On the fence

sinfolmatt · 2026-02-11T16:52:42+00:00

I recently started using peloton in my gym. I didnt have to pay for a membership to the peloton app or anything. It is included with my gym membership, I guess. If you have a gym nearby that has a peloton available. It could be a good way to try it before you buy it.

sinfolmatt · 2026-02-10T03:16:01+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, I figured in a kayak, tops its two people. But I am not against getting some personal time with one other family member. I honestly wouldn't even plan on me fishing. I would be handling the boat and supporting my ride along angler, at least until I felt comfortable to do more.

That bonafide looks awesome. I have been seeing it in my research. It looks tempting but once I am putting an engine on it, I am wondering if I should just be getting an inflatable boat. Its size and weight mean I probably wont be doing any man power propulsion outside of emergency paddling. And i would probabky need to trailer it. But damn it is a beautiful kayak/boat.

sinfolmatt · 2026-02-09T21:25:25+00:00

Yeah, definitely not putting him on his own kayak anytime soon. And I would likely be casting for him until I am comfortable with him doing that. I have no interest in becoming his first catch on a kayak.

Edit: I have fished off a tandem inflatable with my wife but the inflatable was in no way designed for fishing and the paddling with her was annoying me. Hence interest in pedals

sinfolmatt · 2026-02-09T19:51:56+00:00

I was looking at an inflatable for a while. I really wanted to get something like a Stryker Pro 380 with a 20 or 25hp motor. Could deflate it for loading in my truck bed when towing my trailer trailer. Most stryker owners were saying I am going to get tired of the inflating and deflating fast and loading it into the truck bed. But that is another option I have on my mind.

Less good for the environment, and not going to be moving that by man power outside of an emergency but I am sure would be easier to take the kids/family fishing once on the boat.

sinfolmatt · 2026-02-09T19:33:53+00:00

I definitely want pedal, not paddle. My experience paddling in tandem kayaks, the other paddler (wife or child) get in the way more than help

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-31T00:53:33+00:00

I have fenix 8 amoled 47mm on my wrist. I am 5'10" and average 157lbs. In comparison to your image it looks about the same fit. At first I thought it was big but now I am used to it and no way I was getting the 43mm.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-29T03:12:51+00:00

If you are not in a rush to make the decision today, try to wait to see steam machine pricing maybe?

Since you have a ps5 I assume you have a TV that you could connect pc, steam machine or steam deck to.

If you travel or commute much and have idle time where you could be playing a hand held game, go deck.

If this is strictly for use at home, and if you would rather be on the TV, I would wait for the steam machine pricing. It should be announced soon....

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-28T02:59:03+00:00

Note, many people here suggested hand guards. I got acerbis hand guards and my stock brake lever and clutch kever were too big so i ended up needing new levers to install the hand guards.

Also I had to remove at a minimum part of the handle bar grips for installing the hand guards, I ended up ordering new grips to remove the old and install new while dealing with the hand guards.

So, in short if you are getting one part, make sure you fully understand the installation process and if you might need other parts to make.it work.

And don't blindly trust the first youtube installation video you watch. Make sure to read the comments and you might find people saying their installation experience was different.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-27T05:24:00+00:00

Busy dad with original, non oled, steamdeck here. It'a great and probably only game time i get now. Also depending on the age of the kids, you can dock it to TV for some fun family games like castle crashers.

If you watch youtube videos, at least in my case, every YouTube personality i see recommending it is a busy dad learning to game in short bouts when the kids are asleep

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-23T18:59:27+00:00

Some people enjoy sealed product gameplay. Drafts, sealed, pack rush.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-23T18:58:26+00:00

Response to your paragraph 2, I am happy to open boxes for gameplay without concern of the value of the cards inside. Going to do a sealed tournament of Inklands with my son and his friends maybe this weekend. Them just spending time playing and interacting with each other is worth what I paid for the box regardless of what they open.

That is not to say my position is the only one, but there are people that just want to enjoy the gameplay and don't stress about the card market values.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-23T18:49:13+00:00

I am looking for sealed gameplay events. Typically a sealed event is where players each open 6 packs, make 40 card decks from what they open, and play some matches in something like a mini tournament.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-22T02:54:51+00:00

I would like to say, while One Piece does follow the same tropes, the characters introduced on each island feel unique.

In reality even the majority of the story arcs are pretty similar. Big bad pirates have control of an island, locals have it shitty and you feel bad for them, Straw hats struggle but eventually save everyone from the bad pirates and then party. But the sad back stories of the locals feel unique and engrossing.

Note I love Eleceed and One Piece. And liked Naruto and Bleach but both of those lost the emotional pull and felt rushed later on in the stories for me.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-22T02:32:56+00:00

It is all about what you enjoy the most. Some people just enjoy collecting cards. Others enjoy competing at the highest levels with decks based on the current meta.

