the clincher is that YOU will also love it. It will, after all, be perfect for family vacations, picnics, and outdoor adventures.

Ultra-lightweight and easy to assemble, this sunshade spans a large area and easily provides shade for 10+ people.

contourhd helmet camcorderContourHD Helmet Camcorder by VholdR (~$280.00; GIVEAWAY)

Skateboarders, skiers, mountain/dirt bikers, and other people who have a “need for speed” will think you are the coolest gift-giver ever when you present this tiny wearable camera. Designed to be mounted to a helmet, the ContourHD may be small, but that doesn’t mean that it’s breakable. On the contrary, it’s sturdy and tough – made to withstand bumps, jolts, dives, and dips. Because it’s made for use during action, it’s super simple to use and only requires on quick press of a button. Best of all, the camcorder records in high-definition. Athletes will marvel at their own stunts…and the stunts of their friends.

ContourHD_logo_040809WIN IT! One winner will receive a ContourHD Helmet Camcorder (~$280.00) by VholdR. To enter, leave any topic-related comment on this post prior to Friday, November 27th at 11:59 p.m. (Don’t forget to follow the rules…all generic comments like “Enter me!,” “Love it,” and “Cool stuff!” will be disqualified.).

FOR A SECOND ENTRY: Blog or Tweet about my Christmas Gift Guide (or about this giveaway)…and leave a second comment telling me that you did.

* I received product samples for review purposes.

*UPDATE* The winner is #5 Becca. Congratulations!

Comments

  1. My husband just upgraded his mountain bike and is doing all sorts of new jumps and crazy trails. He would be so psyched to get this camcorder to show me his awesome moves!

  4. How fun would this be. I’m glad it’s rugged because I’m sure the girls would want to use it while they are riding their bikes and running all over the house.

  5. This ContourHD Camcorder is so cool! I took a look at the site and found it’s Built to be operated with a pair of gloves on and has so many great features.

  6. Wow, this would be cool. I think my kids would love to get their hands on it though. My husband would make some cool movies with it.

  7. This would be prefect for the hubby since he also loves the great outdoors! Not to mention how awesome it is in general. =)

  8. I can never understand people who stand and use their laptop! My husband does the same thing and it drives me nuts. I have to be sitting. Don’t ask me why.

    We are both techies. I guess my ultimate compliment was when my son had friends over and one of them called me a geek when I answered a computing question. And we do a lot more stuff outdoors now. We sort of quit doing as much physical excerise for a couple of years. Boredom I guess.

  9. my husband would love this he is always on the move. I think that is part of the reason he is going to school to be a wind turbine tech he is an adventure seaker thanks for the chance to win eaglesforjack@gmail.com this would be the best christmas present.

  14. Cool, sounds like it is full of chances to catch mishaps and such that would make funny home videos.

  17. Wow, this would be great for my husband and my kids! They would love to have the one touch record and the dual laser siting for the snowboard slopes! Great giveaway, thanks!

  19. My guy & I love to travel, so this camcorder would have been great to have when we zip lined in Costa Rica and climbed Machu Picchu last year!

  24. my brother is an adrenaline junkie. he loves to rock climb and boulder. his job is satellite tower installer so he is constantly working at crazy heights AND he just took his first bungee jump this summer!
    he is always rigging his digital camera to his clothing or equipment to get great shots/footage of his latest feats. this camera would be a great gift idea. a little steep in price but i imagine totally worth it.
    did you husband try it out?

  26. Love this post because actually there was something for everyone in our house. I would actually love that Harmony remote – just because they are uber cool! Hubby would love the sunshade – he is the outdoorsy person in the family and will just sit out there sometimes, I don’t know what he is doing LOL. Then our teenage son would LOVE the helmet cam. He is always trying to rig up his flip camera so that he can take pics of himself skateboarding and riding his bike – they don’t turn out that great, I think this helmet cam would be PERFECT for him!

  28. Oh my goodness… I can already imagine the videos my little brother would make wearing this while he is skateboarding, riding his bike, etc. He would absolutely flip over this! It is right up his alley!

  29. I would love to give this to my brother, he’s a snowboarder and he could attach it to his helmet and record and we could all watch it! Really great camera.

  30. We would love to attach this to my son’s helmet to view his skateboarding, scooter, bike, and sledding. It will be a site to see and may end up on America’s Funniest Videos.

  32. What a fun helmet to have. I can imagine that my husband would have tons of fun with something like this with some of his guy friends along helping him have fun videoing while doing crazy bikeriding adventures.

  34. My brother would love this. This is the type of thing he could use while cycling and all the other out-doorsy things that he does. Thank you for the opportunity.

  35. I second the recommendation on the Harmony universal remote. I just got my ‘techie’ husband one for his birthday, and he loves it. It replaced the 3 other remotes we had (and could never find) and was very easy to program. :)

  36. My hubby would adore any one of these products. Very cool gadgets! We are big into the outdoors and all types of adventures, 4-wheeling being one of hubby’s favorite activities. This would be the best gift for him!

    Thanks so much for the chance to win such a great prize!

    Best,
    Jamie

    jamiejaws AT gmail.com

  37. Okay ALL of these gifts would be fabulous for my husband – thanks for the ideas as I have been stumped. That helmet camera would be used for my 4 wheeler man. He often rides with groups in the area and takes a few pics while gone, but how fun would it be for us to just live life with him after he gets home? My little ones LOVE to ride, but obviously don’t very often. I am also seriously thinking about that remote. We currently have 5 different ones for our living room “stuff.” Great ideas!

  38. This would be hilarious to strap onto a toddler and get a perspective of what it is like to see the world through there eyes. Also it would be great to wear absolutely at any outdoor sporting activity. Including hiking although it might look funny to others, but if you are hiking some wear beautiful it would be great to capture the scenery.

