Wearing a dirk casually

[tokareva]

I have lived and worked in the bush for almost 50 years and can say without a doubt in MOST cases making loud noises will keep bears and cougars away far more effectively than waving a knife at them. If you really think a bear or big cat won't come after you because you are armed, you will have a realignment of your thoughts when the beast is on you...... and when it is on you, well the chances of you winning the contest armed with a knife or not, favours the beast

You are certainly right about making noise Terry, but in fairness I think LKM was probably more concerned about being attacked by something and having no defense whatsoever, rather than a knife being a deterrent to a wild animal. Noise doesn't always work, I just saw a black bear running through downtown Gatlinburg on the news this morning. Personally, whenever I'm on a trail in the mountians or even in a local park I'm more concerned about human predators than animals, and usually always take that into consideration, thats all I will say.