There are two things that let me sleep well at night. One is my Blink cameras and the second is my Byrna SD.

I have been in the military for 21yrs and I'm very comfortable with firearms. I hate the thought of bringing a firearm to a confrontation, even in my own home.  The laws are not nearly as permissive as you may think.  I have close friends that have seen many a good dude serve time in prison because they were "protecting themselves".  If you own a firearm and think you're going to need it, then you better have gun owner's insurance. I talking about the, really expensive, lawyers with cowboy hats are going to show up kind.

Or...

You can be like me and "drop them without killing them".  This comes with the bonus of not having to worry about going to jail.

I taught martial arts in the military and can tell you with the utmost confidence this thing is going to "drop a dude" and end any conceivable confrontation you're going to find yourself in.  The key is disruption. When you start getting hammered with what sound, and feel, like gunshots, then can't see or breathe, there is no way in hell you're going to continue doing bad guy stuff.  Think OC and Pepper spray, mixed with solid nylon death balls, all at firearm distance.  Even if you're closer, and you learn what you're doing, it's going to be even more effective.

Last but not least, you can train in your backyard. I have taught both my kids and wife how to respect this like a firearm, how to use it, and when to use it.  This is the ultimate weapon to buy yourself time and call the police. I sleep very well at night with this on my nightstand.

Some quick technical details: I like the SD because it's a just a bit smaller than the SDXL. With the smaller Co2 canister you're not going to get as many shots, but the impact power is going to be about the same. Since you store this with a fresh unopened Co2 cartridge you've got plenty of power for a guns blazing barrage, a magazine change, and second attack. I've found for training, you can get at least four magazines of 5 shots per 8 oz Co2 canister. Awesome...

I was a skeptic... I'm now a firm believer in the less than lethal option.

Get More info on the Byrna SD here!

- Tony D.

More Info - Star Wars X-Wing 2nd Edition

It's not perfect, but it's close.

I love this game. My son and I play this all the time. I usually play the Empire and my 10 year old son plays the Rebels.

Star Wars X-Wing 2nd Edition is an action packed space "air to air" combat game. You fly your squadron (or single ship) headfirst into the fight then you twist, turn, and shoot like your life depends on it.  The game play is pretty fast and each round of moves takes about 3-5 min, depending on how many ships you're commanding.

The ships are pre-painted and look amazing. They are collectors items straight out of the box.

The game mechanics are easy to pick up for the novice (like me) and it's easy to get into a more advanced game with additional weapons and ships fairly quickly.

* By far one of the coolest things I've ever come across is that X-Wing has a FREE Artificial Intelligence system add-on if you want to play or practice by yourself. This is by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a tabletop game.

• Web Based AI System
• Star Wars X-Wing Downloadable PDF - link at the bottom of this article

Pros:

• Fun
• Easy to play
• Looks amazing

Cons:

• Add-ons are expensive
• Customizing your squadron can be overly-complex and super time consuming if you get too into it.
  

More Info - Star Wars X-Wing 2nd Edition

More Info - Ender 3 Max

The Ender 3 Max is a great 3D printer.  The only reason I took a star away is that the large bed can be finicky sometimes.  The bed is so large that getting it level can be challenging. Like with most 3d print beds, even glass, they are not perfectly flat to begin with. When the bed isn't perfectly flat it makes it more challenging to level the bed. Smaller 3d printers don't have this issue because a smaller bed doesn't need to be as perfect as a larger one does.

Pros:

• Huge print bed
• Fantastic detail in prints
• Run-out sensor and some auto type features / like auto filament change
• Great detail and works flawlessly with Cura

Cons:

• The bed can be a challenge to level due to it's large size.
• The knobs on the bed can vibrate loose and the bed needs to be releaveled
• Bed takes a little longer to heat up because of it's large size
  

More Info - Ender 3 Max

The Voxelab Aquila X2 is a fantastic 3D Printer and the best value for your money. I was skeptical that this printer would be very good due to it's crazy low price point. I was wrong. Way wrong. This is my favorite 3D Printer and I own 6 3d printers. This one is by far my favorite and the one that I use the most. It's compact size and simple design make it super fast and easy to use.

More Info - Voxelab Aquila X2

Pros:

• Unbelievable low price
• Super simple design
• Reliability
• prints both ABS and PLA perfectly
• Heated bed heats up super fast
• Glass bed works fantastic

Cons

• The adjustment knobs on the bed are easy to knock inadvertently
• The adjustment knobs can be a bit finicky and come loose.

Overall, this is an unbelievably good 3d printer for the price. I actually own 2 of these and they are my workhorses. I print almost no-stop on them and hardly ever have to re-adjust or even clean the bed between prints.

More Info - Voxelab Aquila X2

The Monport 40w laser is a fantastic piece of gear and gets 5 stars:

More info / Monport 40w co2 laser

Pros:

• Easy to use / setup
• Super powerful 40w Laser
• Easy to maintain
  
• Works with Lightburn
• Will cut basically anything 3mm or less easily
• MDF, Plywood, Acrylic is

Cons:

• It's a bit bulky
• Closed engraving area is size of sheet of paper

The Monport 40w laser is easy to setup, easy to use, and a rock solid value for the price.

More Info / Monport 40w co2 laser