I would like a magical pair of highly wicking, fast drying, super breathable, LEVI'S 501's and a midweight merino wool flannel shirt with a checkered lumberjack red and black pattern.

Gracias.

Anything that isn't being made to my satisfaction or requirements so far I've just made and it's all to personalized for a gear maker to offer it. What I'd really like is some people who would backpack with me here in N Ga that don't want to do 15-20 miles a day and walk faster than I can run. My body just isn't there yet and I don't want to go by myself.

How about Inov-8 shoes in brown? Ideally, they would be shankless and with endurance rubber soles (amazingly, they only have two with endurance rubber and no shanks, one in yellow and one in lime green). Custom sized would be nice too.

patrick, I have to agree with you about seam sealing. "Here's a shelter that won't keep you dry......yet" what?!
I mean its not the end of the world, but i don't buy a backpack that I have to sew the straps on, or a cookset that I have to machine, or a down jacket that I have to stuff with down, just finish the product.

A pair of WPB boots (not low cuts) that weigh less than 2 lb. and have a good sole that doesn't let you feel every d@mn pebble on the tread. Inov8 is NOT what I'm talking about.

If you can find some Timberland Cadion XCR's I think you will be happy. Over the ankle, crampon compatible and 34oz for the pair in my 11.5 wide. There were some issues with earlier production runs but I have five to six hundred miles on mine and no issues.

It will be a sad day when they wear out. I am hoping for a similar replacement in a year or two.

Dear Santa,

I would like a pair of bear canisters that weigh less than a Bearikade and have the rounded corners and capacity of a BearVault. The big ones.

Alternatively, I would also be very happy with two Bearikades or two BearVaults. The big ones.

Finally, I realllllly want a large, cuben-fiber "dining fly" with a catenary cut so that I can set it up to cover 10 Boy Scouts for cooking and eating in the rain, and that weighs no more than, say, a pound. I'd love some of that ultra-sparkly orange string from that fella on BPL, too.

Of course, there will be cookies and brew waiting for you.

Merry Christmas,

Erik

Dear Santa,

I guess a letter to you is way overdue, you have blessed me for over 60 years and I haven’t taken the time to thank you.

I don’t need anything, I have more than I could have expected in this life.

I particularly want to thank you for your thoughtful gifts to my two great kids. They have never been naughty or caused us an ounce of grief.

Extra, extra thanks for my wife, she is wonderful. Remember, you were there on our first date at the Christmas party… so I am sure you had something to do with that. How did you know she was so awesome?

I never understood how you work things out. Seems like no one in our neighborhood had much money for gifts when we were kids, but somehow how every Christmas you came up with that one special gift for me and my brothers. I particularly want to thank you for the Roy Rogers Chuck Wagon set you gave me in 1956. Yes, I remember; it far exceeded my expectations. Special thanks for the year you gave my three younger brothers each a Schwinn Stingray. Boy, I don’t know how you pulled that one off. We never even thought to ask for a bike; that was just too much to ask for.

One thing that really perplexed me was never getting a transistor radio like my friends, but you gave me books. I guess you wanted me to read them, so I read them over and over. Now I realize that those books helped me to learn and educate myself so I would not have to rely on others for gifts to enjoy a good life. Thank you. Thank you for giving me "The Complete Walker" in 1970.

Additional thanks for teaching me to work hard to find that special gift each Christmas for my loved ones. It is hard to find that one special item each year and takes a lot of time, research and effort to listen to the things they say during the year to determine that special gift that is a complete surprise and absolutely something they did not realize they would enjoy so much. And thank you smiles and tears of joy when they open them.

Thank you for teaching me how to give gifts. Not out of guilt or charity, but for my own pleasure.

Not sure if you had anything to do with it, but thank you for the country I live in. And if you had anything to do with colors, shooting stars, the milky way, sunsets, sandy beaches, perfect waves in the surf, mountains, snow, deserts, streams, and smells; thank you for those too. Special thanks for trout. I don’t eat them much but sure like to watch them. Thank you for big horn sheep, they are my favorite. Thank you for bears, mountain lions and deer. Thank you for my dog, Corky.

Merry Christmas,

- Nick

P.S. I wish you wouldn’t charge so much money at the mall to take pictures with the children.

Dear Santa,

If you give me yet another lump of coal this year, I'm grinding it up and finding you and your reindeer and giving Rudolph a coal enema. I know how to use a map and compass fat boy, and I can easily find out when you're sleeping and when you're awake, so you better take my warning to heart.

Just sayin'.......

Nick's post- beautiful sentiment.
Doug's followup- priceless.

My wish to Santa would be that when I find a pair of trail runners that work well for me, that I could buy the very same model of shoes year after year after year. Yes, and optionally not in flourescent orange with flashy racing stripes --- something in modest earth tones. But that's optional, as after enough miles shoes all look the same literal "earth tone" colors anyway.

I guess in general I'd like it if simple stuff stayed simple. The little zipper for the little key (?) pocket on my latest pair of hiking pants caused me some pain this year as the waist belt on my pack pushed the zipper into my flesh as I walked. This didn't make a lot of sense for pants sold for, well, backpackers. To be clear, however, I'm not saying that REI wasn't paying close attention to their actual core customer base here (I'm not it).

Really, the amazing amount of very well thought out and well designed & manufactured goods available to us is ... amazing. A good part of the "problem" of gear selection is that we have so very many wonderful choices.

Can I have a pair of wings?

Thank you, Nick. I truly appreciate your very thoughtful response. An "attitude of gratitude" is a wonderful trait that we all need to work on more.

I want an ultralight fire retardant bivvy so I can sleep next to a blazing fire on a cold winter night and keep all my precious down and synthetics safe.

First, in the spirit of St. Nick above,

Thank you for turning me on to BPL and thereby restoring my ability to ascend to our most beloved Alpine Zone again and for all the manufacturers whose creative use of lighter materials has helped me reduce my loaded pack weight by more than 50%;

And thank you for whispering into my family's ear about that new Macbook Pro I really needed and for giving me a boss who pays me well enough to afford some awfully nice equipment and who lets me take off so much time to pursue my love of nature and adventure;

And thank you for telling that nice young UPS driver that I really really needed shiny red new MSR snowshoes and an MB ExL jacket;

And thank you for sending the bald eagles that fly by my window at home and for stalling icebergs in front of my northern retreat.

And now before my modest and respectful wishes for this Chanukah, I'd like to regift you something: ten or fifteen years of my sixty-three. Please feel free to take more if you'd like.

First Night: A new knee; Second Night: An ascent of Denali; Third Night: Ultra-light hiking shoes with stiff Vibram soles; Fourth Night: A -20 down bag that weighs two pounds at most; Fifth Night: A 24 mp SLR with 300 f4 lens that weigh, combined, 18oz or less; Sixth Night: a 4-wheel drive Prius with 10 inches of road clearance; Seventh Night: A nice little house in Jackson, WY; Eighth Night: Peace on Earth.

And Thanks BPLers for your knowledge, insight and humor that have helped push my old legs to go further and higher than I ever could have imagined two years ago.