Well, Kevin, I have to say again that that "need", like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. One man's minimum armament might be another man's TEOTWAWKI load-out.

I have a good friend in FL, a retired NYPD cop who works as a reserve deputy for his local sheriff. Mike and I were out for lunch once, across the border in Georgia one day. The restaurant we were entering had a sign forbidding any "armed persons" from entering. Mike's wife hissed at him, "Mike! YOU'RE armed!"

He laughed and said, "Nah, I'm not armed. All I got is a J-frame." And he meant it!

"I'm gonna have to science the schit out of this." Mark Watney, Sol 59, Mars