Reasonable people can disagree about what constitutes redundancy, where to draw the line between preparedness and paranoia, and so on. There's no need to get heated about it.
Of course!
Reasonable people can disagree about anything.
The "heat" comes from personal insult levied by people that think they, too, are being
reasonable when in fact they are being rather condescending.
Most of us plan a degree of redundancy into our wilderness preparations, in terms of gear and in terms of skills. One rarely sees a PSK or woods kit with only one cutting edge or a single means of fire-starting, for example.
I have read in years past, not necessarily here in this forum, but in other places, incredibly passionate disagreements from people who were convinced they were being
reasonable people, against carrying more than a pocketknife. If you disagreed with their point of view, you were being
"unreasonable."
Likewise, the person carrying a matchsafe, a Spark-Lite and a DOAN Magnesium Block with the Ferrocerium Rod on the side were
"carrying too much stuff" and
"weighing themselves down with stuff."
As for mindsets, again, to each his own. For me, the wilderness is a place to be enjoyed and respected, and while I take steps to be what I would call reasonably prepared, I do not view every excursion as a potential SHTF situation.
I agree. Would it be
"unreasonable" to carry, say, a messenger bag with one of the heavier forms of Space Blanket in it, sometimes referred to as a "casualty blanket" in our military's ever expanding lexicon, and a couple other things in case you were to fall and break your leg, for example? Just out for a lunchtime hike and you have an accident that could, contrary to many a man's imagined prowess and Superman status as an outdoorsman, happen to anyone.
But you have to have enough stuff to survive that piece of bad luck while people in your life figure out what happened to you...or perhaps you left a note or told someone and that someone has to put two and two together when you don't show up for dinner or
"call them by 7:00 P.M."
You know, on a personal level, the
"SHHTF" in that case! For
you, TSHHTF. Hurricane Katrina and the N.O. levees breaking were not
"TEOTWAWKI." But it was
"TEOTWAWKI" for
over one thousand people, wasn't it? Their world ended that day, didn't matter much to them if the Mayan Calendar runs out and Stephen King's
"Maximum Overdrive" comes true...
their world came to an end.
Nor am I particularly concerned about self defence and protection when I'm in the bush. If that's your thing, then bully for you.
All the best,
- Mike
Down here, our "bush," said with the full realization that this word is becoming more and more meaningless as time goes on, is a bit different. Canada is not without violence, to be sure, but down here...I think a
prudent and
reasonable person could carry a suitable handgun and the only people that would object to that or even give it a wary eye are absolutely
unreasonable people.
People have been attacked by mountain lions, bears and predatory human beings, I really don't think "gun loving Americans" need to defend themselves in the court of public opinion to a greater degree than I am doing now. Yes, chunking around a Barrett Light .50 because you're scared of bears is probably a bit much but carrying around a four-inch barreled S&W M629 .44 Magnum for protection against bears or mountain lions or a .45 ACP for use against human predators...or simply an old S&W .22 Long Rifle Kit Gun...well, there is simply nothing wrong with that. I have a small fire extinguisher in the master bedroom so my wife and I can get to my son in the middle of the night should there be an emergency so we can then all escape. Some people think that's
"unreasonable" or
"paranoid," too.
I am trying to strike that balance that you speak of.
). Fortunately, I had my wife pack my Jetboil as that's what I usually use to quickly boil water for coffee in the AM and tea in the PM. Well, fortunately, our gourmet meal planning wasn't a complete loss and my wife was able to improvise with just the Jetboil. Sure, not a redundant measure for safety or survival but it sure was one of enjoyment of a decent meal at the campsite