Dads are a unique breed. They are flexible, friendly (usually), intelligent, even-tempered, (again, usually, unless someone tries to mess with you), mostly water-proof, highly resistant to wear and tear, and resilient.
This unique breed deserves some unique gifts. We’re so on it. We’ve compiled a list of cool items that are hopefully as smart and cool as your Dad is.
Slimming Things Down
How’s Dad’s wallet? Not the contents, but the actual wallet. Could it lose some weight? Is it affecting his posture? His back? His lines?
Ekster is a Dutch company started by two besties who met while studying in the US on a Fulbright scholarship. Both had the same dilemma—fat, bulky, ugly wallets.
They seized the opportunity to create a line of smart wallets, card holders, backpacks, cases and accessories from key holders to finder cards for tracking lost items, to Air Pod holders, laptop sleeves, and the like.
All of the products are design-first, while being exceptionally stylish.
But let’s talk wallets.
We love the basic Ekster wallet as well as the Ekster card holder. Both in either Aluminum Carbon or natural leather (or vegan leather), are sleek-looking and create barely a bump in Dad’s profile or slipped into a briefcase pocket.
Because of the nature of currency these days, these wallets make perfect sense. Dad might only need a drivers’ license, his library card (!), and a credit card or two, with everything else living safely on his phone. The holder will still hold up to six cards, in case he doesn’t leave the crib without his favorite ice cream shop loyalty punch card.
As Ekster explained, the top-grain leathers used for their wallets and cases are tanned under silver-rated environmental protocols for minimal impact on the planet, with details that will age like, well, fine leather.
Dad deserves a wallet as slim as he would like to be, and as smart as you are, for thinking of this awesome gift.
Check it all out here.
They’re All Thumbs
Let’s begin with the verdict: We love this jacket. Your Dad will, too.
The Truman Fleece jacket from Thumb United, is cut slim with an actual shape, unlike most hoodies that are designed to look like hoodies. The knitted fleece fabric is an 80% cotton 20% polyester blend created for shape retention, and there is ribbing at the neck and cuffs for flexible, warm comfort.
An inside chest “Phone Safe” pocket with a silicone earphone cord port is lined with water repellent nylon to protect Dad’s phone from moisture and other elements. There is a two-way YKK front zipper, as well as a convenient thumb slit in the cuffs, so Dad can easily yank the sleeve down over his hands for a little extra warmth.
Speaking of hands, much of the Thumb (Teaching Humans Universal Mobile Behavior) philosophy comes from the idea that hands are for holding, and not for phones.
“There is urgency and importance in making the right choice about when and where we use our phones,” goes the company message. “Our hope is that consumers begin to recognize our brand in relation to our mission and at the same time, enjoy wearing products that at their core share a conscious social message, and teach and inspire individuals, students and families to balance their life and reduce the amount of time they spend on the phone.”
That makes sense to us. Meanwhile, more information on Thumb wear is available right here.
Come Fly With Dad
Let’s start big. We fly a lot around here. With at least two flights to Europe a year, we’re always on the lookout for great deals. Last year, as our scheduled I-Won’t-Name-The-Airline flight to Europe was inexplicably unavailable, we scrambled to find an easy and cool way to the City of Light.
That’s when we happened upon French Bee, a newish long-haul airline based in Paris, France.
It’s the first French “smart-cost” long-haul airline, as well as the first of this level of airline to fly from San Francisco to the South Pacific, and the first airline to operate solely with Airbus’s newest aircraft, the A350-900 XWB.
Los Angeles became French bee’s fifth destination with nonstop service from Paris, joining Newark, San Francisco to Paris and Tahiti, and Reunion Island, in April of 2022.
French bee owns and operates an all-Airbus fleet of four Airbus A350-900s and two A350-1000s, with unmatched cabin pressurization, ambient lighting, high ceilings and temperature-controlled air quality.
And it flies to Paris. Paris. And maybe Dad will take you along.
Votre père ne mérite-t-il pas quelque chose de grand cette année ? Get Dad’s wings here
Let There Be Drums
Okay, don’t show this to Mom quite yet. But there is a rock star inside every dad, though there might not be the opportunity to show it off all the time.
But if he could, he would, right?
The Donner DED-200 Electronic Drum Set is the perfect kit to set up in a corner of the garage. The DED-200 set comes with everything Dad might need to channel his own favorite drummer.
Best of all, no one in the family will ever hear him. Once he puts on those headphones, the only sound is him tap-tap-tapping on the mesh heads of the individual drums. Mesh heads are the state of the art when it comes to electronic drums, providing a perfect bounce and response.
