That may not be a bad thing; I think most of us (myself included) forget that those can's are serious business and need to be treated with care & respect.


That's a great point about risk analysis aspect; I was talking about bears with a friend tonight as we planned for an upcoming trip and we noted that we are taking a way bigger risk getting into our car and heading to work in the morning (or in my case hopping on a motorcycle) than we are when we head into the woods backpacking.

And really, that's what it all comes down to - understanding the risks and determining how, or even if, we are going to mitigate the risks. My main point in posting the above was to try and help ensure those reading this can make their decision based on the best information we have available to us.