Ready to eat and freeze-dried foods for expeditions From 60p
expeditionfoods.com/shop.html
An excellent choice for the intrepid. Specially developed for the Norwegian army, and with lots of delicious meals to choose from. "Simply add boiling water (or near boiling at altitude) to the bag and in five minutes your meal is ready," explains this accomplished site. Yum. You can also buy some quite remarkable self-heating meals.
Adhesive toe warmer £2.95
stanfords.co.uk/other/best-sellers.htm
Placing this device under damp socks apparently restores warmth to the feet. Stanfords also sells highly absorbent trekking towels, "elegant and resistant" Moleskine travel notebooks, and all sorts of travel books and maps.
500-piece Underground map jigsaw £7.99
ltmuseum.co.uk/shopping/mailord2.html
The London Transport Museum also sells posters, roundels, Tube driver's eye view videos (£19.95 each) and the mayor's transport strategy (£10) for the true enthusiast.
Scholl flight socks £11.95
wellbeing.com/shop/
Boots sells plenty of useful travel kit, including the famous flight socks, which Scholl claims reduce swelling on long flights as well as improving circulation.
The Skier's Calendar 2002 £15+p&p
ellis-brigham.com
Photographs of accomplished skiers hurling themselves down steep slopes. Ellis Brigham also stocks a reasonable range of snowboarding videos and hi-tech sleeping bags.
A day's llama trekking in Somerset £39
activitysuperstore.com
Bungee and balloon jumps, two hours' skiing with Eddie the Eagle and a "powerboat challenge" are also on sale, as well as gift vouchers.
Canal system £46.99
sciencemuseumstore.com
This kit enables you to build a sophisticated canal system involving a working lock, pump and winches. Ostensibly for children.
Cascade ice gauntlet £60
cotswold-outdoor.com
A waterproof glove for mountaineers with a special nose wipe patch.
Spa vouchers
thespasdirectory.com/detailed_search.asp
Most spas offer day membership as a gift, and this searchable directory is useful for those who don't know where to begin looking.
A week's cookery course at Villa Ravida in Sicily £1,225
tastingplaces.com
Not the cheapest of cookery courses, but among the best. Those in Greece, Thailand and other Italian regions cost around the same.
A return flight to New York on Concorde £6,881 for dates in late January
britishairways.com/concorde
BA launched a lavish new site to promote Concorde's return to service, with details of the Royal Doulton crockery, the champagne from the Concorde cellar, and the cabin pressure (which is closer to that at sea level than in other planes). Booking is done via BA's main site at britishairways.com.
