These Thoughtful Gifts for Dads Are Sure to Be Among His Most Prized Possessions

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The hardest part about shopping for your dad—or any father in your life, really—is knowing what gifts he’ll actually use. Speaking from experience, those gifts you once thought were clever sometimes get pushed aside for the tried-and-true pieces Dad already has and refuses to replace. Maybe your dad is a huge DIYer who still resorts to using his battered old pair of work gloves because there’s “nothing wrong with them,” or he’s an outdoorsman who insists his beer-stained camp chair works as great as it did a decade ago. While those may be true, a little upgrade couldn’t hurt.

This Father's Day, surprise your dad, a friend with kids, or a father figure in your life with a gift he might not know he needed. Does he like houseplants? Get him one with a gorgeous monochrome pot. Is he a whiskey drinker? Instead of getting a bottle of the usual, consider a unique, customized oak barrel. Is he particular about the aroma of his home or office? Have him try out some incense instead of the typical candle.

Check out our picks for some truly unique gifts for dads down below, spanning all categories and price ranges to best suit your giftee and your wallet. Give him those upgrades he least expects, and you’ll give him a reason to use something new.

For more presents for the members of your inner circle, check out our picks for the best gifts for husbands, best tech gifts, and best gifts for movie lovers.

Exfoliating Body Scrub Soap 3-Pack

Refreshing, nourishing, and pleasantly potent, Marlowe’s exfoliating soaps are some of the freshest. (We’re talking from experience here.)

Made with a blend of passionflower fruit, green tea, and willow bark extracts, this variety pack gives the dad on your list three new scents to try out on his next wash: Marlowe’s woodsy original scent; the amber, citron, and spicy Santal scent; and the lightly earthy, birchy, and vanilla scent of Oud Wood.

The Great American Road Trip Coffee Table Book

Inspire your father (or father figure) to hit the road with his family with this coffee table book. Featuring over 600 pages of photos and words about the culture, people, and food of the open road, it could be the incentive your giftee needs to plan his next road trip.

Clip 4 Portable Speaker

A favorite of our friends at Bicycling, the JBL Clip 4 is the Bluetooth speaker for taking on the go. It snaps onto a pack or frame with its carabiner, plus its water- and dust-proof case gives it extra protection. Grab it in one of eight colors and styles, from black to pink to camouflage.

Pet Monitoring Camera 2-Pack

Have a dad in your life who loves to keep an eye on his pets? This two-pack of pet cams is sure to please. Each relays 1080p HD video to a smartphone app, features two-way audio, and even has night-vision capabilities. They’re also mountable for setting up high and a wider scope of view.

Nuptse Mule Slipper

These mules from The North Face are a solid gift for lounging at home or hanging around a campsite, and their insulated interior gives them a nice, cozy feel. They come in three colors and have a thick, rubber outsole for some added grip.

Q Timex Falcon Eye Reissue Watch

Timex recently reissued one of its famous watches from the archives: the 1979 Q Timex. A sleek, sophisticated timepiece, the blue variant is nicknamed Falcon Eye because, well, it looks similar to the eye of a falcon.

With a 38-millimeter bezel, woven stainless-steel bracelet, rotating top ring, and two-tone case, this sharp ticker is sure to attract attention.

The Robe

Help Dad take a load off with this thick waffle weave robe made from organic cotton. This gift has deep hand pockets for storing goodies and a blend of jaspe and ringspun cotton for supreme softness.

Work Folio A5

This handsome leather folio has enough space to store and carry notes, pens, a passport, business cards, and a smartphone. An A5 notebook stuffs right into its inner pocket, while elasticized compartments help hold any overflow items your giftee may want to keep around. If the caramel color pictured here doesn’t suit his style, this folio is also available in black.

Alarm Clock

A smart alarm clock, the Loftie comes with an easy-to-read display and a dimmable nightlight. What’s more, the pre-loaded meditations, breath-work exercises, sound baths, and bedtime stories this gift has can help Pops get a good night’s sleep. (The Loftie will also update periodically with new content.)

DoohicKey QuicKey 5-in-1 Keychain Multitool

This unassuming 5-in-1 tool is shaped like a key and takes up no additional space on your dad's keyring. It has a #2 screwdriver tip, a file, a scoring point for opening boxes, a serrated edge for tearing clothing tags and twine, and a bottle opener.

Cable Knit Wool Sweater

This casual cable-knit wool sweater is perfect for dad during the upcoming cold season. It’s crafted with humanely sourced merino wool and has a close fit for a flattering, cozy silhouette. Plus, it’s comfortable while looking sophisticated. Get one in oatmeal, steel, or charcoal.

Carhartt Legacy Tool Bag 16-Inch, Carhartt Brown

Original Black Truffle Hot Sauce

One part luxe condiment, one part pantry staple, Truff combines black truffles with red chili peppers for a unique spin on ordinary hot sauce. This stuff can elevate any meal with the gourmet taste of truffle and some heat for balance. Plus, it’s packaged in a beautiful bottle.

Classic Blonde 7-Inch Santoku Knife

This 7-inch santoku knife from Shun is light and agile, resistant to both corrosion and stains, and protected by 68 layers of stainless Damascus cladding for a long-lasting edge. This gift also has a beautiful pakkawood handle that won’t harbor bacteria.

Double Lightweight Portable Hammock

This hammock from Sierra Designs also comes with the gift of R&R. It supports up to 400 pounds and is crafted with a durable nylon fabric that packs down into a sack for easy portability. Get it in one of eight colors and opt for the two-person model so dad can share if he wants, or sprawl out solo.

