Everyday I come on here and read a sad story about someone getting hacked and losing their Bitcoin / Ethereum.  I hate reading them but its like a car accident on the side of the road, you can't help but look.  Once you read the story it's clear that it could have been avoid had the user used a hardware wallet.  I dont have alot of Bitcoin or Ethereum but I recently purchased my own hardware wallet to keep them secure, I strongly suggest others in my situation (less than 1BTC total invested) to go out and buy a hardware wallet.  Right now.

Why do small fries need a hardware wallet?
We are the most vulnerable because we are less experienced.  Most of us haven't experienced losing coins yet, either directly or through a friend.  We probably download shit we shouldn't, left our private keys in some email we sent (I haven't done this but I could see myself doing something this stupid when I first started) and probably leave our desktop wallets open a bit too long.  The small fries are vulnerable so we need to protect our investments.

What is a hardware wallet
Its a devise that essentially stores your private key on it so you can't be keylogged and requires you input a password onto it, not your computer, before unlocking the wallet AND withdrawing any coins.  Its safe, its secure and only the person with possession of the hardware wallet can withdraw funds (at least I've been told no one has legitimately hacked a hardware wallet without possession of it).  It's easy to use. When you use a Ledger Nano S and activate it, the devise presents you with a private passphrase that does not show up on your computer.  You write down the pass phrases, by hand (do not type it out, take a photograph, or anyhing of the like), and if you lose or break your hardware wallet you can buy another and gain access to it with the private passphrases.  If you are really concerned about the passphrase being lost, buy a fireproof, waterproof safe and ziplock your private passphrase (waterproof safes are known to trap condensation which gets things wet - wet paper with pen = lost writing) so its airtight and lock it up.  Its really secure so long as you keep the pass phrase safe. 

Hardware wallets
Ledger Nano S - https://www.amazon.com/Ledger-Nano-Cryptocurrency-Hardware-Wallet/dp/B01J66NF46/
KeepKey - https://www.amazon.com/KeepKey-Simple-Cryptocurrency-Hardware-Wallet/dp/B0143M2A5S/
Trezor - https://www.amazon.com/Satoshi-Labs-bitcoin-wallet-white/dp/B00P5HU80A/

I have all my valuable crypto, that's currently supported, on my Ledger.  My Bitcoin, Ethereum and you can bet your ass once Deep Onion is supported it will be safely secured on there too.  The Ledger is easy to use and the instructions are crystal clear.  At less than $80, there is no reason not to protect your investment.  Even if you only have $250 in BTC/ETH, you will buy more so you might as well buy one of these now. 

I don't want to read another story about someone getting robbed of their Bitcoin and I want our community to flourish.  Secure your coins!