2010 FasterSkier Holiday Gift Guide: $20-$50

The holidays are coming up fast. This part of our Gift Guide series covers gifts between $20 and $50, taking some of the guesswork out of the equation!

Buff (Original Buff) – MSRP: $20.00 “Skier’s cough” is the typical symptom from skiing on those super cold days. With Buff’s Original Buff, you can help prevent that annoying cough while staying cool and fashionable. They guard the wearer against sun and cold in a wide range of outdoor settings. In addition, Buffs are uniquely versatile as there are twelve different ways to wear one! This product is available here.

Fast Wax Low Fluorinated Racing Wax – MSRP: $21.95 Great glide wax for training, and excellent for racing when the humidity is low. Fast Wax LF glide waxes come in four varieties too cover temperatures from 5 F to 50 F.  At 21.95 for 80 grams, Fast Wax delivers a lot of wax for the money. This product is available here.

Fast Wax Slick Pro – MSRP: $24.95 When time is tight and speed matters, slap on this revolutionary paste from Fast Wax. The Slick Pro combines the simplicity of a fluorinated paste wax with the performance of a hot fluoro wax by tailoring the paste to specific temperature ranges. Ridiculously simple, yet so fast you’ll want to race on it. Simply rub it on, allow to it dry for a couple of minutes (while you look for a place to stash your keys), buff it, brush out and go for it! Once you’ve tried it, you’re hooked. This product is available here.

Toko Sina Cap – MSRP: $26.00 Skiers can never have enough hats. (Or gloves, for that matter.) Toko’s finely woven knitted cap with an embroidered Toko logo is optimally suited for Nordic skiing. Plus, it comes in Fire Red, which will provide a festive flair to your ski outfit. This product is available here.

Toko LF Dibloc Red – MSRP: $28.00 This is one of Toko’s most popular waxes.  It has a huge range and ski bases love it.  It is the ultimate training wax. This product is available here.

Brooks Vapor-Dry2 Gloves – MSRP: $29.95 Warm, lightweight, highly breathable gloves that help you stay visible when you walk or run. This product is available here.

Swix Medium Bronze and Nylon Brush – MSRP: $27 Everyone loves a nice new brush that doesn’t have little bits of wax embedded in it. The Swix medium bronze and nylon brush is a great first brush. With the combination of stiff bronze and medium stiff nylon, this brush is all you need for your everyday waxing needs. This product is available here.

Toko Copper Brush – MSRP $29 Ask anybody who owns a Copper brush and they will almost certainly tell you that they love it and use it all the time.  It does all the things that you want a metal brush to do (open and clean the base as well as remove wax), but not the things that a more aggressive metal brush does (create hair which slows skis and leads to sealing of bases). This product is available here.

BootMate and BootBuddy Combo Pack – MSRP: $29.99 We all know that our ski boots take quite a bit of wear and tear, especially on the soles. Once you’ve worn the sole down to the bar, it’s pretty much time for a new pair of boots. Skadin Nordic’s BootBuddies snap into the bottom of your ski boots to protect and prolong the life of the boots. (And they keep snow out so you don’t have to balance on one ski while attempting to poke out compacted snow with the end of your pole.) The combo pack comes with BootMate, which you can use to conveniently carry and store your boots. Available for both NNN and Pilot boots. This product is available here.

Toko Irox Fluoro 250ml – MSRP $30 This is a revolutionary new spray-on hot wax. What is sprayed on the ski is actually paraffin. It can then be hot waxed and finished, or corked, brushed, and polished, or rotocorked and finished, or simply buffed in. Toko suggests corking, brushing and then polishing for best results: it is very quick and easy, but does a surprisingly good job. It is important is to hold the can about a foot away from the ski when spraying. This provides the cleanest application. This product is available here.

Toko Nordlite XCold Powder 60g – MSRP $30 This cold weather additive makes skis slippery when snow is cold, dry, and slow.  It can be used by itself at a final layer or mixed with another wax to harden it up.  XCold has a huge following because it is the fastest cold weather wax available. This product is available here.

STAR Map Black – MSRP $32 Graphite base wax for prepping and conditioning bases in cold and abrasive snow with a broad temperature range of -5 to -20 C. In cold, dry snow Map Black can be used alone or as a base layer for other waxes. This product is available here.

Fischer Ski Bag – MSRP: $34.95 What better way to transport your skis than in Fischer’s classy black ski bag? With its double zipper and handle straps, this lightweight bag is great for a day ski or a weeklong ski trip. This product is available here.

Fischer Thermo Drink Belt – MSRP: $35.00 While standard water bottle holders are great, this drink belt kicks it up a notch. It carries 0.75L of water, has a wide opening that defies freezing (a great feature on those wickedly cold days), and an enormous top pocket to carry a snack, a couple kick waxes, and even an extra layer! This product is available here.

Toko Digital Snow Thermometer – MSRP $40 Take the guesswork out of the waxing at least on the factors you can control. Measurement range from -40C to 200C. The thermometer can be switched between C and F, and has a min/max function. Nice, compact size – just 15cm long. This product is available here.

Training with Purpose DVD – MSRP: $49.95 Get the most out of your training by using the drills, progressions, technique, and equipment that is proven to achieve the best results! This DVD gives you an inside look at the kind of technique, drills, and tools the CXC athletes are using to achieve success. Cross Country technique drills and progressions presented in this DVD may be incorporated into your warm-up and cool-down sessions; done on an “active rest” day; performed before, during or after specific and over distance workouts. If you are planning on running, you can add the dry-land activities. If you are planning on rollerskiing, you should take the drills in the technique you are choosing, and save the others for another day. This product is available here.

Craft Performance Glove – MSRP: $49.95 Craft Performance Gloves are made from a lightweight wind protected shell fabric constructed of 80% Polyamide and 20% Polyester with Clarino fake leather on the palm for durability and softness. Lightweight with a good fit! This glove is perfect for any Nordic journey. Both men’s and women’s versions for optimal fit and sizing. This product is available here.

Madshus Biathlon Rifle Bag – MSRP: $49.95 For all the biathletes out there, this is a great rifle bag. The ripstop material helps it hold up under the heaviest of abuse. The zippered pocket is a great way to stay organized and the zippered Velcro opening allows for easy access. This product is available here.

SportHill 3SP Base Layer Pant (Women) MSRP $50 SportHill’s 3SP Base Layer Pant features the new Feather Weight fabric, made from 100 percent polypropylene. According to SportHill, this fabric is ounce for ounce one of the warmest on the planet. The soft, plush elastic waistband can’t be matched for next-to-skin comfort. Flatlocked seams prevent chafing, design features left leg contrast stitching or color-blocking. This product is available here.