My dad just hurt his knee pretty badly at work and will need surgery soon. He is very stubborn and hates just sitting around at home doing nothing, but he will be forced to for quite awhile now. He's a big outdoor enthusiast, a tinkerer/fixer of all things, and always gets himself what he needs or wants so finding good gifts for him is hard.

Normally I would get him something related to our outdoor hobbies but I'm not sure he will be able to do them for awhile after this so don't want to make him sad. He's very practical so gag gifts or novelty things like engraved glasses won't work. Comfort related things like socks or blankets that I would normally get for someone post surgery probably won't go over well. I'm at a loss outside of getting him some books to occupy him for awhile. Any help would be appreciated!