The late great writer/lecturer Alan Watts told a very young Chris the folllowing story on his houseboat during a lecture. In old Kyoto a buddhist monk and samurai boarded a small ferry to cross one of the many lakes. A very big, very drunk samurai also boarded, and after a few moments challenged our monk to a duel. Our monk had two duties; to uphold his own samurai honour and also promote peace and harmony. He told the drunk, " look, if we fight here people will get hurt. Boatman, take us over to that little sandbar. I'll fight you there" The boatman complied. the drunk was in such a hurry to fight he leaped from the vessel onto the sand. Our monk quickly grabbed the ferrryman's pole and pushed the boat back onto the lake, leaving the drunk to sober up. He honoured both duties; defeating his opponent through gile and protecting innocent life, including the drunk's. The lesson here is a simple hiking staff in our kit can preclude the need for all those tactical knives that throw our compasses and bank balances all out of wack. You can also change the TEE VEE channel with it if a good Kurasawa flick is coming on and somebody was watching Wheel of Fortune. Conserving energy is also a survival tenant.