Here are the technical details: The DED-200 electric drum set includes a 1 x 8″ dual-zone mesh snare, 3 x 8″ mesh tom-tom, 1 x 6″ kick drum with double-pedal compatibility, 1 x 10″ hi-hat, 1 x 10″ crash, and 1 x 10″ ride with choke, all with stable and evenly distributed tone responses thanks to the premium silicone pads in sleek black.
With remarkable real drum sampling, the kit offers 450 sounds and 31 classic and modern drum kits that are more than enough to make Dad think he’s in a comfy jazz club, or rocking the Rose Bowl.
The built-in 50 play-along songs, sequencer, metronome, auxiliary input, and recording function are terrific tools for drummers to practice and develop their skills, and he can hook the whole thing up to his iPhone or iPad, for practicing at home, or even hook it up to an to an amp, for performing with a band, if he must.
Everything Dad needs is included, from a foldable iron metal stand with a stable and secure 4-post aluminum rack, a hi-hat control pedal, a kick drum pedal, headphones, a drum throne, audio cables, and yes, drumsticks.
Full disclosure: We own one of these kits, and it truly rocks. The drums are responsive to all types of touch, and the entire range of drum sounds are frankly, awesome.
Get Dad the beat here.
Oh Snap!
One of the designated roles of every Dad, or so he will tell you, is Chief Family Photographer and Archivist.
Even with an iPhone in every pocket, sometimes Dad needs a grownup camera to capture every moment. A Nikon camera speaks for itself, and the Nikon Coolpix P950, speaks very clearly.
This bad boy features a 24-mm to 2000-mm ultra-high-power optical zoom, with Dynamic Fine Zoom up to 4000 mm, along with Dual Detect Optical VR (Vibration Reduction) with an effect equivalent to a shutter speed 5.5 stops* faster. Digitally speaking it has a Faster AF speed and increased buffer capacity
Dad making his masterpiece? The Coolpix P950 features 4K UHD/30p or 25p movie recording with Movie manual mode, RAW (NRW) format support, and A 1-cm/0.39-in. approx. 2359k-dot electronic viewfinder with eye sensor, paired with a 8.1-cm/3.2-in. (approx.) 921k-dot, vari-angle LCD monitor. Don’t worry. There won’t be a test. Dad knows what all that technical stuff means, if you don’t.
You can pick up the Nikon Coolpix P950 right here.
Sssh! Dad is Rocking Out
Remember that whole thing with Dad rocking out on the drums all quietly and everything?
What if Dad’s musical dream is to front a band on guitar, or maybe just to be able to serenade mom (and impress party guests) on a moment’s notice?
That’s what the Donner Hush-X Electric Guitar kit is for.
The HUSH-X electric guitar features a headless portable design, weighing only 4.4 pounds, half the weight of a traditional electric guitar. The whole affair can fit in a plane’s overhead bin.
The Hush-X electric guitar’s upgraded quick-assemble brackets mean Dad can put this thing together in seconds.
And the wider brackets are engineered to conform to Dad’s curves, for the best support and comfort. The progressive asymmetrical neck reduces pressure on the wrist.
Hush X’s Headless Guitar Tuning System offers superior sustain and individual adjustability for string length and action, meaning this sounds like an actual acoustic or electric guitar. Combined with customized string locking technology and zero-fret design, it effectively deals with the issue of headless guitars going out of tune, for a more consistent playing experience.
The tone control system features a 3-way switch with volume and tone, coupled with an active/passive circuit switch design, and serious pickups enabling three distinct tonal combinations, from the most mellow to the most metal. (See what we did there?)
And the kit, like the drum set, will come with everything Dad might need to get with the whole music thing.
Despite the size, this is a seriously fun guitar and a fun, serious guitar. You can get Dad one right here.
Give Dad Something Unique
Today’s lesson? Burls.
Burls? Wha…?
Burls are gnarly growths and deformities on trees, sort of like “tumors” or “warts” on trees. They can be in the root burls, or at the base of the tree, or even sticking off the tree halfway up. They can result from a tree undergoing some form of stress (We all get stress, even trees.) It may be caused by an injury, virus or fungus. Burls sometimes appear as groups of bulbous protrusions connected by a system of rope-like roots.
But from burls, comes beauty.
In 2012, wood artist John Webber and his company, Carved, wanted a phone case that didn’t look like something sold in a mall kiosk. Using a combination of woods, burls, resins and a head full of creative ideas, he has created hundreds, perhaps thousands of cases, all part of a range of unique design series, from those once-ugly burls.
We love ours and it always gets noticed. We think you should give your Dad some notice of his own.
More information on Carved cases, and a host of their other cool wood products is available at carved.com.
Keep coming back here through Father’s Day for more cool Dad Stuff!
