Whilst studying for a PADI Scuba course out in Mexico (the dive centre was just across the road from the notorious Bay Bay Getaway hotel in Cancun next to the big Mexican flag pole), the issue of safety was raised by two young women taking the same PADI course, to which the instructor replied that in the days of Jacque Cousteau, Scuba Diving was a very dangerous sport but today, now with better training and better more reliable gear the safety of the sport has improved radically in the last 30 years, whereas sex had become much more dangerous past time over the same time period. Multiple Underwater Free Form diving is still best left to the experts though.

Of course if you have a more intimate knowledge of the terrain or the challenge that you have set yourself, then less gear is required or perhaps it's just a case of 'the more you know the less you have to carry' or even 'Proper Perperation Prevents P**s Poor Performance'.

There are a lot more dangerous and life threatning activities around in this world than simply going for a stroll into the bear, cougar and wolf infested woods and wilderness. An example would be a Saturday night expedition out to a nightclub in either Glasgow, Manchester or Leeds city centres yet there is no mandatory gear requirement for this activity.