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Buying for someone who has everything is the hardest job at Christmas. Another jumper, another gadget that ends up in a drawer, another bottle of something. Practical Christmas gifts are the answer: things they’ll actually use, all year, and that quietly make their home a bit more ready for the next power cut, storm or cold snap.
Every gift on this list is something we’ve reviewed in full, and most of them cost under £20. There are stocking fillers under £10, useful presents for dad and the person who has everything, and a few that earn their place in an emergency kit. These are useful Christmas gifts, not novelty ones. Use the table to jump straight to what you need.
| Gift | Price |
|---|---|
| Simpeak Wind Up Torch | £5–£11 (varies by seller) |
| Gritin Book Light | £5.98 |
| HotHands Hand Warmers | £9.16 |
| First Aid Manual 11th Edition | £9.99 |
| Salt Water Lamp | £10.50 |
| BORUIT V3 Keyring Torch | £11.39 |
| ATNKE LED Beanie | £11.99 |
| Tendak Battery Radio | £17.98 |
| Victorinox Classic SD | £18.99 |
| BIBURY Multi Tool | £26.51 |
| Prepared Not Panicked (Book) | £4.99 |
| Power Out. Kettle On. Tumbler | £19.99 |
| Lists. Torches. Tea. Tumbler | £19.99 |
| Deck the Halls Christmas T-Shirt | £16.99 |
| Christmas Dinner Christmas T-Shirt | £16.99 |
Prices checked at time of writing. Click any gift to jump to it below, or check the button on each one for the current price.
Want to know if any of these are cheaper than usual right now? Our Black Friday prepping deals page checks every product we recommend against the price it normally sells for, every day.
Stocking Fillers Under £10
The most useful Christmas gifts are often the smallest. If you’re after stocking fillers under 10 pounds that won’t be forgotten by New Year, start here.
Simpeak Wind Up Torch
A torch that never needs batteries. Wind the handle for a minute and you get ten minutes or more of light, and there’s a small solar panel for topping it up in daylight. It clips onto a bag with its carabiner and lives happily in a kitchen drawer or the glovebox for years.
It’s one of the best practical Christmas gifts for anyone who’s ever gone hunting for batteries in a power cut.
Wind Up Torch
The torch that never has flat batteries: a minute of winding gives over ten minutes of light, with a solar panel as backup.
Our Full Review: Wind Up Torch →
Gritin Book Light
A rechargeable clip-on reading light with brightness and colour you can dial in, up to 160 hours on its lowest setting, and a little torch in the base. The clip doubles as a stand, so it works on a book, a bedside table or the kitchen worktop.
It’s a lovely stocking filler for anyone who reads in bed, and the one light in the house that’s actually useful in a power cut: soft light exactly where you need it, for hours, without glare.
Gritin Book Light
A clip-on reading light with soft, dial-in brightness and colour, up to 160 hours on low and a torch in the base: the power cut light hiding in plain sight.
Our Full Review: Gritin Book Light →
HotHands Hand Warmers
Air-activated hand warmers that stay warm for up to 10 hours each. A value pack of ten pairs is the stocking filler that gets used straight away: football on a Saturday, the school run, walking the dog, or a cold car on a winter morning.
HotHands Hand Warmers
No batteries, no charging, nothing to go flat: open the packet and get up to 10 hours of heat, wherever the power cut or breakdown catches you.
Our Full Review: HotHands Hand Warmers →
First Aid Manual 11th Edition
The UK’s official first aid guide, written and endorsed by St John Ambulance, the British Red Cross and St Andrew’s Ambulance Association. It’s the manual used on their own courses, with a quick-reference emergency section at the front for CPR, choking and severe bleeding.
It sounds like a sensible gift because it is one. It works without a signal or a charged phone, it costs less than a first aid kit refill, and it’s the book every house should have on the shelf.
First Aid Manual 11th Edition
The updated 11th Edition covers first aid in pandemic conditions, what to do in a terrorist incident, and delivering first aid for patients in a mental health crisis.
Our Full Review: First Aid Manual 11th Edition →
Gifts Under £20 for Men (and Everyone Else)
This is the sweet spot for practical Christmas gifts: proper kit, not novelty, at a price that works for Secret Santa, a brother-in-law or a dad who says he doesn’t want anything.
