Your dad probably He is not going to complain about any gift you give him. For better or worse, most modern dads don’t obsess over gifts. Do you know the meme of the bearded older man with a silly smile opening a shirt just like the one he is wearing? There is a lot of truth in that. In fact, WIRED hasn’t even had a gift guide for dad for a few years. Nobody complained; It’s possible that no one noticed.
However, I’m not only a father and gear reviewer, but someone who has a specific philosophy about what makes a good gift for middle-aged men like me. You’ll notice some threads running through this. manifest Helpful Guide: The best gifts for a dad are things that are not only relevant to his interests but can also fairly be described as “over the top.” Dads really like things that are overloaded but useful. I’m sure some dads like to be “spoiled,” but it’s not me or the dads I know who physically cringed when reading this sentence.
If you take one idea away from me, I hope it’s that when it comes to a gift for a dad, you can rarely go wrong giving an expensive but great version of something we use anyway. We especially like things that earn the admiration of our peers; Nothing makes a dad happier than having another guy old enough to be a dad take note of his stupidly expensive tire pressure gauge and then say, “Oh yeah, my son bought that for me, they’re a little expensive, but I must say that it always works very well.”
Check out the rest of our gift guides, including Gifts for Moms, Tech Gifts for Kids, and Gifts for Outdoor People.
Updated April 2024: We added a great pepper grinder, weather station, smokeless fireplace and apron, and updated pricing throughout.
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