Browsing the Web for Holiday Gifts

Despite a recent dot-com reality check that has translated into fewer discounts and shipping deals, an estimated 55 million Americans will be buying online this holiday season. If you’re one, you’ll find plenty of sites designed to help cross the globe-trotters off your gift list. But before you buy, check the site’s policies on credit-card security, shipping costs (which can outweigh any savings in sales tax), delivery times and return guarantees--and steer clear of any virtual merchant that doesn’t post a physical address and phone number.

Some promising starting points:

PlanetOutdoors (https://www.planetoutdoors.com): It’s tough to imagine many shrinking violets being tempted by a site that peddles such gung-ho wares as snowboards, rafting helmets and ice crampons. But that hasn’t deterred PlanetOutdoors.com, which organizes its holiday gift guide by activity, brand name and personality types--including “timid.” (Among the site’s confidence-building selections: a Therm-a-Rest sleeping bag pad for $70 and a Suunto compass for $10.97.) PlanetOutdoors offers free ground shipping this month (Christmas orders must be placed by Monday to take advantage of the deal), and its extensive selection is backed up by live assistance from “field experts” who know their stuff.

Site59 (https://www.site59.com): Any travel booking site can sell you a ticket to Paris. Site59’s “spontaneity gift certificates,” on the other hand, target procrastinators looking for packaged travel and entertainment experiences available within a week or two of booking.

Site59’s roster of selections changes weekly and won’t be of much use unless your last-minute traveler lives in, or plans to visit, one of the localities it serves: Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Dallas; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Houston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles and Orange County; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; San Francisco; Tampa, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. But you don’t have to fork over $500 for a ski weekend. Among Site59’s recent offerings was a $52 rock climbing lesson in the wilds of Manhattan.

Away.com (https://www.away.com): This adventure travel site’s gift center encompasses gear from PlanetOutdoors, books and maps from AdventurousTraveler.com (https://www.adventuroustraveler.com) and discounted subscriptions to such magazines as National Geographic Traveler and Outside. Particularly noteworthy is Away.com’s partnership with Novica (https://www.novica.com), which carries more than 8,500 handcrafted items from around the world and offers a $12 discount.

Christine Columbus (https://www.christinecolumbus.com): This woman-centered travel products site has the feel of an old-fashioned quilting bee--complete with travel tips (“carry a damp wash cloth in a plastic zip-lock bag to wipe road grime from face and hands”) and packing lists. Possibilities range from books and security items to apparel; the limited selection includes a $27.95 half-slip with three concealed, zippered pockets.

The Parks Co. (https://www.theparksco.com): Forget those gift shop shot glasses, thimbles and rubber tomahawks. The selection of more than 500 national park souvenirs available through this Oregon-based catalog is considerably classier, from $30 reproductions of Works Progress Administration posters to $160 framed sets of vintage postcards depicting Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Great Smoky Mountains parks. The company contributes 5% of its gross profits to the parks.

RoadWired (https://www.roadwired.com): If your favorite traveler wouldn’t dream of hitting the road without a laptop, personal digital assistant and cellular phone--not to mention an MP3 player and digital camera--you’ll want to check out RoadWired.com, a company specializing in high-tech travel accessories and carrying cases. Among the possibilities: an air-activated, disposable cellular phone battery ($16.95) and the MegaMedia ($179.95), a 36-compartment, ballistic nylon tote described as “the mother of all tech bags.”

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Electronic Explorer appears the second Sunday of every month. Laura Bly welcomes comments and questions; her e-mail address is LSBly@aol.com.