Thanks for sharing that.

I'm in public safety as a firefighter, and under ordinary circumstances when seconds count, help is just minutes away -- but they can be the longest minutes of your life. In the outdoors, the problem is exacerbated and help could be hours away. Consequently, I do carry a firearm whenever possible and my interest has led me to become an instructor as well.

Firearms are of course no panacea and are only part of a comprehensive strategy to help avoid a potentially dangerous encounter in the first place, along with other best practices such as announcing your presence, securing your food and carrying deterrents like spray. Even as a last resort though, a firearm has it's place as a tool in the toolbox, and I'm glad they have statistically shown to result in positive outcomes generally speaking.

As with anything else, the one you'd be willing to consistently carry (so that you'll have it with you if you ever need it) is among the top considerations with selection. I generally find that the firearm I carry with me outdoors is the same as the one I carry in daily life -- typically a 9mm subcompact, for a variety of reasons. Primarily, it's light and I've trained with it exhaustively, and along with a realistic assessment of potential threats (two legged and four) I've found it a reasonable trade-off.

This goes against conventional wisdom where some will claim you need a beefy revolver firing quite a powerful round or you might as well not even bother. My issue with that is threefold -- they're generally larger and heavier, and knowing my own capabilities and limitations, I'm not as confident that I can place follow up shots as accurately and quickly under stress as I can with other alternatives. Finally, statistically it hasn't turned out to be as critical as some would claim.

Long arms are in a whole different category of course, but outside of a few situations it's not a practical option for a lot of outdoor activities.