In keeping with the spirit of the season I have a couple of simple ideas you might consider for the hard-to-please outdoors person on your shopping list. (The annual big list will come later this month.)

Actually, I have samples that I’ve been given to try out. They fall into the category of must-have items on any outing, anywhere, anytime. Their quality is top-rate.

Everyone needs to hydrate and everyone’s safety kit should include a flashlight (even around the house). So, guess what? I have a couple of flashlights and a couple of water bottles you might consider!

I know the categories don’t sound too spectacular, but take it from me, someone with around a dozen water bottles and a like number of flashlights and headlamps, you can never have enough of these essential items.

With the days getting shorter (we’re down to less than nine hours of daylight now) a light source is critical. Heck, it’s dark by 4:30 p.m. now. Anyone doing anything outdoors will likely be fumbling through darkness on one end of the day or the other.

UK International (http://www.uwkinetics.com), a company that has been around since 1971, produces a line of diving lights and smaller flashlights that will light up your life. Check out their Web site for details on the whole line of products including knives and accessories and dry boxes. I was given a pair of four AA battery lights to try (battery loading is simple).

One is the Mini Q40 eLED Plus ($43.95), the other is the UK 4AA eLED Zoom ($58.95). Both have two-watt LEDs putting out 40 lumens giving light as white as daylight and both can be used under water, although I promise you will not be in my case. I’m planning on staying on the surface. Both are noncorroding and rugged plastic and both will burn four to five hours.

The company says the LED will not break when dropped from six feet and the light’s power control circuitry delivers constant light output during battery life. The Mini Q40 has a twist-on, twist-off switch in the lens which has rubber sheath molded over the bezel. I have a few other flashlights with this type of on/off switch and I like them. It’s nearly impossible to have them turn on when packed in your gear (unless you don’t twist the lens very much when you turn the light off. A good half-turn will prevent accidental turn-on in your pack.) If you plan to be underwater, this little torch will work, the company claims, to 500 feet.

The UK 4AA eLED Zoom is powered by four AA batteries as well, has the same lens and rubber-coated bezel. What makes it different is its on/off switch built into the body. This allows one-handed operation as well as intermittent use so you could use it for sending a distress signal. It also features a zoom lens that allows you to have a broad beam or a more focused, narrow beam. And you are supposed to be able to hit the switch rapidly and get a lower output and vastly extended run time. (My sample didn’t dim or I didn’t move my fingers fast enough.) This model is good for around 30 feet under water. (Still deeper than you’ll find me).

I took these two, six-ounce lights out to the backyard the other night and from 50 feet away I lit up the old 40-foot maple tree in the back corner from top to bottom. The Zoom had a slightly square pattern and appeared a tiny bit brighter, probably due to the ability to focus the beam. I haven’t had a chance to try it while on the water, but I’m sure, based on what I can see across my backyard and the neighbor’s, you’d be able to pick up navigational buoys from more than 100 yards away. As for getting an oncoming boat captain’s attention it should do the trick. It would be nice not to shine either of these lights into his eyes since the ensuing temporary blindness might cause him to drive over you!

Aluminum water bottles

The other items you might consider for the outdoors person on your shopping list are made by SIGG Water Bottles of Switzerland. I know you’ve seen them and possibly mistaken them for fuel bottles.

SIGG bottles are extrusion-pressed from a one-piece aluminum blank, which results in uniform, seamless walls. SIGG bottles are lightweight and strong, tipping the scales at no more than a plastic bottle.

You’d think that the metal would impart a taste, but SIGG has taken care of odors and taste by baking on an inner lining made from epoxy-based resins that meet FDA requirements. If the bottle is dented the lining flexes with the bottle so the inner surface doesn’t break or crack, the company says.

Show me, I said. They sent me a bottle or two to try out. I’ve been using them for a couple of weeks for storing and drinking tap water, and I’ve found the water tastes just the same as it does fresh from the tap.

