The holidays are fast approaching and with them the many cyber sales that provide both inspiration and opportunity for gift giving on any budget. To help narrow the field, every year I ask my fellow Backblazers to submit the gifts that they are looking forward to both gifting and receiving. (Hopefully some of their loved ones read the blog?) And of course, I’ve sprinkled in a few of my favorites as well. Without further ado, here’s what we suggest looking into for your 2023 gift giving!
Health and Wellness
Oura Ring
This little thing is pretty neat. It helps you keep track of your health, tracking everything from sleep to stress levels. It lasts for a week on a single charge, and is super easy on the eyes, so you’ll want to wear it all over the place.
Garmin InReach Mini
We have a lot of hikers, joggers, and runners at Backblaze and, as firm believers in thinking about your backup options before a disaster, the Garmin is an awesome-to-have trail buddy.
Drinks On Me (You?)
Yeti Cocktail Shaker
While a cocktail shaker is a pretty common household item, this one is sure to impress. Ask questions like, “Could my drink possibly get any colder and stay that way?” and “Can I customize my shaker with a sticker of my cat’s face?” And the Yeti’s answer is yes. Also, you know we love when a product comes in red.
The Durand
Wine anyone? If you or someone in your life is a big wino, older wines are a delicious treat, with a potentially fatal stumbling block: old, crumbly corks. The Durand corkscrew helps take them out with no breakage.
Coravin Timeless Three
Another one for winos, the Coravin is an incredible wine system that uses tiny needles and argon gas to pour wine into your glass without having to actually open it. I can personally vouch for this one as a single human who has nice wine bottles and often wants a single glass once or twice a week.
Japanese Matcha Tea Set
Tea time is a dreamy time and this matcha set allows you to make yourself a traditional cup. And if you need some matcha powder for it, this one comes high comes highly recommended: Organic Ceremonial Grade Matcha Powder.
Jet Boil Camping Stove
Tea and coffee at a campsite are a must-have, and if you’ve never tried a Jet Boil, this model is easy to use. Also helpful for those times where you lose power and need to make some hot water in a hurry.
Food’s Good
Sous Vide
Foodies know and love the sous vide method, a.k.a. low temperature, long time (LTLT). If you’re into cooking your food in a hot tub, you’ll be happy to know that this accessory has come down in price dramatically over time. We like this version of a kitchen appliance, but there is certainly a wide world of sous vide gadgets out there if you’re interested.
Ooni Pizza Oven
Pizza night gets fancier with this pizza oven that can make you a Neapolitan style pizza in less than five minutes. You gotta love that efficiency.
Goldbelly Iconic Meal Kits
Love fancy foods but can’t travel to get them? Goldbelly has become the go-to for nationwide delivery of local favorites, and they now do meal kits as well. We’re not going to say you should give up on your standard, probably nutritionally balanced Hello Freshes of the world, but we will say that these are a whole lot more, well, iconic.
AeroGarden
Have your own mini-garden whether you’re in a house or an apartment. With just a little bit of counter space, a semi-green thumb, some patience, and water, you’ll never have herbs go bad in your fridge again.
Games and Gaming
Steam Deck OLED, Lenovo Legion Go, & Rog Ally
Not since the times of the Game Boy Advance or maybe the Nintendo 3DS have handheld gaming systems seen such a rise in popularity. Along with the Nintendo Switch, these three handhelds bring the power of a computer to your fingertips on the go. While it’s not quite a gaming rig, it’s good enough for most airline flights, and hey…they’ll all play Baldur’s Gate 3.
D&D Starter Set
It’s a great time to be a nerd. Critical Role, Dimension 20, The Adventure Zone, and many more role playing games (RPGs) are super popular nowadays, and it’s high time you take part. Get the D&D starter kit, some dice, and your soon-to-be best friends, create your character and get rolling.
Clothes
Ororo Heated Vest
Backblaze is based in California, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know about weather. (What’s this wet stuff falling from the sky again?) That said, as a Midwesterner by heritage (dontcha know), I know something about staying warm. Heated clothes take the benefits of your favorite heated blanket and give them to you on the go.
Selk’bag
Camping? Walking? Freezing? How about a sleeping bag that you can walk in, eh?
Hats, Fanny Packs, & Bomber Jackets From Lower Park
We’re all about being good community members, and this local (to us) company makes hats, fanny packs, and bomber jackets using environmentally friendly materials. They’re good products, in more ways than one.
Relax
Breathing Buddy
Studies have shown that meditation has measurable benefits for your mind and body. There are a plethora of tools out there to help you build good habits (see below), but this one is stinkin’ cute. Let this little guy help visually take you through a guided meditation. Bonus: it’s a great gift for kids, too.
Calm
The Calm app helps people stay mindful with everything from guided meditation to celebrity-read stories. We’re big fans of their social posts that just encourage you to take a 15 second break—it’s a positive interruption to the doomscroll effect, and a great way to preview some of the app’s content.
Watch and Listen
Skylight
A twist on photo frames: you can send pictures to it and have all of your favorite memories staring back at you when you look over. Or, send photos to anyone, anywhere. Definitely some potential prank opportunities to be had; but it’s also a great way to keep in touch with far-flung family members.
Sonos Surround Set With Beam
Sonos surround systems are a great addition to homes. Multiple speakers can sync up to make sure that you’re never far away from rocking out to Weird Al, no matter where you are in the house.
Ikea FREKVENS (Sound Activated Lightbox)
Music’s always better with light shows and this lightbox from Ikea matches beats and keeps things groovy. Yet another reason to love Ikea!
Apple AirPods Max
For the audiophiles in your life, the AirPods Max are the over-the-ear variant of the traditional AirPod. They’re much harder to lose, giving you that impressive combo of sound and noise cancellation you’ve come to expect.
Pixel Buds Pro
To balance the scales for our Android lovers, here are Google’s in-ear buds. They have a lot of bells and whistles including noise cancellation and built-in Android Assistant. Now when you talk to yourself, someone will answer. (That’s a good thing right?).
LEGO
LEGO is having a bit of a moment (at least in my family) and we have spent a lot of time building complicated models. For the adults in your life that love to tinker, we recommend some of these cool sets!
LEGO Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage
Give the Gift of Backblaze
And, of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that Backblaze Computer Backup makes a great gift. Help your family and friends experience the sweet, sweet peace of mind that comes from a good backup strategy and make sure they never lose a file again. Bonus: you don’t even have to go to the store to get it.
Go Forth and Gift!
We hope this guide sparked some ideas and simplified some choices. We’ll also be publishing our second-annual book guide in December if you’re struggling with something for the literary folks in your life. (There’s some good stuff in the first one too.) We love hearing about what folks are excited about, so feel free to give us some more good options in the comments below.