  39. My husband is also a very techy guy (Macs) as well as ourdoorsy. I’m very thankful that he is both!

  40. I would love to win this for my husband. It would be great for sharing with our son what it is like to ride his motorcycle. Thanks for the giveaway.

  42. Scott would love a helmetcam- he goes on at least 30 rides a year- up the canyon or in the sand dunes. A helmetcam would be the perfect Christmas gift for him.

  46. That camera would be absoulutely PERFECT for my nephew. He goes so fast down the mountain when he’s skiing, that i’m surprised he’s not dead yet!
    Great giveaway!

  47. What is it with boys/men and their wish to fly? Every guy I know has actually dreamed he could fly. Anyhow, a camcorder like this could maybe give him that impression if he wore it while skiing!

  48. Ha! We have some Techies and Trekies in my family too. Some of each, but not to many mixes like your hubby. That helmet cam sounds like a pretty fun toy!

  50. My husband would not qualify as a techie- that would be more me- but he is athletic! He is an avid triathlete and cyclist!

    In fact- in our browser history he was looking at one of these cameras. I never thought he would love it, but I guess I was wrong. I can see us now- watching hours of complied race videos- and hiking trips. :)

  52. My husband is a techie gadget type guy and would love to have this. He can’t have enough of this kind of stuff and I never let him buy them due to the money issue.

  53. Now that camcorder is an amazing device! My husband has been talking about recording some of his motorcycle rides through the mountains, I’m not sure how he was planning to do it though! Sometimes it’s better to NOT ask questions, right?!

  54. Oh boy, I was just mentioning how nice it would be to have a camera to mount for my husbands flying areobatic adventures. This week alone, many times have come up where this would have been a fantastic tool/toy. Since I do a terrible job of holding a 2 year old and a camera, and he should be piloting the aircraft instead of dinking around with a camera. Not to mention the dirt bike riding and other extreme craziness he could use it for.

  57. Like a previous commenter, I can only imagine the trouble a camcorder could bring on. But I’m sure it’d be fun to find out! The Sunshade M is a great gift idea as well! It would definitely come in handy.

  58. Do you know the fun (trouble) my brother could get into with one of these. He and his buddies go mountain biking in the California mountains twice a week. I am almost afraid to see what his footage would be. Considering he has had a few run in’s with rattlers and mountain lions this could document his last moments. Well, let’s hope not!

  59. I know several guys who would love this. I didn’t even know you could get a camcorder on a helmet. What a cool idea!

  60. I want to run and round and do silly things with that helmet on! And have the girls wear it and see things from their point of view! And put it on a dog for a little while to see what they see! It’s just fun playing, I think. And I want it.

  61. This is wonderful for my snowboarding hubby. We went on a snowboarding trip to Chamonix, France in April & now I’m due on Christmas :) We also have season passes to Mammoth — definitely taking the baby with her pink uggs up there. He loves the park & I’m kind of slow with the cam so this would be perfect!

  62. I love the shade, however, we have had terrible luck with those expandable metal shade structures…as in, we ruined 2 because the wind fipped them over. I don’t even want to think about it!

  63. My hubby is a skier and snowboarder and he would love this. Since he is MUCH better than me I would love to see what he does and how steep it actually is. He would also take this mountain biking as well – hopefully he will delete the crash screens before I see them!

  64. My brother is an avid whitewater kayaker and this would be so awesome for him to take on his adventures… then we could experience the wild with him (and not get all cold and wet!).

  65. My husband would love the helmet camcorder. He loves to take William and go exploring, they just started trying out caves. Fun, but scary.

  66. What an amazing present- I had never heard of this before- but I know for dh as I bike along while he trains for a marathon- it would be invalulabel

  70. Our oldest son travels and does a lot of snow boarding! Even though it terrifies his mother,
    I have to let go…..He would be thrilled with
    this present. Thanks, Cindi

  71. Now that’s a remote if I ever saw one! I’ve actually gotten quite good at working at the computer standing, typing with one hand. My baby, as most prefers to stand but I’d rather be sitting on my comfy couch too. Those are all really great ideas, thanks!

  72. Those are great ideas! I love the sunshade. Plus the helmet camcorder would be perfect for our family bike rides! We’ve been biking around state parks in the area and it’s hard to take pictures of the kids riding when you’re on your own bike. That would be perfect to capture the fun they have riding through big mud puddles!! :)

  73. I am more of the techie in this house :) That said, we LOVE being outside too. Walking, hiking, playing in the park. Thankfully we live in an area that allows us to do outdoor stuff almost any day :)

  74. I have never even seen one of these, we used a old motorcycle helment and strapped of heavy video camera on so we could get some good footage of our quadding adventures and we all had really bad headaches after

  75. That helmet camcorder is a perfect gift for a techie/trekkie. My husband falls in both categories too, and I think his favorite outdoor gadget is his GPS that attaches to his mountain bike. That way he plugs it into the computer after his ride to see the route he rode, distances, elevations, etc.

  76. We have recently started biking as a family. What a great family gift this would be. I am always looking for encouragement to get the family outside together and active.

  78. My husband and two sons would fall in both the techie and trekkie categories, too. They all really enjoy the outdoors and hiking, rock climbing and dirt bike riding. They also love their tech gadgets, especially my 16 year old son. This Helmet Camcorder would be the ultimate gadget, I’m sure that they would think up all kinds of interesting ways to use it.

  79. Yep – Hubby would absolutely love the camcorder. I’m more of the “techie” in this family – but Hubby does enjoy doing things outside – hunting, fishing, riding bikes and etc…

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