bws48, I thought I'd throw my 2 bit's in. The average joe using typical brute force software can crack many encryptions using L0pht Crack software and others. With that in mine, what you can do is
use a program like Masker 7.0 (
http://www.softpuls.com/masker/ ) which will encrypt and hide your data.
They have a free download to try it and see if you like it,
it has a lot of potential and you can put the program on the jump drive or while traveling download the trial for field extractions.
I tried this program and it leaves a lot to be desired. The in-security of it is almost laughable and I would never trust my data with it. This screen-shot shows how it leaves orphaned files on your computer (your files that you wanted encrypted and safe in the first place.)
This took less then 5 minutes to figure out...I have intentionally removed the file location information and emailed the contact on the website..
Please, if you are going to encrypt your data, use a reputable program such as PGP or Truecrypt. Your data and your security will be in much better hands....