Everybody’s Scalin’ – Stocking Stuffer Ideas For The Scaler In Your Life
Happy Black Friday to all! Holiday shopping season is officially underway, and you know, hobbyists, particularly scalers, can be a tough lot to buy for. Why? Because we buy it all ourselves!
With that said we still do like to get gifts from other people from time to time, so here is an ecclectic mix of products that any scaler should be happy to find after ole’ St. Nick shows up. Keeping in the spirit of “stocking stuffers”, all the items on this list have a retail price of less than $25.
Dinky R/C Transmitten – $25
Scalers never stop, even in the dead of winter. Some of the most enjoyable runs I’ve ever been on have been in freezing temperatures with snow falling. In these situations I’ve found you get the park all to yourself! The problem is that while you can bundle yourself up to stay completely warm, it can be a different story for your hands. Gloves/Mittens don’t work so well when you need the “feel” of your bare hands. The Transmitten is a no frills solution to keep your hands warm even when traversing the winter landscape.
Gear Head R/C Studded Sand Ladders – $16.99
Trick looking, functional recovery gear is all the rage amongst the hobby. Winches and tow ropes are important and therefore everyone has one. If you want to be a bit different check out a pair of Gear Head R/C Studded Sand Ladders. In addition to looking fantastic, they are also completely usable. Sand ladders are placed to help crawl over a particularly nasty crevice or placed somewhere extra traction is needed, and the r/c version is no different. Each one is loaded with studded screws to provide grip and traction, and the 3mm delrin material can easily hold up to lots of abuse. One of my favorite “off the radar” scale accessories.
SSD Scale Locking Hubs $14.99 w/ Installation Tool – $4.99
When it comes to the look of your rig, the devil is always in the details. SSD Scale Locking hubs replace your bland looking wheel nuts with scale hubs! Available in different colors to replicate certain 1:1 hubs, they install in seconds. Make sure you grab an installation tool as well though!
RPM SCX10 Steering Knuckles – $12.95
The SCX10 is the most popular scaler of all time, and as such you can pack it to the gills with aluminum or machined goodies. But wait, not every upgrade has to be uber expensive! RPM now makes a super beefy knuckle for Axial’s stalwart truck, and it’s but a fraction of the cost of aluminum ones.
Pro-Line Scale Accessory Pack #2 – $17.95
An oldie but a goodie. While this scale accessory pack isn’t functional, it contains a replica Hi-Lift jack, something mandatory on most 1:1 off-roaders.
RC4WD Snorkel – 24.99
Keeping with the theme of scale accessories, a snorkel is a simple addition to most vehicles that give them a Camel Trophy, hardcore off-road look. RC4WD sells a variety of them to fit different bodies.
Howler Customs Electronics & Battery Tray – $20
I wrote about this a few weeks ago so I won’t say much here, just know that if you have an SCX10 I find this to be an ingenious way to gain more performance and electronics real estate.
PROTOform PROTOshine Lexan Body Cleaner – $6.76
Made for keeping lexan bodies clean and removing minor scratches, this stuff can be invaluable when trying to keep your good lookin’ rig good lookin’ after a hard day on the rocks. While it can’t help deep gouges, it’s great for removing lighter marks. Hey, who knew there was something for carpet racers that also helped scalers?!
Boom Racing Bevel Gears for Axial Trucks – $17.89 a pair
The QA on Boom Racing products continues to improve, and these spiral cut HD gears are a great example of this. They recently became RECON G6 certified at “The Fix” endurance race. For those that aren’t familiar with the event, The Fix is a special RECON G6 event where vehicles are ran hard for a 12 hour torture session. It’s where manufacturers try and show their stuff. If the parts pass the test, they are now certified. And yeah, a pair of these gears run slightly over budget, but it’s only a couple dollars so let’s let it slide, mmmkay?
Vanquish Currie F9 Axles – $129 a piece
Ok, ok now we are WAY over budget. The ultimate stocking stuffer for your Axial owning scaling fanatic, these F9 axles are insanely trick. They are bulletproof and have out-of-this-world looks. You can get them in black or clear anodized finish. The $260 price to completely outfit a truck may make the case that these belong under the tree and not on the mantle…..but they do FIT in a stocking, right?
So there ya have it, a few of my ideas for the hard-to-buy-for scaling fanatic in your life. Best of luck out there and may your holiday travels be fruitful and bear lots of scale swag!
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