The only Father's Day gift I can recall my own dad getting was a plate of fried sardines. It was prepared by my mother, his ex-wife, who knew how gratefully he'd receive a dish he grew up with in the Italian neighborhood of a steel town dying with such theatrical flair that Bruce Springsteen named a song after it. (An acoustic Springsteen song, at that.) We lived in a nearby city that had plenty of red-sauce restaurants, but they weren't serving tinned fish in those days. As my father had only the most limited of food preparation skills and didn't date the kind of women who could cook, this was the only way he'd ever taste that flavor again.
As Father's Day gifts go, being united with a long-lost recipe from childhood is pretty good. If you can pull it off, that's what you should give your dad this year. Otherwise, I have here a few ideas I've spent the last few months gathering for various types of dads and across many different budgets. With the exception of a few things picked by other dads on the team, these are all things I've personally tested and approved, and I hope they make your dad as happy as those sardines made mine.
The Best Father’s Day Gifts for Your Dad
For the Dad Who Plays With His Kids
Maybe your dad has fond memories of the Super Soakers of his youth, but the SpyraFour is the new best water gun ever made. WIRED has been covering the German brand's powerful electric squirt guns since 2023, and they've only gotten better over time. Just ask my daughter, who has to use the SpyraThree while I blast away at her with this gun that refills much faster (it sucks up enough water for about 20 shots in a cool 12 seconds) and has a full digital smart display to select between shooting styles and show you how much ammo you've got left. This is a very powerful squirt gun that shoots accurately up to 50 feet, and it's recommended for kids who are at least 14. I can confirm that when I let my 11-year-old and her friends play with it, the battle often ends in tears. This only adds to the appeal as a gift for any dad over 40—when I was her age, we threw rocks at each other, and I had to go to the emergency room to get stitches you can still see. Good times.
Aerobie
Pro Ring
Playing catch is one of those classic activities dads and kids love to do. Over time, I've found, it transitions from the kid asking to toss the Frisbee around to the adult asking. Yes, the Aerobie is still the best flying disc you can buy, but the real reason to gift it is as an excuse to toss it around and talk.
St. Pierre
Tournament Bocce Set
Bocce is the best backyard game—it's great for people of all ages and has no learning curve, though it's possible to get better with practice. I hoard bocce sets from thrift stores and have owned like four; the best set is one like this from St. Pierre, which is made in America and is the brand they use in tournament play.
For the Grill Dad
Live-fire cooking has been the hottest trend in grilling for half a decade now, possibly as a reaction to the rise of super-automated pellet grills and high-tech smart grilling. The latest up-and-coming device is the charcoal oven, which Spanish brand Mibrasa is best known for (the smallest model, the Nano, runs just under $12,000). That would be an amazing gift for your dad if the budget allows. However, those of more modest means can confidently gift this super-premium hibachi grill from Mibrasa, which is made of heavy-gauge steel.
The MH 300 Plus is roughly one square foot and weighs about 18 pounds empty—you can carry it around, but it's a little on the hefty side. It gets scorching hot (almost 500 degrees Fahrenheit) and holds the meat very near to the charcoal so that the drippings are vaporized and turned into flavorful smoke. I've made steak tacos and chicken skewers, and they've turned out perfectly with a kiss of char. When I refresh this guide in a few weeks, I will have used it to test the Snake River Farms Wagyu beef gift box that just arrived, which looks like it will also appear on this list soon.
Jacobsen Salt Co.
Grilling Trio
Jacobsen Sea Salt is hand-harvested on the Oregon coast, where the waters of Netarts Bay impart a lot more character than most of what you buy at the grocery store. The Grilling Trio has three variants blended with herbs to create flavor profiles that complement Dad's dishes. My favorite is the steak blend, which includes dried garlic, coriander seed, fennel seed, and a half-dozen other classic herbs.
- Photograph: Martin Cizmar
- Photograph: Martin Cizmar
- Photograph: Martin Cizmar
Oyster
Tempo Pro
Oyster has made the prettiest coolers on the market since the Norwegian brand's debut in 2023. These aluminum ice boxes are double-walled for vacuum insulation, as you find on a travel coffee mug. The new Tempo Pro adds a small digital thermometer that tracks the temp inside without spoiling its clean lines.
For the Beach Dad/Pool Dad
This is one of the few products on this list that I have not personally tested, but for a dad with a pool, it's such a good gift idea that I had to include it. Our reviewer gave the Sora, which sits in the middle of the Beatbot lineup, a stellar 8/10 review, saying it'll clean up the debris from pretty much any mess short of a hurricane. This 20-pound robot crawls the walls of your pool, suctioning up grime and saving dad the hassle of skimming for an hour every week.
