What gift can you give for the person who gave you everything? It’s always difficult shopping for a parent, but especially so for Father’s Day, when it’s all-too-easy to get excited by the coming summer and buy something Dad will only get to use for three months out of each year. Avoid that mistake with any of the following online purchases.
(Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)
Meat Claws
Price: $8 | Buy It on Amazon
Fathers who take pride in carving roasts will appreciate these cheap and easy-to-use meat claws for effortlessly shredding roasted and smoked meats. They’re great for the holidays as well as grilling season, and can also be a fun way to get young children involved in the cooking process at family gatherings.
Fitbit
Price: $143 | Buy It on Amazon
Whether your father’s already an established fitness freak or just complains too much about wanting to get in shape, the Fitbit Alta will come in handy for fitness planning and calorie-counting throughout the year. The multi-capable wristwatch lets the wearer monitor and improve their health by continuously tracking their heart rate, steps taken, calories burned, and even sleep cycles. If $143 sounds a bit steep, check out our picks for good inexpensive fitness trackers.
Shower Beer Holder
Price: $15 | Buy It on Amazon
For some men, there’s no better way to relax than drinking a cold beer or taking a hot shower, unless it’s drinking a cold beer while taking a hot shower. This waterproof koozie adheres directly to the shower wall, so these kinds of dads can finally enjoy two of their favorite past-times at once.
Wine Club Membership
Price: $50/three-bottle shipment | Buy It at Winc
Winc is a wine club that picks the wine for you, based on past ratings and a flavor profile quiz you take upon signing up. Wine-loving dads will enjoy getting new varietals and brands each month that suit their palette, or you could consider signing up for a similar service from local wineries and wine clubs.
Breakfast Cookbook
Price: $20 | Buy It on Amazon
A lot of dads take making breakfast as seriously as they take grilling. If your dad’s running low on recipes outside of the classic bacon and eggs, however, he’ll get good use out of “The Big Bad Breakfast,” a cookbook featuring more than 100 Southern-style breakfast recipes, plus photos and humorous anecdotes to match.
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Leather Money Holder
Price: $11 | Buy It on Amazon
If your dad’s wallet is so swollen with coupons and business cards it looks like he’s carrying a copy of “Moby Dick” in his pants pocket, do him a favor by buying a slim alternative to put just his credit card or other essentials in. This leather money clip is minimalist and classic in style, with six slots for cards, a magnetic clip, and RFID blocking technology to protect against identity theft.
Colorful/Themed Socks
Price: $9 | Buy It on Amazon
Maybe Dad has no choice but to wear boring business casual clothes to work each day, but he can at least liven up one part of his wardrobe. It’s easier than ever these days to find creatively patterned socks online or in stores — like the fine art-themed ones linked above — so you can buy a more personalized pair featuring Dad’s favorite colors or the logo for his favorite sports team.
Beer Making Kit
Price: $40 | Buy It on Amazon
More for beginners than seasoned brewers, this Brooklyn Brew Shop starter kit enables Dad to try fine-tuning his own IPA at home. The kit includes a hops and yeast mixture, glass thermometer, vinyl tubing, 1-gallon fermenting bottle, and chambered airlock. There are also kits for chocolate maple porter or chestnut brown ale varieties to suit Dad’s specific beer preferences.
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Map Coasters
Here’s something for the coffee table you can try making yourself. Use a map (or maps) of Dad’s favorite vacation spot and carefully apply them with glue sealant to circles of corkboard for drink coasters that conjure fond memories for every sip.
‘The Furniture Bible’
Price: $35 | Buy It on Amazon
There’s something satisfying — not to mention financially savvy — about fixing up something old to look new again, and this hardcover book by Christophe Pourny is a comprehensive guide to doing just that for old chairs, tables, dressers, beds, armoires, and more. It’s a great way to get Dad into a productive new hobby, or just encourage him to resume an old passion.
Rad Dad Box
Price: $25/month | Buy It at Cratejoy
With the advent of online shopping has come a new craze for subscription boxes tailored to suit every imaginable interest. This one is specifically for the new father in your life, so each month, he’ll have a new kit of unique clothes, toys, and reading materials to share with his growing boy or girl.
Culture Carton
Price: $16/month | Buy It at Cratejoy
Here’s a well-priced subscription box for the dad who cares about aesthetics, with each month’s themed contents offering a different array contemporary-yet-classic-seeming clothing and style accessories, plus one piece of timeless reading material.
My Garden Box
Price: $21.50/month | Buy It at Cratejoy
Or help Dad embrace his green thumb no matter the weather with My Garden Box. Each month, no matter the season, they send a different living plant or bulb with soil and a unique decorative planter, in case there’s no room in the garden. The seasonal boxes also provide illustrated instructions and tips if Dad’s just getting started.