Salt Water Lamp
A pocket-sized lamp that runs on salt water. Add the salt sachet and water and it gives steady light for hours, then it goes back in the drawer, dry, until the next time. Nothing to charge and no batteries to go flat.
One of the more unusual practical Christmas gifts, it’s a brilliant conversation piece as well as a genuinely useful bit of power cut kit.
Salt Water Lamp
The emergency light with no battery to go flat: add salt and water and it lights up, with two salt sachets in the box.
Our Full Review: Salt Water Lamp →
BORUIT V3 Keyring Torch
A tiny, bright, USB-C rechargeable torch that lives on the keyring, so there’s always a light in their pocket. It’s small enough to forget about until the moment they need it, which is exactly the point.
BORUIT V3 Keyring Torch
A tiny USB-C rechargeable keyring torch with a bright main beam plus red, UV and white side lights, carried every day for three years.
Our Full Review: BORUIT V3 Keyring Torch →
ATNKE LED Beanie
A warm knitted beanie with a rechargeable head torch built into the cuff. It’s hands-free light for dog walks, the bins, the car and power cuts, in a hat they’d be wearing anyway. It comes in 37 colours, so there’s one for everybody, and as practical Christmas gifts go, it’s hard to beat for the price.
ATNKE LED Beanie
A warm knitted beanie with a rechargeable 4-LED head torch built in: hands-free light for dog walks, power cuts and the winter car kit.
Our Full Review: ATNKE LED Beanie →
Tendak Battery Radio
A proper little AM/FM radio that runs on two AA batteries, with a big speaker, a long aerial and a headphone jack. There’s nothing to charge or pair, so it’s ideal for older relatives, and it’s the radio that still works when the power and the internet have gone. Of all the practical Christmas gifts here, it’s the one older relatives will use most.
Heads up: this radio is on back-order on Amazon at the moment, so it ships when the next batch comes in. If it’s for Christmas Day, check the delivery date on Amazon before you order.
Tendak Battery Radio
A proper little AM/FM radio that runs on two AA batteries, with a big speaker and a headphone jack for quiet listening when everyone else is asleep.
Our Full Review: Tendak Battery Radio →
Victorinox Classic SD
The small Swiss Army knife that lives on your keys: a blade, scissors, nail file, tweezers and toothpick in just 21g. It’s one of the classic practical Christmas gifts, and it gets used every single day. You must be over 18 to buy one, and Amazon may check ID on delivery.
Victorinox Classic SD
The small Swiss Army knife that lives on your keys: a blade, scissors, nail file, tweezers and toothpick in just 21g, always with you when you need it.
Our Full Review: Victorinox Classic SD →
Bigger Practical Gifts
Practical Christmas gifts with a bit more substance, for the person on your list who likes to fix things.
BIBURY Multi Tool
For the person who fixes things. Pliers, a tungsten wire cutter, a saw, scissors, a can opener and 16 screwdriver bits in one folding tool with a belt pouch. It’s a proper Leatherman alternative for the kitchen drawer, the car or the shed, and one of the most practical gifts for dad on this list.
BIBURY Multi Tool
Needle-nose pliers, a tungsten wire cutter, a saw and 16 screwdriver bits in one folding tool, for the jobs that won’t wait for the toolbox.
Our Full Review: BIBURY Multi Tool →
Christmas Gifts for Someone Who Has Everything: Our Book
Prepared Not Panicked (Book)
Prepared Not Panicked is our own book: a calm, practical guide to getting a UK household ready for power cuts, storms, floods and everything else, without the bunker or the panic. Its 18 chapters cover water, food, power, cooking, first aid and a household plan, with real budget breakdowns, and the team’s characters are along for the ride.
It’s the ideal partner for any gift on this list, and one of the most practical Christmas gifts you can give someone who has everything: the know-how to use it. It’s a colour PDF, so it arrives instantly, even on Christmas Eve.
From Our Shop: Tumblers and Christmas T-Shirts
Power Out. Kettle On. Tumbler
Our own design, for the calm one in the family who has the camping stove lit and the kettle on before anyone else has found a candle. The back has Keith’s rubber duck and our motto, “Prepared. Not Panicked.”