I know there’s a whole industry out there pushing bottled water down our throats at anything from 50 cents or so to more than a buck for a smaller bottle. Think for a second, though, if you’re at all environmentally conscious. The petroleum-based plastic bottles, most of which are not recycled, add up to millions of bottles trashed each day and who knows how much fuel to transport the bottles around the country. The water that comes from your tap is strictly regulated by the EPA and in most communities is just as pure and safe as bottled water, according to the National Resource Defense Council. The council says a “person who replaces one single use liter of bottled water with a liter from the tap each day will save around $500 a year.”

It would make financial sense, then, to use a reusable container and refill it from the tap, no?

There is also a concern by some scientists over a chemical, bisphenol A, that is part of plastic water bottles, baby pacifiers, toys and baby bottles. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle on March 31, 2005, bisphenol A has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years from scientists who caution it’s found in thousands of consumer products and has invaded the human body.

The Chronicle article said researchers have found that at doses below or at a federal safety guidelines, the chemical can disrupt hormone systems of lab animals, affecting the workings of their brains.

But, industry representatives say the chemical in the products remains at insignificant concentrations, and they maintain that nationwide tests compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the bisphenol A levels in people aren’t worrisome. The Food and Drug Administration permits its use, the article said.

Earlier studies by Dr. Patricia Hunt, a geneticist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, found normal wear-and-tear and cleaning of polycarbonate plastic bottles in a dishwasher could cause the chemical to leach, and the amount of leaching increases as the plastic ages and is degraded by use.

The minimal washing I do with my plastic water bottles probably will contribute to their longevity and leaching possibilities. However these reports got me thinking, especially after having the opportunity to try out one of these SIGG bottles.

On the other side is the chemical industry that says on a Web site for bisphenol A “a new weight-of-evidence evaluation supports the conclusion that low doses of [bisphenol A] are not a risk to human reproductive and developmental health. The evaluation, in which studies published through February 2006, were critically reviewed by an expert scientific panel, has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Critical Reviews in Toxicology.

The conclusion is consistent with and supports numerous assessments conducted by government and scientific bodies worldwide, all of which support the safety of bisphenol A.

Overall, the panel concluded: “Taken together, the weight of evidence does not support the hypothesis that low oral doses of [bisphenol A] adversely affect human reproductive and developmental health.”

My concern was never one of chemical leaching, rather it was over the potential for a creepy metallic taste. My worries were unfounded. After a couple of weeks of testing I found there is none. The water going into the bottle tastes the same coming out.

All SIGG bottle tops are interchangeable. My only nit pick is that the mouth of the bottle is about an inch in diameter, making it necessary to purchase a special ice tray to make tube-shaped ice if you want to put ice in your bottle. My Nalgene bottles have wide mouths that accept regular ice cubes.

And because the SIGG bottle has a narrow mouth, it’s not suited to put in the dishwasher. The only other caution is that if you plan to use your metal water container in cold weather, don’t let it freeze solid or it’ll split the metal.

Check the following companies on-line for availability: The Rugged Bear (children’s stores) with 26 stores in seven states, www.ruggedbear.com; www.rei.com; www.ems.com; www.swissbottle.com; www.swissknifeshop.com; www.reusablebags.com; www.edwardjamesstores.com; www.onlinefitness.com; www.moosejaw.com; www.flaxart.com.

I also found them at Epic Sports in Bangor. Owner Brad Ryder said they retail in the $20 range. There is a wide variety of colors available.

Book signing

For those who may have read this column a few weeks ago you may remember Brad Viles of Ellsworth, a contributor to theses pages and an avid hiker, wrote a novel called “Dreaming the Appalachian Trail.” He will be at Epic Sports in Bangor on Saturday from 11 a.m. until evening to sign copies of the book. He welcomes all hikers or world-be hikers to drop by and say hello.

Jeff Strout’s column on outdoor recreation is published each Saturday. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.