Father’s Day gifts for the dad with great taste

Get your skates on! June 21st is just around the corner and for Father’s Day 2020 why not give your dad something to truly treasure, from amazing barbecues to new ways of shaving, here are five of the gifts that give most this year.

Barbie World

The Lidl ceramic kamado egg barbecue is the latest in trendy back garden charred smokey shenanigans and is exceptional value for money when you consider that these babies normally sell for hundreds. For that reason, one can reasonably expect that this Landmann manufactured beauty will sell out quick-fast.
The only drawback is its size, which may not be able to accommodate a family meal, but can certainly provide plenty of smokey accompaniment to the main event. €119, and on sale from June 15.
Meanwhile, if doing one’s own barbecuing doesn’t appeal – or is just not possible – order the old man a professionally pre-cooked BBQ box from the pitmasters at Baste, from €45.

Close Shaves

Environmentally sound, mindfully ritualistic … give the oul fella the opportunity to swap out his ludicrous 12-blade (or however many they are on now) big brand, plastic-munching mainstream razor for this hand-crafted, environmentally friendly, elegantly simple safety razor. He may never look back. And while it may take a little while (and a couple of very minor nicks) to get to get to grips with the safety razor, the return is worth it. A daily calming period of morning me-time is certainly something to be treasured, setting Poppa up for a chilled out day ahead. Wash, lather, shave, rinse … it’s zen and the art of beardlessness. This €25 set is – as are oodles more ethical (and fun) gifts – available to order at The Kind, Dublin.

Skin Deep

Made in Stoneybatter, Dublin, the Oxmantown Skincare range is just the right side of masculine without sliding into ridiculous racing car cliches and macho tropes. Handsome packaging, soothing aromas, and plenty of good ingredients. The other good news is that Oxmantown is as ethical as one would hope in their sourcing and day-to-day running of the brand, but the main draw here is the excellent quality in things such as their addictive vetiver and sage beard and face balm, or their soothing activated charcoal and Irish seaweed soap. They also supply gift cards, from €35.

The Bells …

Every Tom, Dick and Harry are in the saddle, so to speak, these days – there were some good things to come out of lockdown, and a huge increase in the nation’s stock of cyclists has been one of them. But where would you be going with no bell on your bike? Not far, at least not safely. So for newly biked dads, there is nothing like receiving a beautifully-machined, precision-manufactured accessory to go with your new rothar. And the easiest and most pleasing way to accessorize surely has to be with a handcrafted Japanese Crane bell. Choose from a glimmering and dulcet range of (sometimes hand-painted, as above) bells in bronzes, coppers, and brushed and polished steels. Available from €25 at rothar.ie.

Cool Tool

From snipping fishing line to loosening dust caps, a good Leatherman is the most reliable of wing-men. And it’s not just outdoors pursuits that benefit from this truly versatile thingamajig, any number of jobs around the house can be accomplished without so much as opening a tool-box. Once Poppa has a Leatherman to hand, things are gonna get did. Fact. Practical aspects aside, the Leatherman is also just a beautifully engineered thing, and a joy to behold. Leatherman multi-tools are available from The Scout Shop, from €50.

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