Secret Santa Gifts For Climbers Under £10

Secret Santa has a cruel maths problem. Ten pounds is enough to buy something real, and almost everybody spends it on something that is in a bin by the second week of January.

You know the stuff. The novelty mug. The socks with a slogan. The desk toy nobody touches after the first afternoon.

If the person you drew climbs, you have got an easy out, because there is a whole category of proper small things made for them.

The one rule: nothing sized

This is the bit people get wrong. Do not buy anything that has to fit.

I make belts to an exact waist and bracelets to an exact wrist, and they are lovely gifts from someone who knows the person. They are a terrible Secret Santa gift, because you pulled a name out of a hat and you do not know their waist size. Neither does anybody else in the office, and asking is a whole thing.

So stick to one size fits everybody. Keys, desks, mugs, bags.

Seven Secret Santa gifts for climbers under £10

Heart keychain, £3. Small, daft, well made. Goes on keys or a chalk bag.

Climbing hold keychain, £3. A tiny hold. If they climb, they will get it instantly, which is exactly what you want in a room full of people watching them unwrap it.

Loop keychain, £4. The plain one. Honest bit of rope, sealed and finished. See all the keychains.

Rope coaster, £4. Desk friendly and no two are the same, because no two ropes were. Rope coasters.

Recycled plastic hexagon coaster, £8. Made from melted milk bottle caps. A decent talking point at a desk.

Two keychains, £6 to £8. Nobody says it has to be one thing. A hold for the keys and a heart for the bag covers more ground.

Gift card, £10. Right on the cap. They choose, you do not have to guess. Forma gift card.

Why it does not feel like a tenner

Because it comes with a line you can say out loud when they open it: this used to be a climbing rope, and it caught somebody.

That is a better moment than a mug. It costs the same.

Buying for someone you actually know? The rope belts are the ones people still message me about a year later.

Stay classy and remember,
Make Waste Useful.

George