The best fathers rest on no laurels. They want to be better dads, sons, and husbands. And they for sure want to be better fly casters, grill masters, or travel packers. Looking sharp while pulling off the foregoing is a definite bonus, too. Give your favorite father a leg up on improvement with these winning picks.
There are a million hoodie designs out there, but the Free Fly Bamboo Hybrid Hoodie is a cut above. The hood, shoulders, and arms are made of Free Fly’s UPF 50+ bamboo fabric, with the body in a lighter weight UPF 20+ bamboo fabric. Thumbholes in the sleeves help with hand protection from the sun, and the crossover hood provides total neck coverage when needed. On or off the boat, it’s a winner. $78
The first knives from the world’s most prolific knife-sharpening outfit are fresh to the market, and the Work Sharp RMX Thumbstud Folding Knife is a star in the bunch. The magnesium handle is tough and very light, and it’s paired with a drop point blade of M390 steel, a powdered steel that is highly resistant to corrosion and holds an edge for half of forever. $150
Possibly YETI’s most functional and useful hard-sided cooler, the new YETI Roadie 8 is sized for a day on the skiff, golf course, or sporting clays range. It holds twelve cans or a very serious lunch. Tie-down slots make it easy to cinch to an ATV or golf cart, and the non-slip feet help keep the Roadie 8 where you put it. Goldilocks-approved: This YETI cooler is just right. $165
Everything about the new Hardy Averon Streamer Fly Reel that makes it a slam dunk for streamer fishing for brutes like brown trout and bass—enlarged arbor for speedy line pickup and low coil memory, larger handle and counterbalance, friction-free incoming retrieve—makes it a very fine choice for everyday angling. You don’t have to drive a Porsche to the grocery store. But if it’s sitting in the driveway… $500
The beauty of function is on full display with the small, hand-filling Orvis x Woody Upland Bird Knife. The Swedish ABE-L steel is renowned for taking and keeping a sharp edge. Bronze pins and a hardwood handle give it an earthy appeal. Made by hand in South Carolina, any Woody knife is a keeper, but this one is next-level. $198
A suite of Smith’s top models now comes in new lenses that merge the brand’s ChromaPop contrast-boosting glass with its photochromatic self-adjusting technology that darkens or lightens to match changing conditions. The Smith Hookset Sunglasses with ChromaPop + PolarChromic lenses are a welcome addition for serious anglers who carry multiple glasses for dawn-to-dusk fishing trips. $297
Every dad needs at least one pearl snap shirt in his arsenal, and the new Howler Brothers Gaucho Snapshirt Nectar Seekers is just snazzy enough to make a statement without going overboard. It’s a great way to tell him: You still got it, Pops. $119
This twelve-inch by twelve-inch John Boos & Company Walnut Square Cutting Board with Stainless Feet is crafted by a nearly 140-year-old company. There’s heft to match the history: It’s made of one-and-a-half-inch-thick American walnut, with stainless steel bun feet that elevate it in more ways than one. $200
A virtual rolling pickup truck bed, the Fishpond Stormshadow Large Rolling Duffel sports 7,627 cubic inches of emptiness Dad can fill with enough sporting gear for a month. A large clamshell zippered opening makes for easy access, and a separate bottom compartment swallows up to six four-piece rod tubes, waders, boots, and nets, all covered in a PU- and DWR-coated flap to keep wet items separate. $450
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T. Edward Nickens is a contributing editor for Garden & Gun and cohost of The Wild South podcast. He’s also an editor at large for Field & Stream and a contributing editor for Ducks Unlimited. He splits time between Raleigh and Morehead City, North Carolina, with one wife, two dogs, a part-time cat, eleven fly rods, three canoes, two powerboats, and an indeterminate number of duck and goose decoys. Follow @enickens on Instagram.