Vero
Vero X Realtree Tide Tracker
I wear an Apple Watch Ultra most days, but nothing annoys me more than needing to keep it charged during vacations and weekends. That's where this very cool watch from Vero comes in. It's a collab with Realtree, the Gucci of camo, and will track the tides for 14 days while being waterproof to almost 400 feet. Even—perhaps especially—if your dad has a smart watch or a luxury watch, this is a great gift that will serve him well in the outdoors and especially near the ocean.
Sunguard
Men's Overhead Hoodie
I have been slathering myself in sunscreen—most dads I know do this too—which is why I've quickly become addicted to sun hoodies. I've amassed a half-dozen of them to wear when taking my daughter to the beach or pool, or when going for a hike. The best I've used so far is the Sunguard line from EMS, which offers 50 SPF protection in a polyester-elastane blend that's thin, soft, and breathable. It dries ultra-fast, and the hood will cover as much of your face as you need to without being cumbersome when not in use.
For the Car Dad
Portable tire inflators and jump starters are both great things to have, and I have both. The AX65 from Noco is a high-powered combination of the two, and the best version of either I've encountered. The tire inflator is extremely quick, as fast as a gas station air compressor in my testing, and advertises it'll take a tire from flat to 40 psi in two minutes. It holds 2,150 amp hours of power, enough to jump a regular passenger car multiple times. It jumped my Dieselgate-era Jetta with ease (I've had the device for a month and already needed to jump my car thanks to its lack of alarm when you leave the lights on). It'll also recharge a phone or laptop via a 60-watt USB-C port, so it's not just taking up dead space on road trips until disaster strikes.
- Photograph: Martin Cizmar
- Courtesy of Amazon
BlueDriver
Pro Next Gen OBD2 Scanner
There are dozens of OBD2 scanners out there, and I've owned three or four different ones. The BlueDriver stands out for having lots of powerful features without requiring a subscription or credits to unlock its functions. This device connects to your car's port and pairs to a phone app via Bluetooth so you can read, and in many cases clear, trouble codes. It plays pretty well with my VW, though it's not a full VCDS system.
Decked
Halfrack 32
Decked makes the sturdiest of the many car storage systems I've used over the years, and what the medium-sized Halfrack lacks in size it more than makes up for in sheer toughness. It's gasketed so it doesn't leak, and not only can you stand on it, but supposedly drive a truck over it without it cracking (I have not driven my truck over it). It has a locking lid that can be opened with one hand and a convenient carry handle that folds down flush when not in use. This is the gateway to a full system of boxes and drawers, so if your dad likes it, you have gift ideas for years to come.
For the Yard Dad
My childhood neighbor Don Elmerick had the finest lawn I've ever seen. Elmerick, who lived across the street from my mother's house for nearly 50 years before he passed in 2019, spent every summer meticulously tending to his acre of bright green grass, getting tan while mowing shirtless in jeans. His lawn was so nice that, as legend had it, the groundskeepers from the modest public golf course behind our house would come by to admire it. Every dad I know, including myself, would love to have a lawn like that. Unfortunately, I do not have the spare 10 to 20 hours a week it takes to do the research and labor required.
I won't say that the Lawnbrite plan has my more modest patch of lawn looking like Firestone Country Club after six months of treatment, but it does look better than any lawn I've kept in my adult life. That's thanks to this service, which uses data from your lawn to create a custom treatment plan and then sends different treatment bottles at strategic times. All you do is open the box, attach the bottle to a hose, and spray. I applied the Green Machine formula in the fall and then Weed Wipeout in the spring. If your dad is always talking about how nice another man's grass looks, this is the gift for him.
Stihl
GTA 30
Your dad probably does not need a chainsaw, but he likely needs a lawn tool with a little more juice than a standard electric trimmer. Enter Stihl's GTA 30, which is a battery-powered electric pruner with a small chain blade that will go through small branches while also keeping bushes in shape. For clearing up the small branches that fall off your trees in storms and the like, this is the perfect tool, and it's easy to use and carry.
- Photograph: Martin Cizmar
- Photograph: Martin Cizmar
- Courtesy of Amazon
Navimow
i215 LiDAR Robotic Lawn Mower
I've tested a half-dozen robot lawn mowers over the years, and it wasn't until the Eufy E15 last year that I finally tried one I'd recommend people buy. As my colleague Simon Hill reported, Robot Mowers Are Actually Good Now. I don't want to scoop Simon, but this mower from Segway's Navimow brand is the best yet. Setup takes about 20 minutes, and it'll then buzz your grass down to the set height with the push of a button or on a schedule you set in the app. You may need to do a little cleanup around the edges with a weed wacker, but most of the work is done without any intervention.
For the Camper Dad
This wee baby Leatherman comes in stylish colorways and has 10 of the most essential tools (a knife, a bottle opener, scissors) without anything extra. There are some very smart touches like a flat screwdriver that will work with a Phillips head in a pinch—I wouldn't build a deck with it, but it can get you out of a jam with a loose screw on a camp chair or propane stove. Dads will tell you that you can never have enough little knives and multitools, and this one makes a nice, inexpensive gift.
