Gadget gifts galore.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

OK, maybe that outdoors buff on your holiday gift list - rugged Oregon individualist that he or she undoubtedly is - really doesn't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.

Wetting a finger and holding it up in the air, however, won't tell him or her precisely how fast that wind's blowing. Nor will it reveal the wind chill factor, the barometric pressure, and whether the weather is improving or worsening.

The Brunton Sherpa - a digital weather station/altimeter that weighs only 2 ounces and measures about 4 inches by 1 1/2 inches - will do all of that, and provide the current temperature and the altitude. All for less than $120 from Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI).

And the Sherpa is just one of dozens of digital weather gadgets being marketed this season as ideal gifts for outdoor recreation buffs.

Available gizmos range in price from $10 keychain/stopwatch/compass units sold by several companies to the $1,850 "Storm Hawk - a hand-held weather and navigation system" that features weather-overlaid mapping based on Global Positioning System data downloaded by satellite phone and displayed on a personal digital assistant.

"We live in a mobile world," said Mike Smith, founder and CEO of WeatherData, Inc. "With Storm Hawk, people on the go now have instant access to detailed weather reports and the weather hazards affecting them directly."

The Storm Hawk unit displays real-time weather radar and lightning data on maps that automatically rotate so that the top of the display corresponds to the direction of travel.

Suunto, meanwhile, is touting its $369 S6 wrist-top computer, which reads - and records! - altitude, slope angle, descent speed, compass bearings, temperature and barometric pressure. The recorded information can be used by skiers and snowboarders to create a daily "slope diary" that can be transferred to a personal computer.

If you're looking for something less expensive - or you're just not sure your outdoorsman knows how to interpret the 16 hours of barometric pressure trend data provided by the Sherpa - there's always a weather radio, like the Oregon Scientific model offered by L.L. Bean for $38.50.

Other technological gadget gifts for outdoors buffs run the gamut from binoculars that can be used to snap digital photos of that rare bird you think you spotted to watches powered by the sun.

Several companies have photo binoculars available - including the Brookstone, Sharper Image and Hammacher Schlemmer catalog outfits.

Some models even have fold-up LCD display panels so you can view the picture. Prices generally range from $80 to $200 for 8x- to 10x-power binoculars, depending on the memory and resolution.

Casio has several models of solar-powered watches, ranging in price from about $40 to about $200 for an "Atomic" model that receives a time-calibration signal three times a day from the Atomic Clock in Fort Collins, Colo.

The biggest hurdle facing the makers of most new gadgets is convincing people that they cannot live without something that didn't even exist last Christmas.

So what if your favorite angler could figure out where the fish are hiding without the aid of a pocket-sized (or even wristwatch-sized) sonar fish-finder?

Might he be able to catch his limit faster, and have more time to work on that "honey-do list," if he had the "world's first portable, hand-held fish-finding sonar" ($129 from Sharper Image)? Or the Norcross Portable Fish Finder ($49 from Radio Shack), or even the Hummingbird SmartCast Wrist Sonar ($90 from Bi-Mart)?

The latter, according to Bi-Mart's Web page, "features a sensor that attaches to your fishing line for a real-time view of fish, bottom and underwater structure right where your bait is."

The sensor transmits data produced by its 90-degree sonar beam back to the wrist unit.

Eat your heart out, Dick Tracy!

New gadgets aren't the only ones vying for shoppers' attention this gifting season.

Such "established" items as Global Positioning System units are touting smaller, lighter models (the better to free up room for new gizmos in backpacks or coat pockets.)

Among these incredible shrinking gadgets is the Garmin "Geko" GPS - billed as one of the smallest, lightest GPS units on the market. It's only 3 inches long, yet it can hold 500 "waypoints" and be connected to a PC.

GPS, of course, only tells you where you are in the world.

For help with the bigger picture, there's the "Pocket Planetarium," (Early Winters, $29.50), a "detailed guide to the galaxy" in a 6-inch monocular-shaped device that make for "easy star gazing."

Not all gadget gifts, of course, result from new computer technology or the march of miniaturization.

Some stem from applying old ideas to new products - such as the "Remote Control Lantern" (Early Winters, $19.50). This battery-powered camp lantern comes with remote on-off button on a key ring. (`Now he can turn on the lantern without leaving his sleeping bag," the catalog says.)

Norm Thompson added an electric heating element to the old-fashioned windshield scraper. With a 14-foot cord and a plug that fits into the cigarette lighter socket on your car or truck, its $19 Electric Windshield Scraper is ready to melt ice from car windows in two minutes.

And Sharper Image borrowed from glass-bottomed tour boats and came up with a Clear Kayak, made of a transparent high-impact polymer that allows paddlers to enjoy the view under the surface as much as the one above. It sells for $1,460.

And old-fashioned innovation was behind a couple of other new gadgets on the market this holiday season.

One of those is the Ski Skoot, a two-piece plastic ski attachment designed to fit onto the bottom of the Razor scooter, millions of which were sold from 1998 through 2002.

Two suburban Seattle dads with Razor-owning youngsters came up with the idea of turning the sidewalk machines into snow scooters. They designed a two-piece, lightweight plastic ski attachment that snaps on and off the bottom of an original classic Razor scooter. The Ski Skoot even has a foot brake for safety and control in the snow.

Suggested retail price for the Ski Skoot accessory is $49.99. Details - including videos of the device in action - are available on the Internet at www.skiskoot.com.

Another new twist on an old idea is the Campfire In A Can - a compact portable campfire designed to burn manufactured fire logs, wood or charcoal.

Only 18 inches high when assembled (or 24 inches if you buy the optional add-on stand), Campfire in A Can measures 11 inches high by 11 inches in diameter when collapsed for storage. It weighs 13.6 pounds. (Add 3 pounds for the stand).

An 8-inch diameter steel grill (big enough to cook a hamburger on) is included. The canister top and base are constructed of spun steel with a powder coat finish. The unit sells for $125 (the stand is an additional $21) at www.Campfireinscan.com.

The wood goes into the fire cylinder vertically, not horizontally, a concept that inventor Leo Knight says stems back to the "teepee" he'd form with twigs when starting a campfire as a kid.

To put out the fire, you simply put on the lid, which forms an air-tight seal and extinguishes the fire without emitting smoke.

Before the fire is extinguished, however, it should produce enough smoke to prove that the wind always blows toward where your rugged outdoor individualist is sitting.

CAPTION(S):

Campfire in A Can is a portable unit with an optional stand. Cost: $125, from www.Campfireinacan.com. (Stand is extra.) Binoculars that take photos, pocket weather stations. mini fish-finders among suggested outdoor gift gizmos