I occasionally see the series "I Was Prey" on I think Animal Planet.

Last weekend the episodes I saw included two attacks by cougars and one by a grizzly.

These stories are told by survivors...no survivor, no feature on the series.

As you might expect...the survivors are pretty well disfigured, scarred, missing appendages, etc., and spent long times in hospitals and went through many surgeries.

Some things jump out as obvious.

First, the victims went out into the wild and into the domain of predators. They chose to be out there "doing their thing." Hiking, running, biking...in areas that are the everyday home of animals that have to hunt and kill in order to survive.

Second, the victims don't have any appreciation of the risk. The attitude is to just go out and enjoy the day, nothing significant will happen to them. They cannot imagine anything bad happening to them worse than maybe a blister, a bump, a bruise, a scratch.

Third, the victims do not expect to be cut off from communications, if they have a cell phone, they might not take it with them, and they have no idea whether it will work if they do carry one.

Finally, considering the lack of thought and expectation of potential trouble, they also often, maybe almost all the time, have no means of self-defense if they were to be attacked by man or beast.

So, since this is a knife forum...what are your thoughts about having and maybe having to use a knife if stuff hits the fan?

OK...I know that a gun makes more sense for self-defense, but in many places that is not allowed. And also, the attitude of many people who go outside for recreation might go against having guns.

But, again, since this is a knife forum...any thoughts along that line?

Larry