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5 Items Every Driver Should Have That Also Make Great Gifts

More than likely, you know someone who drives a car. Get them something that makes their car a bit safer, or just more functional.

driver gift guide Henry Phillips

By Gear Patrol

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Can’t buy the car enthusiast in your life the new Porsche they’re lusting after? They’ll love any of these items, too.

driver gift guideHenry Phillips

Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans, by A.J. Baime

If you liked Ford v Ferrari, you’ll love the book it was based on. Automotive journalist A.J. Baime takes you inside the story of how some of the biggest names in automotive history – Carroll Shelby, Enzo Ferrari and more – collided in a quest to dominate the motoring world’s toughest race.

A seatbelt cutter is the sort of device you hope you never use – but you’ll be glad you have if the need arises. Gerber’s slim device shields your fingers from the cutting edge, while a glass breaker enables you to punch through a car’s windows in a hurry.

Anker’s new 12-volt adapter offers two USB-C ports that can charge devices faster than your car’s built-in plugs; the faster of the two can charge laptop computers, while even the slower can juice up your phone or laptop quicker than you’d expect.

A dead battery is one of the waking nightmares of every driver, but battery advances mean portable jump starters are smaller and cheaper than ever before. This Stanley is small enough to vanish into your trunk, but produces enough amps to kick-start a V8 engine.

MagLite has been one of the most-trusted names in flashlights for decades, and the ML300L shows why. With its 3-D cell batteries and a powerful LED, its beam casts out more than four football fields at full power; in energy-saving mode, it can burn for more than three days straight.

Vaughn Gitten Jr. calls himself a “professional fun-haver,” and his job certainly stands up to that claim: he’s one of the biggest names in Formula Drift, which means he makes his living sliding cars sideways around racetracks. “The Type S 360 driving camera is a new staple in my vehicles,” he says. “It’s designed to constantly record while driving and it also has a shock meter in the case anyone hits your vehicle or breaks into it while parked. The benefits to capturing incidents are obvious. However, what I love most about it is capturing fun on and off road driving with the family, friends or solo. It is awesome to review the experience in 360, standard forward facing POV or split screen. The recorded video easily is downloaded on your phone for sharing and reviewing purposes. Have fun with it!”

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