Welcome to a little show I'd like to call Runner's High. I'm Jesse Funk, the founder of Solpri. And as you might guess, the host of this show, Runner's High where we talk about everything running and endurance related, including today's topic Stocking Stuffers for Runners. What are low-dollar, low-cost items that runners can use?
It can be a really confounding thing to try to figure out because runners basically need shoes. Right? And if you watched my other video where we just talked about gifts for runners or you just came from there, thanks for joining us in this one. If you didn't see that one, we'll leave a link at the end of this video. Be able to click on the screen and go check that out.
But runners don't need a whole lot and you shouldn't buy them shoes. So what can you buy them? Especially the little items that are going to be very useful. I've been at this as a competitive runner for over 20 years now, and these are some of my kind of top picks for low-dollar items. I will never, ever have a problem getting.
And especially, I guess it depends on your runner, the runner in your life as to how picky they are. But brands typically don't matter to me for these kinds of things because they're all pretty effective. Now, the first one is something from us anti-chafe balm. It's useful. We use it over and over. We need more all the time. So this is from our company Solpri.
We'll have a link down in the description for all the items we'll link down the description. This is the first anti-chafe balm as far as I know, that's offered in completely plastic-free packaging. So if your runner is eco-friendly and doesn't like to have red-rubbed raw skin, then this is a great way to go. But obviously, if they've got a preference on something else, then you can go that direction too. That's just something that we make.
But the next one is another essential, and there's a bunch of different varieties that you can get in it, and that is gloves. So if you've seen some videos about dressing during the winter, what should you wear? And maybe you had, maybe you haven't because maybe you're not a runner, but you're looking for your runner. I am partial to these guys, what I call magic gloves. It's the like, one size fits all cheapo black gloves. They come in a bunch of different colors.
So if your runner likes a particular color scheme, sometimes you can do that. But they come in like ten packs, 20 packs, and they're perfect. Like, they're typically all I need on my hands during the winter, unless it's a really cold run. And then because they're one size fits all and they're stretchy, you can actually double them up and you're fine. Like it's such a great item. And I get more almost every year because if your runner is like me, they seem to disappear. They're kind of like socks.
Sometimes the dryer seems to eat them or maybe they get left somewhere on accident. It's not the intention of myself or anybody else really, to make these as like a disposable kind of item. But that's kind of the nice thing, is that they are cheap. So if they do get lost, then you're not like really concerned about, "Oh, I just lost the $30 pair of gloves" or something.
Now you can get nicer gloves. It depends on your budget. But when I consider stocking stuffers to me again, they're low-cost, low-dollar items. And these are perfect for every runner, especially during the winter. Going to keep your hands warm. It's an essential part.
Now, the next stocking stuffer that I'm going to suggest also comes in a bunch of different varieties. So again, it depends on what your runner needs. But socks. So I wear these socks from Saucony. I've worn a bunch of different kinds of socks. The big part is one, again, making sure that your runner isn't necessarily picky in this department, but you do want to know, like what style cut does your runner like?
So I'm a millennial and many of us like these low-cut socks. Many younger people are wearing ankle mid-calf socks, so it depends on what they like. What is important is that it's an athletic-style sock. You do not want to get cotton socks because when your feet sweat, cotton really absorbs all that moisture and holds it in, which can lead to chafing.
You can get, as I mentioned, the anti-chafe balm, but you'd rather prevent that in the first place by having socks that do some moisture-wicking effect, which is where they take moisture, pull it away from your foot and then allow it to evaporate and then going through the upper of the shoe.
But any kind of -- There's tons and tons and tons of different brands of socks. Another way to go with socks as well. You can go like really nice socks, like Smartwool, something like that. I use Smartwool to race in for a long time. But again, those are like single pair is going to be -- I haven't checked recently, I guess, but single pairs started $12 to $13. Some of the nicer ones.
I used to have compression socks from them. This was almost a decade ago and they ran like $40 at the time. So those I wouldn't necessarily consider stocking stuffers, but stuff like these, these can be like six packs from Saucony. Perfect stocking stuffer.
And then along those lines, if I can get these in frame the compression socks, there is personal preference here whether you use compression socks or not. But if it's like, you know, maybe they will. Maybe they won't use them. And I'm not going to be offended if they don't, then it's a good potential use. They increase blood circulation. So great for recovery after really hard workouts.
There are a ton of different kinds of compression socks. Generally, you want to find one that's more athletic fit. There's different gradations of how much compression there is, all that kind of things for medical purposes.
So if you find a company that's advertising them specifically for athletic fit, it will have the particular kind of gradation that's going to work well for kind of a general person/athlete as opposed to somebody who has a medical need for compression socks. So there is some differentiation there that you have to check out. But these are in my arsenal. I mean, I put these on pretty much after I do speed work and my calves are toast and just try to get some extra blood flow through there for faster recovery. So that's another great sock option as a stocking stuffer.
So my last suggestion here, like all of them, really comes in a bunch of different varieties, but it's the category that's really what's important. And then knowing a little bit about your particular runner as to what fits with them and that is some kind of water bottle. So this is my water bottle. I got it on Amazon. I don't remember how much it was. It's not, not a ton. This one's metal.
I have moved more towards products like this that are metal. Again, like with our anti-shape balm that is plastic free. Trying to reduce my plastic use and use things that are going to be either reducing the amount of plastic that's produced to begin with or more recyclable. It's kind of a brand thing that we are working on as much as we can and kind of a personal initiative as well.
So a metal water bottle of some kind can be really useful. It depends on your athlete. So that's going to be something that they can't really take with them on a run. I don't personally run with a water bottle. So that's where you want to know, like, "Hey, is your runner going out for an hour and a half, 2 hours plus kind of runs?" Then if they've asked for it and they think they were going to use it, you can look at like a water bottle belt.
It's not something I personally use, but especially as you start going longer runs. Half marathon, marathon, ultra training. Then typically you're going to carry some kind of fuel, some kind of hydration, all with you.
Now, water bottle belts kind of toe the line between stocking stuffer and full-fledged gift. So that's something you need to check out and kind of pick and figure out. But I mention them because they are very specific running item that is a good potential gift.
So those are my stocking stuffers for runners. If you have any questions, any other ideas or maybe trying to figure something out about a particular running item, leave down the comments below. I'd love to help you out on it. And if you want to see my video or I talked about kind of more, a little bit higher dollar gifts for runners that are really universally applicable. That video should be coming up on the screen here shortly.