Are your folks going to be in a position to buy anything via mail order, or are they only going to be able to buy things that they actually run across in the shops local to where they are?
With mail order, the sky is the limit, but hoping that they happen to find a decent shop, selling good outdoor gear, let alone just the bit of gear you want, might be stretching optimism a little.
When I have been to the US I have very rarely found gear worth buying in the local stores. Sure, I have bought loads of fishing tackle (used to find it in K-mart/Wal-mart, but they have cut way back
) and other odds and ends, but nothing really outstanding. The fishing gear wasn't bad, but the camping and hunting gear in such places was pretty dire.
If you are into fishing with plugs and spinners, Rapalla lures are incredibly cheap compared to here. Mepps are also a bargain. All the Abu Garcia reels and rods in general are also very cheap.
I never go without stopping at a chemists and resupplying my stock of Neosporin cream. Make sure they bring you some back...its a topical antibiotic cream that you just can't find here. I don't use a lot, my stock usually runs out of date long before I use it up, but its great to have in the outdoor first aid kit.
How about some titanium cookware? Generally that seems to have a price made of the same numbers as over here, but with a Dollar sign rather than a Pound sign. Big savings.
You could just browse around these places and see what takes your fancy:
http://www.rei.com/
http://www.llbean.com/
http://www.cabelas.com/
Not sure I would try buying a knife that way. Unless you have already handled the model you want, so you know what it is like, and you know your folks will be able to pick it up alright, I think its asking for problems. Even in the US, good knives aren't just sitting in cases everywhere. I found a great display at Paragon Sports in New York, but oh my were they expensive compared to what I had seen them for by mail order!
Best of Luck!!
