Best

Best- Great stuff - tested and approved in our top-secret labs.

Steering Wheel Controllers

Nothing's worse than trying to immerse yourself in a photorealistic PC game with hardware that feels fake - especially when you're playing with something as familiar as a steering wheel. These three controllers put you in the driver's seat, emulating the racetrack experience with responsive grips, quick shifters, and floor-mounted pedal units.

FIRST CLASS

Thomas Enterprises TSW Formula
The Thomas Superwheel Formula uses real pro-racing hardware from Momo, supplier to Formula One teams. The sturdy setup combines a suede-covered wheel with a teardrop shift knob and "ripped from the floorboards" pedals. There's no force feedback, which appeals to purists: Artificial shaking and resistance would only diminish the wheel's precise handling and luxurious feel. Plug it into any PC Gameport.

TSW Formula: $1,055. Thomas Enterprises: +1 (319) 462 3327, www.thomas-superwheel.com.

BUSINESS CLASS

Logitech Momo Force
The Force also gives you a genuine Momo grip, and adds force feedback so you can feel gravel-road vibration or black-ice slippage. A leather-clad wheel and steel paddle shifters attach to a spare, red console. Aluminum pedals with nonskid tread assure smooth acceleration and braking. You'll appreciate the USB-connected wheel's confident handling amid the "drive fast, turn left" action of NASCAR Racing 4.

Momo Force: $200. Logitech: (800) 231 7717, www.logitech.com.

COACH

Mad Catz Andretti Racing Wheel
The Andretti Racing Wheel easily outclasses other sub-$100 models we tested - most of which were made of flimsy plastic. This substantial rubberized wheel comes with soft-pressure foot pedals on a heavy metal base that make easing out of the pit a breeze. Twin butterfly shifters allow you to change gears with both hands on the wheel - or you can drop one down to the padded stick. PC Gameport and USB versions available.

Andretti Racing Wheel: $60. Mad Catz: (800) 659 2287, www.madcatz.com.

Zoom Lens Reflex Cameras

ZLRs offer digital convenience without sacrificing image quality. Their through-the-lens viewfinders enable serious photographers to frame pictures with perfect resolution and accuracy, and their integrated, nondetachable optical zooms provide the most on-the-fly flexibility you can get - short of lugging around a bag full of lenses.

FIRST CLASS

Olympus Camedia E-20N
The solid, 5-megapixel E-20N uses an f/2.0 lens with 4X zoom that's designed for digital. Select your shots in the crystal-clear viewfinder or use the tilting, rear-mounted LCD. Interlaced Scan mode shoots at the highest resolutions; Progressive Scan mode freezes the action with shutter speeds of up to 1/18,000 second, capturing at a max res of 2.5 megapixels. Store your work on an IBM Microdrive, or on CompactFlash and SmartMedia cards.

Camedia E-20N: $1,999. Olympus: (800) 622 6372, www.olympusamerica.com.

BUSINESS CLASS

Sony Mavica MVC-CD1000
With most digicams, archiving photos means uploading them to your desktop and then burning them onto CD. The 2.1-megapixel Mavica saves steps by storing shots directly onto inexpensive, 3-inch, 156-Mbyte CD-R disks, using its onboard CD burner. The f/2.8 lens has an awesome 10X zoom, along with an optical stabilizer to ensure that even an unsteady hand won't blur your telephoto shots. The shutter speed goes up to 1/500 second.

Mavica MVC-CD1000: $1,000. Sony: (888) 420 7669, www.sony.com/di.

COACH

Fujifilm FinePix 6900 Zoom
Since Fuji shaved 200 bucks off the price of this 3.3 megapixel camera, it blows away its class competition. The lens is an f/2.8, 6X zoom, with a shutter that snaps up to 1/2,000 second. The full set of manual controls is easy to reach when you want to override the auto settings. Its light weight (16.5 ounces, with battery) guarantees it won't be a pain in the neck if you tote it all day.

FinePix 6900 Zoom: $799. Fujifilm: (800) 800 3854, www.fujifilm.com.

Emergency Respirators

The news is out: Many old military-surplus gas masks are useless against modern threats. True survivalists demand newer equipment that protects against nuclear, biological, and chemical toxins. Filter-based respirators like these take charcoal-block canisters; they last longer and are more portable than scubalike supplied-air systems.

FIRST CLASS

Mine Safety Appliances OptimAir 6A PAPR with Millennium Mask
The OptimAir 6A powered air-purifying respirator actively sucks air through two filters, creating internal pressure that keeps outside air from seeping in. Equip it with MSA's CFCN filter canisters and Millennium mask for high-end protection. As with all such masks, the Millennium must be fitted and tested, and you need expert training to don it properly.

OptimAir 6A PAPR with NiCad battery and charger: $495. Millennium mask: $297. CFCN canisters: $231 for six. Mine Safety Appliances: (800) 672 2222, www.msanet.com.

BUSINESS CLASS

Neoterik NBC14-A1
Negative-pressure respirators like Neoterik's NBC14-A1 rely on your lungs (instead of battery power) for air intake, which makes a snug fit extra critical. Like the Millennium mask, it meets the MCU-2/P military standard and has an elastic head harness. The NP8000 is a top canister whose effective life (as with all others) depends on contamination density and exposure time.

NBC14-A1: $189. NP8000 canister: $46 each. Neoterik: +1 (301) 845 2777, www.neoterik.com.

COACH

Quick2000
Traditional masks allow soldiers to operate in toxic clouds for long periods, but the Quick2000 is designed to help civilians just get out alive. The protective hood seals around your neck. Inside, you breathe through a silicone mouthpiece while a clip plugs your nose. The disposable, one-use device weighs just 14 ounces and comes packed in a 9- by 4-inch package - which means you can carry it with you, rather than have it stored out of reach.

Quick2000: $150. Practice Hood: $45. Available from Quick-Gear: +1 (505) 286 6416, www.quick-gear.com.