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Father’s Day is June 20th. Along with it comes the annual dilemma: what to get for Dad? But you're in luck; Dad is a canoeist. Canoeists love gear. Here are a few suggestions guaranteed to please a canoe country dad, ranging from zero to a hundred bucks.
1. SteriPEN Water Purifier
“Water, water everywhere but nary a drop to drink.” The ancient mariner’s lament has been on the lips of many paddlers. If the dad in your house is like most BWCA canoeists, he is cautious about drinking untreated water from the lakes. He likely already has a filter and maybe more than one. But an ultra-violet pen is a slick new technology to stop any nasties in the lake from taking up residence in dad’s gut. A sixty second swirl of the pen renders a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle of lake water bug-free. Last October, I took my teenage daughter and her four best friends into the BWCA for a week. On the first day everyone wanted to use the filter pump but once they tried the SteriPEN, the filter pump was never touched again. SteriPENs come in several models, the Adventurer is the smallest and works wonderfully, but uses the uncommon CR123 batteries. If Dad already carries a camera, gps and headlamp that use AAs he might be happier with the Classic. Starting around $90.
Buy Steripen now at REI >
#2 Cast aluminum fry pan
It is almost impossible to fry a walleye properly on the thin frying pans that come with many camping cook kits. Even if dad is not a fisherman, to flawlessly prepare bacon, pancakes, quesadillas and more, he needs a decent skillet. Thick cast aluminum rivals cast iron in its ability to evenly distribute and moderate heat, but with a lot less weight and no worries about rust. The most efficient shape is square and deep enough so the pan can double as a stew pot. Choose one that does not have a plastic or wooden handle because eventually Dad will want to learn to bake bannock. To do this you need to prop the pan at a high angle close to the fire. Plastic melts. Wood burns. Unless dad is a total ultralight freak, of the seven suggested gift items, this is the one that will be most treasured. The very best cast aluminum pan for the canoeist is available from boundarywatersjournal.com for $49.
Find more cast aluminum pans at REI >
#3 Bailer
There are canoeists who never carry a bailer and wonder why anyone would. There also are canoeists who would never head down the portage trail without a bailer bouncing on the rear thwart. I am in the latter group and your gift recipient might be too once he is enlightened. A bailer saved my life on Rennie Lake in the Northwest Territories when I was making an unwise open-water crossing and waves came over the gunwales. Without a bailer, as the canoe takes on water, you ride lower and take on more water and eventually you sink, which is not a happy ending. With a bailer, and frantic bailing, you have some chance of maintaining freeboard and staying afloat. This is why Canadian law stipulates that all canoes must carry a bailer (Quetico paddlers take note). Just cut a plastic jug scoop-like, glue the cap on tight, attach a bit of string and a clip from an old dog leash, and you have a serviceable bailer. Upgrade the gift to a deluxe bailer by shopping discount stores and buying a plastic juice jug – look for a round 2-quart cylinder with a handle, without a spout, and ideally embossed with volume measurements. For a super deluxe bailer have the kids decorate it with a Sharpie pen and attach a float. I added a buoyant yellow ring to mine that I lifted from my daughter's infant stacking toy. Zoë is seventeen now and the bailer has outlasted a couple of canoes. Paddling in front of that yellow ring, hour after hour, reminds me how precious life is and how fast the years rush by.
Find Bailing Sponge / Accessories at REI >
#4 A Good Book
Many dads can afford to make only one trip a year to canoe country. A good book is like a second trip. It can transform the sofa into a canoe and lift him from the mundane to the sublime. Historical journals from the days of the fur trade or the era of exploration can be captivating reads. Modern canoe adventure stories are sometimes even more gripping. How-to books are always popular -- debates triggered by the writing of outdoor pundits have stretched many campfires deep into the night. A book that dad can read to his kids, especially in the tent, is also a great gift. Over the years reading aloud to each of my five daughters is one of my most powerful canoe camping memories. The pleading for, “One more chapter!” or after a hard day of paddling watching my child’s face collapse into a scrunched up fleece after just one paragraph put exclamation points on great days together.
Find Books for the Canoeist at ShopCanoeing.com >
#5 Headlamp
If the dad in your house is still carrying a hand held incandescent flashlight, the gift of a LED headlamp will have the biggest impact on his camping enjoyment. The newest headlamps are brighter, lighter, last longer and are more dependable than flashlights of the past. For all-around summer use a medium sized unit with a 40-lumen output is all that is needed. But if he is an ardent walleye fisherman one of the 3-watt models will help him locate his camp even on an inky night (or heat up a hot dog!) Look for a headlamp with a switch that won’t be triggered by accident. Unless you have a good reason to do otherwise, purchase a light that takes standard size alkaline or lithium batteries. Top quality brands include Princeton, Petzl, Black Diamond and Brunton, and run from about $35-$85.
