Father’s Day Gift Guide: Top Tech & Tools Gifts

At Active Junky, we love products created – intentionally -- for when the going gets tough.  Whether broken gear, bad weather or overwhelming darkness, difficult circumstances define us.  Here are three products with one dominant theme:  Prevail.

Leatherman Tread:  Worn to win

Leatherman Tread Bracelet Multitool Starting at: $156.71

Testers got their hands on – and wrists into – Tread when it was first introduced.  Spawned by a company owner who lives to grind through the world’s worst terrain in four-wheelers, this one’s part Iron Man and part Special Forces.  Mix in the speed and agility of an Indy pit crew and you’re on the right track.  Here, each of twelve links is a self-contained multi-tool.  Together in one hardcore bracelet, Active Junky carried the TSA-passable Tread into fishing reel repair, camp stove adjustment, on-trail mountain bike tuning and, yes, powering through cold, capped beverages.  As some smaller wrists may require link removal, testers did their own hack to keep full capability:  Thread a length of paracord through detached links’ wrench holes and attach a Leatherman Juice C2 for cutting, filing and clamping functionality (aka pliers).  

Tester Comments: “Two ways to play this under-6oz toolbox.  Work through every link before you adjust size or take an educated guess on what’s most valuable to you.  We worked it through, removing Link 10 (with 8mm box wrench) before swapping for Link 9 (10mm box wrench).  The combination of tools sized for U.S. inches and Metric millimeters, along with the unexpected torque delivered to drive heads, makes Tread essential.  Get it, tune it, take it.”  

Best For: Single- or multi-sport equipment adjustment and repair, worst-case scenarios including first aid and personal security with the dependability of corrosion-resistant 17-4 stainless steel

Petzl Myo:  Land your lumens

Petzl MYO Headlamp $93.96 - $95.46

Unlike other headlamps with a casual approach to creating – or controlling – lighting, Petzl’s Myo is an eager overachiever.  While the brand’s success at durable, adventure-worthy lighting originated with caving and was perfected in professional settings, this model is price-accessible without abandoning Petzl’s pedigree.  Active Junky favors intuitive operation in most gear categories.  Here, the effort to decode our options (brightness, settings, tilt and beam selection) merited the ten minutes required. Pushing to 370 lumens with a nearly-weightless external battery-and-band configuration, Myo stays put on head, hat or hood in jarring running, riding or paddling situations (Note:  an IPX4 rating means water resistant only).  Battery and output management far exceed 90% of headlamps to avoid mid-night powerless surprises.  And they put lumens where and when they matter. Get over the Mission to Mars aesthetic and you’re on your way.  

Tester Comments: “Everything about the 175g Myo made sense once we slowed down long enough.  And the optional top strap is unnecessary with such sublime balance (front lighting head to rear 3AA battery pack).  Use rechargeables when possible but know that guides, search-and-rescue personnel and adventure travelers favor straight-up AAs for their international availability.  For an upcoming trip, we’re taping the battery pack shut as an extra precaution against dust and moisture given Myo’s healthy (long) runtimes – hours we’ll be able to double by using lithium cells.” 

Best For: Fast, long, frequent, rugged and four-season use – backed by a three-year materials and manufacture guarantee

Lifeproof NUUD:  When reality calls

LifeProof Nuud iPhone 6 Case

Adventure doesn’t mean leaving the connected world behind.  Active Junky’s relentless – and mostly restless – search for phone protection continues to loop back to this brand.  With a tester now carrying the pocketable iPhone SE, NUUD was the call for waterproof, dirtproof, snowproof and dropproof protection.  After several environmental factors accelerated the demise of a previous, unguarded iPhone 6, this model floated to the top (metaphorically as the NUUD survives 2m depths for up to an hour), carrying the brand’s signature “test tank” system to double-check product integrity.  The product’s nominal size and added weight remove the barriers to operation as the open front allows precision touch.  In addition, the clear back protects while putting style in the frame (and camera functions guarded).  

Tester Comments: “Already loving the peace of mind from the system.  Important to keep the seal free of grit and dust when pressing the clamshell together so assemble it in more pristine conditions.  Most notably, the AR-coated lens on NUUD excels at video and still photography clarity even in brighter light.  Being able to go four seasons with my SE is a welcome change.” 

Best For: Home and away (as in, far away) phone protection without sacrificing technical performance or access to functions.  If more screen protection is warranted, Lifeproof is coming with the FRE model.  Or follow us by applying the LifeShield Screen Protector from Spyder to armor your screen and defeat scratching while further enhancing clarity. All for under $30 – including the product’s antimicrobial protection against a world of nastiness.