Moss Garden Incense Nokiba (500 Sticks)

If Dad needs a cooldown, these Japanese-made incense sticks by Shoyeido are the perfect gift. Produced with no synthetic oils or fragrances, each of these 500 sticks takes 30 minutes to burn. Let him take in the pleasing aroma before going back to dad duty.

Hypervolt Plus Massage Gun

Here’s a massage gun that’s powerful yet quiet. With three speeds and five head attachments, the Hypervolt Plus will help alleviate tension, soreness, and stiffness. It’s also Bluetooth-compatible and pairs with the Hyperice app, which has detailed instructional videos on how to best use it.

Fyra 12 Wood-Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven

Know a dad who loves pizza? Ooni is one of the most popular brands for pizza ovens, and its Fyra 12 is one of the best we’ve tested. Reaching a maximum temperature of 950 degrees, this stainless-steel gift is lightweight (22 pounds) and compact (with foldable legs).

HS710 Drone with Camera

If Dad’s interested in drone piloting, here’s a beginner-friendly quadcopter that can shoot UHD 4K video quite literally on the fly. It’s fairly lightweight for portability, plus it’s strapped with GPS for hands-free piloting.

Rambler 36-Ounce Bottle

Built tough to handle accidental drops, the Rambler has double-insulated walls that’ll hold 36 ounces of cold or hot liquids. This gift has a spout cap (unlike the default wide mouth) makes sipping easier and helps keep liquid (and dad) from spilling all over the place.

Wood Phone-Docking Station

A classy addition to a desk or nightstand, this wooden phone-docking station comes with slots for everything he carries daily: a shelf for eye- or sunglasses, a nook for wallets, an area for notepads, keys, and a pen, and a place to hang watches. It also has a notch for a power cord so the phone can stand upright while charging.

Personalized Whiskey Barrel

Whiskey drinkers can be tough to shop for, especially if they’ve cultivated their own collection of bottles at home. Don’t risk getting something he won’t like the taste of and opt for a personalized whiskey barrel instead.

Made entirely of oak, this barrel ages whiskey while imparting notes of vanilla, butter, and coconut and lending it some astringency. For a bespoke present, you can customize this gift with your dad's name and a sweet message.

Banks Short

The Banks Short is pretty much Vuori’s flagship bottom, designed with both comfort and performance in mind. Each pair is made with fabric spun out of four or five recycled plastic bottles and features scalloped legs and four-way stretch that won’t restrict your giftee's movement.

Kaha 2 GTX Hiking Boots

Hoka is known for the maximalist soles it builds into its shoes. They lend support and more than a little cushioning. The Kaha 2 in particular will handle sloshing through creeks because of its tough waterproof nubuck leather, waterproof Gore-Tex membrane, and hefty Vibram Megagrip traction lugs.

Organic Cotton Terry Polo Sweatshirt

This luxe sweatshirt is made from heavyweight organic cotton terry, giving it that sporty look that a tennis dad will like during his time away from the courts.

Red Prayer Plant

This small, colorful plant is an easygoing addition to any plant family. The red prayer plant features leaves with red veins and splashes of light green. Its leaves fold up in the evening, hence its name, and it’ll thrive on any shelf.

19-in-1 Key Ring Tools

One keyring tool, 19 functions. This multitool from Garrett Wade features two hex wrenches, six screwdrivers, a wire cutter, a crimper, file, drill, bottle opener, and more. This gift is foldable for safekeeping in a pocket or hanging off a carabiner, and it’s performed well in our past testing of multitools.

ABC Classic-Fit Pant

We’ve come to appreciate how comfortable yet versatile these Lululemon pants are. They stretch and move with you. Plus, they’re resistant to wrinkles, which means Dad can wear them to his day job or when he’s lounging at home over the weekend.

Premier Series Subscription

Every month, the International Wine of the Month Club sends bottles from two different vineyards to its members, along with a monthly newsletter with pairing ideas, tasting notes, and complementary recipes. If you have a dad who loves drinking that sweet fermented grape juice, this gift has the bottles to brag about.

Wi-Fi-Enabled RGB Tunable Light Bulb 2-Pack

These lights are easy to set up with Globe Electric’s smartphone app and connect via Bluetooth. All Dad has to do is screw in a bulb and make the connection so he can change his lighting to one of the hundreds of bright, vibrant colors with a few taps of his fingers.

Moab Anniversary Hiker Crew Tab Socks

The perfect stocking stuffer is a pair of socks, and the perfect pair of socks is tough, thick, and supportive, like these Moabs from Merrell. This special anniversary style wicks sweat and has an arch band to help keep those feet from feeling too sore after a hard day’s hike.

Pac-Man Counter-Cade Arcade

This mini-arcade cabinet compact gift that fits on a countertop, comes with a single joystick and three buttons, and has an 8-inch color screen that comes loaded with five classic arcade games, including Dig Dug, Mappy, and, of course, Pac-Man. This is the present for that nostalgic dad who misses the days of coin-operated gaming.

Ai81 2-Way Floorstanding Tower Speakers

These floor-standing tower speakers aren’t only beautiful, they’re powerhouses of stereo sound. Packaged with a remote control, a two-year warranty, and 8 feet of speaker wire, these Bluetooth-compatible speakers offer 150 watts of sound ideal for your dad's home theaters, turntable junkies, and providing that booming bass.

Men’s Invader Hi Steel-Toe Work Boot

Steel-toe protection? Check. Slip resistance? Check. Lightweight and flexible? Yep. If Dad is looking for a work boot to beat them all, this is it. Gift him a pair of Invader His and let his feet rest easy, even during long work days.

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