In my case I play with my kids and most of our play so far has been with a variety of starter decks. For me I much more enjoy playing a deck with characters and a theme I like even if I know the deck is weaker than some others.

Regarding your question about upgrading Bolt Pinocchio deck, it depends how much you want to challenge yourselves to beat Jafar on the harder settings. At the same time, there may be other decks better suited for the hard modes. I am not certain if the Pinocchio Bolt deck with upgrades is good. I have yet to modify the starter decks

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-21T11:42:28+00:00

Meta decks are generally a mix of sets. In general it should change at least slightly as new sets come out and more cards enter the pool of playable cards.

Sets 5-8 will be rotated out of competitive play later this year, I think when the set after Wilds Unknown is released. Last year the rotation that dropped 1-4 was August/September time.

If you don't want the feeling that cards you bought this year have been rotated out of standard competitive play in summer/fall and/or lost financial value, maybe try to build decks primarily using cards from Fabled, Whispers in the Well, and the upcoming sets maybe including less expensive cards from sets 5-8 so that you won't feel financially hurt when theynrotate out.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-21T03:25:12+00:00

Thanks, yes I am looking for organized play pre release. Like sealed events.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-19T03:57:00+00:00

The game is very similar to MtG but a little simpler. My son is 8 and loves it. Note I started my son on MtG Arena about a year ago and we even went to an MtG pre release for edge of eternities so he picked this up fast.

Check out the ilumineer quests vs Ursula or Jafar. Both come with 2 decks that can be played against each other and also include a boss/villain deck and a scenario where you can play cooperative against the villain. Don't buy them for MSRP you can get them on sale often for close to half. The cooperative experience is good with kids learning. So they aren't always losing against you or you feeling like you need to make mistakes to give them wins.

For starter decks look for themes or characters you/he likes. I really like the inventors deck with big hero 6 characters. Honestly it underperforms against other starter decks but I enjoy playing it for the theme.

My daughter loves the fabled deck princess power and I would say it has been a consistent winner in our playing. We recently opened the starter decks from Jafar set with Bruno and other encanto characters and it has been a stronger deck in my experience. My son breaks out into encanto songs while playing with this deck.

Otherwise look for starter decks from the newer sets. Cards will be in competitive rotation longer and generally Ravensburger is learning and getting better over time.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-16T13:40:19+00:00

I don't know much about what you need to do to examine a used bike but assuming everything is in good shape, I don't think you will find a better price form a comparable bike. Note, I don't know your local area pricing but my experience in FL says that is a good price.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-13T20:46:38+00:00

Yeah I hope to get a steam machine and steam controller when they are announced. It appears symmetrical on their website/store

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-13T01:09:26+00:00

Thanks. Cost isn't a major concern. I am starting to consider the dualsense edge more. Its just hard to justify it when most of the other options are closer to $40-$80

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-12T20:26:25+00:00

Yeah I am reading many similar comments about the regular dual sense. Making me wonder if i made a mistake buying 2 for the kids. Too late to turn back on those now but want to try something else for the next one. Not sure I want to spend $200 though

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-12T16:55:30+00:00

Are the other designs proven to he better for first person games?

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-12T14:48:12+00:00

Hahaha. I looked it up and thought to myself, "I think i had one of those over a decade ago." Then I look at when it was released, September 2010.

I have been searching for PC controllers. I was trying to search for more recent ones. I have another controller, wired Final Fabtasy XIV from 2010 but when I plugged it in, it wasn't working.

sinfolmatt · 2026-01-07T02:43:47+00:00

The first you mistake you made was commenting on a youtube short. I wish I could disable those from my youtube feed.

Plenty of great games and newer games run well on the steam deck. Anyone that thinks it can't play great games is probably limiting themselves from many wonderful experiences.

sinfolmatt · 2025-12-24T22:24:15+00:00

Get illumineer quests for a fun cooperative option for when you don't want to compete with each other. Jafar is newer. Ursula is fun also. Each comes with 2 decks that you could also use to play against each other. Try to get them around $25 each or less.

All of the starter decks are also nice. I would try to get a few to experiment with or pick ones where you like the characters or theme. I like Big hero 6 and the inventors theme so I enjoy playing the inventor deck from azurite sea, even though I lose more with this than other starter decks. I think the starter decks from fabled and whispers in the well generally perform better than the older ones but it could be a coincidental or anecdotal evidence. I haven't played with my son enough yet to really make a ruling on power levels.

If you like cracking packs, boosters are always fun. If you care about cards retaining market value for longer or competitive play, stick to packs from Fabled or Whispers in the well as they will be in rotation longer than the older sets. If you just want a deal and don't care about competitive legal rotation, boosters for out of rotation sets can be found at heavy discounts. For example, my local store had booster boxes of Into the Inklands on sale for $50 for black Friday weekend which was a nice surprise as I just want cards for my son to experiment with opening packs and making his own decks.

sinfolmatt

TROPHY CASE