Buy Headlamps Now at REI >
Check out the Gear Guide to compare headlamps and more >
6. SPOT Technology
If Dad likes to solo trip, or thinks he is younger or stronger or healthier than he really is, this gift could save his life. It is a satellite transmitter. The newest model is lighter and smaller than a double deck of playing cards. A few simple buttons transmit your location; send an “all okay message,” or a pre-recorded e-mail, such as “Pick me up at Moose River north tomorrow at noon.” The SOS button instantly alerts emergency responders that the sender is in trouble and needs immediate rescue. SPOT adds a margin of safety to wilderness travel that a decade ago would have been almost unimaginable. I know for the last hundred years we got along fine in the wilderness without SPOT but now that the technology is available how would you feel if Dad died alone in his tent because no one could hear his yells for help? I have used SPOT in the arctic and I believe its better than sat phones because they do not intrude on the wilderness experience, they just add a margin of safety. Plus the folks back home can track dad and put tacks on the wall map as he plies the lakes and rivers of canoe country. All the big box camping stores carry SPOT for about $100 not including the monthly service.
Buy SPOT now at REI >
#7 CCS Rucksack
Gear manufactures have gone bonkers marketing all kinds of add-ons to canoes: under-seat storage containers, bow bags, stern bags, thwart bags, seat backs, cup holders and more. In canoe country you are constantly encountering portages, jumping in and out of the canoe and tossing the canoe up on your shoulders. The more stuff you have lashed to the boat, the heavier the canoe. If we bite the bullet and “invest” in a Kevlar or Graphite boat, does it make any sense to attach a bunch of accessories that make it end up weighing more than our Alumacraft river boat? Some items are indispensable – Dad doesn’t want everyone digging into a different portage pack every time there is a need for sunscreen, bug dope, rain gear, snacks, map, compass, camera, sunglasses, binocs, a fleece, lunch, bird guide, sketchbook, water bottle... A daypack is the answer and no one makes a better one than Dan Cooke. What distinguishes the Cooke rucksack for canoeing is its European style -- a big open compartment with drawstring and giant pocket on the flap instead of the zippered closure and multitude of pockets found on most daypacks. The Cooke Custom Sewing (CCS) is perfectly sized for inserting a large waterproof stuff sack inside, ensuring that fleeces and jackets stay dry. It makes a great 4th pack, enabling a party of two to double-portage with ease. The pack also fits within most carry-on airline baggage standards, and could save Dad many times the cost of this pack in checked baggage fees, when he is up in the clouds and just dreaming of canoe trips. Approx $90 from cookecustomsewing.com
#8 The Original Bug Shirt
This is another great gift for dad that he might be unlikely to buy for himself. I led 14 canoe expeditions in the far north where hordes of mosquitoes and black flies are legendary before investing in on of these. I resisted for two reasons: my early experiences with cheap or Deet impregnated bug jackets were not positive ones and I thought being one with the wilderness meant accepting any kind of aerial assault nature could throw at me. I was wrong on both counts. The Original Bug Shirt is comfortable to wear. When you rotate your neck the screen moves with you and never binds or obstructs your vision. More importantly this bug shirt breathes much better than any other I have ever tried and you never experience that suffocating head-stuck-in-a-plastic-bag sensation that is common is cheaper bug jackets and headnets. It’s not just for the far north either. There are times in the near north, the Rockies or even my own backyard when bugs are bad and my Original Bug Shirt comes to the rescue. Once dad owns a bug shirt he will wear it and it must be better for his health than slathering on chemical repellants.
Buy Now at ShopCanoeing.com for $63.95 >
#9 Little gifts from little ones: Dad can never have enough parachute cord, 3M Duct tape, canoe drawings or Cliff Bars.
This list is not comprehensive and quality gear is always appreciated but yaou need to be careful. It may be tempting to buy dad a paddle, a knife, an axe or even a canoe. But I would caution against it. These items are intensely personal and unless you know the exact model and size, the chance for a near miss is too great and you will a get a nice, “thanks-for-thinking-of-me” half-smile, not the boyhood blush of astonishment that you are after.
Rob Kesselring is a frequent contributor to Canoeing.com. His books: River Stories and Daughter, Father, Canoe, Coming of Age in the Sub-Arctic, are available on ShopCanoeing.com >
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