It’s a double-walled stainless steel tumbler that keeps tea hot (or cold) with a leak-proof lid, in black. A funny tea gift for Mum, Dad or Nan, and a good Secret Santa present too. Amazon prints and delivers it.
Lists. Torches. Tea. Tumbler
Our second design, for the organised Mum, Nan or partner who always has a checklist and a spare torch. Same black tumbler, same duck on the back. It makes a funny tea gift for the person who keeps the whole house running.
Deck the Halls with Packs of Batteries Christmas T-Shirt
For the one in every house who has a spare pack ready on Christmas morning, when nothing ever comes with batteries included. White print on the front with our motto, “Prepared. Not Panicked.”
Sold on Amazon at £16.99, in men’s and women’s fits, black or dark heather grey. Amazon prints and delivers it.
Christmas Dinner: 12 People. 3 Power Cuts. 1 Camping Stove. T-Shirt
For whoever cooks Christmas dinner every year and still gets the turkey on the table when the electrics trip. A cartoon camping stove and kettle, with our motto underneath.
Sold on Amazon at £16.99, in men’s and women’s fits, black or dark heather grey. Amazon prints and delivers it.
What the Rest of the Team Think
🦆 Keith the Prepper
I’ve bought myself every item on this list. Some of them twice. My wife says that’s the problem with buying presents for me: I’ve already got everything. This year she’s buying them for her sister instead, which I think means she’s finally come round to it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🪖 Black Panther
Gifts should be functional. Nothing on this list is decorative. A radio, a knife, a light and a multi tool. If I found that lot in my stocking, I’d consider myself fully equipped. I’d still want the book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🐔 Chicken Licken
Did you know most power cuts in this country happen in the winter? Storms, snow, ice on the lines. I’ve been saying this for years. Nobody listens. So give them a torch for Christmas, and they’ll be using it by Boxing Day.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🐾 Weekend Warrior
Pickle is getting a new collar light. I’m getting the LED beanie, because I’ve asked for it three years running. If it’s not under the tree this time, I’m buying it myself in January. She’s already decided which bit of the wrapping paper is hers.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
📋 Calm Clarissa
I’ve prepared a checklist for this. Obviously. Who it’s for, which item, the price, and the date I need to order it by. Janet is getting the salt water lamp. She doesn’t know yet. Ticked.
✅✅✅✅✅
Frequently Asked Questions
What are good practical Christmas gifts?
The best practical Christmas gifts are things that get used regularly and earn their place when something goes wrong: a wind up or keyring torch, a battery radio, a small pocket knife, a multi tool, hand warmers or an LED beanie. They’re useful all year, and they make sense for almost anyone.
What can I buy someone who has everything?
The best Christmas gifts for someone who has everything fill a gap they haven’t noticed, and most people don’t have a plan for a power cut. A battery radio, a torch that never needs batteries or a salt water lamp fills a gap they probably haven’t noticed, and our book Prepared Not Panicked is a gift that helps the whole household get ready.
What are good stocking fillers under £10?
The best stocking fillers under 10 pounds on this list are the wind up torch, the Gritin book light, a value pack of hand warmers and the First Aid Manual. The salt water lamp and the LED beanie are only just over, at around £10 to £12. All of them are small enough for a stocking and genuinely useful.
What are good practical gifts for dad?
For a dad who likes to fix things, the BIBURY multi tool is hard to beat. For one who’s always out with the dog or the car, the LED beanie or a keyring torch gets used every day. And for a dad who likes the radio, the Tendak battery radio is simple and sounds good.
Is a pocket knife a legal gift in the UK?
Yes. The Victorinox Classic SD is a folding knife with a non-locking blade well under 3 inches, so it’s legal to carry in public in England, Wales and Scotland without needing a reason, though not on school premises. You have to be over 18 to buy one, and Amazon may check ID on delivery.
Build Your Resilience
The whole plan, in one book
Prepared, Not Panicked (2026 edition) pulls our guides together into one plan for UK households. PDF, £4.99.
See inside the book →Further Reading: Related Guides
- Home Emergency Kit
- How to Prepare for a Power Cut
- Make a Blackout Box
- 72-Hour UK Grab Bag
- Get Home Bag
- Winter Driving Tips
All our guides can be found listed on our resilience hub.
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