I agree with some of what you said nomercy but at the moment I am going through a divorce, have two car payments and I am paying $662 per month for good (this aint obama care) health insurance. Once the divorce is final I will be down to 90 a month for health...one car payment...and no child support due to no kids. When that happens I will get a Ruger that shoots the .45LC and the .454 Casull. Pratice with the 45 and go hiking with the 454. But until that happens, I will make due with what I have. I don't think anyone would argue that either a 40 or a 357 is better than nothing at all.
Yes I agree with you that a black bear stalking me with the intention of doing harm to me is slim but it is still greater than 0. Some of the animals in the Northern part of NY get big. We have deer that weigh in at close to 300 pounds. Most of our bears are small and will never compete with the coastal AK bruins but any bear from 180 to 400 will put a serious hurting on the hiker who doesn't have an equalizer.