“We were heading home on a two-lane off-ramp when a gentleman, locked eyes on our car and started yelling profanities,” Troy said. “My daughter was with me, and he was yelling, ‘I am going to kill you.’ I had a hunter’s knife and waved it at him.”

That was the moment Troy knew he needed a Byrna.

“If I had my Byrna then, I would have fired it,” he said.

After the incident, Troy and his wife did research, read reviews and watched YouTube content.

“When I saw videos of the Byrna and saw how those guys were done in seconds, I said, ‘done,’ right there I was sold.”

Troy, who is an avid outdoorsman, also liked that the Byrna could always be carried in his vehicle, a rigged-out Subaru that he takes overlanding. 

“I am a gun owner,” Troy said, but he never carried a gun with him. “I never carried a firearm because of the consequences that come with firing one. People don’t realize this but if you shoot someone, even in self-defense, in California, they can sue you.”

At first, Troy admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect with the Byrna. He knew it had stopping power but didn’t know what it would feel like to handle, especially as a gun owner.

“I thought it was really dead onto a firearm from the way it fits in your hand to how it fires. It fires like a gun, and it is easy to use,” he said.

Troy grew up in a coastguard  family and has always taken precautions to ensure his and his loved one’s safety. He also proactively teaches his daughter, Keira, everything from car repairs to self-defense.

“I am the father who teaches everything that a man can do. At eight, she knew how to change a tire,” he said. “I’d rather have her know what I do,” so he even showed her how to handle a Byrna. “She is comfortable with this. My daughter is all about learning and being prepared.”

He also equipped her with her own personal safety device.

“I ordered my daughter a Byrna Banshee,” he said. Since they travel a lot, the Byrna Banshee was the perfect option for her.

“Something could happen in downtown Santa Monica, I could be walking a few steps in front of her, but if she pulls the Byrna Banshee, I will hear it and know what to do,” Troy explained. “It is being prepared, not being paranoid.”

If you ask Troy about his experience with his Byrna products so far, he’ll simply say, “there is something comforting about it.”

Self Defense Has A New Hero.