That's a great post Jim!

I have a assortment of stuff that I bring that varies with the trip. Day hikes are when I whittle it down to little more than the essentials.

When I do a long day hike I'll bring a tarp. I have a visqueen one that's big enough to rig a shelter I can stay dry in, otherwise I'll bring an SOL emergency blanket nowadays.

Other than that I do bring quite a few other things I don't expect to use. I bring my FAK/Repair kit/Fire kit. It's all in one bag and I carry it with me almost all the time in a Jansport Daypack I have. I have a different day pack for hiking, so I toss it into it.

I also carry at least 2 LED lights of some kind, one is always a headlamp, others vary. I carry a compass, and usually my GPS and a map. I don't trust the GPS, and I don't really need a map, I can get close enough with a compass to find where I need to be.

I carry a small Rapala fillet knife, or a little "Cowboy Toothpick" pocket knife. Neither would kill a bear. You can clean a squirrel or a fish with them real good though.

I never had a store bought bear bell, but I have set up a stainless mug to clank on some biners or something before. I still shout a warning now and then. I'm pretty sure bears are only annoyed by all of that but since I don't actually see them often I'll keep doing it.

I carry my hiking stick on all my rambles. It's essential.

I'd say my day pack weighs between 8-16 pounds. On the heavy end I could spend a night or two out and be comfortable in most situations here. If I were backpacking I'd be closer to 28-32 for 2-3 nights.

I think anymore, everything I bring is near essential for me to be safe and self contained. That's really my goal.

Safe is an illusion of sorts, but so are the dangers, so it's an attempt at balancing them both. I mean, if I run across a bear that's hell bent on kicking my butt, well, I'm in trouble and like you said, no knife, and darn few guns are going to change the outcome. But the odds of that happening are so slim that I'm better off spending the gun money on lotto tickets.