Shaker & Spoon
Price: $50 | Buy It on Cratejoy
This subscription box is a little fancier (and pricier) but works well as a one-time gift as well as an ongoing subscription. If your dad loves playing bartender, in one shipment he’ll receive three professional mixologist-approved cocktail recipes and all the ingredients, bitters, and garnishes needed to prepare them — sans liquor. Each month’s box focuses on a different type, so it’s easy to skip liquors you or dad don’t like.
Forma Supply
Price: $45/month | Buy It at Cratejoy
Sometimes gift-giving, especially with parents, is about getting something basic you know the recipient will actually use. This subscription box can do that for any man every month (or bi-monthly or quarterly) with a series of three simple, stylish, and comfortable shirts that can be used for years to come in every shipment.
Amazon Echo
Price: $100 | Buy It on Amazon
Sure, it’s trendy and electronic, which dads don’t always love, but the Amazon Echo is genuinely useful as an unobtrusive, versatile, and customizable personal assistant. It can help him relax by playing music or reading audiobooks aloud, set timers for sprinklers and alarms throughout the house, and even order a pizza when Dad’s too relaxed to do it himself.
Gold Flex Golf Training Aid
Price: $50 | Buy It on Amazon
Dads who golf are always talking about how to improve this swing, so here’s a gift that will let them do it anywhere, not just at the driving range. This weighted training aid helps develop more power and ease in one’s swing while also working as a low-impact tool to warm up and stretch before any exercise.
Tile Mate
Price: $20 | Buy It from Tile
For the forgetful dad who spends hours each week looking for his wallet or keys, Tile Mate makes finding oft-misplaced items easy with an inconspicuous Scrabble tile-sized Bluetooth tracker linked to an app on his smartphone. Even if he loses his phone, he can use one of the Tiles or the company’s website to find it.
Hyperchiller Iced Coffee Maker
Price: $29 | Buy It on Amazon
Coffee is the beverage of choice for many fathers, and this appliance makes it easier to enjoy a cup in summer — or anytime — without overheating. The iced coffee maker can turn hot coffee to iced in just 60 seconds, and can also be used to quick-chill other beverages like tea, wine, beer, and whiskey.
Stereo Turntable
Price: $89 | Buy It on Amazon
Dads love music, so give yours the chance to start a new vinyl collection of old favorites and new discoveries with this basic vinyl turntable. For a small initial investment, dad can have a new hobby in shopping for deals at used-record stores in his neighborhood.
MeUndies
Price: $20 ($16 for subscribers) | Buy It from MeUndies
MeUndies is a popular online retailer and subscription box service specializing in underwear as colorful as they are comfortable, made from super-soft fabrics in both simple and creative designs. At an average of $20 per pair of boxer-briefs, they’re not exactly cheap, but even a frugal father would be won over by MeUndies’ softness alone.
Power Bank
Price: $17 | Buy It on Amazon
Here’s another something practical for dads who don’t take kindly to flashier gifts. Having a portable power bank to keep your phone and laptop charged comes in handy for travel outings and work emergencies. This one from Lumina is fast-charging, high-capacity, and reasonably priced.
BirchboxMan Gift Set
Price: $38 | Buy It from BirchboxMan
BirchboxMan sends useful and appropriately musky and masculine grooming products in monthly shipments. This Father’s Day offer on their site includes a three-month subscription and an initial sample shipment showcasing bestsellers like natural deodorant, vanilla and charcoal soap, and men’s eau de toilette cologne.
Holy Stone GPS Video Drone
Price: $280 | Buy It on Amazon
Dads love drones. The miniature remote-control copters lend themselves well to hobbyists who want to map the terrain around them or just learn to take aerial shots of their backyard barbecues. There are beginner versions that go for around $100 and up, but the precision and capabilities improve considerably in mid-range models like this one.
Pocket Knife
Price: $40 | Buy It at Cabela’s
Good pocket knives can be found for as low as $15 — it just depends what Dad wants, needs, and would use it for. This classic-look Buck 55 folding hunter’s knife averages 4.8 out of 5 stars in customer reviews and will serve him well for decades.
Essential EDC Kit
Price: $30 | Buy It at Huckberry
For the outdoorsy father who wants to be ready for anything, this Every Day Carry kit is useful and super-compact, fit onto a sturdy but unassuming black key ring. It features a peanut lighter, Philips and flathead screwdriver keys, and a survival gear “woodchuck,” which itself contains a wire saw, tinder striker, and small length of paracord.
Bluetooth Light Bulb
Price: $17 | Buy It on Amazon
Some dads spend years trying to get the lighting in their living room or dens just perfect, but this phone-controlled “smart” light bulb will cut that time in half and then some. Use your phone to select and dim a palette of more than 16 million hues, then go further by setting timers or syncing the light to music.
Bourbon-Infused Coffee
Price: $20 | Buy It on Uncommon Goods
Finally, two of dad’s favorite vices in one! These Arabica coffee beans available from UncommonGoods are infused with Kentucky bourbon in small batches to give them a smoky, vaguely alcoholic kick that makes getting through the morning that much easier.