ForgeLine
The Oaks Camp Pant
ForgeLine is a spinoff of Patagonia, where it was formerly the producer of gear on government contract to make clothing for the US Special Operations Forces. The Oaks Camp Pants are made from British Millerain dry-waxed cotton in a hexagonal weave and are far more durable than cotton has any right to be. Because they're cotton, they're breathable and wear like jeans while being reinforced enough that you'll feel like you could roll out of a moving vehicle without ripping them.
- Photograph: Martin Cizmar
- Courtesy of Amazon
Olight
ArkPro Ultra EDC Flat Flashlight
This is the updated premium version of the O-Light flashlight we have on top of our list of the best. Like its predecessor, it has a wheel to select between beams, including a bright white standard light with 1,700 lumens, plus a UV light and a green laser beam useful for pointing things out from long distances. This model offers USB-C charging, a welcome feature in the field, even though the proprietary magnetic disc is excellent. Charge it to the max, and you can get a full 14 days out of it on its lowest light mode.
For the Retro-Tech-Loving WIRED Reader Dad
The Ricoh GR IV is the smallest, lightest camera you can give Dad. The image quality is outstanding, and it legitimately fits in a pocket. We're not even talking the pocket in Dad's zip-off cargo pants; this thing will fit in the pocket of a pair of jeans. Unless dad is into skinny jeans, in which case, god help you.
The Ricoh GR series cameras have long been the point-and-shoot of choice for serious photographers, with a good all-around 28-mm lens and a 25.7-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor that produces excellent images capable of being printed up to poster size. The fourth version recommended here includes the new dust-sealing mechanism that addresses the fatal flaw of early models (which were prone to getting dust on the sensor). It also has a much-improved autofocus and tracking system to help dad get the shot even while he's handing you his beer.
The one reason to maybe not buy this one for Dad is if he wants to shoot video. The GR IV's video specs top out at 1080p and the footage it produces is, frankly, horrid. I really think the video features are only there to mock you for wanting to shoot video. If dad wants something capable of video, have a look at our guide to compact cameras. —Scott Gilbertson
Keychron
C2 Full-Size Wired Mechanical Keyboard
This mechanical keyboard is the one I use every day, and the one I recommend to others thanks to its retro look (the colorway reminds me of my first computer, a Commodore 64) and the satisfying click. It works with both PC and Mac, and since it's full-size, your dad can stick his elbows out and feel like Hemingway as he writes that memoir or work memo.
Gadhouse
Wesley headphones
Headphones with a retro look seem to be trending up lately, with brands like Teenage Engineering and Koss going in on the style. This very cool and highly functional pair from design-focused electronics brand Gadhouse came to me with a test unit for the Miko cassette player, and while I love the player and hope to review it soon, the Wesley headphones stole the show. Unlike other retro-styled foam-cushioned headphones I've used, these sound amazing and have modern features like an in-line microphone and an included USB-C adapter so you can connect them to your phone.
For the Dad Who Doesn’t Buy Himself Clothes
Look, dads have a lot going on, figuring out personal style may not always—or ever—be top of that list. That's where you come in. And I know what you're thinking: Dad does not want a shirt for Father's Day. Most shirts, you're right. This shirt, though? This shirt he will like. Taylor Stitch's short-sleeve California shirt is luxuriously soft, light enough for summer (I find it comfortable to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but I have one of the heavier double knits), and it has the kind of classic, timeless style that will fit just about any dad. There are quite a few fabrics to choose from here, ranging from the double-knit cotton pictured here to some hemp versions to a couple of cotton slub jersey fabrics. All the cotton shirts are organic cotton. There's a good selection of colors, too, allowing you some range to tailor your pick to your dad's style, or what you want your dad's style to be. But I promise you, your dad will love this shirt. —Scott Gilbertson
Pair of Thieves
Men's Rayon Made From Bamboo Boxer Briefs
Most men do not get excited to buy themselves underwear—in fact, it's probably fair to say they would prefer to buy underwear for their partner over themselves. And yet, a new pair is nice. These super-soft rayon boxer briefs from Pair of Thieves are therefore an excellent gift for a dad who will scrape by without refreshing their own essentials as long as they can.
Berghaus
Pendower Wind Jacket
Sometimes you just need a light jacket that will keep the wind and a light, misty rain from chilling you to the bone. This jacket from British brand Berghaus is exactly the thing you need in those situations, and getting it in the bright neon yellow colorway also makes it useful for safety-aware situations like early-morning bike rides. I love the fit and the materials, but be warned that it zips on the European side (or, as we know it in the United States, the women's side).
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